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| Back in Jo'burg |
| 04.12.04 (4:33 pm) [edit] |
Well, we made it out of Zimbabwe alive... Something people had said would be a lot harder to do than it actually was. Our two- week trip came out to be a huge success, even if I only got an hours' worth of footage. I suppose for a 40-min project, an hour's not bad... and at least another five hours are still on the way, which will be pooled with the five that I've already shot in Lesotho. Anything more than that would start to become too much to handle while editing, so I think things are working out real good.
Anyway, I'm gonna work out a more complete update on my documentary and post it with some stills from the rough footage in a day or two. For now, I want to recap the rest of our Zimbabwe trip, particularly the 512 Collective's first live appearance in the country.
 
The audio turned out pretty bad so I'm not gonna bother posting any of it; even turning down the levels in the camera couldn't compensate for me being so close to the speakers. However, these stills should be able to convey at least a little of the crowd's energy. It was probably the most receptive audience I've seen at a 512 show since rocking at the Lion's Den in Manhattan more than a year ago.
The club in downtown Harare was packed by the time Justice hit the stage, in the midst of an MC battle between representatives of each of the city's major ghettos (an MC battle in Zimbabwe terms consisting of someone yelling into a mic to hype the crowd while his DJ changes records). The set was short but the crowd loved it, even lifting Justice into the air after he was done.
 
During the course of the night, I had people coming up to me saying, "Man, I've been going to shows at this club for years now, and I've NEVER seen a white person - you gotta give me your number!" It was pretty funny, but also suggestive of how fucked up Zimbabwe actually is. The people are all great, but the Government is a disaster - people won't even say 'His' name (Mugabe, the President). It's like a third- world 1984 or something. Everyone is effectively controlled, and Mugabe and his party keep winning because people are too scared to vote against him.
We stayed in the richer part of town, which is where pretty much all the remaining whites in the country have congregated to. You will also see plenty of black people driving the BMWs, however, and that's been the triumph of Mugabe - for the most part everyone is just as poor, but at least some blacks can be rich now too. It's a sorry situation that has come about in numerous countries throughout this continent, including South Africa, but is particularly pronounced in Zimbabwe.
Economically, the country these days is a disaster - we would buy taxi rides and food with thick wads of ten or twenty bills. The only money with any real value is being printed with an EXPIRATION DATE. Who the hell makes cash that will expire? It's crazy. I don't even know how it would work, but I guess whoever gets stuck holding that bill in December is just shit out of luck. I found a Zim penny on the street at one point, and did a little math - if you had a stack of them a kilometer high, the value wouldn't even equal $1 US. That should give you an idea of how bad their inflation is...
Anyway, I'm showing a few symptoms of malaria, so I think I'll go to sleep now... (I was taking Quinine all through the trip, but supposedly the bacteria is becoming pretty resistant to anti- malarials). We'll see what happens, but hopefully you'll hear from me again soon.
DL Fitch
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posted by: dlfitch (reply)
post date: 04.18.04 (3:37 am)
Yeah, so I just had a minor cold - no malaria. In case you care...
posted by: kari (reply)
post date: 04.19.04 (12:15 am)
consume the magic powders i sent you and you will stay healthy ~
posted by: Aranha (reply)
post date: 06.14.04 (12:23 am)
Sorry, but I just want to correct a small thing...Malaria is provoked, not by a bacteria, but by a parasite, which the female mosquito transports...
posted by: dlfitch (reply)
post date: 06.22.04 (3:51 pm)
Reply to: Aranha
Of course I knew that. It was just the delirium... Ahem.
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