September 18

Where has the time gone? It certainly is slipping by quickly for somewhere that moves at a pretty slow pace. Still no gas canister in sight for those power outages. It is an ongoing challenge. But we do have a barbeque happily installed on our patio. Hopefully soon to be accompanied by hand carved chairs and a table. They are on order from our last trip to the lake, and should be arriving the first week in October if all goes well.

Those who have checked out the pictures I posted know that the weekend at the lake included a variety of wildlife sightings: baboons, monkeys and a couple of hyrax. I am told that those little hyrax critters that look like some kind of rabbit are actually next of kin to the elephant. You probably have better Internet than I do if you want to check that out. Anyway, they are pretty cute.

As for those pesky power outages, this week we started a Tuesday evening dining out club with the other school staff who live in this complex. Since the power seems to go out with some regularity on Tuesdays, eating out with good company seems the best “go with the no flow” strategy. Naturally, the first Tuesday we tried out this theory the power stayed on, but the food and conversation were most enjoyable anyway.

Jean-Marcel also managed to borrow a drill in the last couple of weeks and install the few pieces we brought along with us from Switzerland. Add a fig tree from the local garden centre and, voilà, the place is beginning to feel a lot more home like.

The problem with not writing for a couple of weeks, of course, is sifting back through and trying to figure out what to say. Note to self: It is much easier if I write regularly. So with that in mind let me see what comes to mind.

Malawi is most certainly a land of entrepreneurs. There is someone selling something at any given moment of the day, wherever one pauses. The fruit and veggie sellers wait patiently by the speed bump just outside the school gates. They appear out of nowhere in almost any parking lot. And although I am getting better at fending them off if I make the mistake of waiting in the car while J-M pops into a store for a quick purchase, I have to admit it can be very draining on days when I am tired and just want to get home. Fortunately the other day I was able to see the lighter side of the instant market place phenomenon as J-M stopped in front of a hardware store in search of a step ladder. In the brief time he was gone I had the opportunity to explain, with good humour, that unfortunately today I did not need strawberries, sunglasses, running shoes, batteries, or a metal whistle. Of course, they didn’t have a ladder. Maybe next time.

Meanwhile on the bureaucracy front, it looks like the medical insurance situation is about to be resolved favourably and Jean-Marcel will be able to stay. Until the school pays the bill and the policy is delivered it’s not 100% sure but it’s looking pretty good right now. Having it completely settled will be a huge relief.

On the sports scene, we are playing more golf than I ever have before. Hopefully, I will start to show some improvement one of these days. I can only count on my caddy’s sense of humour holding up for so long. J-M seems to be enjoying his time on the course and looks forward to improving his game. He has been playing with the guys and getting out for some practice rounds with his caddy as well. This Sunday we are playing in a charity tournament. Should be fun.

With only three weeks left to the mid-term break we are really starting to look forward to the safari. It will be hot and dusty but apparently it is really good. Some of the staff have done it four times and would go back for more. Naturally, I am hoping to have some good pictures to send after that.

Meanwhile, I will try to upload a few I took on our excursion to area 2 last week. Area 2 is a shopping area that caters to locals more than tourists. It has a lot of small shops, owned mostly by East Indian folks, which carry the most amazing assortments of things. Getting there is a bit of a logistical challenge as the roads are always crammed at that particular juncture for some odd reason. Finally we discovered the best thing to do is leave the car in a safe parking area, outside a café or food market, and make our way on foot. This involves crossing the Lilongwe River and you will find some pictures taken from the bridge in the new upload. There is a large market just on the other side of the river as you enter Area 2. We haven’t ventured in there yet but hope to this weekend since we have to go back to exchange the mosquito net we bought in Area 2 last weekend. The package said King Size but the contents turned out to be Double instead, sigh. Oh well, the table cloth we had made and the rechargeable lantern purchased the same day have been successful purchases.

Time to sign off and get this message out.