We walked out of the office and he told me the next steps in my SIM card registration so I could secure an emergency internet connection. I needed to bridge my days of them determining my fibre connection since I moved with my bride to a new place. I will definitely tell you more about her today as some requested more information on “the bride.” Back to the story: as the guy spoke mentioning some technical aspects of logging in and so on, I prepared my “drink money” and once we passed the small crowd I handed it to him. This was my insurance that I would get my application expedited since I did need it fast tracked emergency connection and all. As we concluded our business I smiled to myself. This is my second new year in Zimbabwe after over 10 years away in the diaspora and happy new year to you all fellow travellers. I have fought against it but this “drink money” is how business is done in Zimbabwe if you want to get results. It’s still not clear to me if I sell out every time I extend my hadn’t into my wallet to fish “drink money”. Maybe I can simply call it our culture in Zimbabwe as gifts are a culture in China and kickbacks and such are a way of life in America. Just as quid pro quo is as old as the ancestors of those who coined the phrase. I am getting the hang of how the cookie crumbles in this country and I don’t know if that is a good thing.
As the new year was just on the brink of arriving, I packed my bride into my ride, and we drove down to meet the rest of my family. I had not anticipated making the trip on the last day of December but it was an impromptu right thing to do. It does cost a little to visit because you gotta have some groceries to share and I purchased a goat for my mom to enjoy for barbecue or simply to keep for long term plans. As we started on the drive, we realized we had forgotten my speaker. The speaker is the sound system for the car ever since I removed my radio system after it became erratic and started playing intermittently like a cellphone on a choppy connection. And without it I had to sing and we had lots to laugh about. The drive down was fun and once on a while I had to stop and check my car as the oil was low and everyone - technicians from the day before included - had failed to catch it until the journey started. We picked up the goat on the way down and arrived to a surprised family who had not planned on our arrival. We had plenty of laughs as introductions were made and we tried to catch up rapid fire. My dad had to leave for some businesses and we started driving around with my siblings and such.
A Profile of my Bride
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