Well, we’re into the final straight with only two days left. Friday for me was relatively quiet with just 2 shows. The first was Imagining Einstein by a South African actor. It was not what I expected it to be and I did not learn much but it was well researched and presented though his German accent did lapse into an Afrikaans one! It was very educational and the kids loved it though I thought he could have emphasized more just how well Einstein’s theories have lasted.
I was going to see a circus act in the afternoon but decided it was more for kids entertainment (yes, I know I have not grown up but Jenni desperately needed some exercise) so just went in to Avondale for a Spanish music and dance show, El Macareno. I suppose it was good, at least the capacity crowd thought so, but it was rather lost on me. The guitarist was certainly virtuoso and it seems one can be very large and still dance to Spanish music!
There was a curious incident on Wednesday that I did not mention earlier. I was going into an earlier show and stopped to get diesel at a filling station. We have a curious system in Zimbabwe in that one does not pay the fuel attendant in cash. You go to the office, guess how much fuel you need and then buy a voucher for that amount. I am not sure why this method exists, it might be a hold over from when we had to use suitcases of money to pay, well it’s getting back to that. Anyway, I hopelessly miscalculated and had 50 litres left over on the voucher. I said I’d get my driver to bring the other work vehicle down in the afternoon. That afternoon as I was waiting for the driver to come down, the clerk at the filling station came over and said very sorry but the police have locked our pumps and we are not allowed to sell fuel. He had no idea why, maybe they wanted to know where the fuel was coming from. I blew a fuse then remembered that it is illegal to criticize the police (honestly!) so shut up. There was nothing I could do about it anyway except get my money back.
Zimbabwe Absurdity 
Unfortunately our Rainbow Nation, the inspiration for the African Renaissance, prefers to get USA pop stars out to perform to an elite sector of the population – white teeny boppers and aging rockers. I am amazed that a country like Zimbabwe has such a great cultural event when we in South Africa – housing illegal aliens from every country on the continent – can’t host a similar event. We have the Grahamstown festival and the KKK (Klein Karoo Kunstefees), but no truly African equivalent that I know of.
Anyway, if we did, it would be hosted in Jhb and then it would be too dangerous to attend. You may not have a great economy and your dictator may be a total nutter, but at least you don’t have the crime we have. Somehow we can endure everything else if we aren’t living in fear of our lives. If it were politically motivated, thats one thing – but its just senseless crime. And our government says we’re just being racist, which is quite funny as they are then implying that all criminals are black, which they are not. So who is being racist?
God bless Africa.