Just in case you have arrived on this page and are asking yourself the above question I thought I should add a few closing words. These are the ramblings, or musings as it were, from our year in Malawi. It was meant to be at least two years but life happens and family matters called us home to Canada, cutting our stay shorter than planned. As brief as it was, we feel privileged to have had this experience. We met some wonderful people and discovered Malawi does live up to its name, the warm heart of Africa.
If you prefer to read the posts in chronological order you will need to click on the blog archive until you get to the post called Week 1,from August 2008. There the adventure begins...
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sunday, May 24, 2009
May 24, 2009
From moody to amused, most of the time. How things evolve here in our little cocoon. I started this piece on May 5 with the following entry:
The caterpillars are cocooning and so are we, it seems. Here we are in a state of virtual immobility, with nothing apparent happening on the outside but preparing for change on the inside. Much of our time is currently consumed by battling the bureaucracy, filling out forms and attempting to hop through the hoops that will allow us to spread our wings and fly out of here on June 22.
May Day has come and gone. We celebrated Labour by doing nothing, well, not entirely. We played golf and did as little else as possible.The extra free time afforded by IGCSE exams serves to emphasize the futility of trying to get anything done, more time to wait. More time to accomplish less. If the power is on we make dinner early to avoid the blackout. Then, of course the evening stretches out interminably.
The election talk provides some diversion, but really it is another case of wait and see. No one really knows what will happen, if all will go smoothly or all hell will break loose. Not much use in worrying: just more waiting.Even the activity I have been assigned is much less than active. Wandering about the golf course supervising while the kids have their lesson, not onerous but hardly stimulating.
Practising patience,
Suddenly sympathetic,
Wishing,
Waiting,
Wanting to be
That beautiful butterfly.
Now here we are on May 24 enjoying another quiet but pleasant weekend. In the interim the butterflies have not yet appeared; however,
While J-M was participating in the Malawi Open I joined my friends, Jen & Pam, to form a dazzle of zebras at the Run/Walk for Wildlife in support of the Lilongwe Wildlife Sanctuary. Isn’t that a lovely word for a herd of zebra’s? And as you can see from the photo we were quite dazzling.
As for the elections, they have come and gone. The concerns about post election riots were unfounded as the people turned out at the polls in large numbers to peacefully reelect the incumbent president and his party with a huge majority. From an outsider’s perspective it was all very colourful and interesting to see and hear the pre and post election discussions. Malawians also put the voters back home to shame as I compare the voter turnout here with that of the recent B.C. election. Most people here might not have much but they do appreciate their democratic right to vote and take this civic responsibility very seriously.
The next four weeks promise to be quite busy as we have all these triage decisions to make about what to pack and what to leave behind, plus the paperwork to get us out of here and back into
And with that mind, I had best get moving on all those other chores.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
April 22 2009
Rainy season has turned into caterpillar season, well almost. The rains appeared to be over but today there are some heavy clouds dropping buckets here and there. At least it managed to miss us on the golf course today. Meanwhile it's certainly raining caterpillar droppings around the school these days. Haven’t seen so many of the little critters since we first moved to Alberta many years ago. The temperatures have also dropped considerably. It really does feel like an Edmonton summer right now, except the days are getting slightly shorter instead of those lovely, long northern evenings.
We also had interesting glimpses of Malawi election fever during our recent holidays. Travis, who had just dropped in from Australia, was rather impressed by the warm welcome northern Malawi had prepared for him. As we headed north from Lilongwe we met no oncoming traffic and brightly dressed people lined the streets each time we approached a town or village. There was much waving and even some singing and dancing. Of course, it soon dawned on us they were expecting someone much more important than us. Turned out our route coincided with one of the President’s election tours and, fortunately for us, we were travelling in the same direction, but at least 30 minutes ahead of him. We also found it interesting to see many pick up trucks along the way, filled with new bicycles, brightly painted in the government party’s colours. I guess there were going to be some “door prizes” at these events.
Now, any traveler will tell you learning to read between the lines of the guide books and tourism ads is an essential skill. It tends to narrow the very important gap between expectations and reality: generally, the narrower the gap, the happier the travelers. As a case in point, one of the important discoveries of thi
s trip was to interpret the phrase “the lodge is situated X number of kilometres off the paved route down a well maintained track” to mean four wheel drive with some clearance necessary, particularly in the rainy season. Happily our little car has four wheel drive, and the clearance was adequate to get us to the lodges of our choice. Another frequent claim is that “Malawi has some of the best roads in Africa”. Read that as, drive carefully. Expect giant potholes, unmarked speed bumps, pedestrians, cyclists transporting all manner of goods, and a variety of domestic animals at any time, not to mention police check points. Motorists who don’t have all their stickers and safety equipment in order, beware! In fairness, it must be said there are new stretches of road in excellent condition, and familiarity with some of the roads has certainly made travel less stressful over time.
All that b
eing said, Northern Malawi did live up to the guidebook claims of providing some spectacular scenery and hospitable lodges with good food. The rain and cool temperatures at Luwawa Forest Lodge made the fireside lounge even more enjoyable. J-M got a little soggy but thoroughly enjoyed one of the trails, while Travis and I experienced a rather wild Land Rover ride to the waterfall. Our intrepid driver was determined to get us as close as possible before we had to hike. Neither fallen trees, washed out roads nor parked logging trucks stemmed his enthusiasm. His trusty panga knife (machete) helped repair the chain saw and cleared trail when needed. We bounced, we cringed a little, but mostly we laughed a lot: a great adventure! From Luwawa we left the highlands and the rain for Sangilo Lodge, further north, tucked away in its own private cove on the lakeshore, just down one of those delightfully “well maintained tracks”. We were very happy colleagues at school had recommended this place, back in the sun, warm enough to swim, just plain relaxing.
Sometimes it
pays off to just be a tourist. There aren’t really many tourist attractions in Malawi so when we see one we can hardly be faulted for checking it out. As luck would have it, the Kandewe Cultural Heritage site and suspension bridge was a wonderful find. I’ve lost count of how many guided tours and visits to museums, galleries and cultural exhibits we have experienced in the last five years but the guide at Kandewe gets top honours in the enthusiastic tour guide category. The bridge itself is interesting but the guide’s explanation of the artifacts and culture, as well as his evident pride in this tiny museum far surpasses most well trained professional tour guides. Our only regret was not having more time to go on the waterfall excursion he proposed.
Luckily there is a secondary road, also paved, that follows closer to the lakeshore from Nkhata Bay to Salima. This made an interesting route for our return journey and all too soon we found ourselves back in Lilongwe with just enough time to do laundry and get ready for Zanzibar.
Zanzibar highlights: • Palm trees • White sand • The stunning blue waters of the Indian Ocean • Snorkeling around beautiful coral reefs • Trade winds: less heat, less mozzies to worry about • Sundowners in Stone Town • The Easter Day choir • Dhow watching • Great seafood • The Tembo Hotel in Stone Town • The Evergreen Bungalows on the East coast • Friendly hospitality • Backgammon and bao at the beach bar • Hisbiscus flowers on the bed • Do we have to leave here?
