I am sitting in an Italian Ice Cream Parlour in Blantyre to write this blog entry because we have had no power for 24 hours now at Mitsidi. It went off following a very loud thunderclap yesterday afternoon. We had organized a party for the joint birthday celebrations of Sarah and Diddy and to say farewell to Giacomo. The rains chose party time to assert themselves and establish that the rainy season is well and truly here. We have had some short sharp showers in the last couple of weeks, but yesterday the heavens truly opened and the Malawian drainage systems were tested! The outdoor barbeque was almost washed away and we had to transfer the party to the khonde of the main house where the barbeque is under cover. Attendance was restricted as many people did not fancy a wet walk, but we enjoyed ourselves nevertheless, with plenty of food and drink and swimming in the rain. We had a good time but it was disappointing not to see everyone we expected and there was a low point when Diddy's mobile phone was stolen. It feels bad when something is stolen by one of your guests.
Last Monday I returned to work following my week off sick. David and I have launched a pilot programme for the practical part of the course, testing out a few tasks on the students who are helping in the primary school or with the Stay and Play group. I helped Diddy with the Stay and Play again this week. It's good to spend some time with children. My favourite part was sitting outside with five children who were too old for a toddler group but who turned up, without adults, on the offchance we would let them in to play. We didn't, but I took paper and crayons outside and tried to chat with them. My Chichewa is not really up to it and their English was about the same level, but we drew a few pictures and learned a little about each other that way. Later one of my students came outside and I asked her to ask the children why they were not in school. Four of them could say which school they were enrolled in and which standard they were in, but one boy, the one with a burn on his hand and bald patches in his hair, had never been to school. Perhaps I should not have encouraged them, as they gained in confidence and we had to chase them out of the hall for attempting to steal the toys.
I attended choir practice on Monday, but because of my visit to Namitembo that was the only practice I was able to get to this week. I do hope that I will not be slung out of the choir for non-attendance! In the next couple of weeks Martin, Mavuto and two sopranos, two altos, two tenors and two basses are to go to the studio to make a recording as a sort of dummy run for our CD. I am hoping to be able to go along for the ride. It will be really interesting to see the process.
On Tuesday I went home with Zoe in order to be the right side of town to set off early in the morning for Namitembo. Zoe cooked toad in the hole in her tiny oven. The dish with its four sausages took up all the available space, but the Yorkshire pudding rose beautifully, crispy on the outside, soft within it was a very British delight!! Later we sat on the khonde with Mary and her visitors and the evening passed very pleasantly. We were not in bed until eleven, which is pretty late by our standards!
On Friday night and Saturday morning Mitsidi baking club swung into action again to prepare goodies for the party. We actually managed to get brown bread flour in Shoprite, which was a treat. I especially enjoyed making a carrot cake for the birthday cake.
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