Week 1

Malawi 12.08.08

Here we are in Africa! The flights all went quite smoothly, only minor delays with Ethiopian Airlines and our luggage arrived at the same time as we did. Now that’s impressive. We even have news that our shipment from Switzerland is here in Lilongwe. The next challenge is liberating it from customs. Fingers crossed.

It’s Tuesday, I think. We are definitely working on overload at the moment but holding up well all things considered: 19 hour flight from Washington followed by school orientation. The people have been wonderful on all counts. Everyone is exceedingly friendly and helpful.

Our house is a little bare at the moment but very comfortable and one of the most secure complexes in the city. Two of the other new teachers, Jen and Pam, have houses in this complex as well so we have had a great time together working through the little trials of settling in.

This city of about 750 000 has a very rural feel to it, particularly out where we live, in one of the newest areas. We certainly don’t hear traffic noises around our house but we do hear the rooster in the wee hours, and lots of birds, not to mention some pretty strange dog fight noises in the middle of last night. We’re hoping that won’t be a nightly event and that we soon stop popping awake at 3 o’clock in the morning. The joys of jet lag.

“Go with the flow” has become the mantra of the week, and quite probably the next two years. So far it is working quite well and has helped us see the humour in what could have been some stressful moments. Our first visit to the grocery store Sunday ended in a blackout and no way to pay for all the lovely things we had so happily heaped in our basket. Fortunately we still had enough left from our box of welcome goodies provided by the school to keep hunger at bay.

Monday we picked up our car with great expectations to revisit the grocery store, only to discover there was a city wide petrol shortage and we only had enough gas in the car to get home from the school. That, in itself was a rather hair raising adventure with Jean-Marcel at the wheel for the first time in a left hand drive car. With Jen and Pam our British neighbours, in the back seat because their car had a dead battery that refused to be boosted, Jean-Marcel not only had to cope with the challenge of the driving but three nervous passengers as well. It’s certainly a good thing we had one beer left in our barren refrigerator. Good fortune continued to smile on us however. We made it home safely, with fumes remaining in the gas tank and Robertson, the school driver, came to our rescue with a jerry can and enough gas to ensure we wouldn’t be stranded the next day. He also transported us to the school’s evening social event at the golf club and allowed us to stop off at the take out food place on the way home. Not the best food in town but certainly better than what was left in the house.

Early Tuesday morning Jean-Marcel braved the trip to the petrol station unescorted, his first solo driving on the left side of the road. Not only did he manage the driving, round abouts and all, he even returned with a full tank. This meant we could get to school on our own and, even better, we finally made it to the grocery store. The passengers were much less nervous and Jean-Marcel was suddenly handling driving on the left as if he had been doing it forever. Well, maybe he still has trouble finding the signal lights, keeps turning on the windshield wipers, a small thing.

Life is good. My colleagues, in the language department in particular, and the school in general, seem quite delightful and co-operative. We have a golf date for Friday afternoon with folks from school, Saturday there is an excursion to the lake and we are already signed for a safari in Zambia in October. Apparently this is one of the best safaris in southern Africa.

Wednesday the whirl of activities and information continued with more meetings at school and continued success in our little shopping expeditions. Jean-Marcel, however, has started reacting to something, probably food related and our first cooked dinner at home was less than successful.

Thursday included the first full staff meeting and the onset of information overload. Aside from the intestinal bug that is getting J-M down at the moment, he also had a Malawian electricity moment to deal with today as we started the day without power. We, of course, thought this meant we had run out of our prepaid electricity credits. So J-M, with assistance from our new housekeeper, Martha, dragged himself off to buy more credits. As it turned out, however, the problem was a power failure. So now we have lots of electricity credits, for when the power is actually working.

On the plus side, the washing machine we bought from one of the departing teachers has finally shown up and now we hope the promised plumber and electrician will follow, to complete the installation.

On the minus side, Robertson was unable to complete the necessary transaction to register our car today as the officials wanted the former owner’s passport, not just a copy. Of course this is impossible as he is already back in the UK. The consensus of opinion is that if we get a letter from the director of the school and J-M goes with Robertson in person all will be well. Go with the flow. Tomorrow is another day and with any luck we might get to keep that golf date.

Friday was a better day for the most part. Jean-Marcel managed to get the car registered but it meant missing his golf date. I, on the other hand, did get to play with the ladies and it was great fun even if my score was miserable. My caddie, Charles has a great sense of humour so I think we will get on well.

Saturday, my first visit to Lake Malawi! I joined a group of teachers who went out for the day. We had the small school bus and driver so it was quite enjoyable. Jean-Marcel decided to stay home and take it easy, a good day to recuperate. Those of us who made the excursion spent the day relaxing at a lovely lodge on the lakeshore with kayaks, swimming pool and a delicious lunch of local fish. And I had my first wildlife sighting as a family of baboons wandered through the grounds. Pictures to follow.

The people continue to be very friendly, which helps a lot when everything is so new. On the way back we stopped at a craft market and I got a chance to work on my bargaining skills. Definitely rusty since our visit to Morocco. I did manage to pick up a few baskets to use in the house for laundry and such and will leave the rest for another day. It was great to have experienced people with us from the school to guide us through the whole market experience. It is so difficult when not familiar with local prices and quality but there do seem to be some interesting things worth returning for. I am in love with the chieftain’s chairs and there are a number of other intriguing carved items as well.

Now it is Sunday, I am at school, supposedly preparing for tomorrow but as you can see finishing up these notes has taken over. Great procrastination technique. My first success today was in driving the car from home to school. Thought it would be a good day since there is less traffic and I have been relying on Jean-Marcel and my neighbours all week. J-M then took the car to go golfing, his first chance to try out the course. Hope it goes well.

Did I mention the weather? It’s winter here so none of the clouds that drift by have rain in them. We are not to expect that until November some time. I don’t know what the temperature has been during the day but it is quite pleasant and sometimes even hot. The mornings and evenings have been chilly, sometimes requiring a sweater and blankets at night. It’s rather like summer in Edmonton minus rain and mosquitoes, those come later.

Well time to get to work. I really do need to get ready for tomorrow.