Zanzibar lowlights: very few
Dar Es Salaam was a brief stay but enjoyable for the most part. We especially appreciated the Swiss Garden Hotel, truly a lovely little green oasis in the midst of a big city. Conversation was lively over dinner in the evenings as guests were all seated at one table, a great opportunity to meet some interesting people.
Overall: happy travelers, just sad to have to say good-bye to Travis in Nairobi on the way back. Now the countdown is on. We are into the final term of the year: headed for exam time, packing and for the trip home.
Pictures are available in these albums:
Northern Malawi
Zanzibar
Rainy season has turned into caterpillar season, well almost. The rains appeared to be over but today there are some heavy clouds dropping buckets here and there. At least it managed to miss us on the golf course today. Meanwhile it's certainly raining caterpillar droppings around the school these days. Haven’t seen so many of the little critters since we first moved to Alberta many years ago. The temperatures have also dropped considerably. It really does feel like an Edmonton summer right now, except the days are getting slightly shorter instead of those lovely, long northern evenings.
We also had interesting glimpses of Malawi election fever during our recent holidays. Travis, who had just dropped in from Australia, was rather impressed by the warm welcome northern Malawi had prepared for him. As we headed north from Lilongwe we met no oncoming traffic and brightly dressed people lined the streets each time we approached a town or village. There was much waving and even some singing and dancing. Of course, it soon dawned on us they were expecting someone much more important than us. Turned out our route coincided with one of the President’s election tours and, fortunately for us, we were travelling in the same direction, but at least 30 minutes ahead of him. We also found it interesting to see many pick up trucks along the way, filled with new bicycles, brightly painted in the government party’s colours. I guess there were going to be some “door prizes” at these events.
Now, any traveler will tell you learning to read between the lines of the guide books and tourism ads is an essential skill. It tends to narrow the very important gap between expectations and reality: generally, the narrower the gap, the happier the travelers. As a case in point, one of the important discoveries of thi
s trip was to interpret the phrase “the lodge is situated X number of kilometres off the paved route down a well maintained track” to mean four wheel drive with some clearance necessary, particularly in the rainy season. Happily our little car has four wheel drive, and the clearance was adequate to get us to the lodges of our choice. Another frequent claim is that “Malawi has some of the best roads in Africa”. Read that as, drive carefully. Expect giant potholes, unmarked speed bumps, pedestrians, cyclists transporting all manner of goods, and a variety of domestic animals at any time, not to mention police check points. Motorists who don’t have all their stickers and safety equipment in order, beware! In fairness, it must be said there are new stretches of road in excellent condition, and familiarity with some of the roads has certainly made travel less stressful over time.All that b
eing said, Northern Malawi did live up to the guidebook claims of providing some spectacular scenery and hospitable lodges with good food. The rain and cool temperatures at Luwawa Forest Lodge made the fireside lounge even more enjoyable. J-M got a little soggy but thoroughly enjoyed one of the trails, while Travis and I experienced a rather wild Land Rover ride to the waterfall. Our intrepid driver was determined to get us as close as possible before we had to hike. Neither fallen trees, washed out roads nor parked logging trucks stemmed his enthusiasm. His trusty panga knife (machete) helped repair the chain saw and cleared trail when needed. We bounced, we cringed a little, but mostly we laughed a lot: a great adventure! From Luwawa we left the highlands and the rain for Sangilo Lodge, further north, tucked away in its own private cove on the lakeshore, just down one of those delightfully “well maintained tracks”. We were very happy colleagues at school had recommended this place, back in the sun, warm enough to swim, just plain relaxing.Sometimes it
pays off to just be a tourist. There aren’t really many tourist attractions in Malawi so when we see one we can hardly be faulted for checking it out. As luck would have it, the Kandewe Cultural Heritage site and suspension bridge was a wonderful find. I’ve lost count of how many guided tours and visits to museums, galleries and cultural exhibits we have experienced in the last five years but the guide at Kandewe gets top honours in the enthusiastic tour guide category. The bridge itself is interesting but the guide’s explanation of the artifacts and culture, as well as his evident pride in this tiny museum far surpasses most well trained professional tour guides. Our only regret was not having more time to go on the waterfall excursion he proposed.Luckily there is a secondary road, also paved, that follows closer to the lakeshore from Nkhata Bay to Salima. This made an interesting route for our return journey and all too soon we found ourselves back in Lilongwe with just enough time to do laundry and get ready for Zanzibar.
Zanzibar highlights: • Palm trees • White sand • The stunning blue waters of the Indian Ocean • Snorkeling around beautiful coral reefs • Trade winds: less heat, less mozzies to worry about • Sundowners in Stone Town • The Easter Day choir • Dhow watching • Great seafood • The Tembo Hotel in Stone Town • The Evergreen Bungalows on the East coast • Friendly hospitality • Backgammon and bao at the beach bar • Hisbiscus flowers on the bed • Do we have to leave here?
Zanzibar lowlights: very few
- The touts in Stone Town: everyone wants to be our friend, guide and sell us something
- The ferry to Dar Es Salaam: high seas, highly bouncy ride. Note to self: take motion sickness meds or fly if there is a next time.
Dar Es Salaam was a brief stay but enjoyable for the most part. We especially appreciated the Swiss Garden Hotel, truly a lovely little green oasis in the midst of a big city. Conversation was lively over dinner in the evenings as guests were all seated at one table, a great opportunity to meet some interesting people.
Overall: happy travelers, just sad to have to say good-bye to Travis in Nairobi on the way back. Now the countdown is on. We are into the final term of the year: headed for exam time, packing and for the trip home.
Pictures are available in these albums:
Northern Malawi
Zanzibar
Sunday, March 29, 2009
March 29 2009
It’s been a month of memorable
My photos are posted at
The power outages reached a new peak this month as our spirits sagged to new lows with each black out. Fortunately our neighbours in this compound are kindred souls and we help lift each other up
during such moments. Poetry from the Powerless has become our evening sport as we send rhymes back and forth by text. Laughter is good, even if our poems are not.
Will the power ever come back?
In the dark our bags we will pack.
Tomorrow we are off to Liwonde,
leaving all our cares behind ‘til Sunday.
Once again in the dark.
Listening to the dogs bark.
Go out to eat, go to bed,
or make silly poems instead.
No light, no food, no energy,
How crazy can this be?
Technology has also hit an all time low at school since the school’s computer network was wiped out by multiple viruses during the Christmas holidays. Yes, that was during Christmas break and despite the valiant efforts of several techies there is no end in sight to those problems. However, report cards can be written by hand and notes can be posted on the bulletin board for all to see, when we get around to it. Whiteboards still work without electricity even if the new generator does not, and we do have books. So education continues. The real question is, can you run a school without caffeine? Is it not cruel and unusual punishment for children to have to endure teachers who have not had their morning coffee?
