Zim
trip March 2013
March
18th:
I
had a wonderful but brief visit with most of the Polskin family of
NY. Thanks for the great company and the fantastic dinner. Also,
thanks for the amazing amount of clothes you donated to Zimkids. I
have already started giving some away. So many people will benefit
thanks to you all.
The
New York to Joburg flight was very long but I was as comfortable as
you can be in Business class. The flight was delayed out of New York
because of a mechanical problem. I thought that I would miss my
connection to Victoria Falls but as it turns out I made it just fine.
Robyn was on standby as my booking agent.
I
managed to totally bamboozle the customs guy at Vic Falls Airport by
giving him a small gift and taking my bags and "fleeing".
Tinashe and Philip (from Zimkids) were there to pick me up and drive
me to Bulawayo. 5 hours later, 2 tolls and 7 police checks we arrived
in Bulawayo. Having received a speeding ticket (66kph in a 60kph
zone) and a fine for having no radio license. TIA.
Loveness
(the Solomon's housekeeper) made me sadza, nyama and chamoolia for my
first night dinner. It was great. Silvi and Lee are well but after
about 10 minutes of post dinner conversation we all went to bed. A
quick shower and (ultimately) a 10 hour sleep for me. It was so
great.
March
20th :
Got
up late after a well deserved long sleep. Thank you jet lag and
chemo.
Happy
Birthday Howard and thanks for hanging out with Bobba in Boca.
It
seemed like the day went really quickly. I had a coffee and juice for
breakfast, a guava yogurt for lunch and then Silvi and I went to the
Cattleman's for a great filet steak dinner. Sadly we were the only
customers that the restaurant had the whole night. Business seems so
slow for everyone ! Lee was having a girl's night out and after
dinner, Silvi and I crashed the party. We talked about nail files,
mani pedis and general yenta stuff.
Things
seem status quo in Bulawayo. The weather is sensational. The water
situation seems worse. In any given week the water is shut off at
least 4 out of 7 days. If you don't have a borehole you are sh*t out
of luck. On the positive side, it seems that the electric power cuts
are fewer. I don't want to jinx anything but we haven't had one yet.
More
later..............
March
21st :
Back
to the old crap sleep routine. The sun is so bright in the morning
and the weather is so pleasant how the hell are you supposed to sleep
in. Ya, I know......drugs.
I
did my Thursday morning visit to Savyon (retirement home) to have tea
with the residents. I took the ingredients for Bread and Butter
pudding with custard to the cook the day before and she made this
especially for me. I had to share it with all the others !
Freeloading old rif-raf. I also met this lady who was 102 years old.
Bloody hell. What an honor.
I
had lunch with a friend who used to run the Hide in Hwange. Anyone
wanna buy his share in the lodge ? And you think I'm kidding.
I
dropped off the stuff I had for Dennis and Eli and it was good to see
them again. Chickens wandering the garden, puppies running around.
What a tough life ! They both are well.
Shnitzel
dinner at the Sollies and then had to help Lee with her new iPhone.
F*****ck. iPhone rookies - I hate them. Just kidding.
March
22nd :
Something
happened to "my" car (Silvi's Jeep). All of a sudden shit
stopped working so I took it to the local mechanic. The guy can fix
anything and he did. Some switches shorted out.
I
did my donut purchase for the staff at Solomons. Got a few extra just
in case. Had to try the cream filled one. Very nice. I'm still on a
sugar high.
Lunch
with Silvi at a little French bistro. Yes, A French Bistro and no,
I'm not gay........not that there's anything wrong with that !
The
back to the Batcave (Solomon's house) on Hall road to relax at the
pool. It was short lived because Lee came home with a friend and
well, there we go !. But how is this for something very weird. The
friend's mother was diagnosed at the exact same time as me with the
exact same cancer and died 4 months later. What the .........?
Went
to Shul and as usual it was wonderful to be able to make up the
Minyan. For all you heathens the service took about 20 minutes.
Then
off to one of the biggest birthday bashes in Bulawayo. An ex school
mates 60th. Booze, dames, food and more dames. It was actually fun.
Shit, can Zimbos drink. Did I mention there were dames ?
Tomorrow
is the Center bash. I'm pretty darn excited. I'm just a bit verklempt
that non of my family are here with me.
