November 22, 2008

Leaping lizards! Or lucky lizards perhaps. Or thank goodness it was only a lizard. And since we participated in a delicious American-Canadian Thanksgiving potluck yesterday I guess it is only fitting to reflect on the things we have to be thankful for this week.

As for the lizard, some days start off weird, and then they get, well, better. As much as I like those little mosquito-eating geckos, I have to say, I didn’t really appreciate the baby one that leapt off the coffee canister as I reached for it this morning. I guess this is a precursor of creepy crawlies to come as the rainy season approaches. There seems to be all manner of new insect life manifesting itself. We are thankful relatively few of them have shown up in our house and hoping it stays that way.

For the first time since we arrived here we set off with our Saturday shopping list and managed to find every single item, or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof. The tape we found wasn’t quite duct tape, but it looks like it might do the job we have in mind. And now as we bask in the pleasure of this small victory there appear to be rain clouds on the horizon and headed this way. The breeze is picking up; the temperature will soon drop either from the rain or sunset, how lovely. We are thankful.

Other happy events this week included the return of the "green beastie", Jen’s car, which has spent more time in the garage than out. The beastie has been an ongoing source of anxiety, humour and frustration. This time it came home after a major overhaul, and many kwacha drained from Jen’ bank account, sounding much healthier than it ever has. Of course it then promptly lost the side-view mirror, dangling precariously by a wire, as Jen tried to drive and keep it from disappearing altogether. The good news is the mechanic was very surprised to see her back so soon. He made the repair immediately and without charge. Yes, it has been a week of small victories.

Jean-Marcel’s birthday dinner also went well and the staff members who got to share the remains of the carrot cake on Friday were pretty happy. Then since J-M had volunteered to bake his own birthday cake, it was only fitting that he fell in love with a painting at the WESM arts festival this weekend: the perfect birthday gift and a wonderful addition to our collection.

But most of all, the kind greetings from family and friends over these past two birthday weeks remind us of what is really important in life, and for this we are truly thankful.

November 17, 2008

The lavender jacarandas have lost their blooms and been replaced by the brilliant fiery red of the flamboyant variety. And as the rains become more frequent we are beginning to see more green as well. Not that there has been a lot of rain so far, but there have been some good downpours, particularly at night. That fresh smell after the rain is wonderful indeed. However, this does leave the daytime temperatures fairly high and on the humid side. Needless to say, the fans are working overtime in the classroom and at home.

As some of you know I experienced my first, and hopefully last, bout of malaria a couple of weeks ago. My symptoms were quite mild, and not particularly classic, but the wise folks at school insisted I get tested, and sure enough, malaria it was. The standard three-day treatment worked quite well and I only needed to miss one day of classes, which is very good since we don’t really have substitute teachers and there have been a number of interruptions in the regular schedule lately.

International Day was one of those worthy interruptions. Last Thursday the regular schedule was set aside as we celebrated the cultural diversity of the school. After a school-wide parade of nations, we split into smaller groups for different role play activities and discussions related to the theme of sustainable development. Although it appeared quite chaotic at times, there was some really profound learning going on and, overall, a highly successful experience. The day finished off with an evening celebration of dance, fashion and food organized by several teachers and the PTA.

This past weekend will, however, remain a highlight of our experience here, I am sure. With our birthdays being so close together we decided to treat ourselves to a visit to a new lodge that has opened in Lake Malawi National Park.

Often advertising builds expectations that aren’t met. Not so in this case. The reality of Pumulani Lodge is better than the brochures. Setting, comfort, food, hospitality: impeccable! Although we did avail ourselves of the complimentary kayaks and snorkeling equipment, just hanging out in the hammock chairs at the beach, reading a book and watching the baboons help themselves to the mangoes was entertainment enough. The staff kindly helped us improve our proficiency in the bao game, and refrained from laughing at our ineptitude. And what can I say about a sundowner cruise in the dhow? The bar is open, the appies are tasty and you can just jump overboard into the warm waters of Lake Malawi whenever the spirit moves you. Delightful!

