So, I’m really settling in nicely here in Harare. While working in the Consular section isn’t where I expected to be placed, I am learning SO MUCH. And it’s challenging too. After only three days in the office I’ve been trained to do my supervisor’s (Esther) duties since she’ll be gone in Cape Cod for the next 3 weeks. Least to say, the learning curve has been steep…but I think I’m keeping up, if not excelling! I’ve been assigned to look into all the fraud cases the next few weeks…something I’m not looking forward to, but will be good for me to deal with. Pretty much I’m reviewing cases, scouring them for inaccuracies/inconsistencies that indicate false relationships between an applicant and the sponsor, or any scenario in which someone is using and abusing the system to gain an American visa and never return to Zimbabwe. With fraud cases, the applicant has pretty much been caught doing something questionable…but we have to interview them before we reject them. Guess who gets to do the interviews?? Moi! I’m nervous as hell…but I’m not going to worry about it until I get to the office Monday morning. I need some time to myself this weekend…and after all, I AM an INTERN. I don’t have to save the world here, although I’m really trying to do my best and Ester and Jim are entrusting me with major responsibilities. I just know if I was on the other side of the glass, as a Zimbabwean applicant, and found out that an intern was processing my visa, that an INTERN was deciding my future in America…I’d be hella pissed. If nothing else, I’d demand a refund.
Anyways, I’m really tired. Mayela and I have been going out almost every night this week to some diplomatic social event, haha! As much as I love it though, I’m starting to need some “ME” time. Fortunately, tomorrow will be one of those days, and I’ll hopefully workout, read, write a little, sleeeeeeep. Mmmm, sounds great already.
However, before I doze off for the night, I have to relay my adventures of last night! Friday afternoon after going to Ambassador Ray’s award ceremony for staff, Mayela and I did some grocery shopping and hung out at the house until we left around 3:30pm for Blue2’s…a bar 8ish minutes away. We met up with some other embassy folks and made friends with Danielle and Roger the bartenders J. The whole point of course was to watch the USA vs. Slovenia soccer game, which to say the least was a COMPLETE nailbiter!!! I was really getting into it. Slovenia lead the US 2-0 at halftime, and within five minutes of the second half USA’s Donovan (who I LOVE and want to have children with!) slammed in their first goal making it 2-1! Then with only about 10 minutes left in the game we powered in 2 other AMAZING shots making it 3-2 USA!!! The bar went nuts and I was jumping and screaming…at least until the referee called the third goal “not good”…which was BULLSHIT btws!! No one still knows what the call was. Even the sports commentators were baffled! So anyways, USA was robbed of a win and to stay alive in our bracket, we needed England to either lose or tie to Algeria…which they did! England and Algeria tied 1-1 last night, keeping us still in the running for quarterfinals! WOOT! Anyways, as I was getting all worked up over the game and being obnoxious, this Marine came and kneeled down next to me, laughing for the last ten minutes at my running commentary. When it was over, we both stood up and was like, “So, you like soccer huh? Couldn’t really tell…” and I grinned sheepishly. His name was Regean, late-twenties or so, 5’6’’ or so (short enough so that I could look him straight in the eye, lol) and we ended up chatting for the whole rest of the night. NOW GET THIS! While making small talk, it turned out that we are both into performing arts, etc…but I had mentioned being an instrumentalist and he was like, “okay, so what do you play?” (almost like a challenge, right?) And I very casually mentioned, “oh you know, oboe, trumpet, piano…” and he suddenly flipped out on me! “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” he shouted excitedly. “I play the oboe too!! In fact, I’ve even played with the National Symphony Orchestra!” “What are you doing here in Zimbabwe then?” I asked half kidding, but actually curious. “Oh it’s all part of the Marine gig,” he told me. So anyways, turns out that two people in the world, who play the weirdest of all instruments, strike up a conversation in an African bar and hit it off sharing rare common ground…the OBOE of all things!? Ha! I smiled the whole rest of the night just thinking about the bizarreness of it all. It was funny though, he asked how long I had been playing the oboe, and boldly took a stab at my age. “You’re what, 23? 24?” he asked. I groaned to myself, really not wanted to respond to this typical hypothesis. People always act differently when I tell them my real age. “Uhhh, believe it or not 19 going on 20” I replied. Immediately, I felt a shift in the dynamics. Regean looked a little embarrassed. But I attempted to patch up the awkwardness as always by making fun of myself, and pretty soon everything was comfortable again. I even got a hug when he left. He’s apparently putting together a musical for Zimbabwean kids that are performing the first week of July. He asked me to come…and also asked me for my number. He says he wants me to take over his oboe students when he leaves next month…but of course, I think he just wanted my number, lol. Anyways, it was really fun and I’m sure we’ll see each other again. He’d be a cool friend to keep around. I’m looking for a workout buddy too, so maybe his Marine brawniness will rub off on me a little.
That’s all for tonight, I’m getting sleepy and I don’t feel like recounting today’s somewhat dull events. Of course, I remained positive throughout the day, but I’m torn between wanting to travel around on my own, and building friendships here. They should be quite symbiotic, but today was just a little slow for my taste, and much of the pace had to do with the crowd I was keeping company with. All nice people…I’m just being a little moody right now I guess. Maybe I’ll divulge more later. G’night!
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