Sorry I’ve been so terrible about writing lately… I got behind and things got busy and frustrating and tiring so that by the end of the day I was in no mood to write. But now I’m making time :)

Some highlights of the last couple of weeks:

- Had a holiday (Labour Day) which was really nice. We spent a perfect day at the lake… took a bike taxi into town to buy some picnic supplies and then continued on to the lake where we enjoyed our peanut butter and banana sandwiches. The best part though was the almonds that Kat and Ily shared with us from the U.S.! I spent a few minutes in the water but was freezing so eventually just lounged on the beach, listening to music, and enjoying watching all the kiddos that were running around.
- Talked to Brother Paul about my return to Malawi. It’s official! I just have to find some housing because the Marianists don’t want me living alone (understandable). So I’m working on that in the meantime. Will hopefully just end up staying in the girls’ quarters of the house I’m at now, but we’ll see. But the job part is set. I’ll go home with everyone else at the end of July and will be coming back in January on my own to work as a librarian and fundraiser. Pretty stoked that I get to work my dream job (librarian) in a place that I’ve completely fallen in love with. Can’t ask for more than that!
- Some great moments with the kids on campus. Gift (my little church buddy) has begun running into my arms the moment she sees me. So cute. Almost got trampled by some oxen the other day because I was so enjoying playing with her :) Also have convinced a couple of the teachers’ kids to be friends with me. The little Ng’ambi boy (my fave) has moved from grinning and waving frantically to actually coming to shake my hand. Scooped him up in a big hug and walked with him for awhile one day while going to Gondwe’s. Adorable. Also got a cute little hug from Nkhata Senior’s boy (my second favorite). And bonded with a couple of the ones who are always hanging around Gondwe’s shop. Really do enjoy the kiddos so it’s nice that they’re finally getting over being afraid of us white people.
- Work on the library is coming along nicely. Have finished cataloging the withdrawn books and are packaging them so we can distribute them to the primary schools that can actually use them. Am also getting along swimmingly with the call numbers so that’s cool. My favorite days are when I get to spend hours on end just in the library, so I think it’s a good thing that that’s going to be my job!
- Very nice times in the summer hut. Continue to love those teachers and have been having some fun chats with them. They are especially excited to hear that I’m coming back so that’s always nice news to share. The power’s been more sporadic as of late so a few computer classes have had to be canceled which means more summer hut time for me.
- Have been having some great walks to Gondwe’s shop with Chris. We’ve pretty much been going every 2 days. And despite the fact that we often have a tag-along who hampers our way there, the time at the shop and the walks back are often bright points in my days. A chance to just relax and shake off any frustrations of the day. Swallowed a bug at one point because I was laughing with my mouth open (shocking I know) which was fairly traumatic…. Almost ended up vomiting as it was choking me.
- We had Mumba and his family over for supper one night! I was pretty stoked about this since he’s my favorite older teacher and I’ve been asking the other volunteers to have them over for a while. Felt all nervous beforehand (lol worse than a date) but everything went well. Had some nice chats about cultural differences and it was just nice to have them around.
- Had a pretty rough day one day and was enveloped with love by the community which was pretty great. Special Gondwe’s trip with Chris and Matt kept checking in with me. But best of all was Molly. She came into the room where I was laying and gave me a private guitar concert. Played all of my favorites for me and let me know that she was there for me without prying. It really was a moment that touched me and made me appreciate everyone in the house.
- Had a quiz (trivia game) during the Writer’s Club meeting one week. Pretty funny to watch them try to come up with answers to some pretty bizarre questions!
- Spent my Friday entertainment time watching football with Allan, Chester, and Enock – some of my first year Electricals. Had intended to go home because I was tired and cranky but ended up being really happy that I stayed. Should have known since they always cheer me up! Had a great time cheering for the first year students (who were in a football match against the second years) and learning who is quiet and loud in the class. Turns out even the ones I thought were quiet are in fact just big goofballs too!
- Took a nice walk with Kaunda as I escorted him home from work. He’s always ridiculously busy because he works hard and also gets things shoved on him, so it had been a good week at least since I’d had any talking time with him. So I invited myself along much to his delight and we ended up just standing in the football pitch chatting until it was time for me to go home for supper. Heard all about his best friend from university, his girlfriend, his future plans, etc. And I got to tell him my news about staying in Malawi… so cute, his face just lit up and he couldn’t form any coherent sentences. Such a cool kid! So I’m glad that we’re buds!
- Got to talk to some fun people from home thanks to Facebook chat, namely Brooke and Yvonne! And got some good messages from others. So that’s always nice to hear from the home people!
- Watched some good movies. “Message in a Bottle” which really turned out to be rather hilarious even though I just thought it was going to be sappy. Molly particularly enjoyed my loud giggles as she was sitting on the porch outside the room. Also watched “Land of the Blind” – strange but good. “The Way We Were” made an appearance too, so I enjoyed eating chocolate and gushing over Redford with Molly. We also had a community night of watching “Remember the Titans” – so great. And have been able to download some movies on the internet which is awesome… watched “Beauty and the Beast” and was thrilled to realize that I still think it’s amazing. And “The Departed” – terribly depressing and yet utterly amazing at the same time.
- Built a fire ALL ON MY OWN and ON THE FIRST TRY and WITH ONLY ONE MATCH. Oh man I was so proud of myself! The boys say I’m really becoming a Malawian woman… building fires, cooking meals for men (I made some potatoes for Matty), and washing my clothes by hand. :) There is definitely something satisfying about doing all of those things by hand. Have also had some good times with the group as we make Sunday supper around the fire, just sitting in the dark having random conversations as we wait for things to cook.
- Got to talk to my mum on Mother’s Day! That was pretty great to chat with her and hear all of the news. Can’t believe I’ll get to see them in person in just over a month! Because they’re coming to visit – all of them Mum, Dad and Jessica – for a couple of weeks. Am pretty stoked about that!
- Chelsea won the English Premier League football championship! Whoot Whoot! ‘Twas a great day for all Chelsea fans on campus as we got to tease mercilessly the Man U. fans. Alas, there was no power the whole day so we didn’t actually get to see the blessed event. Lame. But it was good enough just knowing :) Also, I bought a Chelsea bumper sticker for 200 Kwacha (just over $1) while I was in Lilongwe… pretty pumped about that!
- Had a farewell party for Molly because we were going to Lilongwe (more on that later) and she spent the night before at Kat and Ily’s place. Chris and I walked her to Gondwe’s where we had a mineral and gave some speeches. Laughed hysterically as Chris yelled (playfully) at some lady who interrupted his magnificent speech. Of course she had no idea what he was even saying… and probably didn’t even realized he was acting any other way than normally.
- A former volunteer showed up on campus one day and so we decided to welcome her into our house. She is actually the one I have to thank for the teachers knowing how to pronounce my name because her name is also Allison! Awesome. She’s from Canada and did her gap year at Chaminade 3 years ago and just came back for a visit. Had nowhere to stay so she ended up spending maybe 4 nights at our house and will swing by again on her way back home. It was pretty cool having her around – always nice to get some new voices and stories in the house!
- The Electrical I class continues to steal my heart most days. People here don’t say “God bless you” when you sneeze. They usually just ignore it and if you’re lucky you’ll get a “Sorry.” So I usually hold in my “bless you” when people sneeze. But the other day it just popped out and I got blank stares from the Electrical I class in return. So I taught them about it and they were just so cute. They started fake sneezing and when I told them it doesn’t work like that, they said “But Madam, we are just practicing!” Love them. Also had a great chat with them as I told them that I had gotten a job at Miracle so that I’d be returning in January. Of course they were distraught about missing a whole 5 months with me but I assured them that I’d send letters or emails and call them periodically. Just adore them completely.

