Tuesday was a pretty standard day… a couple of hours spent in the library doing call numbers and then some computer classes. Enjoyed a good moment with Molly as she came in and told me about her crazy dream that she had about her trying to save me from Nazis. Also had fun after work as I went to sit in the summer hut, just in time for the grand performance of two of Chaminade’s finest dramatists… Misters Kalua and Banda. The latter claimed to have hurt his foot, thus resulting in lots of moaning, inspecting, and even Kalua carrying him in his arms like a little child. Invited the two of them and Kaunda to come along with us to Nkhata Bay for my birthday. I’m not sure if they’ll come (money and time and all that) but I’m hoping they do since I’d love to have my favorite people around for my birthday. :) Had a nice night with the community, eating pizza while watching “Amistad,” a wonderful movie that we’ve been craving for months.

Wednesday was pretty great. Spent all day in the library, complete with 2 visitors, namely Chris and Callaghan. Chris even read aloud a while from Paradise Lost. Also went to take some pictures with the Hotel & Catering 2 class which was really fun… they get all excited when a camera comes around so I’ve got some cute ones now to remember them by! After school Chris and I went over to Kat’s and Ily’s place to “shop.” A.K.A. I’m buying a lot of their things for when I come back to Malawi so I had to check everything out. Had a lovely walk there; Chris decided to play 21 questions so there was a lot more talking about myself than usual. Fortunately halfway there we got a ride from Paul which is always a treat. And once we got to the girls’ place, it was like going to grandma’s house – we were instantly put on the couch and given homemade cookies and cold water. Fantastic! Figured out everything that I’m buying and then Chris and I took the hike home in the dark, sans flashlight since I no longer have a phone and didn’t think to bring a flashlight. :) But we made it and had a fun time in the process! Got back just in time for dinner with the Brothers. Sat with Beams (a blast of course) and enjoyed having 2 cakes in honor of Molly’s birthday!

Chris, Callaghan and I took Matt and Molly to the bus depot on Thursday morning for their journey to South Africa for the World Cup. Had a lovely time in town, shopping for chitenjes which was unsuccessful but I did end up with an awesome Chelsea bracelet and some nail polish. Also shared a mineral with the boys and went to Macro for our regular HIV testing. Came back to Miracle and assembled a new list of call numbers to print – pretty exciting that I’m on my second round of printings. Power was gone for quite a while after lunch so I got to hang out in the summer hut and then had a short class with Home 2 after it came back. Returned to campus again to have some quality time with each Electrical I student. Miss them a lot lately since I’ve had other responsibilities that draw me away. So it was nice to walk around the whole class room and see each of them. Nice quiet evening at home too – dinner and “Annapolis” with Chris.

Friday was mix of really awful and really amazing….more of the latter though so I guess I’ll take it! There wasn’t any power for most of the day, so I didn’t have to teach computer. Normally this would make me happy since I just got to hang out in the summer hut with the other teachers, but it also gave the Electrical 2 class an opportunity to call a meeting with me. I knew going in it was going to be bad because they only ask for meetings when they want to complain about something. So this time it was that I named some of them as rulebreakers the week before because they did not turn off the computers when I asked them to. I’m sorry, but I’m sick of having to walk around the room for 10 minutes having to hassle each individual to turn them off. I’m their teacher for crying out loud. I should ask once and that should be it. The other classes don’t seem to have a problem with it, but then again this particular class has been a problem for not only myself but multiple other teachers this term too. So I shouldn’t be surprised. They were also upset that I didn’t let them clean the lab but requested another class. Again, I’m sorry but I’m not going to supervise them when the day before they got kicked out of the library for not cleaning. And based on previous experiences, it was pretty much a guarantee that they would spend the time hassling me about listening to music and using the computers rather than actually working. ARGH. So I explained this to them but of course this class doesn’t really want to talk. They want to argue. Their minds are made up and they simply don’t listen to anything contrary to their opinion. It’s certainly not the whole class. There are a few that I love dearly and more who I have no problem with. Only a few. But unfortunately these are the loud few. But eventually the ones I adore put an end to it, saying that I’d already answered their charges and it was time to go. Now I know I was perfectly justified in my reasons and that based on their disrespectful interactions with other teachers as well, I shouldn’t be bothered. But oh I was. Ended up sobbing hysterically in the computer room for awhile. It really is times like those that I question being here, giving up a year of my life with people I love and putting up with people taking advantage of me in ways I never would at home. And yet this is not appreciated but instead they just feel as if they’re entitled to more. More computer time, specifically. And if I have the audacity to say “no” because there simply is no time in the school schedule, well then clearly I’m just a terrible, heartless human being. Argh it’s just maddening.

Was pretty grateful by this point that the power was off since it gave me some time to go home and pull myself together. Got a grip on the crying and then went off to find a favorite teacher or two to talk to in an effort to brighten my day. Found Kalua which was nice since he’d wanted a hug earlier and I had to refuse based on propriety’s grounds. But after all of that drama I was pretty ready to forget social norms and just feel wrapped up and calm. Alas my sense of propriety won (of course it did) but he was still very helpful in making me feel better. Took a walk with me and asked to hear all about it and not surprisingly understood and had some good words of encouragement. Also helped that the Home Management 2 students showed up for their class despite the power outage so we got to joke around for a few minutes. And just like that I was reminded that my love for Miracle students is so much greater than my dislike of a few.