November also seems to be arts and crafts month in Lilongwe. I guess it all leads up to the Christmas rush, although I am still having trouble envisioning Christmas as it continues to get hotter here. A couple of weeks ago we had the IWAM (International Women’s Assoc. of Malawi) fair. It was held on our campus and was a fine display of crafts and food booths with some music and local dance. This weekend will be Arts Fest sponsored by the Wildlife Association. There will be artists from around the country displaying and selling their work. Should be interesting. Speaking of artists we were delighted to have the chief chairs and small table we commissioned finally arrive. As you can see from the pictures there are some talented wood carvers in this country.

Well that about wraps it up for now. We are still undecided about the upcoming holidays and happily anticipating the baby news from Canada. With one grandchild due at the end of this month and the other shortly thereafter it will be an exciting time.

Best wishes and do keep in touch.

Nov. 2 2008

It’s been a good news two weeks. The best news is that our insurance dilemma has finally been resolved and we can get on with more interesting things. The next good news was when we arrived home from the safari the Internet was installed in our house. And as some of you know this meant we could get on Skype and actually talk to people. Quality varies from call to call but generally it hasn’t been any worse than calling from our landline in Switzerland. Making those phone calls sure made us feel a lot less isolated.

Then, more good news, it rained this week! Twice! Can’t remember when we have enjoyed a rainfall so much. The first time we were on the golf course and refused to bring out the umbrellas. It was just so refreshing and is already improving the air quality as the dust gets washed down. We felt like kids on the first real snowfall day of the year.

As for the safari, what an amazing week. South Luangwa National Park in Zambia is about a 7 hour drive from Lilongwe, depending on several factors: your driver, the vehicle and the border crossing. We were very lucky with the border crossings. Our driver was very friendly but a touch on the slow side, and coming back our Land Rover broke down. Naturally this happened in a place without cell phone coverage so we had lunch and waited in the blistering sun for a bus we knew was following from the same lodge we had just left. Luckily there was room to cram all of us, and our luggage, on the bus so the delay and inconvenience was minimal. So that’s the bad news for the safari week. The rest was all pretty positive.

We arrived at Marula Lodge on Monday afternoon and were greeted by elephants strolling through the compound, a great omen of sightings to come. No, these are not tame elephants, and we watched cautiously, and quietly, from inside the open dining area as they munched their way across the grounds. Thanks to Arnaud, our colleague and wildlife aficionado, we were able to do a game drive the very first night and two every other day giving us nine drives over the week.

The sightings on the drives were indeed spectacular. We were so fortunate to have an excellent driver and spotter. Thanks to them we saw a whole alphabet of animals. In fact we entertained ourselves on one of the later drives by playing animal alphabet, using only species we had seen, and found several names for every letter except, q and x. The drives are in open cars, with no roof, so it is a very up close and personal experience. We saw lions twice every day, sometimes so close you could reach out and touch them. Not a good idea. We also saw leopards every night. They tend to be much shier than the lions who didn’t appear perturbed by humans nearby at all. Two highlights that come to mind are when we saw a hippo charge through a pride of lions, and watching the parade of elephants make the river crossing at sundown. The former was pretty high energy and the latter almost mystical.

Well, the pictures really tell the safari tale best I think. So I have put a selection in an album at this link:

http://tinyurl.com/safaripics

The pictures at the end are from Tribal Textiles, an artisans’ Fair Trade coop we visited on the way back, before the Land Rover broke down. Everything is made in the workshop by local craftspeople. We were given a tour of the facility and then they had to pry us loose from the shop to continue our return journey to Lilongwe, speed shopping.

So now we are back to work, golf, and trying to keep cool. It’s a little more humid with the rains coming but when it does rain it cools right down to comfortable. Seems hard to believe Halloween has come and gone. Christmas decorations are starting to appear in the stores but somehow it doesn’t quite fit with the temperatures. Best wishes and hope to hear from you soon.