Day: March 14, 2009

Besides Patience and Jenny Muchumi, I have now met a woman mbira player, Nyarai.  I had the pleasure of playing mbira with her for 30 minutes or so before she was called to help with tea.

Today I am remembering the trip to Fradreck’s village. We arrived after 9 sometime. We had sadza,beans, and canned tuna for dinner and arrived at bedtime at 11:00.

I slept on a mat in the kitchen storage area. I thought surely I would never sleep but I slept until 5:30 then got up to visit the outdoor potty. Difficult in the long skirt.

We went to the area where they held biras. Fradreck’s grandfather was a mhondoro spirit medium. He was executed by the freedom fighters.   I had always thought that he was executed by the Rhodesian Government for wanting peace.  He was executed because the mhondoro spirit wanted white and black people to walk side by side with equal power not one side over the other.

We stood by the spot where Fradreck watched his grandfather forge nails into mbira keys. Part of his history as an mbira maker.

Lovely kitchen with nice metal rack over the fire for cooking.

We had tea and started back in Fradreck’s car for Harare. They stopped a couple of times at road side stands for produce. We also stopped for Fradreck to point out the mubvamaropa  tree that is used for making the mbira.

Erica is starting a reseeding project. The trees won’t mature for 50 years. This is for our grandchildren.   Fradreck is part of the project.

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Waiting for Fradreck to pick me up. It is Monday, March 2nd. Thunder is starting again. Third day of thunder and lightning. Storms quite violent. Though not a strong wind or hail.

Confirmed flight out on Wednesday. Made me nervous. Good people here. I paid my final bill here. Very reasonable. Twenty five a night which is a special deal.

Fradreck and Mai Pasi have picked me up. There is a bad rain storm. Something is broken. The are trying to fix it under the umbrella in the rain. Mai Pasi said do not come out. So I am sitting in the car while they are fixing the fender which seems to be tied on.

Cathy calls this Africa time. When someone comes later than you expect.

The day before I leave I would like everything to be safe. And to get back safely.

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Today is our last practice day. Great until we tried to practice in the evening and it was terrible sounding. I finally got up and said this isn’t working for me.

Tomorrow is the party. Now that I hear we are performing for the mbira teachers I find myself to be less than enthusiastic.

There is so much good in this culture. Very relational. There are the same difficulties as anywhere else. Some people drink too much.  Some people have issues with certain other nationalities and there is now a basic survival for many families. The country is very
beautiful. The people are philosophical and relational in a village sort of way. I wonder what my place. is in all of this.

I want to go back to my own space not to Ashland.

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Wednesday. Nice breakfast with all including Gift Rushumbwa. He called Kaia and I the word for his son’s wife. He said that they do that here. You might call someone “older brother” or mom as Caution Shonai called me. Amai he said and later mom. This is a way of acknowledging the feeling of the relationship. Like son if someone is younger and you have affection for them. It might be the word for your daughter’s husband. Someone feels like that in relation to you.  Ambuya would be grandmother.  Muzukuru would be grandson. Or you can call them friend if they are. Calling someone by their first name is very unusual.

My mbira made by Gift Rushumbwa.  Good sound, wonderful buzz.  He is prolific. Works hard, has a lot to show for his hard work. I took this one from the states and carried it to Zimbabwe. Bought it through Mbira.org.

We went into Harare to try wireless. We stopped at the Apple store but the wireless didn’t work. We then went to Crown Point Hotel and bought a voucher for 30 minutes of airtime. The wireless worked but I could only post to facebook on my first voucher as Facebook loaded very quickly and my e-mail loaded very slowly into my iphone.  John and I shared a second voucher and were each able to send 1 e-mail.

We then piled in the truck and went to pick up more books on the Shona language which had doubled in price since last week. So Erica was going to try another route. We bought “stuff” at the equivalent to Costco called Makro. I bought coffee one kind from Zimbabwe. When we paid in US dollars, since there is no change, if you amount was more than a round dollar amount you had to fill out the rest by getting candy. I owed 12.02 so they just let me pay 12.00 even. The coffee smells pretty stale but maybe I can mix it.

We came back for lunch and practiced our two songs. Now we are waiting for dinner. Singing tonight. I don’t enjoy the singing too much.  Maybe I’ll grow into it.  I want to because the singing adds so much to the complexity of the music.

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We learned Mbirimo from Matamai. This is a Kore Kore song. The Kore Kore are part of the Shona tribe. Mbirimo is about rich people, rich people who look down on others. I will add the meaning of the words and meaning later.

The rhythm particularly of the kutsinhira is very tricky.

Matamai is what we call Newton Gwara. He is known internationally.  See the photo below of Kaia Wong, Matamai, and Denver playing late at night.

I was able to buy an mbira made by Matamai while in Zimbabwe.  It is a donganda which means that the right hand is in the same range as the left hand.  When you play a song particularly one that alternates right and left hands, the sound is one of playing both kushaura and kutsinhira.

On flight from Amsterdam. I had the row of 4 seats to myself so I
slept laying down. Such a relief! Food better than the KLM flight
from Nairobi. Missing Africa. Imagines being at Bushbaby sitting on
the porch.

Hard to imagine that I have come and gone. So far away. So many
visitors through the Kenya airport. Many fit climbers. Makes the
Zimbabwe airport sad once again. Their computer system doesn’t work well. Not very many lights on for the scarce travelers.

2:41 hours to Portland. Culture shock indeed.

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Sitting in the Amsterdam airport reflecting on my Zimbabwe
experience. I feel it in my bones. I think of Bushbaby and the
spiders who are so free to be themselves. We don’t see people running
around stomping on bugs except maybe scorpions..yes they do have
scorpions.. Not fatal but very painful. There are mosquito nets.
Better for the bugs to stay outside the net though on occasion the
bug gets confused.

Living in the village for requires a philosophical approach with
spiders and snakes.

Didn’t sleep well on the overnight from Nairobi.

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Endiby taught us Chigwaya. Love it. His is a very good intense
teacher with a resonant voice very deep in voice and in thought. He
distributed our bootie (blessed) tobacco processed by the mediums at
d. We are to bath and then mix a little with water and splash it over
our bodies without drying after wards. We are to include our own
prayers in the process. I invited my water spirit to come and be with
me. We are to do this for three days. I want to do it here in
Zimbabwe. He said that it was okay to do it back home.

Chigwaya is a song for the water spirits. Calling the mermaids. I will
type in the words and perhaps record a little. The song is lovely and
is played for at least an hour when a new medium is being introduced
by the old medium. Water is poured over the medium until the medium is swimming in the mud and water on the floor. The water spirit medium is usually an herbalist and is very clean. More on this.

I have the water spirit. This is important to me. Patience thinks it
is okay to work with Malidoma who is also a water spirit.

I stayed at the lodge to practice, clear my things and do my prayer.
I burned a little Sao. Paola wood which helped me ground with some
Zimbabwe coffee

How can life ever be the same. Why am I not dreaming here.

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