Week one and two, Harare, Zimbabwe 2009.

I arrived in Harare with my colleague Tor Åge Schuneman on Tuesday the 20th of January. From the plain I could see green fields, and a landscape full of vitality. I had no expectations, trying to keep my heart and mind open to whatever these next coming days, weeks and months would bring, and I sensed an immediate feeling of home as I took my first steps onto this amazing African red soil. I was in Zimbabwe,  I was home.

Warmth; the weather the people. I can only as humbly as possible state the fact that the Zimbabweans are a proud, strong and amazingly helpful and welcoming people. During these two weeks of working at the Zimbabwe College of Music, i have experienced the personality of several people, amongst them, my students and teacher colleagues , and the general feeling I get from them is positivity and strength, and an eager to learn, understand and accept. I have met many challenges as a teacher, having to get used to the new environment, less access to teaching material and also getting to know and relate to a new group of people. I am learning something new everyday; about myself, about this culture and about a people that have already dug themselves deep into my heart. I feel an immense respect for this culture that I have entered and been accepted into, and it is with deep respect I am sharing my experience of Zimbabwe with you: The world.