The other thing we have learned here is that just when we start to get depressed and or cynical about the state of affairs something or someone will come along to give us a whole new perspective on things. This morning as we arrived at the cash in Shoprite with all of our groceries, optimistically waiting to check out, the cash register broke down. We looked on as the young woman in front of us valiantly tried to get an answer to her question about how long it might take to restore the system and if she should change lines. Eventually she was shuffled off to another line and the cashier asked us to wait just a little longer. This really was worth it as we had the opportunity to see her supervisor try a number of innovative maneuvers with the recalcitrant machine that ranged from slapping all of the keys with the back of her hand to unplugging and re-plugging: also known as the “when in doubt, reboot tactic”. Eventually, we too were shuffled off to join the line behind the young woman who had originally been in front of us. Ordinarily the story would end here but not this time. The shopping gods were with us today, at least briefly. While we waited patiently behind the young woman with the very large basket of groceries the original cash register was resuscitated and the supervisor came and brought us right back to the front of that line, a gesture of kindness and good service that will not soon be forgotten.
However, as I said, the shopping gods were with us only briefly today, or sporadically might be more accurate. One of the items we were unable to find at the grocery store was an international calling card. Seems they usually have them but “not today”. That turned out to be the same response in the next 5 stores we visited on our way home. The good news: cheddar cheese and no fat yogurt are available this week. The bad news: no international calling cards. More good news: persistency does pay off. One more trip to a store near where we live resulted in the purchase of the coveted calling card. Bad news: when we tried to use it my phone suddenly had no network coverage. Good news: ingenuity pays off: J-M removed the SIM card, blew the dust off of it, and replaced it. Voilà network coverage restored. I pass this on as a helpful high tech tip to all cell phone users out there.
More good news, our neighbour Jen is the new
Then to top off a perfectly lovely day I happened to look at the calendar on the computer and we discovered it is our 23rd wedding anniversary today. So we are putting our power woes behind us, and my charming spouse is treating me to dinner at the Sanctuary Lodge. They, at least, will have a generator if the power goes.
Happy Anniversary, mon amour. Je t’aime toujours, comme disait le proverbe arabe, plus aujourd’hui qu’hier mais pas autant que demain.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
March 5 2009
http://tinyurl.com/domwe1
Mua
http://tinyurl.com/muamission
Now to get this uploaded. If the electricity will stay on long enough…
Just back from a wonderful long weekend experience on
The former was a planned event and the latter a happy last minute addition to the itinerary.
Since Tuesda
y was a national holiday, the school had worked a four day weekend into the calendar, a very welcome break at this time of year. The rainy season is not particularly onerous, but it does bring with it a ridiculous number of random power outages that tend to get one down almost as much as a long dark Canadian winter. And if you combine that with a major computer network failure, well, let’s just say getting away from it all about now is a really good idea. So ten of us from the school, minus one family of three who had to beg off due to illness, set off for
The r
oad to
Mua Mission is a delightful spot that was on our list of places to visit, not necessarily on this trip, but as it turned out, a serendipitous turn of events. We arrived there before sundown, a very important factor in this part of the world, had time to look around and enjoy a leisurely dinner followed by a game of cards with our friends before turning in. At breakfast we met a very interesting elderly Swiss couple who are in the midst of returning home, by car, having started in
Breakfast was followed by the museum visit. The
Of course no African adventure seems to be complete without a little car trouble. So what’s a blown tire among friends? Again, luck was with us as the tire had not even lost air when we heard the problem. And Kristen, who was driving, even managed to pull under a nice big shade tree where the replacement operation went off quite smoothly. Back on the road, to Salima and
Here are the addresses for my albums from Domwe and Mua:
http://tinyurl.com/domwe1
Mua
http://tinyurl.com/muamission
Now to get this uploaded. If the electricity will stay on long enough…
Thursday, February 12, 2009
February 12 2009
J-M was having a Malawi Moment kind of day yesterday. What is a Malawi Moment you might ask? Well, it’s the kind of experience in which the simplest thing gets very complicated, or takes forever to resolve itself. Example? Getting the handle fixed that raises and lowers the driver-side car window. Yes sir, we’ll fix that right up for you, no problem, a simple thing, no charge. Three days, two trips to the garage, many apologies and 4,500 kwacha (about $32 US) later, the car is back and thankfully the window now works. Add to that: the Internet is down, you have to cancel your round of golf due to lack of transportation, can’t pick up your wife after work and can’t let anyone know about it because you are suddenly out of phone credit. Now, you are having a Malawi Moment, or perhaps several moments.
Planning a favourite recipe for dinner? Or perhaps a new one found on the Internet when it was working? Be prepared to adapt, substitute and generally be creative. On any given day all of the ingredients might show up at the store or market, some, or none. It’s the daily shopping adventure.
Lest this update sound like I am sinking into mid-February depression, do understand there are many good things on the horizon. We have a long weekend coming up at the beginning of March, with plans afoot for a trip to
And who knows, maybe last year’s book order will arrive soon, the power will be on when we arrive at school Monday morning and the coffee maker will be working. The school network will have the virus issue resolved and our classroom projectors will arrive. I remain an eternal optimist. After all, the truck at the end of the street did move on the day after my last post and I am sure someone has happily received their load of lumber.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
February 3, 2009
Well the technology gods are not with us this week. The power outages increase, the school server is plagued by viruses and it seems impossible to upload images to this blog today, hence the lack of photos in my recent postings. You will, however, find links to a couple of the albums I did manage to upload in the January 6th posting. Hopefully, they work. I am an eternal optimist.
My campfire cooking skills are being put to the test again. What do you do when you have 14 people coming for dinner, are in the middle of preparing a big pot of chili and the power goes? You head off to the nearest store, find a charcoal stove and hope for the best. By the time the guests arrived the chili was well simmered, the power deigned to return, and best of all we now had a charcoal cooker for the next power outage. Hakuna mutata, as they say in Swahili, palibe vuto, in Chichewa.
Patience is definitely one of the lessons Africa teaches. In his book, The Shadow of the Sun, the Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, quotes a fellow traveler’s remark about the local people’s “fantastic talent for waiting”. It is a talent indeed, a talent I envy with each power outage, each time I contemplate the missing book order, the lack of a decent pencil sharpener… And yet, as we have seen countless times in the last few months things tend to sort themselves out in the end. The chili was just fine. No one went hungry. We had the charcoal cooker yesterday to get us through the dinner hour.
