From A - Z(ebras)

1.28.2016

*If you are just interested in an update, skip these first few paragraphs of musings*

It’s interesting for me to look at where I’m at now, compared to where I was before I left home for this adventure. In preparation for coming here, the SM office told me to talk to other SM’s and learn from their experiences. The thing seemingly everyone says it that their year serving was the hardest but best year of their life. I always wondered how that phrase was interpreted differently for so many people. It’s easier for me to understand all the ways it could be the best year, but how it was the hardest year is a bit vaguer in my understanding. Was it hard because of remoteness? Physical ailments? Personality or cultural differences? Sheer job hardships? There are such a broad range of things that could lead to such a conclusion. Hearing that so often made me resigned to the fact that it would be one of the hardest years of my life, too, as well as one of the best. But here I am, in January, thinking quite the opposite. I’m having one of the best years of my life. Best – by itself – without showing up alongside “hardest.” And truthfully, that in itself has been harder for me than any challenges I’ve had here. I wondered why, but I’ve narrowed it down to one main thing. Comparison. There are plenty of challenges here, but honestly I have everything I need, physically and emotionally. Yet for some reason I’m worried that my experience is somehow invalidated because I’m enjoying it so much. But then I look at why I’m here, and why I came, and the concern for others’ opinion falls away. Do I believe in the work being done here? Without a doubt. Do I believe in the job I came here to do? Absolutely. Do I see improvement or progress based on my work? Yes. So what more is there, really? Satan is so crafty when it comes to hurting us. He found the thing that could get me down after I’d put up defenses against all the ways I thought he would hurt me. Jerk. But recognizing the attack makes it a lot easier to navigate out of. A step in the right direction.

I truly am so happy here, though. I do miss my friends and family terribly, but my solution would be to transplant everyone here, not leave this place myself. I know I’m only halfway through my time, and perhaps my opinion will change, but honestly I don’t foresee that. I am so grateful for this place and these people. As an introvert, it can be hard to invest time in someone who won’t be around for long, but everyone I’ve met here has been welcoming and warm. That speaks volumes to me. Especially in the guest house, where there is a steady stream of incoming and outgoing medical professionals/residents/etc. We have a full house right now, but two are leaving tomorrow, and yet we all sit down for “family meals” whenever we are all available. It’s so interesting to hear everyone’s different stories, and since I’m the only one not here solely to work in the hospital, the table conversation usually revolves around medical/surgical talk, so that’s new for me as well. Life is good though. I’m realizing how important community is wherever one goes. It makes such a difference!

In the past week I’ve been able to visit Zomba for the first time, go on a game drive with zebras to the left and a golf course to the right (seriously!), and take photos in the peds ward of the hospital for a small project. Oh, and school was fit in there between the cracks! ;)

The Zomba visit came over the weekend and consisted of a cabin up on the plateau and horse-back rides for the kids. Us non-kids walked the trail behind the horses (walking was free and the exercise was wanted), and the kids excitedly sat atop their designated horses. I had two main points of interest from that walk: 1. The plateau is beautiful (shocker!), and 2. Jeans are not designed for running in (also a shocker!). But seriously, the walk was great. The whole time, I had a song running through my head… well, essentially one phrase of a song. It was an unrecorded song sung at a Relient K concert that had been written for the lead singer. I can’t be mad at him for that. But the song is called “Look On Up” I think and basically it talks about putting away your cell phone or blinding thoughts and look up. There are so many cool trees in Malawi! One in particular was a coniferous tree that only had branches in rings that appeared every couple feet up the main trunk. I took a picture but it unfortunately didn’t turn out well enough to post. If you want to see it, come to Zomba! ;) The rest of the weekend there was filled with good food, venders, and excellent company! We got to meet up with some friends who live there and the boys were taken on a tractor ride which I think is basically the highlight of their life at this point! Guess I need to learn to drive a tractor to keep their attention.



The game drive took place in Bvumbwe at a place called “Game Haven” that I didn’t even know existed till a couple weeks ago, yet it’s closer than Blantyre! It’s a small resort/animal reserve type place that doesn’t have lions or elephants or those type of animals, but for pretty cheap you can go for an hour and a half game drive. I finally saw zebras and giraffes! I’d always been somewhat bored by them in pictures, but wow. Seeing them in person is something else. They are incredibly unique! I know my pictures will not do justice, but because daddy requires it, here’s what I have! :)



School has been easier this week but we’re making visible progress and I’m so thrilled! Be it reading clocks or spelling from memory (teaching spelling makes me hate the English language. I can’t teach a single rule without first prefacing, “this is how it usually is but there’s ALWAYS exceptions…”) This morning we had a group craft with the other kids here. With eyes wide, the kids took in the table stacked with popsicle sticks, paint, glitter and felt and then the hurricane hit and things got messy. A wonderful sight! From bird feeders to raft boats to animals, it was messy and awesome! The table only took a few hits thankfully, where the tablecloth ended and the young ones ensured that paint showed up. I love seeing the differing types of creativity in kids though! I really love the kids here, even when they’re HANGRY. (It is a REAL thing.)

