My Top Ten, what I miss about home

My Top Ten, what I miss about home

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• Blessed are those with passports...

• The only time I wish I was in Zimbabwe

• Tribal hang-ups must cease

• A nation locked in negativism

• Zimbabwe's scattered marriages

• Now recruiting: traditional healers and prophets

• The double life of exiled Zimbabweans

By Norah Spie

I LOVE Zimbabwe so much that even though it's deep in crisis, to me it will always be the most beautiful place.

So I have compiled my Top Ten of the things I love about Zimbabwe (in no particular order):

• HOLIDAY RESORTS

Nyanga is top of my list. Those who have read my book, Parallel Lines, will know why this place is special to me but just in general -- the perfect weather, cool but not cold, the ever green surroundings -- it's truly a haven.

The Nyanga trout, the larger than life golf courses get the Japanese flocking in because in their country, no matter how rich you are, you only get a chance to play in a proper golf course maybe once a year.

But how breath-taking is the Victoria Falls? How you can enter the Chinhoyi caves and get out on the other side near Kariba (is that true or is it a myth?)? The amazing stone work at Matopos and how you can off-load on Rhodes' grave. Feel the true spirit of Zimbabwe at the Masvingo ruins. And those nyami-nyami snakes at Lake Kariba? Then the less famous spots like going fishing at the Zambezi Gorge in Chirundu or at the inter-linked dams in Concession? The list is endless.

• FAMILY

Our family network is really tight. Unlike people in Western capitals who get rid of older members of the family, many of whom are consigned to retirement homes, we don't have issues with our old people (although soon there won't be any old people as the life expectancy is at 37).

I am yet to come across a Zimbabwean who has no relatives, because we are constantly in touch with our extended family -- only that poverty is forcing us to ignore the extremely extended family. I liked the way kids used to visit relatives during school holidays.

• FRIENDS

True friendship that was deeper than just hanging out. You would know a friend truly had your back covered. In time of need, they would share their mealie-meal and let you come over to watch their television and never complained.

Kids could play next door all day and even at night with no worries because the other woman would care for them like her own. Men were not irritated by kids making noise in the evenings (because they would still be at their drinking hole).

Men would drink their Chibuku from one large container and not worry about spreading hygiene! It was just love everywhere. How friends would gather around to listen to Kudzi Marudza's and Peter Johns' Top Ten or to Radio 2's Kwaziso/Ukubingelelana.

• ROADS

Our roads were wide enough to have a party and not stop traffic! The thing I like about our highways is that there are no speed cameras and no traffic jams. If a police car was laying an ambush, as they call it, you would hope it's a Santana, and not the feared Mercedes for obvious reasons.

• HOUSES

Even our ghettos have detached and semi-detached houses! But it's the large gardens that we have that makes it so special. How we grow our own fresh, organic vegetables in our backyard! I remember how it was so easy to get someone to do your garden or to do it yourself with your large family. I remember as a kid, we would go round every house asking for nice flowers to put in our gardens and then have a competition among ourselves to see who had the most colourful flowers!

• MAIDS

Although I find having a maid uncomfortable, there are working families that cannot do without them and in Zimbabwe, you don't have to be loaded to have your own house maid, nanny or garden boy or all three at the same time. When I visited home, I stayed at a flat in Harare's Avenues near the State House and there was a maid who came twice a week to keep the place clean.

But after getting used to doing everything by myself here, I found it very hard to have another woman in my space, touching my things, going into my kitchen, washing my clothes. At the same time, I could not fire her because she needed every penny. So I told her for the same amount, she could just clean the house and stop cooking and washing. I will admit that, for the first time in Harare, I had to look for a laundrette.

• EDUCATION

We had one of the best education systems in the world, with internationally recognised standards. I believe school days were the best. No worries at all. All you had to do was listen to your teachers (if not then they were allowed to smack you). How we used to take inter-school sports competitions very seriously. How one school would poach a student who excels in sports just to have a better profile.

Writing letters to a friend in a far away boarding school and show off about how better your school was compared to theirs, and brag about going to Prince Edward school for the rugby festival during the school holidays! The large sports fields at every school, the science experiments in a well equipped laboratory make up some of my fondest memories.

• SUNSHINE

Never under-estimate the power of the sun. Even though we had endless problems, people still walked around with a smile and chatted to each other on the bus or in the crowded emergency taxi (E.T). How, without a weather forecast, we could tell that the rains were coming. The elders could tell time by the position of the sun and could also tell east from west. The breath-taking view of the sun setting on the Zambezi River or on Lake Kariba.

• FOOD

We never had to worry about the quality of our produce because everything was fresh and organic. No matter how many times people ate sadza, they never got tired of it. Even soft drinks like coke are made to suit our taste. We had tasty meat that did not particularly need lots of spices.

I remember how people would buy fresh bread and a pint of milk every morning and then pass through the butchers on their way home from work to get meat for $2. Back then, the Lobels and ice-cream vendors would pass through every street for our convenience. And that big vegetable market at the back of Mbare Msika! Not forgetting gochi gochi/braai. Where else do you find a chicken farm where you choose the chicken you want before its slaughtered and then without any guilt, roasted to satisfy our meat-loving appetites?

• STREET JUSTICE

I remember how thieves would be chased down and tackled by the whole neighbourhood. And what of that woman caught with someone's husband? Although it is not the best way to deal with offenders, street justice was a sign of togetherness. Places like Highfields, Makokoba, Magwegwe were probably the safest because no one would dare enter those neighbourhoods to steal unless you wanted to lose your life.

I spoke to an old friend, Tendai, who now lives in Canada, but hails from Mbare and she nailed it by saying how she missed having long talks with her neighbour while doing dishes or washing clothes by the all purpose sink at the back of the house! Picture that?

It is really the little things that make life so special. She goes on to say people in her area got credit from the local grocers for everything from meat to household furniture and never went through any credit checks -- everything was based on trust. Above all, Tendai said she misses hearing children laugh, play and run around. Where she lives now, she does not know her neighbours at all, nobody cares-- it's one man for himself.

Matthias who is from Bulawayo and now lives in Sweden tells me he misses the family bond and how you could borrow a cup of sugar from any of the neighbours without losing your face.
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AS A good natured person, I am for more love and would like to apologise to anyone who was directly or indirectly affected by my story last week especially if I blew your cover!

People can talk until the cows come home, but as long as you are true to yourself then you will be fine.
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THIS week, I joined Tambu Kahari (USA) on a new project for a women's magazine which aims to promote female artists from Southern Africa. Please check out the website: http://www.thesaladmagazine.com

Norah Spie's new weekly column appears here every Wednesday. You can e-mail her at n_spie@hotmail.com. Her new book, Parallel Lines, is available at many good bookshops and you can also order it online from AMAZON

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