So it’s time to dust off this blog and start up again! Posts will probably be a bit different now. Everyone is knowing my job by now, so no more need to describe everyday life. Instead I’ll probably just post when anything exciting / big happens. Probably more interesting that way any way :)

Laura and I left the US the day after Christmas. Of course it didn’t go smoothly. But we did laugh our way through 95% of it so that was good.

Some questions you might be wondering about our adventures:

How many pounds can Alyson cram into 2 suitcases?

More than is allowed. But NOT 107. As is not surprising since I was packing up my whole life, I went over by about 30 pounds. For one heart-stopping moment, the man told me my bag weighed 107 pounds!! Until I realized that his idiot coworker was resting his foot on the scale. Dial that back 50 pounds. Nevertheless, it was too much, so I had to buy an extra bag and spend 30 minutes repacking and anxiously reweighing everything and a $200 extra baggage fee. Ridiculous. Casualties from this hasty reshuffling: My picture frames. Laura’s bug spray.

Is Velvetta still good after it’s been doused with bug spray for 48 hours?

Hopefully. In Africa, probably.

Whatever happened to free-spirited gallivanting around the world without any itinerary?

Well the government is trying to squash it apparently :) Upon arriving at the airport and attempting to check in, we were informed of new legislation that says that the airline can’t check you in for an international flight if you don’t have a return ticket/a ticket proving you’re leaving that country. WTF mate? So after 2 hours of frantic phone calls and me sitting on the floor with an increasingly painful stomach ache, Laura’s parents fabulously pulled through with a return ticket for her. I was fine since I have a work permit. The worst part was that after all of that… not one single person at the following check points (Ethiopian Airlines, Malawi Customs) even asked or cared about said return ticket. Fail for United Airlines check-in man (who I was about ready to pummel) and government legislation.

Was it snowing in Chicago?!?!

Yes!! Oh it just made it all so fabulously Christmasy. Clearly we’ve been cheated in Texas, people. The wonderful, amazing Molly Heineman graciously picked us up at the airport (after we spent a long time staring in wonder at the light installation in the airport ¬– Laura said think Mario Brothers rainbow part at the end?). We traveled with her to her apartment which was so adorable. She lives on a great street that reminded us of “You’ve Got Mail.” So jealous that she gets to live there everyday. Went out for a drink at her aunt’s restaurant and had a great time just chatting and catching up. Oh how I’ve missed her so much!! And then we went back to her place and got to PLAY IN THE SNOW! Oh it was epic. Snow angels, snow balls, games, throwing snow in the air, making snow art on cars. And then like any good mother she warmed us up with some hot chocolate, blankets, and a bagel. :)

What time did we get to Chicago’s airport?

4:00. GROAN.

Is it annoying listening to high schoolers scream Bible Trivia throughout the airport waiting area and even more annoying when said kid is seated next to you and able to sleep for 8 hours straight on the flight?

Yes.

How much did I sleep?

In two whole days of traveling? About 5 hours. Was at the point where I was nauseous from exhaustion. For 3 straight days.

Food poisoning anyone?

Why yes airline food, thank you. Pretty sure I got food poisoning since I ended up with awful sickness during the first plane ride with them. This continued until… well it’s still happening. Let me tell you, traveling across the world is not fun when you are sleep-deprived, nauseous and sick. It was a rough few days.

What do two girls look like when they’re sprinting down the airport hallway?

Idiots, I’m sure. Our flight in Ethiopia landed after our flight to Malawi started boarding. A good 20 minutes after actually. So we had to run to catch it, literally. Luckily there were people cheering us on the whole way. All that was missing were some water and towel stations. But we made it.

How happy was I to be back?

So happy. Got a little misty eyed a few times, not gonna lie.

Was Taxi Peter there to pick us up from the airport?

Yes, thankfully. He packaged us into the car and took us to Mabuya Camp where Johnnie was there to greet us and we got to have spaghetti and meatballs (!) and a fabulous shower and nap. Bliss. Crashed at 7. Woke up at 3 am. Fail.

Bus or taxi?!

Well considering we had 8 bags between us…. we bit the $300 bullet and went for the taxi. And I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. Worth every penny. I cannot imagine how stressful that would have been to navigate 2 bus depots with all the bags and keep an eye on them throughout. Plus that meant we could get food when we wanted, didn’t have to stay overnight in Mzuzu, my sickness was not worsened by the heat and the length in time, AND we got to Karonga a day early, thus surprising everyone. Good call. I don’t think I would have made it on the bus.

Who was the first person I saw?

Paul. Never been so excited to see that man lol. And BEAMS! Not gonna lie, pretty stoked about that because he was gone the last few months of our volunteer year and he had told me he would miss me since he was leaving again on the morning I was supposed to come. So I was bummed. But since we came early, I got to see him! So fabulous. First teacher: Banda. As it should be lol. Great excitement ensued of course.

Was there water and electricity to greet us?