And just down the street another story of incredible patience plays out. Every afternoon for the past 9 days, we have marveled at the patience of the fellows camped out by the truck at the end of our road. Somewhere, someone is waiting, probably quite patiently, for a truckload of lumber which has been parked at the end of our road. It appears to have tire problems. Each day a different wheel seems to be off the truck. The driver takes refuge in the shade of his truck during the heat, or inside when it rains, guarding his cargo and his truck. This is a residential street lined with compound walls and maize fields. The nearest stores, restaurants and market, not to mention bathroom facility, are about 2 kilometres away but every time we pass there is someone sitting by the truck. It is never left unattended. Eventually the problem will be resolved. The truck will be repaired. The lumber will be delivered. Or we will have a permanent truck sculpture to mark the corner of our street.
Well the technology gods are not with us this week. The power outages increase, the school server is plagued by viruses and it seems impossible to upload images to this blog today, hence the lack of photos in my recent postings. You will, however, find links to a couple of the albums I did manage to upload in the January 6th posting. Hopefully, they work. I am an eternal optimist.
My campfire cooking skills are being put to the test again. What do you do when you have 14 people coming for dinner, are in the middle of preparing a big pot of chili and the power goes? You head off to the nearest store, find a charcoal stove and hope for the best. By the time the guests arrived the chili was well simmered, the power deigned to return, and best of all we now had a charcoal cooker for the next power outage. Hakuna mutata, as they say in Swahili, palibe vuto, in Chichewa.
Patience is definitely one of the lessons Africa teaches. In his book, The Shadow of the Sun, the Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, quotes a fellow traveler’s remark about the local people’s “fantastic talent for waiting”. It is a talent indeed, a talent I envy with each power outage, each time I contemplate the missing book order, the lack of a decent pencil sharpener… And yet, as we have seen countless times in the last few months things tend to sort themselves out in the end. The chili was just fine. No one went hungry. We had the charcoal cooker yesterday to get us through the dinner hour.
And just down the street another story of incredible patience plays out. Every afternoon for the past 9 days, we have marveled at the patience of the fellows camped out by the truck at the end of our road. Somewhere, someone is waiting, probably quite patiently, for a truckload of lumber which has been parked at the end of our road. It appears to have tire problems. Each day a different wheel seems to be off the truck. The driver takes refuge in the shade of his truck during the heat, or inside when it rains, guarding his cargo and his truck. This is a residential street lined with compound walls and maize fields. The nearest stores, restaurants and market, not to mention bathroom facility, are about 2 kilometres away but every time we pass there is someone sitting by the truck. It is never left unattended. Eventually the problem will be resolved. The truck will be repaired. The lumber will be delivered. Or we will have a permanent truck sculpture to mark the corner of our street.
January 29, 2009
Driving in
The most difficult time is that first hour until about 7:30 as there are so may people walking and cycling along the road with no lights. Rush hour is more a matter of dodging pedestrians and cyclists than cars, although the drivers who insist on using their high beams don’t make life in the driver’s seat any easier.
Then there is the getting lost factor. The darkness makes it much harder to pick out landmarks that are easy to follow during daylight. This was the cause of our great Chinese food adventure this week. Getting to the restaurant was quite easy but coming back, we took one wrong turn and found ourselves circulating in the maze that is area 9. When we finally managed to get back to the restaurant we just knew getting directions was going to be a challenge. The creative English in the menu explains our concern. Can you guess what a dish called, “Holy basil rabbit” might be? Neither could we. We didn’t order it. Anyway, after much discussion we convinced the proprietor we hadn’t lost our car, rather we were lost, or as he put it, “You lost the road?” “Yes, we lost the road”, we humbly agreed. Without a moment’s hesitation he kindly offered to jump in his car and lead us back to the main road. Another adventure with a happy ending, appreciation for basic human kindness, and great sighs of relief.
January 23, 2009
Rain, rain and more rain. It is definitely the theme of the month. No, it doesn’t generally rain all day, and yes, it does cool things off to a very comfortable temperature, but we do find ourselves saying: enough already! But say what we will it is going to rain, and then some, for the next month at least. So it is grin and bear it time. The rains have turned everything beautifully green. The fairways on the golf course look like real fairways now. Unfortunately it also means the rough is impassable and those long fairways are pretty formidable when there is little extra roll on that ball.
Our trip to Zomba, former capital of Malawi, was also pretty soggy but interesting. The landscape is quite different as it is nestled at the base of a mountain. The major economic force in the region is the university which was relocated here from Blantyre to compensate for the loss of the government jobs when the capital was relocated to Lilongwe, an astute political move. Unfortunately the stunning views of the Zomba plateau were obscured much of the time by cloud; however, our knowledgeable guide made our hike to the Falls and various lookouts quite interesting. He also protected us from the ever-present rock sellers. And once again we were astonished by how much cargo a Malawian can manage on a simple bicycle. Transporting stacks of firewood down the mountain is grueling work, to be compensated at the end of the day with barely enough money to survive and maybe a cold home-brewed beer before having to haul that bike all the way back up the mountain again to the home village. Life continues to be quite harsh for people who live in those remote villages.
Back in Lilongwe our time has been consumed with school and travel plans for the upcoming holidays, not to mention trying to figure out how and when we are getting home this summer. Both events still seem a long way off but getting anything organized here takes time.
Finally, a break in the weather: lovely, mid-twenty temperatures, quite hot in the sun actually, and no rain for three days. Being able to hang the laundry outside instead of having it add to the humidity in the house is even a treat. And the road crews have managed to fill in some of the potholes which multiply with every rainfall. Yes, we are enjoying it while we can.
Rain, rain and more rain. It is definitely the theme of the month. No, it doesn’t generally rain all day, and yes, it does cool things off to a very comfortable temperature, but we do find ourselves saying: enough already! But say what we will it is going to rain, and then some, for the next month at least. So it is grin and bear it time. The rains have turned everything beautifully green. The fairways on the golf course look like real fairways now. Unfortunately it also means the rough is impassable and those long fairways are pretty formidable when there is little extra roll on that ball.
Our trip to Zomba, former capital of Malawi, was also pretty soggy but interesting. The landscape is quite different as it is nestled at the base of a mountain. The major economic force in the region is the university which was relocated here from Blantyre to compensate for the loss of the government jobs when the capital was relocated to Lilongwe, an astute political move. Unfortunately the stunning views of the Zomba plateau were obscured much of the time by cloud; however, our knowledgeable guide made our hike to the Falls and various lookouts quite interesting. He also protected us from the ever-present rock sellers. And once again we were astonished by how much cargo a Malawian can manage on a simple bicycle. Transporting stacks of firewood down the mountain is grueling work, to be compensated at the end of the day with barely enough money to survive and maybe a cold home-brewed beer before having to haul that bike all the way back up the mountain again to the home village. Life continues to be quite harsh for people who live in those remote villages.
Back in Lilongwe our time has been consumed with school and travel plans for the upcoming holidays, not to mention trying to figure out how and when we are getting home this summer. Both events still seem a long way off but getting anything organized here takes time.
