I am writing again tonight from my little hidey-hole in the mosquito net at Fradreck's place. Joseph and I took a kombi back to Harare this morning. A kombi is a minivan retrofitted to hold 22 passengers (at least!). Amazingly, it works (if the driver's not intoxicated, if the lights are working, if the kombi doesn't break down, if you're not smashed up against a sweaty guy's armpit or a lady who won't budge). For the journey from Nyamweda to Harare, Joseph and I each bought 2 $4 seats, so we had the entire back row -- luxurious! Um, until it started moving. Obviously, the $4 are not going toward shocks!
In Harare, we went and renewed our visas at the immigration office (An extension of my original 30 day visa is free, but you've got to go to the office to do it. Depending how you count it, I may not even need the extension, but better safe than sorry. And, it was convenient. And, another stamp in the passport!) When we got there, the office was closed for lunch, so we waited outside and played mbira. We got the full range of reactions, from stony silence to smiles to videos to questions about mbira to a request to be friends on FB. Somehow, it is incredible to most Zimbabweans that foreigners would want to play this instrument and would come all this way to study something that was shunned by the Westernized part of Zim society. I'm happy to so my part to challenge (musical) norms here.
Tomorrow I'll go have a lesson with Tute Chigamba! I'm excited, even if I don't learn much -- he's a living (mbira) legend. Also, I'll try to Skype with Greg, if he can call, if the magetsi comes on, if I can charge my phone. I'm excited to hear his voice, even just for a few minutes.
It's great that you've been able to keep these posts coming despite the technological challenges! As Leila-like as they are, hearing your voice the other day was a nice and much-needed complement. So ... what is the "most expressive segment of the population" that you referred to in a previous post?