The African Gestapo

David and I found a flat together about 1 1/2 km from town. It's half the price but the same size and better amenities so we're happy. The only difference is that we have to walk to town every day to get things when all I had to do before was walk downstairs. Oh well. It's great exercise! Everyone walks everywhere here. It's a part of life. Whether you have to walk 1 block or 3 kms, people just walk. They don't have money for taxis and very few have cars or bicycles. 

Our cottage is in a place called Penny Wise Cottages and it is surrounded by a stone wall and electrified wires on top of that (although the electricity has long since been turned off.) All of the houses have fences around them that have electricity or razor wire, and also a guard that stands watch from the evening until morning. I was surprised at this since it seems like such a safe town but they told me it's because people come in from neighboring countries (Vic Falls borders Zambia and Botswana) and try to steal things and then go back -- all in a night's work. So the guards and fences are there to keep everyone safe. That suits me just fine. 

Where I was living before when I was renting on my own, the rules were that I was not to have any visitors after 9:00 pm (um...hello?? I have a boyfriend...) but David would stay later anyway and we never had a problem until one night I got a knock on the door about 11:00. I told David to hide in the closet and he grabbed his hat and I stuffed him in between the clothes. I answered the door and it was the Sentinel (the guard) asking where David was. (David had "checked in" when he came over earlier so he knew he was there.) I said David left already. (Sorry, God. Just a little white lie.) He said, "When? Why didn't I see him?" I said, "I don't know. Maybe you were sleeping when he left," He got a bit huffy at that and asked if he could search the flat. I told him I was really unwell and suffering from a flaming headache and he would have to leave. 

A few minutes later we had another knock on the door and the Sentinel came back with the apartment manager. The manager asked where David was and I told them again that he had already left and that I was getting a little annoyed at being disturbed, especially since I wasn't feeling well. They kept insisting to know where David was, and I kept insisting that he left. Just then the guard pointed down to the floor of the foyer and asked, "Who's are those shoes?" Oh, God! David always took his shoes off when he came over. I just about choked at such a stupid oversight on my part. I hemmed and hawed about David keeping several pairs of shoes at the flat and, it even sounded lame to me. So I thought I'd call his bluff and tell him to just go ahead and search the flat.

I opened the door wide and told him to go in. You'll see he's not here, I said. He came in and looked around all the rooms and even out on the terrace. Lastly, he went into my bedroom and I walked in and said, "See? He's not here!" Just then he looked at the closet. We looked at each other for a couple of seconds and I knew it was do or die.  I figured I better do something grand, so I started in with big arm gestures and going on about how I felt like it was Nazi Germany and he was acting just like the Gestapo and that he really had to leave now because I'd had just about enough. Well, to my relief, it worked. After a minute he reluctantly left, eyeing the closet the whole time he walked out.  I'm sure both he and the apartment manager knew that David was still there! But I wasn't going to give him up that easily. Stay tuned for more fun in Africa coming up.