Finally, a break in the weather: lovely, mid-twenty temperatures, quite hot in the sun actually, and no rain for three days. Being able to hang the laundry outside instead of having it add to the humidity in the house is even a treat. And the road crews have managed to fill in some of the potholes which multiply with every rainfall. Yes, we are enjoying it while we can.
January 6, 2009
We found rhubarb! Now on a scale of excitement that might seem pretty low, definitely way lower than the arrival of those beautiful new granddaughters. They are 10++. However, anyone who has tasted J-M’s rhubarb-raisin pie knows that finding a supply of rhubarb is pretty exciting. But let’s just back up a bit first.
It’s been a while since I have updated my musings, due to the aforementioned baby boom excitement, and our recent travels. The arrival of Quinn at the end of November, followed by Willa in early December, plus the end of term and holiday travel meant little time to write more than a flurry of quick emails. Now we are back in Lilongwe and have a few days to relax before the beginning of the new term. I have even managed to upload some pictures to my albums.
http://tinyurl.com/kenyapics
http://tinyurl.com/zombapics
Our trip to Kenya, though planned at the last minute, turned out very well indeed, thanks to Tasha’s wonderful extended family. Tasha is one of our fellow travelers from the Zambia safari who has a large extended family in Mombasa. They kindly arranged our accommodation and even put us up, or put up with us, for two nights in their home. They treated us to Christmas dinner, arranged for us to participate in their family excursion to a retreat centre and to visit Funzi Island with them. It was an amazing opportunity to be part of the local community rather than just tourists.
Highlights of the Kenya experience:
First and foremost: Tasha's fantastic family and their wonderful hospitality, not to mention the food!
Kenya Air:
They treated me so well the minute they spotted me hobbling through the check-in line on crutches. Yes, I managed to sprain an ankle two days before our flight. However, the Kenya Air folks had a porter with wheelchair waiting for me in Nairobi and he very efficiently whisked us through all the lines and security checks just in time to make our connecting flight to Mombasa, which is in a different terminal. I am sure we would never have made it in time left to our own devices. They were equally accommodating on the return flight.
The dolphin dhow safari with lunch at Wasini Island:
This was a little excursion we managed to negotiate on our own and it was superb.
A day of snorkeling, great waves and a delicious lunch. Check out the menu in the picture. We certainly did not lack for good seafood and fish on this trip.
Cracking our own crab was also a pretty entertaining part of the Funzi Island trip mentioned above. And the visit to the slave cave at Shimoni was definitely a sobering historical monument.
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
We found rhubarb! Now on a scale of excitement that might seem pretty low, definitely way lower than the arrival of those beautiful new granddaughters. They are 10++. However, anyone who has tasted J-M’s rhubarb-raisin pie knows that finding a supply of rhubarb is pretty exciting. But let’s just back up a bit first.
It’s been a while since I have updated my musings, due to the aforementioned baby boom excitement, and our recent travels. The arrival of Quinn at the end of November, followed by Willa in early December, plus the end of term and holiday travel meant little time to write more than a flurry of quick emails. Now we are back in Lilongwe and have a few days to relax before the beginning of the new term. I have even managed to upload some pictures to my albums.
http://tinyurl.com/kenyapics
http://tinyurl.com/zombapics
Our trip to Kenya, though planned at the last minute, turned out very well indeed, thanks to Tasha’s wonderful extended family. Tasha is one of our fellow travelers from the Zambia safari who has a large extended family in Mombasa. They kindly arranged our accommodation and even put us up, or put up with us, for two nights in their home. They treated us to Christmas dinner, arranged for us to participate in their family excursion to a retreat centre and to visit Funzi Island with them. It was an amazing opportunity to be part of the local community rather than just tourists.
Highlights of the Kenya experience:
First and foremost: Tasha's fantastic family and their wonderful hospitality, not to mention the food!
Kenya Air:
They treated me so well the minute they spotted me hobbling through the check-in line on crutches. Yes, I managed to sprain an ankle two days before our flight. However, the Kenya Air folks had a porter with wheelchair waiting for me in Nairobi and he very efficiently whisked us through all the lines and security checks just in time to make our connecting flight to Mombasa, which is in a different terminal. I am sure we would never have made it in time left to our own devices. They were equally accommodating on the return flight.
The dolphin dhow safari with lunch at Wasini Island:
This was a little excursion we managed to negotiate on our own and it was superb.
A day of snorkeling, great waves and a delicious lunch. Check out the menu in the picture. We certainly did not lack for good seafood and fish on this trip.
Cracking our own crab was also a pretty entertaining part of the Funzi Island trip mentioned above. And the visit to the slave cave at Shimoni was definitely a sobering historical monument.
Shopping: stores with stuff in them, wow! Not to mention bargaining, on the beach for kikoi’s and almost everywhere for whatever. Tasha was a great help in establishing reasonable prices and we took it from there.
The beaches: beautiful, fine white sand, clear water.
Ali Babour’s Cave restaurant: a fine dining, candle lit experience inside a coral cave, looking up through the opening to the stars.
The people: warm and friendly. We felt “karibu” everywhere. No, that is not a large North American antelope type creature; it means welcome in Swahili.
Lowlights of the
Not many, but three come to mind.
The beach guys, the young men who are waiting the minute you step off the hotel’s private property onto the public beach areas. They want to be your friend, give you a tour, sell you stuff, basically relieve you of your shillings. They were friendly and not overly aggressive but definitely pesky. Unfortunately it is a sign of the local economic times that they have no other work and it is hard to get upset about them trying to earn a living however they can.
The two flat tires on the bus on the way to
And finally, needless to say, the thieves who snatched Jen and Tasha’s bag through the bus window while we were sweltering in line for the ferry were completely unappreciated by all. Fortunately there were no documents or irreplaceable items in the bag, mostly dirty laundry.
The positives definitely outshone the lows and it was a great holiday experience.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
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.
Monday, November 17, 2008
November 17, 2008
ere 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
Often a
dvertising 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
November also seems to be arts and crafts month in 
ds 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
Best wishes and do keep in touch.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
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
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
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:
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
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.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
October 12
It seemed that Canada was calling us this week. As we relaxed by the poolside at the Korean restaurant Tuesday, enjoying the lights and evening coolness, anticipating the arrival of our bulgogi, it suddenly dawned on me the background music was Anne Murray. Well why not, eh? Of course just to top that, the very next day, Jean-Marcel walked into school with a big grin on his face, wishing he’d had a camera with him since he had just passed a Malawian walking down the road sporting an Edmonton Eskimos shirt. On the down side, we are still caught in catch 22 with J-M’s medical insurance. One step forward, two back, Alice, I think we have passed through the looking glass. In the spirit of optimism, however, we are hoping they will have it sorted out by the time we return from Zambia. Otherwise, there will be some tough decisions to make.
