One Month In

12.13.2015

It’s a strange thing looking at the calendar and seeing the page flipped to December, then chuckling as you fan yourself while you sit in shorts staring at the mini Christmas tree loaned to you. I’ve always loved Christmas and all the decorations and festivities that come with the holiday season, so being here where it’s so hot and the Christmas decorations exist mostly only inside of houses is something new. We still play Christmas carols and I loved helping decorate the Hayton’s tree, but it’s definitely not the Christmas I’ve grown up with. I’m thinking it will be ok, though, because being able to see a new perspective on Christmas helps highlight the things I do love and appreciate about the season so when I find those things again, I’ll appreciate them more. Just a thought as I sit here sweating on a Sunday afternoon. :)

School is going well, there will always be days where the word “concentration” is as foreign as the word “snow” but things are being learned and the garden is growing. (Some of it. We may have had to replant some plots that housed only weeds and mini papaya tree plants.) The boys love science experiments, and most recently we cracked open some geodes and that was a big hit! I also taught the boys how to do situps after a particularly distracted bout where the boys needed to use some energy and that was pretty fun for me as well as them as I played drill sergeant and they laughed and tried to do “one more.” There are so many things that make me smile throughout the day and plenty of things that make me have to take a deep breath as well. Can’t let the kids see me lose it – lead by example they say! (I’ve never really come close to losing it, though, thankfully!) Here’s a snapshot of the schoolroom from when we first started, if you see it now there will be a few more art projects and such added.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of going to Lake Malawi with the Haytons, Graybills, and Dustin and Dartagnan (two of the surgeons living in the guest house with me). It was a hot but relaxing weekend spent mostly either in the water, eating, or playing games. I tried my best to keep up in Trivial Pursuit despite the slight age gap between me and everyone else playing, but I definitely have a bit to learn about trivia pre-1995! The neat thing about the water there where we were at is that it stayed shallow for quite a ways, so if you waded out to where normally you’d have to be swimming, the water was still only at our waists which was great for needing to keep track of small kids. I could have swam further out, but I admit that being so far away from shore in water that housed hippos and crocs made me a bit squeamish, so I stayed where I could see clearly what was in the water around me. The sand was soft and the water refreshing, the food was amazing and there was air conditioning at night. The beach was picturesque, and the snails that cause us so many problems in the water leave a plethora of empty shells to be collected. I was happy as a clam :) I also loved seeing the broken shells.
Lessons from the lake #1: It’s a bit of a cliché but it’s interesting that often we have to be completely broken before seeing what we’re truly made of. Being broken can be as beautiful as being whole, but for such different reasons.

I think my favorite morning was Sunday morning when I woke up at 5 and went outside to watch the sunrise coming up over the water (the house faced dead east). It was so peaceful and there was a nice breeze to make it cool. For having to wake up early, I’ve never once regretted doing it for a sunrise. It’s moments like that where I feel closest to God, with no distractions, just the beautiful sky painted just for me. After the sun had sufficiently risen, I went on a run with Casey and Shar where we were surrounded by Baobab trees (the only tree I was determined I HAD to see in Africa). I was surprised that they were so old because most trees are cut down by the people for wood, but apparently according to tradition Baobab’s aren’t cut down, they are left until they come down on their own. Anyways, something else really neat about the lake, is every night we were there, there was a storm, but not a close storm, just enough that there was refreshing wind and lightning in the sky. No rain, and no thunder because it was too far away, just the sky lighting up and cooler air. On top of that, every night the fishermen would bring out their boats with a lantern, so our view showcased what looked like stars dotting the surface of the water. It created a nice ambience! As with everywhere, we had power outages daily which made keeping the fridges cool difficult but it always came back on in the evening which was really nice. For not having an ocean beach to go to, the lake was a perfect substitute!

Currently, we’re sitting here with no power and the thunder is cracking (it literally sounds like the sky is splitting in two it’s SO LOUD!) and the rain is starting. The downpour is coming, and the air smells incredibly fresh. It’s fantastic. :D I’m a bit bummed that my laundry has stopped in the middle of the load, AGAIN, but I’m happy enough for the rain that I don’t care right now. Laundry can be re-done tomorrow.

On Wednesday, I got to experience my own Downton Abbey evening. It was unexpected but so neat! I was invited to dinner at the house of someone at one of the nearby estates and getting there it was like stepping into the past for a few hours. If you care for details about it, feel free to ask but I won’t give them all since this post is already quite long! Then last Thursday I went to town and for 5000MK had my visa extended till January, so I don’t have to leave the country yay! (Not that I was worried, the visa situation seems much more stressful when you’re needing to get into the country than when you are already here. We’ll see if I say that again when I have to extend it long term next month.) After almost missing my ride, I also got to spend Friday night in town with the two WWU girls who are teaching there, so that was a nice break! We (mostly they) cooked amazing food and we chilled and got to talk about life. Unfortunately, though, my debit card isn’t working at the ATM so when we were walking around town I couldn’t get any cash. It’s a lovely freak out moment when the machine, after accepting your pin and asking you how much cash you want, decides that no, you can’t have any cash, nor can you have your card back. This happened twice at two different bank machines, letting me know that it’s just my card. Perfect. But thankfully I was able to get my card back both times without too much hastle. Now I have to figure out why my card won’t work. (Before you ask, yes I contacted the card company and gave them the when/where of me being in Africa so that shouldn’t have been the problem.) Hoping it’s an easy fix. Then since there was no ride for me to get back to Malamulo on Sunday, I had to return on Saturday afternoon on the hospital vehicle but everyone on the vehicle had phone problems so I ended up sitting outside in the rain at the designated pick-up point for almost 40min, but a little rain never hurt thankfully. :) Which is good because back to my current state, the rain is coming down in sheets and the temp has dropped significantly. So with that blessing, here are some other pictures from the area. Happy Holiday Season everyone :)