It’s hard to believe it’s already February! My perception of time has changed so drastically since I’ve arrived here. I used to think going somewhere for a month was a long time, but since getting here and seeing residents come and go and recognizing that I, too, will leave at some point, I see just how short a time that is. I feel like I could stay here a couple years and still barely scratch the surface of all there is to learn and see. There are so many stories here, so many people that have so much to share if you take the time to get to know them. You can come to Malawi and see all the popular sights in a relatively short amount of time, but to understand Malawi takes much more time and commitment. But truly, I believe it is worth it. A tourist goes to see the sights, a traveler seeks to understand. Understanding takes time. I’m hoping to continue to learn from this place. For better or for worse.
In the past week I was able to visit Thoko’s village where she showed us around her house and her crops, which I was grateful for! It’s one thing to see the villages as I drive by, but it’s another entirely to walk through one and see the living conditions up close. I can’t say I was surprised by what I saw, thanks to common media portrayal in an effort to sell stories, but it becomes much more real to see it and walk through it as though it were your own home. It seems silly to complain about the water or electricity going out when the villages constantly live with no electricity or running water. It certainly puts things in perspective. I would have a hard time with a kitchen the size of a closet, but when it is what you have, you learn to make the most of it. When I think of the experience and what it means for me, a thousand questions come into my head of what my place is, what anyone’s place is, what will help, what help is needed, what will only be seen as an insult to a way of life, and a multitude more. More than can be addressed in a blog post. Perhaps another time. Later on, I was able to hike up Michiru Mountain with Mindy and Carla, which was a quick hike but didn’t disappoint in its spectacular view from the top! I’m SO glad the Malawi landscape isn’t flat here! Also, plug for sanuks, I hiked the whole way up in mine since I didn’t have hiking shoes with me and I managed to avoid any *graceful* falls or twisted ankles. Happy girl right here!
This past Friday I went to market with Shar and a few of her friends and we hit the clothes piles. It is an experience. Where a normal retail therapy session involves many stores, ours involved many piles. You simply walk through, pick a pile, and start digging through it. If you see something you like, try it on over your clothes on the spot – the people are already staring at us, they can’t stare more than they already are! If it fits, haggle the price a bit. If it doesn’t, put it back in the pile and dig some more. Find those gems! The pile owners need to sell the clothes to make their living, so everybody wins! And if you try one of their clothing items on, they will be sure and tell you how good it looks on you (I’m sure because they want to compliment us, not because they want to make a sale, right?) so you can even get a self-esteem boost in the process! Anyways.. it was a fun morning!
Then in the afternoon, I finally braved the minibus. Not by myself though, thankfully! A minibus is a large passenger van that is stuffed to the brim with anything from people to maize bags to goats and is the standard taxi service here. It will take you forever to get where you are going and it will be hot and probably smelly, but it’s fairly cheap and there are an abundance of them! So, four of us from the guest house were going to Huntington House for afternoon tea as a treat, but we didn’t have a ride there. So, we boarded a minibus in front of the hospital, took it to Thyollo #1 station, then took it to the road to Satemwa where it dropped us off before continuing on to Limbe (having already picked up and dropped off a number of others along the way). There was a truck there to take people where they needed to go at Satemwa (since minibuses aren’t allowed there) but there was no driver, so we told the guys there that we would start walking and if the driver showed up, come pick us up. There were motorbikes available to ride on the back of, but two people in the party were wearing skirts and all four people in the party weren’t too excited about that idea, so we started walking. Maybe 5-10min later, the truck did indeed catch up with us and though we haggled, he overcharged us to take us the rest of the way to huntington house, but we were in a bit of a hurry and finally agreed to it. Linly, the only Malawian of our group, wasn’t able to counteract the fact that the rest of us were white and thus there was no discount to be had. Even though we picked up some other guys along the way and he charged them half of what he charged us. But I’m not bitter. At all. Anyways, the tea, coffee, and refreshments were wonderful and the scenery was beautiful. It was exceedingly relaxing and I don’t think I’ll ever believe I’m too old for a tea party! The manager then drive us back to the main road when we were done (she was bored and didn’t mind driving us) and then we realized we probably wouldn’t find a minibus that had room driving by since we weren’t at a station, so we started walking the main road towards Thyolo station. It was really a nice time of afternoon to walk, and yes we got stares still but it was fun. Eventually, a semi-empty minibus drove by, saw us and stopped and took us the rest of the way. So overall it was a pretty good time. One thing about minibuses, the drivers are always trying to avoid using gas, so they don’t start the engines. They do a rolling start on a hill or with guys pushing from behind and then start it off the rolling motion. That’s fun and all till you do it going backwards downhill. Eesh. Also, I do believe my claustrophobia is a bit worse after seeing so many people fit into a van that LITERALLY had its door fall off mid-ride, but I was by a window so I figured if we crashed I could at least get out. I’d rather not know the stats of minibus crashes. Sorry for highlighting that worry, parents. I’m totally safe don’t worry! ;)
Then the next day Rachel and I from the guest house were able to go with the Blanchards to Majete, Malawi’s more famous game park. The ride there provided some great views as well as some more local wildlife… But though the lions and leopards hid from us, we still had a good time and the baby elephant at the end was a nice way to end the safari!
2.18.16
This week brought a bit of sickness with it, not for me yet thankfully, but Jett and Huddy both had a rough time. There was one day, though, where there was a really sweet moment. The boys always ask me if they can have an “easy” day, especially when there is any kind of disturbance to the normal schedule, such as someone being sick or starting the day late or whatever the excuse may be. It always makes me sad because I know fun days are so much more enjoyable, but I don’t want them to fall behind either. Not that I’m super worried about that – they have great capacities to learn – but if I let them slack off every time they feel a bit tired or unmotivated, I might be setting a bad life example. Anyways, sometimes they do get “fun” days, but this day wasn’t as such. I did feel bad though and as Benson was doing his math assignment I lamented to them that I wished I could give them easy days all the time. Instead of brushing me off, he accepted my form of apology and responded that he wished I didn’t have to do hard things in my college either. My heart melted! We then bonded over dreams of all the information in the world being delivered to us in neat 10pg pamphlets, or being able to sleep on textbooks and learn everything by morning, etc. It was a small moment, but it made a difference for me knowing that they understood why I push them to learn.
With that said, I think I’ve covered everything that I’ve missed in the last few weeks! May your day be filled with adventure. :)