As previously mentioned, Molly and I went to Lilongwe on Saturday to pick up the new Univ. of Dayton volunteers who will be here for their summer holiday. I’ve been in charge of arranging all of their stuff (housing, work, etc.) on this end so it was kind of my task to go get them even though I hate traveling. Molly was kind enough to come with me so it really turned out to be fun! The trip started off with lots of laughter as we hitched a ride into town with the school car. It looked like it was gonna be no problem – me and a handful of teachers including Kalua and Banda so that was going to be a fantastically fun sendoff. Well then we started picking up virtually every teacher’s wife on campus lol. So there were probably 20 people crammed in the bed of this small truck. I’ve been knocked off the wheel well and am crouched on the ground trying to make myself small as possible. Still smiling and laughing though because the whole thing was just too much fun and amusing. And then we stopped to pick up Molly (who’d spent the night at Kat’s) and there was just no space. Soooo it was pretty apparent that someone was going to end up on someone else’s lap. You could probably see it flashing across our faces as we tried to figure out what arrangement would be most appropriate – or at least least inappropriate. She tried mine out but no luck since I was already all bundled up. So she ended up perched on Kalua’s lap, with the two of them trying their darndest to not actually touch each other. Oh the awkwardness was just too fantastic. Spent our whole ride giggling. Pretty great way to start the trip!

Got a cheap ride (800 kwacha rather than 1000) since we’re “friends” with the conductor. Incredibly slow ride… except for during the hills when the driver inexplicably sped up. Doesn’t quite seem right, eh? But we made it. Had a drunkard profess his love to me but Molly and I used our patented “Sorry I’m married” line. He sure was persistent though as he just told me that he loves married women. :) Had a great chicken club sandwich at Big Bite where we ran into a bunch of university kids from Tulsa. So chatted with them for a bit and felt oddly old.

