It is hard to believe that I have only been in Harare for just under two weeks. I have settled in so nicely and have done so many things, that it seems like it should be much longer. Since my last post, I have explored more of the neighborhood around my apartment, spent a full week on the job at my new institution, HIT, joined a local hiking group, been on a hike with said group, and finally ate a traditional Zimbabwean meal!
Running in my neighborhood
On my first Sunday in Harare, I decided to go for a walk around my neighborhood. I figured that Sunday would be a good day for this as there would not be as much traffic on the road and most people would be at church. After studying the map, I decided to head for a nearby park about 1 mile from my apartment.
To get there I headed north up the main road, King George Road, (picture on left), which was not terribly pleasant given the amount of traffic (even for a Sunday), but there was at least a wide walking/biking path separated from the four-lane road by a curb. I turned off the main road onto a side street that appeared to lead to the park on the map. The side street was much more enjoyable to walk along as there was no traffic and there were lots of trees, so it was nicely shaded. I began to get a little worried when I saw a sign saying it was not a thru road, but figured I would just turn around if necessary not really wanting to go back to the busier road.
My persistence paid off as the road ended at a bike path (picture on right) that led thru the park!
After walking through the park, I then headed back south to my apartment on a different road, West Road, which was not nearly as busy as King George road. West Road also has a walking path but it is separated by a strip of landscaped lawn (picture on left), so it is further from the road and there are more trees.
When I got back to the road my apartment is on, I was surprised to find a very steep hill to climb (picture on right)! It turns out there is a bit of a ridge between West Road and King George Road. In fact, there is a road along this ridge, very aptly named Ridge Road, which I explored later in the week. There are many nice houses on this ridge and lots of hills for me to walk!
By the time I returned to my apartment, I had walked roughly 3.5 miles (or 5.6 km). It was such a nice loop and a perfect distance for a mid-week training run, I figured. I reached out to some contacts in Harare that I was put in touch with through my former student, which included Mama Gumiro, to get their advice on whether it would be OK for me to run the loop on Tuesday morning. With their blessing, I did just that. As I started out for my run, I was pleased to see another runner go by in front of me, which eased any awkwardness I was feeling. Along my run, I saw many people out walking, running, and cycling for exercise, along with the children in their uniforms heading to school and the various workers heading to their jobs. Since that first run on Tuesday, I have gone on two more runs in my neighborhood. I am so happy to have found a running route right outside my door!
Harare Institute of Technology
My first week at HIT started out with a flurry and then ended quietly. Transportation to and from the campus is being provided by HIT. Over the weekend I was messaging with the Acting Dean of my school about my transportation, specifically I wanted to know the name of the driver that would be picking me up on Monday to make sure that I didn’t get in the wrong car (it turns out I didn’t need to be concerned because the drivers for HIT always drive a vehicle with HIT branding on it). As he was working on figuring out who the driver would be, the Acting Dean indicated that he would likely just come with the driver Monday morning to escort me to campus the first time. I found this so thoughtful of him, since it would be first time I have ever been picked up by a private driver (not Lyft or Uber), so I was a bit nervous. As it turned out, there was some confusion amongst the drivers and their assignments on Monday, so the Acting Dean himself came to pick me up and drive me to school!
Once we arrived at HIT, we went to the Administration Block to see if the Director of Communications & International Relations (CIR) was available to meet me. He was not and so we walked over to the Innovation Hub to meet with the Pro Vice Chancellor (PVC) for Research, Innovation, and Commercialization. (As a side note, Zimbabwe’s government launched an Education 5.0 initiative in 2018, which adds the expectation of innovation and commercialization to the standard expectations of teaching, research, and service for faculty in higher education.) We met with the PVC for no more than half an hour during which time he spent about 20 minutes listing all the things he would like me to collaborate on as well as the events he would like planned for me, which included trips to various sites around the country and stays with families in their rural homes so that I could experience all sides of life in Zimbabwe. I left the meeting very excited, but also incredulous that there would be enough time over the next 5 months for me to accomplish all the things on his list! And I still needed to meet with other administrators that will have their own lists of what they would like me to be involved with while I am here!
I then met with the director of CIR, who was much more relaxed and laid back than the PVC of research. He assured me that his role would be to to protect me from being overwhelmed by the other administrators’ expectations for me. My final meeting that morning was with members of the Math Department, specifically the instructor that I will be sharing applied statistics with. Going in to the meeting, I assumed that I would take two of the four sections of the class. However, he decided that we would instead split the semester in half and each take over all four sections for half of the semester. He then listed out the topics covered in the course and asked me on the spot if I wanted the first or second half. I quickly tried to weigh all the factors for making my decision. Should I go first because I might be very busy during the second half of the semester given the list of things I just heard from the PVC? Should I go second so that I can observe how classes are run and get to know the students more before? This last point is ultimately what swayed my decision, also the topics in the second half were way more interesting and fun (e.g., ANOVA and regression), so I decided I would take the second half. I instantly regretted it though, upset with myself for not just jumping right in! I kept second guessing myself over the next few days, but then I learned that second-year students will start the first 4 weeks of the semester online (a holdover practice from COVID). Given that three of the four sections were second-year students I was so relieved with my choice to go second! I did not come to Zimbabwe to teach students online!