I
hope Bobba is mending well. Thanks for all doing your part to help
her while I kuk around in Africa.
March
23rd :
I
had breakfast at Deja Vu and then did a couple of things. Then it was
back to the Solomons to chill by the pool before heading out to the
Zimkids Center.
Today
was definitely one of the best days of my life. The naming of the
Zimkids Center. I felt so proud, honored and emotional. The kids
arranged such an amazing program. Pictures have been posted.
As
a famous English lady once said: "I'm gobsmacked".
Sorry
I couldn't talk longer to Bobba as I was driving to the Center. The
police really freak out if they catch you driving and on the phone.
But at least you can drive drunk ! Not really.
When
I arrived at the Center Dennis was waiting at the gate. He had me
wait just about a minute and then beckoned me in. As I turned in the
gate all I saw were the kids lined up along all the pathways holding
little hand made signs. I parked, got out and the whole scene was
quite overwhelming. I was desperately trying to keep my emotions in
check while I walked along the path to the courtyard. It was really
difficult (gulp) as I read the signs and looked at the kids holding
them.
I
was led to the performance gazebo where there were lots of other kids
waiting and was seated in a chair of honor. All the while, I was
escorted by a "Zulu Warrior" who was chanting, dancing and
singing in Ndebele. I finally realized that the Zulu Warrior was
Shaka our Art and Garden teacher. I was joined by a number of my
Bulawayo friends who were in the audience.
Different
age groups of kids all did various dances and performances. One of
the most touching was when a really young group spelled my name and
announced what each letter stood for. I was presented with a couple
of gifts from the kids. One was a doll of me - probably a little too
life like. The other was a book with an art cover front and back and
multiple pages of comments from all the kids. Also a large poster
sized hand painted picture of an African scene. I then spoke a bit
and thanked so many different people for a wonderful event. Not
least of which was Dennis.
We
then all moved to the courtyard where we unveiled the carved stone
(boulder) where the inscription reads "Zimkids - In Honor of
Adrian Suskin - Simunye". The meaning of simunye is Ndebele for
together. Pictures posted.
Then
it was party time. Everyone lined up washed their hands and got a
piece of carrot cake and some mazoe orange juice. Chef Gaboury was
responsible for some of the most awesome carrot cake I have tasted.
Not easy to bake for about a 100 people ! No sooner had the cake gone
down, the dancing started. This is where I discovered a few things.
Firstly, I need to raise funds for a defibrillator. Just in case and
yes, for me. Secondly, don't try and keep up with the kids. I'm not
the prime physical specimen I used to be. I can hear Rob and Mike
chuckling already.
I
finally left the Center exhausted and emotionally drained. I will
remember this day well beyond my "Best Before" date runs
out.
That
evening the Solomons, the Sommers and I went for an Italian dinner at
the restaurant that was formerly Maxi's. It wasn't too bad but was
missing the personality and company of Maxi.
March
24th :
After
a bit of a Sunday morning sleep in, I went on my own to Chipingali
Wildlife Sanctuary. After the previous day's event, I needed some
alone time and could not think of a better place to hang out. Viv
Wilson passed away a while ago and the animal orphanage is now run by
his son Kevin and Kevin's wife Vicki. It's not in pristine shape but
they still do wonderful work with injured and orphaned animals.
On
the way home I was dying for a meat pie so I texted Silvi to meet me
for a pie or two. Next thing I get a text back saying come home the
meat pies are waiting. Yummy. In the afternoon Silvi and I took the
Rabbi and Cantor on a Jewish tour of Bulawayo. No, it wasn't visiting
every deli in Bulawayo ! We showed them the cemetery, the old burned
down shul, Carmel school etc. The reason the Rabbi/Moyel was in town
was to perform a Bris on Monday morning. The Cantor was in town to
help with Pesach.
That
evening the Solomons and I ordered take out Shnitzel rolls and chips
from Bon Journee
March
25th :
Monday
morning was the first bris in Bulawayo for over 15 years. This
community is so used to funeral after funeral that it was fantastic
to finally have a joyous celebration. Afterwards I went out to the
Center to give them the donated clothing and to hang out for a while.