Half term break is officially upon us. Jean-Marcel helped us celebrate by baking one of his world famous carrot cakes to share in the staff room Friday. Finding the ingredients was the usual multi store shopping adventure, but definitely worth it. This morning we had a very pleasant round of golf, just the two of us and our caddies (of course). The weather co-operated by being overcast which cooled it off a notch. We even had a few drops of rain this afternoon, very few, but enough to make everyone think the rains are not far off. And now we are happily multi-tasking as we pack for the safari, bake muffins for the morning, prepare a turkey filet experiment in tribute to Canadian Thanksgiving, and make this journal entry.
It seemed that Canada was calling us this week. As we relaxed by the poolside at the Korean restaurant Tuesday, enjoying the lights and evening coolness, anticipating the arrival of our bulgogi, it suddenly dawned on me the background music was Anne Murray. Well why not, eh? Of course just to top that, the very next day, Jean-Marcel walked into school with a big grin on his face, wishing he’d had a camera with him since he had just passed a Malawian walking down the road sporting an Edmonton Eskimos shirt. On the down side, we are still caught in catch 22 with J-M’s medical insurance. One step forward, two back, Alice, I think we have passed through the looking glass. In the spirit of optimism, however, we are hoping they will have it sorted out by the time we return from Zambia. Otherwise, there will be some tough decisions to make.
Half term break is officially upon us. Jean-Marcel helped us celebrate by baking one of his world famous carrot cakes to share in the staff room Friday. Finding the ingredients was the usual multi store shopping adventure, but definitely worth it. This morning we had a very pleasant round of golf, just the two of us and our caddies (of course). The weather co-operated by being overcast which cooled it off a notch. We even had a few drops of rain this afternoon, very few, but enough to make everyone think the rains are not far off. And now we are happily multi-tasking as we pack for the safari, bake muffins for the morning, prepare a turkey filet experiment in tribute to Canadian Thanksgiving, and make this journal entry.
October 4
Another week has passed and I just realized I haven’t posted last week’s musings. So it looks like you will get a double dose. It has been a particularly bad week for power outages, three in the evenings and one during the school day. Good thing we had restocked our supply of candles, and I found batteries for the cassette deck in my classroom which worked out well since my lesson plans that day involved a recorded listening test.
This was a short week work –wise since Eid fell in the middle of it. I am not sure about the rest of the world, but in Malawi the government declared Wednesday the official Eid holiday so the school was closed. Apparently the president gets to decide which holidays will be observed, and some of those decisions come at the last minute, even when it isn’t a holiday like Eid that is decided more or less at the last minute everywhere. Although we knew there would be a holiday for Eid, we didn’t get the official word until Tuesday around noon. This is not a predominantly Muslim country, but it will be an election year next year so a holiday cancellation that would offend a whole group won’t be happening. Apparently last year Boxing Day was cancelled. That wouldn’t affect us anyway since we will be on holiday; however, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the calendar works out this year. Just as in Canada, the holiday didn’t seem to affect the retail sector much. Most stores and restaurants were open, unless they were Muslim small businesses. Banks, schools, government offices, etc. were closed and generally house staff get those days off as well. As for us, it meant an earlier start on the golf course and time to play 18 which doesn’t usually happen during the week.
As the weather heats up we are appreciating those early morning starts even more, whether for work or golf. It’s nice to have anything remotely physical done early or wait until the evening when it cools off. Fortunately the classrooms seem to stay fairly cool and there are windows on both sides so I can open them to catch the lovely cross breeze. This tends to play havoc with things I have pinned up for classroom decoration, oh well.
Earlier in the week we accompanied, Emma, one of the teachers from our school out to Chinsapo, to see the local school and discuss their needs. Chinsapo Primary School, with 5,000 students, is one of the six schools supported by L.E.A.P., the Lilongwe Educational Assistance Project. LEAP is a small charity begun by teachers at our school about 10 years ago, to help local, less fortunate schools. We had seen the Power Point presentation but visiting the school and meeting the children and staff is quite moving. The conditions in these schools are nothing less than shocking, 150 children to a primary classroom, most of which don’t have desks or tables, not to mention books or supplies. The children sit on the concrete floors and learn by rote from blackboards that stretch around the room. In spite of this, we were greeted with
song, smiles, laughter and so much warmth. There are also outdoor “classrooms” but few that have shelter from the sun or rain, just a blackboard painted on the inside of the security wall. How the extraordinary woman who is principal of this school manages to keep it from descending into chaos is unfathomable. Coping with all that would be overwhelming for most people but she, like far too many Malawians, is also HIV positive and has been living with it for the last 8 years as well. Her house is on the school grounds and we were privileged to hold her brand new baby granddaughter before we left. LEAP raises funds to help the community paint walls and blackboards as well as build shelters, tables, benches and security walls so the little they have is not stolen or vandalized. LEAP is a small organization run completely by volunteers so every penny raised goes to the schools. For my small part, I am leading an activity with a group of kids at our school one afternoon a week. We are making wooden flashcards to be used as classroom aids and will eventually go out to the school to do some of the painting that is needed. In these schools, painting pictures on the walls provides visual aids for the teachers that will last longer than posters.
Back on the bureaucracy front, my previous optimistic report about Jean-Marcel’s health care insurance was somewhat premature. Although it is all set up and ready to go, the school is having difficulty paying for it. Not because they don’t want to, or don’t have the money, but because the Malawian banks question any money being paid or transferred out of the country. The local bank has finally agreed to put in a request to the National Bank in Blantyre. If and when it is approved, they can pay the bill to the Canadian bank. So that leaves us waiting, and hoping, again. Great quantities of patience and a sense of humour are prerequisites for living here, and I expect, most places in Africa.
Meanwhile, it is a golf and social weekend. With a staff party at one of the compounds Saturday evening and the big Zain golf tournament going on all weekend. More on that later since I will never get anything posted if I keep rambling on.
Cheers and best wishes.
Another week has passed and I just realized I haven’t posted last week’s musings. So it looks like you will get a double dose. It has been a particularly bad week for power outages, three in the evenings and one during the school day. Good thing we had restocked our supply of candles, and I found batteries for the cassette deck in my classroom which worked out well since my lesson plans that day involved a recorded listening test.
This was a short week work –wise since Eid fell in the middle of it. I am not sure about the rest of the world, but in Malawi the government declared Wednesday the official Eid holiday so the school was closed. Apparently the president gets to decide which holidays will be observed, and some of those decisions come at the last minute, even when it isn’t a holiday like Eid that is decided more or less at the last minute everywhere. Although we knew there would be a holiday for Eid, we didn’t get the official word until Tuesday around noon. This is not a predominantly Muslim country, but it will be an election year next year so a holiday cancellation that would offend a whole group won’t be happening. Apparently last year Boxing Day was cancelled. That wouldn’t affect us anyway since we will be on holiday; however, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the calendar works out this year. Just as in Canada, the holiday didn’t seem to affect the retail sector much. Most stores and restaurants were open, unless they were Muslim small businesses. Banks, schools, government offices, etc. were closed and generally house staff get those days off as well. As for us, it meant an earlier start on the golf course and time to play 18 which doesn’t usually happen during the week.