We decided to stop for a couple of days in Nkhata Bay which was a great decision. The ride there was also amusing. Ended up on some crappy bus that could barely make it up the hills. And when I say “barely” I mean it was probably going about 10 mph. I likened it to a rollercoaster. Coast down the hill in neutral, use the momentum to get you halfway up the hill and then do the slow clicking as it hauled itself up the hill. We stayed at Kupenja again and took our meals in town. Had a lovely tea break with John (the owner) and also spent some good times with Jacob from Hot Spot where we had good chats about our favorite books. We did go to Mayoka during the evenings though but it was a really low-key weekend for them so that worked out well with our moods. Special wasn’t around but we got some quality time with Benjie. In fact it was one of our most enjoyable times with him because he was calm and normal rather than having to be on display and entertaining like he usually is with other guests. He took his supper with us and we just talked and then the next night we played Euchre with him and had some fun photoshoots. Really nice to see that side of him. Had to say my first goodbye too which really was not pleasant. Benjie’s not going to be around when we come back for our last holiday in July, so we had to say our farewells then. That was bad enough and I only see him every month or so. Not looking forward to saying goodbye to those who I adore and see daily. Bah. Allie (the other Allison) joined us for our last night there which was also great. Molly and I went to church with Corinne (the old Miracle student) on Sunday morning since Molly had been promising her for months that she’d join her. It turned out to be a wonderful time. They were really excited to see us so they had a translator for the whole service, which is really sweet of them considering normally we never understand anything. The translator cracked me up too – very animated, mimicking the preacher’s mannerisms and everything. Had to stand up and introduce ourselves and everything and dance with them too. Great experience.

Continued on to Lilongwe on Monday morning. It’s a 6 hour ride on a bus so it wasn’t particularly great, especially because they had standers in the aisle so although I technically had my own seat, really I was turned sideways and bent over for most of the time to allow for their space. It was nice to see that part of the country though since I’d previously slept through it on other trips. Had a fun time making faces at a toddler sitting in front of us. Really that did keep me entertained for a few hours lol. Got into Lilongwe after dark so we took a taxi to Mabuya Camp… nice place. My first time being there but it’s got a nice vibe as do most backpacker places. Decided to sleep in tents since it’s cheaper. Crashed immediately and woke up very confused as to where I was. Woke up to discover that Special and his girlfriend were also staying there. Crazy Malawi…. Can’t go anywhere without seeing someone you know! The great part about being further south is that it was really cold! We were freezing most of the time since we only had thin sweaters but it was worth it!

After a great breakfast (complete with sausage – whoot!) and a few hours of playing Bao, Molly and I headed to the airport to pick up the boys. Sat in traffic on the way – Molly felt like she was at home – and made it early enough to watch the planes land. It’s pretty funny here. There’s a waiting area where you can pay to go up and see the planes come in. Great moneymaker. So it was quite the socialite area. Molly and I treated ourselves to a mineral so we could do it in style and cheer as the boys’ plane landed. Welcome to Malawi fellas.

Had a grand time watching other families unite. You know me being all sentimental. Got all teary eyed as a 80 year old man shuffled to what looked to be his daughter. And the hugs between couples. And moms greeting their children. Oh I was just all a flutter. Molly just laughed. Collected the boys, got some food and then headed to the bus depot. Had some problems finding transportation since the bus we originally chose looked like it would take hours to fill. So we switched to another that hadn’t yet arrived. While sitting on the curb waiting for it, a man came and said he had a car… so we went with him. The only problem was that it seated 3 in the back and we had 4…. So Molly and I shared a seat. Awesome. Spent 5.5 hours rearranging ourselves… her on my lap, me on her lap, me in between her legs and vice versa, her on the ground, me with my legs wrapped around her. It was really quite amusing. Not comfortable at all. But hey, we made it to Mzuzu 4 hours earlier than we would have and as a result we got to sleep in a real bed rather than curled on the bus in the depot. Went to Mzoozoozoo where we were greeted with meatballs (whoot) and then crashed immediately.

Woke early the next morning and caught a bus immediately. It was a great ride – only 3 people in each seat and we didn’t stop to pick anyone up. Amazing. A kind old man shared a banana with me, much to my delight, and we made it home by lunch time. So nice to be back!

Spent the rest of the day lounging and resting. Gave the boys – Callaghan and Jeff – a tour and then settled myself into the summer hut to catch up with my favorite teachers. Returned to work on Thursday where I ended up exhausted. Library time even wore me out! But had 2 classes – English and Computer – both went well just need some time to get back into things.