So recently I made the perilous plane trip back to Zimbabwe. I've lived in Australia since February '08 so it had been over a year and a half since I'd last been home, which immediately raised an interesting question for me to ponder while being patted down by security at the airport; Is Zimbabwe really my home? It's certainly where I was born and where my parents live but I haven't really lived there since 2004. Regardless I still love seeing my parents so I was prepared to make the trip.

I like flying. I know a lot of people don’t, my mother in fact gets so panicky on a plane that she has been known to sit stock still and glare ferociously out of the window as if this were the only way to keep the plane in the air. As for myself I generally find it easy to relax, sometimes I’ll read a book, listen to music or even just watch the landscape blur as the plane accelerates to take off. If I needed any more proof that I am a bad cook it was provided when I got excited about the food they were serving on the plane.

Anyway we arrived in South Africa at about five in the morning. It was cold, dark and quite cheerless. However South Africa has obviously been hard at work to get the place ready for the 2010 Soccer World Cup as I discovered when I went to one of the many cafes that have been built since I was last there. To my delight, and I kid you not this memory still keeps me warm at night, one of them was a lovely open plan buffet with comfortable couches and a welcoming atmosphere even at 5 a.m. Displaying my usual ineptitude I proceeded to try and pay in Australian Dollars and was politely told that they would prefer rand but could accept Au$ if I was unable to pay any other way. The mere fact that they were willing to allow me to pay in another currency just so I would not be inconvenienced by walking 100 metres to a Forex stand was heart-warming and quite a change in attitude since the last time I’d visited. They firmly won my business however when they gave me a free refill of my hot chocolate and gave me first pick of the fresh muffins that had arrived. I had a five hour layover in South Africa but it seemed to go a lot quicker with such a nice place to relax in the airport.

I was home for about a month and managed to do some pretty cool stuff while I was there. Anyone who knows me knows that I am stupidly scared of heights. I cannot even look down from tall buildings with a fluttery feeling in my stomach which is why I thought it would be smart to jump off a cliff, just to see if I could(turns out I can). I saw far more than my fair share of warthogs and vervet monkeys (maybe one day I will share the story on why I dislike them so much) and got to see lions, civet cats and hyenas. Being back in Zimbabwe also allowed me to experience the thrill of having no electricity for days on end because someone at the power station was wondering what a particular lever did. Fun fact; my parents haven’t had municipal water at the house in over 10 months but they still have to pay the bill or we’ll get cut off.

If that last paragraph seemed jumbled or quick that’s because it’s exactly how the entire trip felt. Before I realised it I was already on a plane back to Australia. I’m told that home-coming can be the most emotionally draining experience that a University student, and indeed their family, can have. But when you get back to your house in Australia and collapse exhausted onto your bed you’ll think back to the time you had at home and smile.

Plus, let’s not forget free food and free laundry! How can you go wrong?