As the weather heats up we are appreciating those early morning starts even more, whether for work or golf. It’s nice to have anything remotely physical done early or wait until the evening when it cools off. Fortunately the classrooms seem to stay fairly cool and there are windows on both sides so I can open them to catch the lovely cross breeze. This tends to play havoc with things I have pinned up for classroom decoration, oh well.
Earlier in the week we accompanied, Emma, one of the teachers from our school out to Chinsapo, to see the local school and discuss their needs. Chinsapo Primary School, with 5,000 students, is one of the six schools supported by L.E.A.P., the Lilongwe Educational Assistance Project. LEAP is a small charity begun by teachers at our school about 10 years ago, to help local, less fortunate schools. We had seen the Power Point presentation but visiting the school and meeting the children and staff is quite moving. The conditions in these schools are nothing less than shocking, 150 children to a primary classroom, most of which don’t have desks or tables, not to mention books or supplies. The children sit on the concrete floors and learn by rote from blackboards that stretch around the room. In spite of this, we were greeted with
song, smiles, laughter and so much warmth. There are also outdoor “classrooms” but few that have shelter from the sun or rain, just a blackboard painted on the inside of the security wall. How the extraordinary woman who is principal of this school manages to keep it from descending into chaos is unfathomable. Coping with all that would be overwhelming for most people but she, like far too many Malawians, is also HIV positive and has been living with it for the last 8 years as well. Her house is on the school grounds and we were privileged to hold her brand new baby granddaughter before we left. LEAP raises funds to help the community paint walls and blackboards as well as build shelters, tables, benches and security walls so the little they have is not stolen or vandalized. LEAP is a small organization run completely by volunteers so every penny raised goes to the schools. For my small part, I am leading an activity with a group of kids at our school one afternoon a week. We are making wooden flashcards to be used as classroom aids and will eventually go out to the school to do some of the painting that is needed. In these schools, painting pictures on the walls provides visual aids for the teachers that will last longer than posters.Back on the bureaucracy front, my previous optimistic report about Jean-Marcel’s health care insurance was somewhat premature. Although it is all set up and ready to go, the school is having difficulty paying for it. Not because they don’t want to, or don’t have the money, but because the Malawian banks question any money being paid or transferred out of the country. The local bank has finally agreed to put in a request to the National Bank in Blantyre. If and when it is approved, they can pay the bill to the Canadian bank. So that leaves us waiting, and hoping, again. Great quantities of patience and a sense of humour are prerequisites for living here, and I expect, most places in Africa.
Meanwhile, it is a golf and social weekend. With a staff party at one of the compounds Saturday evening and the big Zain golf tournament going on all weekend. More on that later since I will never get anything posted if I keep rambling on.
Cheers and best wishes.
Monday, October 20, 2008
September 25
Another week almost done. It has been a bit busier at school since the Form 2’s (grade 7’s) were off at camp and there was a general sharing of coverage for the teachers who accompanied them. We also had two of our fellow “newbie” colleagues out with food poisoning, always one of the hazards of travel. Unfortunately for them, it meant they also missed out on our Tuesday dining out experience. This week we tried an Indian restaurant which has been fairly recently upgraded, so we hear. The food, the setting and the service were all first rate. That one is definitely a keeper.
The golf charity tournament turned out to be great fun, except for the bruise, and a very worthwhile cause. The tournament was sponsored by the local Rotary club who are using the funds for “blind camps”. These blind camps involve going out to the villages and bringing elderly people into the city for eye operations that restore their sight. These are people who could never afford either the transportation or the medical care. The organizers seemed very pleased with the turn out and the amount of funds raised at the tournament. As for the bruise, well let me just say, I am much more careful about where I stand when my partners are teeing off now. Jean-Marcel toed one off the men’s tee box and drilled it right at me. I had been waiting a little further up just off the ladies tee box and had no time to react. A little higher and he might have cracked a rib, fortunately no damage done. I retaliated by scoring most of the points for our team, which had his caddy telling him, “Sir, you have to help Madam.” In the end, we scored better than many of our colleagues from school, although we weren’t among the prize winners, but Jean-Marcel did get a share of the deuce pot for his brilliant putting for birdie. He even redeemed himself with his caddy on that one.
Did I tell you about the weather? We actually had some a couple of weeks ago. One Saturday it was cold enough for me to wear my denim shirt and we had an ever so light sprinkling of rain, just enough to make us not want to hit the wipers by accident because it would have created an ugly smear. Then it warmed up and we were back to shirt sleeves. My caddy, Charles, was very concerned about this weird weather phenomenon. Apparently it was cause for much discussion and even some fear in the local population. Since then it has gone from warm and dry to hot and dry. We have taken to putting the fan on in the late afternoon and at night. October is the hot month in Malawi, feels rather Okanaganish so far. Hot and dry during the day, cooling off reasonably well in the evening. The days are also a bit longer now. There is definitely sun when I get up at 5:30 a.m. and as I write this, just after 6 p.m. it is twilight. Sunrise and twilight do not linger here. Within half an hour it will be pitch black.
We also made it back to Area 2 last weekend and had the usual shopping experience: bought several things, but found nothing that was actually on our list. The shop was quite willing to exchange or refund our money for the mosquito net but it was the biggest available so we are making do. It is definitely better than the one we had, and is attached to a frame which gives us much more room. No more waking up with a face full of mozzy net. This is definitely a good thing since mosquito season is approaching. We are also well armed with Raid plug-ins, hoping to fend off those little malaria carrying beasties.
And now the good news. Jean-Marcel found a Canadian insurance company that will provide medical coverage for him and the school has arranged payment. Seems they want to keep me. So he will be able to stay. Needless to say this is a huge relief and now we can look forward to enjoying the October safari together as well as planning Christmas holidays.
Well there goes the power, right in the middle of dinner preparation. Jean-Marcel is not amused. Good thing the pasta was already in the boiling water. Time to sign off and save the battery. Another candlelight dinner in the offing.
Another week almost done. It has been a bit busier at school since the Form 2’s (grade 7’s) were off at camp and there was a general sharing of coverage for the teachers who accompanied them. We also had two of our fellow “newbie” colleagues out with food poisoning, always one of the hazards of travel. Unfortunately for them, it meant they also missed out on our Tuesday dining out experience. This week we tried an Indian restaurant which has been fairly recently upgraded, so we hear. The food, the setting and the service were all first rate. That one is definitely a keeper.