I also had gifts for a few of the people there. There was a
representative from The Discovery Channel that was also at the
Center. We may become part of their teaching program. I spent a bit
of time with the "new" young kids. So sweet. Among them
were a Mike and a Michael. Such a common name :-)
That
evening we had first night Pesach (Passover) at the Sommers with
about 25 people in total. What chaos, but it was really nice.It was
so difficult to do the service as we were using about seven different
Hagadah's. The dinner and company were great.
March
26th :
Tuesday
was Shul, shul and a bit more shul. Over these past few days I have
been to so many shul services. But you know what ? It's always my
pleasure to help them out with a minyan. Lots of running around doing
all sorts of things.I took Opah and her 2 grandkids for ice-cream at
Eskimo Hut. Yes, it's still going. Second night Pesach was at the
Feldmans but with a much smaller crowd.
March
27th :
Wednesday
was also spent running around looking busy. The weather has been
amazing. 80 (25) during the day and 60 (15) at night. The mosquitos
haven't been too bad. I don't think they like chemo blood too much.
March
28th :
Thursday
I..................never mind. I just woke up. Hasn't happened yet !
I
went to see the new Spar supermarket in Kumalo (Kumalo North). For
those in the know it's near the church close to 10 Burnham Road. It
was very clean and bright but seemed quite pricey. They were even
selling live lobster ! For who ???
I
picked up a whole bunch of books from the Shul to take to Zimkids.
I'm not quite sure why these books were at the Shul but they should
be very useful for the Center library. It included a lot of different
grade teaching books. I decided to get some "Shul credits"
so I invited the visiting Cantor to come out to the Center with me
and deliver the books. For those that don't know about "Shul
credits", they allow you to skip services at your time and
leisure :-) The Cantor was very impressed with the Center.
In
the evening I treated Dennis, Eli and Philip to dinner at 26 Park.
They gave me a CD of the pictures that our photographer took at the
Center dedication. There are some amazing wonderful pictures that
have already been shared with you.
March
29th :
Yes,
it's true. On Friday I did simply nothing. Spent lunchtime at the
Laskers in Burnside. Friday evening shul and then a bunch of us went
out for Shabbat dinner.
March
30th :
I
have also spent so much time on trying to restore Lee Solomon's new
iPhone 4S that I brought her from the USA. It is impossible to
download the needed updates (restoration) files here. So the message
to you all is enjoy your FAST internet and quit whining !
OK,
so Saturday morning I went to shul and got a double aliyah. It's
quite a mitzvah so I was truly honored. They always do a blessing for
me and my health so I asked them to do one for the Boblitz for a
speedy recovery.
Silvi,
Lee, a friend of Lee's and I went to Matopos. It's still a really
peaceful and magical place. We hiked up to Cecil's grave and I was
able to not have a coronary on the way up. I wish I had taken my
inhaler. I always laugh when I look out to the east and picture my
nephews (on a past trip) with their pants down facing the beautiful
panorama. Ahh the memories. Do you remember the resurrection weed ?
It grew all over Matopos. I have no idea what the real name is but it
looks like bone dry sticks until they get a bit of water. Then they
bloom green. I brought some back to Bulawayo and put it in water over
night.
We
came back into town and went for Indian food. Almost burnt my
sphincter off ! But we did have nan (Indian matzo) bread.
March
31st :
Well
it's Sunday morning and the resurrection weed is in full green bloom.
Simply amazing. Today was also my last full day in Bulawayo.
April
1st :
I
took the Pathfinder bus service to Vic Falls. Not too bad. Reasonably
comfortable, fairly priced but a bit longer than a normal car drive.
It's
always so nice checking in to The Victoria Falls Hotel. They treat me
so well and I'm usually given very comfortable suites to stay in.
April
2nd :
A
day in Botswana cruising the Chobe river and driving through a part
of the Chobe game reserve. Fantastic.
Dinner
at Mama Africa with a few friends that were also at the Falls. Nice
dinner and good company. On the way back to the hotel I had to dodge
a 10 ft African Rock Python crossing the road and could not pass up
the lure of the casino at the Kingdom Hotel. In a space of 4 minutes
I made US$110, cashed out and continued on to my Hotel. Keep in mind,
things at this part of the town of Vic Falls are very close together.
April
3rd
:
USA
bound. Til next time..............chemo awaits !
Carpe
Diem.
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