After my morning of meetings I was escorted back to my office where I met my other office mate, the chair of the IT Department, who is quite the character. Within only a few hours of meeting me he declared that we would write a paper together before I left Zimbabwe. He and many others in the faculty are very keen to write a paper with me because I learned that all faculty, including lecturers, are expected to publish at least 2 papers a year. Which is a lot given the teaching load and the extra expectations for innovation and commercialization. I also learned that my office mate went to HIT himself for undergraduate. So he has a stronger connection to the school than others.
Following such a busy Monday, I was surprised by how quiet things were on Tuesday-Thursday. For the most part, I spent those days quietly working in the office, often by myself. Classes don’t start until February 12th, so much of the faculty are not around, and naturally none of the students are either. There is a lot of activity on campus though by the maintenance crew, making minor repairs on the buildings. There is also construction on a new building close to the building my office is in, so there is a fairly constant din in the background of machinery noise and conversation between workers. Fairly typical university campus environment!
On Wednesday, my office mate, the Chair of IT, took me on a tour of campus. From him I learned that HIT is fairly similar in size to Saint Mary’s, with about 2,000 students in total. While on our tour we visited the Innovation Hub, which houses the start-up businesses launched as part of the innovation and commercialization efforts of the faculty. We stopped in on the offices of the LADS project which is working to digitize all the city councils in Zim. This is a real challenge, especially for those located in the rural parts of the country (which is most of them). As of today though they have converted 95% of the over 90 councils!
For yet more evidence of how welcoming everyone has been of me, I received two care packages from the acting dean during my first week at HIT. In the afternoon of my first Monday on campus, he sent a variety of fruits to me because he was not sure I had brought a lunch. Then on Wednesday, he sent another package containing popular local items such as a bag of marsala chicken flavored potato chips (not as flavorful as I expected) and Mazoe orange drink (way to sweet and artificial for my taste). But the best of all was a box of Nestle Cerevita corn & banana flavor, which I find quite delicious. It is an instant cereal mix that you just add to warm milk. I suspect it is like Cream of Wheat in the US, though I have never actually had that. It is so quick to whip up in the morning, it has become one of my favorite things to eat. I add fresh banana slices for texture.
Hiking in Zimbabwe
As I mentioned in my last post, some of the folks at the Embassy are in a hiking group that hikes around Harare each Saturday. I was added to the WhatsApp group of the Mountain Club of Zimbabwe early in the week and then on Wednesday Jan 24 the hike for Saturday was announced. We went to an area north of the city called Baboon Hills which was east of the Mazowe Dam (pictured above). It was amazing! My first glimpse of rural life in Zimbabwe.
After driving on a dirt road for 30 minutes, we parked at the camp of some miners (pictured below on left). They are mining the hills for gold. Along the hike we passed by some of the results of their efforts.
The hike was a lot of bushwhacking through vines and overgrowth from all the rain, but occasionally there was a trail, likely used by the miners. At times it felt like we were going in circles as the leaders tried to navigate the tough terrain and avoid scrambling over large boulders. But eventually we made it to the goal, the summit of one of the mountains with a flat boulder outcropping which provided the most stunning view of the villages below.
Along the hike there were so many wildflowers, including many flame lilies (gloriosa superba), which is the national flower of Zimbabwe (pictured below on left).
Perhaps the best part of the hike was how it ended. When we got back to the cars, a fold-up table was set up and someone started setting out tea cups on it. Then a giant teapot appeared and someone started putting milk powder in the cups before another person poured the tea. A tin of biscuits and wafer cookies was opened. And as if all that wasn’t enough, the hikes leader had brought hot dogs and bags of popcorn! It was a completely unexpected, yet entirely perfect way to wrap the hike. I felt so incredibly grateful to be included in this group and share in the experiences of the day. As one of the group members remarked, “There are over 8 billion people in the world, and there are only 13 of us here sharing this experience. When you think of it like that, it’s a pretty exclusive opportunity.”
Sadza
Following the hike, my roommate and I went out to dinner where I had my first traditional Zimbabwean meal of sadza. We went to a restaurant called Gava’s, which was recommended by one of my HIT drivers, who told me that “gava” is the Shona work for fox. (Shona is one of the native languages in Zimbabwe which is spoken by the vast majority of the population.) Sadza is very similar to grits, it is a porridge made from maize meal. This dish is very important here and it is eaten nearly every day. Every time I met someone at HIT over my first week I was asked if I had eaten sadza yet. And when I said no, it was almost as if I was insulting them. So I was very excited to try it. At Gava’s I went as traditional as possible and ordered the goat stew with sadza, greens and beans. It was delicious! While some parts of the goat were a bit tough, the sauce it had stewed in was delicious, and there were many very tender pieces. The sadza itself is not very flavorful, just a heavy starch that is just there to serve as a vehicle for the meat stew and veggies. It was the perfect post-hike, pre-long run meal. Sunday morning I went for a long run around my neighborhood, powered by sadza!
kkuter 
Leave a comment