Preparations

So we arrived Monday night and stayed with the missionaries in Harare until Friday morning. It was a good time of acclimating to the climate, which is indeed much warmer. Temperatures were in the 60’s – 80’s.

I had my first real grocery shopping experience in Africa. In the past, the food has always been provided for us, but here we have to buy groceries for a month. I’m not actually sure how much I eat in a month, so this was quite a challenge. We went to the meat store which carried mince (ground beef), chicken, and ostrich as well as biltong (a thick, juicy beef jerky). Then to the dairy store to get yogurt, cheese, butter, and cream. And then to the grocery store which actually wasn’t too different from home except that they sell bars of soap that are a foot and a half long and “long life” milk in boxes (I like to call it eternal milk). Then on to Vege City where we found peaches (the best I’ve ever tasted) and lettuce (yay!). Some things that I was surprised to see included Heinz ketchup (bought it), Pulsar toothbrushes (already packed them) and A&W Root Beer. All told, I spent $400 on groceries but am pretty certain that I won’t starve this month.

On Friday we loaded 8 people and their luggage and groceries into a van with a trailer behind and started off for the hospital. The countryside was beautiful with round brick huts and thatched roofs hemmed in by green trees and grass with emerald mountains in the backdrop. This is the rainy season here and it rained several times during our journey. But all of our luggage stayed dry and on the trailer despite bumpy dirt roads. When we arrived at the hospital there was no running water. Apparently the water here comes on at 5:30 in the morning and only lasts until 11am. It was hard to settle in without water, but at least the power was working. Temperatures at the hospital are in the upper 70s to 90s, which is pretty warm with no A/C. This weekend we are just settling in and getting toured about the hospital. I believe we will start work on Monday.