One other project I did this week was taking pictures in the pediatric ward at the hospital highlighting the lack of mosquito nets available. Since it’s the rainy season, the ward is overflowing with kids due to malaria and other things more common in the rainy season. But it was a huge step out of my comfort zone. I love taking pictures, but taking pictures of people I don’t know is uncomfortable. But I was determined to just do it before I could think too much about it, so I asked a nurse to come translate for me and we went to some of the different rooms and asked if we could take pictures. I was expecting opposition, understandably, but surprisingly received none. It’s always sobering to walk through a hospital. Every time I do, whether it’s in the general ward or pediatric, there are always stories. Many that I never learn, but the ones I do learn make you take a step back and just appreciate life a bit more. One time Dustin and I went to take a few ladies who were bedridden outside in wheelchairs, and it was something else to see them enjoy the sunshine and fresh air that they hadn’t been able to take in for too long. Despite the pain of the wheelchairs going over bumps, you could tell that the fresh air was a welcome gift. I picked a flower for each of them and both ladies held onto it the entire time. I’m annoyed at myself for not making it back there to take them for a walk again, but when the next clear day comes and someone strong to lift them is available, I’m hoping to get them some fresh air again.

So welcome to another week in Malawi. Good luck to all the high school basketballers in Walla Walla this weekend! Stay safe and score high. And to my favorite people at home, I cannot express my gratitude to you. I have never once questioned the support from home, and that is truly amazing. From church members to family members to friends, I wouldn’t be here without you, so thank you. And I sincerely apologize for being a sap, but people are too often unappreciated and I’m willing to bore a few people if it means some others will smile.
Tionana!

Rainy Season? HA!

“Don’t do it in the rainy season…” said the weather forecast. “You mean we should ignore the forecasted rain,” said we? “Suit yourselves,” said the weather. And we went. And it was awesome. :)

Excursion 1: Backpacking Mt. Mulanje 1.7.16 – 1.9.16

A few weeks ago, Mindy and Carla started planning a backpacking trip to Mt. Mulanje and invited me along, and so we started looking at logistics and transportation and when we would go. All of a sudden the MIA rains started to show up in the forecast for Mulanje so we looked at the soonest I could get to town (which ended up being the next Wednesday when I went to extend my visa again) and headed out the next morning. With a porter to carry a pack for us and show us the way on our chosen path, we embarked. Up. And up. And up. As we ascended, the view was incredible! We were taking the Skyline route up to Chambe Hut, a route recommended to us, and the higher we hiked, the more the scenery changed. At the base, the terrain was closer to a jungle, but as we got higher, it changed to where when we stopped climbing up, we were in an almost alpine terrain with ferns and cedar trees and cool breezes! Oh! And what else… rain! The going up had been slow and steady as one of the girls had woken up with a bug but once we reached the end of the uphill, we still had to hike out to the hut which was flat by comparison but still comprised of going up and down hills. When we were maybe 20-30min from the hut, the skies opened. Slow at first, then all at once, unleashing a drenching downpour complete with hail. It was pretty neat for the first 5min, but after that the refreshing effect wore off and we were just cold and wet and walking through standing water and flash river/flood streams that had formed on the road. Our porter (named Bright) was great though and stayed with us the whole time, patiently, and when we finally saw the hut we ran to it and stood on the covered porch to catch our breath. We were so happy when the grounds keeper of that hut came to unlock the hut and immediately built us a roaring fire inside so we could dry off. Within another half hour of getting there, the rain stopped and the sun came out. We laid out things out to dry, grabbed some food and admired the beauty around us. The great thing about hiking when rain is forecasted is that nobody else wants to hike, so this communal hut that has had even as many as 20 people at once, had only us the entire trip! So we could completely spread out and cook over the fire whenever we wanted and it was so relaxing!

That was the first day, so then the next morning we were planning on hiking to another hut to stay but since one of us was still sick we took it easy. We had a lazy morning, and Mindy and I hiked down to some pools our porter showed us and took a swim. The water was cold but oh-so-refreshing! In the afternoon we convinced Bright to teach us to play Bao(?) (I don’t remember what it was called, but it’s similar to Mancala) and then we hiked up one of the trails a bit and watched a storm close in on a different peak – an impressive display for sure! Then we had a dinner of mashed potatoes and chili with hot chocolate. Food tastes so much better when camping! After some card games, we went to bed ready for the hike down the next day.