Since there was no power for computer class anyways, I decided to join the others in a mid-morning walk to Gondwe’s for a mineral. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. Chris, Callaghan, Kat, Ily, and even the new Brother Innocent came along, so it was a grand time. Plus it was just what I needed – a little time away from campus with a cold Cherry Plum – to resettle and get my head back on straight. Arrived back at Chaminade in time for my last computer class, which we had for about 10 minutes before the power went away again. It’s been really bad lately… not sure why. Callaghan thinks they’re sending all the power to South Africa for the World Cup :)

After my crappy morning I decided that I probably shouldn’t be around Miracle or I was liable to blow up at the next person who tried to pressure me into doing something for them or giving them something. And this happens at least 10 times a day so that wasn’t good. Decided to just walk over with Chris and Callaghan to grab some of the students’ notebooks, so I could grade their compositions at home.

After the school day was over, I headed over to the staff room to watch the World Cup games. Found Allan there and sent him back to Miracle :) and then had a nice time watching the match. Am really grateful that the World Cup will be on for a month because it gives me a social life again!

Had a great supper – Callaghan brought over a bunch of meat to thank us for letting him crash there that night – which Alick prepared into a jerky like substance. Sounds strange but it was really good! Hung out on the porch afterwards waiting for the taxi to take us to Planet.

Because, that’s right, we got to go to a concert at Planet! Oh man I was so excited! Lucius Banda and Peterson were coming. Now I’m not a big Lucius Banda fan but I love Peterson aaaannnd it’s just cool to get to go to a concert of someone who’s really famous locally. And it was a marvelous time! Truly one of my favorite evenings here in Malawi!

The volunteers went in the first taxi so that the teachers who were coming to watch as much of the football game as possible. Those guys are so funny. So anyways, we got there first and after pushing our way through a crowd of rowdy, cheeky men and perched ourselves on beer crates to wait for the concert to begin. Eventually Chris and I went back to the back-bar area where the stage is to see how things were progressing. We decided almost instantly that the 700 kwacha cover charge was totally worth it, just on the grounds of our laughter as we watched the drunk men dancing/staggering to the music. Oh fun people-watching. Eventually the teachers – Kalua, Banda, Christopher, Mlotha, and Singuini – showed up so we had more people to talk to and dance with. There was a Rastafarian guy who opened at the beginning who was pretty awesome. By the end of his set I’d convinced myself that I was in love with the bass player. :) Not gonna lie, their dance moves were just awesome! You’d be impressed too by a guy who can kick him legs out and jump while playing the bass. But I digress. We were still just kind of mongering around but that Basca Basca came on… he was alright. Not as good as the first guy, but his music was easier to dance to, so we all kind of split up to dance. Chris and Callaghan ended up near the front of the stage so every now and then I’d look up and see them looking happy, dancing along. Almost died of hilarity as Duncan (that other white guy we met the last time we were at Planet) got pulled up on stage and danced around. I must say, he represented white people very well. Better dancers than most of us really are actually. I, myself, was having just a fabulous time dancing! It’s a lot easier to dance in the crowd than when you’re one of 5 people dancing in the middle of the floor. So this was great. Oh I forgot to mention that concerts here are really different from those at home. Everyone dances. Well most people I’d say. There were some on the outskirts just sitting but really it’s just a big party with live music. Awesome. So anyways, I was having a grand old time dancing with Kalua and when he disappeared to regroup in his awkward, anti-dancing way, Banda’s dancing-loving self was a great partner! Danced non-stop for the whole evening in fact! After quite awhile of dancing, Peterson finally came on and he was A-wesome! Much love for him. Had quite a few moments of being just blissfully happy as I danced around, loving the fact that I was in Africa with friends who I adore. Pretty great night. Other interesting points in the evening include: 1. Girls watching me pee. Because that’s right, there is only one toilet and no door. So normally when people see you’re there, they go “whoops” and back away to wait. Or they just start peeing in the shower that’s catty-corner to you. Either way, there’s not an audience. But this time they just stood there and giggled. I’m glad I was in a skirt lol. 2. Man trying to put his hand up said skirt/trying to pull it down. I’m not quite sure what he was going for. I turned to glare at him and say “not okay.” To which he responded so eloquently, albeit a bit slurred, “F--- you.” Well I’m sorry dude but that’s not cool. Considered slapping him but Kalua pulled me away. Probably a wise move. 3. Getting groped repeatedly. Namely whenever I dared to step away from Kalua or Banda. Normally the crowd at Planet is pretty ok. Staring yes, but they’re never aggressive. However, there were a lot of newbies there that night and most of them were pretty hammered. Fortunately, Mwambira (bike friend, library friend) saved me multiple times. Love him! So I was pretty grateful that he was around to pull me away when I couldn’t yank my arm away hard enough a couple of times. Didn’t really watch Lucius Banda perform because by that point it was almost 3:00 am and I was in the midst of rounding people up so Mwambira could (so wonderfully generously) drive us home. So happy we didn’t have to try to find a taxi. Was unsuccessful in finding a few of the teachers but they managed alright – just slept there and came home in the morning. The rest of us huddled up in the back of Mwambira’s truck and star-gazed. Got home around 4 am and crashed immediately. What a wonderful night! Full of oddities for sure but definitely one of my best times here. Just lovely to let loose and be present and enjoy the moments that I have here!