Some months back people here in Zims witnessed what was dubbed "...the biggest closing down sale in history." Goods mysteriously disappeared from the shelves of virtually all shops and now foraging has become a way of life here. Matches (yes, you didn't misread - I said, "matches") have only found their way back onto the shelves about two months later.(I'm talking August - September 2007)About 10 days ago I went through my drawers and threw out old pairs of socks. I figured that if I throw them out I'd be pressured to buy new ones. Um... I'm still trying to find socks in Harare! Can't seem to find them anywhere. Need to find out if the City Of Harare has collected the trash yet....
Heard a story at a friends house the other day (Saturday, 18th, actually). Her son lived and worked in the UK a while back, as a cook for the army reserves. He worked with this big Aussie chap who, one day, was preparing a large Nile perch (Lates niloticus) for a meal. The Aussie kept telling him that he'd never eat the fish as "all the sick people with AIDS and tropical diseases in Africa have contaminated Lake Victoria so I don't want to get sick as well." Just then his tongs slipped out of his hands into the bin. He picks them up and continues his work without washing them.Hmmmm...? I'm not well versed in medical matters, but I gather that cases of one catching AIDS or (God forbid!) some "tropical disease" from eating Nile Perch from Africa must be extremely rare. In fact, as our story teller put it.."I think it's unheard of."