Bright took us on a different route going down which was great because we got to see some new scenery, and we all were glad we were going down and not up as it was quite the trail! Near the base we stopped by the waterfall that I’d visited before when I’d been to Mulanje. Where before the waterfall had been packed full of people, we had it completely to ourselves! For backpacking without showers, we had it pretty good! Rain the first day, pools the second day, and now the waterfall. We spent probably an hour swimming, snacking, and enjoying the beauty! When we were finally ready to leave, we finished hiking down and thanked our porter and signed out and such. Then since we still had time to kill before our ride home arrived, we chilled with the venders there who were very ready to strike a bargain as we were basically their business that day and their only source of income that day. We looked at all their booths and talked with them and it was actually a nice place to wait for our ride. So while we got rained on the first day, I don’t think we could have really picked a better time for the trip. Now we’re hoping to do it again on a different route!

Excursion 2: Hiking up Thyolo Mountain 1.13.16

This excursion was much smaller than the Mulanje trek, but no less breathtaking. It was Wednesday afternoon and Mindy and Carla had come to Malamulo to spend the last days of their break. I’d finished school with the boys and we were all needing to get out, so we called up the Graybills and we took our group to Thyolo Mountain to hike to the standing rock (which you can see from the guest house window!). Before leaving, we had made plans in advance of who would carry Jett when he decided his legs no longer worked (as has been known to happen! Common among 3-yr olds I’m figuring out. I’m sure I never had that problem, right? ;) ) But to our surprise, both Jett-3 and Anna-4 hiked up on their own! Slowly. But on their own! They hiked down too! Jett lasted until the last stretch before getting to the cars, but we were quite proud of them! At the top, though, we hiked through maize field to the rock which had a cave and spectacular views of the valley below it. A panorama cannot do justice to what it is like to stand there, feeling on top of the world! (Que soundtrack of choice playing in background). After we’d exhausted our cameras, we hiked back down, and for most of the way Mindy, Carla, Benson, Hudson, and I played the alphabet game with animals and foods, which was a bad idea because it made all of us hungry, but it was a good time! Now I can say I’ve been to that rock I see from the guest house every day! :)

Excursion 3: Safari!!! 1.16.16 – 1.16.17

You can’t go to Africa and not go on at least one safari! And every safari is different, so go on as many as you can. An, a LLU resident who is here for January, decided he was going on safari and invited us to go along. We checked out prices and this place was a good deal! We were going to Liwande Safari Camp and we were excited! The morning we were to leave, as we were waiting for our ride to show up, An gets a call from the camp informing us that there has been a lot of rain and maybe we should reconsider our trip. Puzzled that they would turn away business, we ask around and all agree that we are willing to risk the rain. When we got there, the sun was out and after settling in we went for a river boat tour of the Shire River and we saw rafts and rafts of hippos, a few crocs, and some elephants (among birds galore!).

We stayed in the dormitory since it was a cheap option and to our great luck, we had the whole room to ourselves since nobody else was willing to venture out! There were two others in the camp, but they had opted for the “better” housing accommodations (though ours were a better deal I think). After the boat tour we had a warm supper of vegetable pasta and then we played some games and hit up the dormitory to get some sleep before the 6am safari drive the next day. It’s interesting sleeping in a safari camp because it is so loud with animal and bug sounds. I think most of what I heard were frogs and cicadas, but it’s so cool to just listen to all the different sounds going on around you. We all felt pretty safe under our mosquito nets thankfully, and we didn’t see anything crazy in camp other than the monitor lizard and the two warthogs that trotted through camp.

When we woke the next morning we rolled out of bed for our safari drive and crossed our fingers that we wouldn’t get stuck in the mud. With a bit of luck on our side, the drive went without a hitch and we had cool comfortable weather with only mistings of rain. The park doesn’t have a huge variety of the big animals you expect to see, but we came face to face with elephants, warthogs, waterbucks, bushbucks, impalas, and yellow baboons. Being so close to an elephant is something else. It’s so huge and obviously powerful, yet thankfully these were pretty chill guys and though we were right next to them they just stared at us then went on their business. And, they still had their beautiful ivory tusks. :) There are still so many animals I have yet to see but if this happens to be the only safari I get to (hopefully it isn’t), I’ll hold tight to memories of elephants and hippos. :)

Wow that was long, thanks for sticking through till the end!