Today has been a day of differences really. Poor Jack is in hospital with a bacterial infection on top of Rotovirus, probably picked up from dodgy water whilst at the Lake of Stars. In fact loads of people who went to the Lake last weekend seem to have been sick with the D and Vs, but Jack has definitely had the worst of it. Better now however after a few hours rehydration on a drip.
I got taken out for a lovely lunch today apropos of nothing really. I thoroughly enjoyed it and now know where to go to take visitors for a treat!
Tonight we had duck for tea, but it was very dried up and had more in common with shoe leather than anything else I can think of! I seem to be coping OK with not being vegetarian most of the time but I don't think I shall become a big meat eater nonetheless.
The big difference was that it rained today at lunch time for about an hour and a half. It really bucketed down. Now I know what the deep gutters around all the houses are for! While it was raining it was mercifully cooler, but afterwards it was just as hot as before, except now it's humid as well! I walked home from the office through Chilomoni on my own for only the second time this evening. The biggest change was that the rain had laid all the dust to rest and everything smelled different. The ground must have been so thirsty as very few puddles lasted until five o'clock. Everything smelled different as well. As I walked down a little footpath of a short cut I noticed an aromatic smell like lemon balm, but I couldn't identify which plant it was.
I spent the morning hammering more details of applicants for the course onto my spreadsheet. I have narrowed the applications down to about 300 and have put 150 of them onto a spreadsheet. When I've got them all on I shall see what it looks like and then decide on which criteria to use to select the lucky (?) 120. I could do with Karl really to write me a programme to do it now that I have reduced everything to nice manageable figures! Not really though, my final column I have headed 'Passion points' and have given applicants a score from 0-3 depending on what they have written, if anything about why they want to do the course. It's probably highly subjective, but it makes sense to me!!
This afternoon I allowed myself the treat of doing a bit of research around the nature and history of Malawian Early Childhood Education and followed up a couple of contacts, trying to plan some interesting visits for David next week, but tomorrow it will have to be back to the spreadsheet with nose to the grindstone! Internet was painfully slow again, but at least it is better at the office than it is at home!
So what do I like about Malawi?
I like the jacaranda trees, I like the quality of the light at 5 o'clock in the morning the instant before the sun pops over the horizon (not that I see it all that often, but I saw it this morning). I like having a swimming pool in the garden. I like the anticipation of future visits to the game lodges and hearing about what others have seen when they have been. I like the friendliness of the local people, especially when I'm walking about Chilomoni. I am beginning to try out my very limited (about four phrases) Chichewa. Loads of complete strangers speak to me. I must have answered 30 people who said 'How are you?' to me as I walked along the street. White people are rare enough for little children to point and say 'Azungu' as we go by. Children walk along beside me and dare each other to reach out and touch my hand. Slightly older ones coming towards me will raise their hands in a 'high five', just to touch the mzungu! I got slightly lost coming home the other day and had to ask the way. The young man I asked insisted on escorting me until I saw the school that I recognized and was sure I was on the right way home. The pace of life seems very relaxed. People have time to pause and chat and to set you on your way. I like the bright colours and bold patterns on the chitenge that the girls wear (like a sarong). I like the wood carvings and other crafts that I have seen. I like the variety of fruit there is about at the moment. There are mango trees in nearly everybody's garden and strawberries, huge blackberries, raspberries, red and yellow, bananas. I even tried a custard apple the other day. I can't say I was over impressed, but I tried it! I like the enthusiasm for the acquisition of learning that I see over and over wherever I go.
There are things I struggle with as well. I find it hard not to be irritated and feel cheated out of my evening when the power goes off between 6.00 and 8.00pm, which it does at least twice a week. When I was without a water supply in my house for a couple of days I hated it. There are a lot of annoying insects, but nothing really scary yet! There have been days when I have just been too hot for comfort and hot flushes just add insult to injury! Living with a mixed bunch of volunteers has disadvantages as well as delights! Nothing is well made or properly finished and things keep breaking, but I must say that if I report things going wrong they are fixed very quickly. I hate it that there is no one within 1000 miles who I have known for more than a fortnight, but I know that that will get better literally by the day!
It was a treat to get my first letter today from John's mum. It was a lovely card with a jug of flowers and cup cakes, very English tea party and reminded me of home! She says that she will get news of me from you John, so make sure she has the blog address. When she handed it to me Zoe said 'You've got mail from home, don't cry!' and I just about managed not to, but I did well up a bit. You do all seem a long way away. Thank goodness for the internet and Facebook and mobile phones! It's much easier for me than it must have been for Auntie Doreen as a missionary in the Congo in the sixties!
Apologies to those of you who have emailed and I haven't managed a personal reply. There are just not enough hours in the day! I hope you will be satisfied with news on the blog until the weekend.
Well, it's twenty past eight so I guess it's coming up to bedtime! I must say it feels like about midnight! Good night all – keep in touch! Mx
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