The golf charity tournament turned out to be great fun, except for the bruise, and a very worthwhile cause. The tournament was sponsored by the local Rotary club who are using the funds for “blind camps”. These blind camps involve going out to the villages and bringing elderly people into the city for eye operations that restore their sight. These are people who could never afford either the transportation or the medical care. The organizers seemed very pleased with the turn out and the amount of funds raised at the tournament. As for the bruise, well let me just say, I am much more careful about where I stand when my partners are teeing off now. Jean-Marcel toed one off the men’s tee box and drilled it right at me. I had been waiting a little further up just off the ladies tee box and had no time to react. A little higher and he might have cracked a rib, fortunately no damage done. I retaliated by scoring most of the points for our team, which had his caddy telling him, “Sir, you have to help Madam.” In the end, we scored better than many of our colleagues from school, although we weren’t among the prize winners, but Jean-Marcel did get a share of the deuce pot for his brilliant putting for birdie. He even redeemed himself with his caddy on that one.
Did I tell you about the weather? We actually had some a couple of weeks ago. One Saturday it was cold enough for me to wear my denim shirt and we had an ever so light sprinkling of rain, just enough to make us not want to hit the wipers by accident because it would have created an ugly smear. Then it warmed up and we were back to shirt sleeves. My caddy, Charles, was very concerned about this weird weather phenomenon. Apparently it was cause for much discussion and even some fear in the local population. Since then it has gone from warm and dry to hot and dry. We have taken to putting the fan on in the late afternoon and at night. October is the hot month in Malawi, feels rather Okanaganish so far. Hot and dry during the day, cooling off reasonably well in the evening. The days are also a bit longer now. There is definitely sun when I get up at 5:30 a.m. and as I write this, just after 6 p.m. it is twilight. Sunrise and twilight do not linger here. Within half an hour it will be pitch black.
We also made it back to Area 2 last weekend and had the usual shopping experience: bought several things, but found nothing that was actually on our list. The shop was quite willing to exchange or refund our money for the mosquito net but it was the biggest available so we are making do. It is definitely better than the one we had, and is attached to a frame which gives us much more room. No more waking up with a face full of mozzy net. This is definitely a good thing since mosquito season is approaching. We are also well armed with Raid plug-ins, hoping to fend off those little malaria carrying beasties.
And now the good news. Jean-Marcel found a Canadian insurance company that will provide medical coverage for him and the school has arranged payment. Seems they want to keep me. So he will be able to stay. Needless to say this is a huge relief and now we can look forward to enjoying the October safari together as well as planning Christmas holidays.
Well there goes the power, right in the middle of dinner preparation. Jean-Marcel is not amused. Good thing the pasta was already in the boiling water. Time to sign off and save the battery. Another candlelight dinner in the offing.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
September 18
Where has the time go
ne? 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 t
hose 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 spee
d 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.
Where has the time go
ne? 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 t
hose 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 spee
d 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.
Week 3 August 31
Things are not always what they seem. Take the power outage Sunday morning for example. There was Jean-Marcel in the middle of frying up the bacon, with eggs and toast waiting to be cooked and poof. No power. After a cursory glance at the breakers and checking that the whole house was out of power, J-M packed everything up and went next door to Pam’s to finish cooking brunch. Naturally, it wasn’t until a little while later that he decided to investigate the electrical situation further, only to discover this wasn’t one of the random roving power outages. Instead we had somehow managed to trip the main breaker for the house. Problem solved, power returned, another lesson learned.
With the second week of classes under way, I am feeling only marginally more prepared but I am beginning to understand the layout of the campus, recognize some of my students, and understand my timetable. The language challenges are being overcome as well. By language challenges I am referring to English, not French or Chichewa. Translating British English in its English, Scots and Irish variations is an ongoing challenge around the school. I frequently find myself asking “does that mean…” just to be sure. As for Chichewa, the local language, that will take more time and I am hoping the offer of language classes will materialize.
Another great success on Monday: the washing machine is now operational. Martha, our housekeeper, seemed as fascinated by it as we were when we finally figured out how to get it going. Looks like she and Jean-Marcel will have some fun figuring it out in the next couple of days. We’re hoping he can find the cycle that takes less than an hour and a half. Otherwise washing will be a rather slow process around here. But at least this means we don’t have to ask Martha to wash everything by hand. Many people do rely on hand washing but it tends to reduce the life span of the clothing rather considerably we hear.
Differences here? Well, the rhythm of the day is different for starters. I wasn’t sure how I would take to the early mornings but so far I am actually enjoying them. Mostly, I think, because it is light out even though I am up so early. The sun is rising as I get up at 5:30 and definitely up by the time I leave for school at 6:15 so it doesn’t seem difficult at all. The sunsets are indeed beautiful but when the sun goes down it really does disappear. By 7 pm it is very dark which makes it feel much later, and actually helps when one needs to go to bed early enough to make that 5:30 wake up call.
The school day is from 7:15 to 1:30 Monday to Thursday and 7:15 to 12:15 on Fridays. There are two half hour breaks in the day, one on Fridays. Thursdays there is also one less class to leave time for assembly. And although I have more classes and more students to teach this year, it doesn’t feel like more so far. I might revisit that assessment in a few weeks. We’ll see. Activities haven’t started yet and the marking is still light. It’s only been two weeks after all.
Have I mentioned the weather? Warm and dry, dry and warm, dry, warm etc. Does make for a fair amount of dust at this time of year. And smoke. Dry season seems to be burning season. Apparently there is an ongoing need to burn off grass and maize fields. Not quite sure why, but depending on the wind direction it can certainly feel like the Okanagan in forest fire season. It can also be quite chilly in the early morning hours, which is quite refreshing but does mean we need blankets at hand to get a comfortable sleep. This does seem to be changing as it is getting warmer already and a fan is on our shopping list. I expect we will need it soon.
The dry season also has the added benefit of making the ball roll farther on the golf course, and since this course is 7,000 metres that is most welcome. My caddy, Charles, has a good sense of humour. Very important if he is to survive watching me play. If he can maintain his current level of patience, who knows, I might even get to be a better player. This whole business of playing with a caddy was a bit unnerving at first and also creates quite a crowd on the course when playing with a foursome, pretty strange.
So here we are at the end of three weeks, driving on the left with confidence. The windshield wipers come on a lot less now. We even anticipate the potholes and speed bumps on our usual routes and can find most places we need to get to without much difficulty or anxiety.
Ongoing challenges include getting our medical coverage organized and driving at night. The former is a bureaucratic nightmare and the latter is just a little hairy. Local drivers use their high beams indiscriminately. Local pedestrians seem to wear dark clothing. Cyclists are not equipped with lights, nor are most of the broken down or ailing vehicles stranded along or on the roads. It goes without saying there are few street lights to help with any of this. The best strategy seems to be to drive as little as possible at night and stick to our well known routes when we do.
On the plus side, we have not only located the nearest vegetable market, close by but in a direction we hadn’t ventured previously, but we also found the Italian restaurant recommended by folks at the school. We tried the gelato and have promised ourselves a return trip the next time we have a dinner time power outage, unless we find a gas canister first. The gas canister is definitely on our shopping list.
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