20. Casa Zimbabwe
Through My Eyes: Chronicles of a UC Berkeley Student
Expanding my mind of what humanity is capable of creating.
Casa Zimbabwe is a co-op – a beautiful embodiment of cooperative living. These affordable housing spaces repurpose large buildings, like old hotels, giving students either a shared or private room (if lucky). Residents share responsibilities and chores. Social events are the heartbeat of the co-op. Different houses distinguish themselves with themes: women-only, plant-based, people of color, and party house. The party house was Casa Zimbabwe.
CZ is another planet within one building.
With 120 residents spread across two wings, the main hangout spot, the Womb, is the epicenter of activity. In the middle of the Womb, there’s an enormous dining table adorned with vibrant drawings and a stripper pole stripper pole protruding from the center. Tucked at the edge are puffy couches for lounging, an arcade dance machine that my friends would go crazy on, and a balcony where people go out to smoke.
From the Womb, winding through halls adorned with psychedelic smiley faces, cartoon characters, and inspirational quotes, you can explore endless creativity. The subject matter ranges from doodles with quotes to your favorite childhood cartoon characters like SpongeBob and the Powerpuff Girls. In most co-ops, anyone can paint anything on the walls and the door belongs to the creativity of those who live inside. I spent one evening helping Lily splatter her door in drippy, vibrant colors.
One of the stairwells leads to a cluttered bong garden – a large window sill filled with 20 miscellaneous, broken bongs and a few rocks. Above, two distinct roofs offer panoramic views of the Bay Area: one a serene study haven, the other a lively gathering space for parties and workouts. Both are coated in bright colors and graffiti, adding a rebellious and skater flare. On clear days, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Berkeley hills stretch out in breathtaking vistas.
The life stories of CZ residents are absolutely intriguing. They come from a myriad of backgrounds and life experiences: individuals of all ages, nationalities, genders, and sexualities. A good portion of them don’t attend UC Berkeley but rather a community college, with some planning to transfer. Their unconventional lives and vibrant personalities made CZ a melting pot of stories and experiences. While most are kind and genuine, the community, like any large group, has its challenges: a few have sexual abuse allegations. For those bad apples, there is a list of banned people who can’t enter the house.
When you walk around campus, you can often tell who lives in the co-ops because many don colorful clothing or vibrant patterns or are just… are actually fashionable (a rare occurrence at UC Berkeley).
But the colorful attire is just the surface of what makes living at CZ both exciting and challenging, and the willingness to live at CZ entails a certain level of craziness. Every few weeks, CZ transforms into a raging club that pulses with loud music well into the early hours of the morning. People congregate around the stripper pole and take turns on it. Some CZars have jobs as strippers. If they’re in the mood, the CZ strippers give everyone a show. People embark on various sexual escapades from threesomes to orgies. The kitchen's chaos was legendary, even inspiring an Instagram account dedicated to poking fun at its state.
They say that once you’ve experienced CZ parties, you’ll never go back. I think that accurately illustrates their irreplicable nature. At the beginning of the semester there’s the wine and cheese rooftop party, in which everyone dresses up in elegant attire. They lay out charcuterie of fine cheese, fruits, crackers, and even cake, filling up two wooden dining tables. When you enter, you are offered a wine bottle, which, if you accept, is taped to your hand and finished by the end of the night. As the final addition, there’s a live band and a view of the shining lights of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge and the moonlight reflecting off the dark Bay.
They have other parties such as room-to-room, which I’ll tell you about later, a Mad Hatter Tea party, and a cowboy party with a mechanical bull. Some of them are closed to the public, some are invite-only, and others are open.
Casa Zimbabwe is a uniquely Berkeleyan experience. While I didn’t learn much from being there, being there expanded my imagination of what humanity is capable of creating.
With love,
Beata
Thanks for tuning in! And please let me know what you think in the comments!
P.S. I am looking for a literary agent to help me get published! If you know anyone, connect me! Thank you!!