Of course not. Lol thanks a lot universe. Too much to ask for. Fortunately the Brothers were kind enough to give us some buckets of water and some candles so we were set for the night. Apparently the water has been out for a few days… hoping it’ll come back soon! Oh Malawi, it’s good to be home.

How did we spend our first night in Karonga?

Visiting! After finding Banda, we continued on to Zimbabwe Line (teachers’ housing) to chat with everyone. Greeted Madames along the way which was great fun – I foresee more relationships with them in the future. And met… a NEW MADAME!! (Really that emphasis is just for Molly). Kaunda got married!!! Rather upset that I missed the wedding, but his wife is just utterly adorable. And I think she understands English pretty well, which bodes well for our future interactions. Kalua? Nowhere to be seen. Typical. Left without seeing him since we were invited to dinner with the Brothers. Had a great time talking with them of course, hearing all the news and changes. Laura had her first Cherry Plum which she loved, although probably not as much as I enjoyed being reunited with it. :) General agreement amongst us and the Brothers that it does in fact taste like cough syrup, Molly. Afterwards we went back over to see Kalua but he had relatives over so while he was escorting them home, we went to Banda’s house to hang out. Pretty sure that was a blast. Oh how I’ve missed that kid. So much. Perfect first night – could not have asked for anything more to make my heart happy about being here. Finally got tired after a couple of hours, so we went home to sleep. Checked in on the staff TV room on the way home and wanna guess who was there?! Kalua. Gee one would think after 5 months away, he might actually want to see me? How do you say “I told you so” in Chitumbuka? :)

Were the volunteers a bit spoiled?

Resounding yes. At 5:00 am when I woke up, I had a freak out moment of “Oh my god, we don’t have Alick and Vicki around to collect water for us and boil it and cool it… I need to do this myself.” And just the fact that the volunteers had a water tank, so even if water went out for a couple of days, we’d usually have enough of a reserve to keep us going until it came back. But here, no tank! So it’s constant checking and hoping that water is coming. So yes, I got up at that ridiculous hour and started carrying buckets of water back and forth to our house. Then carried the stove over and borrowed a pot. By that point, I’d woken Laura up accidentally. She helped me carry the refrigerator over. And an hour or so later, we had drinking water. Albeit, hot water. But water nonetheless. I also just feel like I have to be productive all the time now. Maybe it will get better once initial set-up is done (like washing all of the new cooking purchases) and we have a schedule (for water boiling and bean cooking and such). But for now it seems like I’m just scrambling to think of everything far enough in advance so that it will be ready in time.

Did I miss the chimbuzi (pit latrine)?

No, not at all. But we’re becoming friends again. At least this one doesn’t have a bat like the last one. A little less threatening of an experience now. But it also doesn’t have a door, so that’s kinda weird.

How are the dogs?

Well, SPECIAL perked up the second she saw me get out of that taxi and has not been able to sit down since due to excitement. She has been loyal as always, following us everywhere and waiting outside for us to be finished. I’ll take good care of her, Molly, and love on her! I have updated her on your life :) Suzie is still alive against all odds. Have not been able to love on her as much since Special is always butting in. Lol. Teteza, as I knew, had been killed due to her chicken-murdering ways. So that’s sad. It seems weird to see Special trotting along without her buddy. PJ too also met his end. Also sad. He was a good pup with his mismatched ears. But apparently he got really sick with limping and rashes and craziness involved. Poor dog.

How’d the first trip into town go?

Well, I kind of cheated here a bit. But I think it was a smart move. I never did the shopping in the volunteer house. I was always teaching, so Matt and Chris always did it (many thanks, guys!!). So I don’t know how much things in the market are supposed to cost and I was just feeling very overwhelmed about the whole idea. I was going to have Vicki come with us to kind of orient us but she was working, so I asked Banda instead. And that boy was wonderful. He spent 3 hours taking us EVERYWHERE and getting everything on my ridiculously long shopping list and telling us all the prices so we could write it down and carrying stuff for us. And not complaining one time. So much love. I felt really bad about it all but as Laura noted when we dropped him off finally that he seemed like he had a great time and hadn’t wanted to go home. So yes, we got all of the basics that we will need for our house. Spent more money than I want to think about, but in the future trips should be cheap since we will really only need vegetables. Awesome. And I’m so grateful because now we know the prices so next time we can go in with a mission and it won’t be as stressful.

Have I decided who I’m going to marry?

About 1 hour into being back, yes. No doubt lol. Get ready for a wedding, folks.



So, in conclusion, am I happy to be back? Yes. Of course. I wish there was water – a shower and some drinking water would be great! Do my shoulders and ankles ache from hauling water back and forth and from navigating the marketplace all day? Undoubtedly. BUT my heart is also very happy to be back with my people here. Laura has noted already how I’ve completely blossomed. Wait until she sees me at MIRACLE lol. And as I was moving buckets after lunch today, it just hit me that I like this kind of life. I always said I should have grown up during “Little House on the Prairie” time. There’s something so satisfying about having to work for stuff. Sure it sucks sometimes, but overall, it’s just peace-giving to me, oddly enough. Like Chris always said, a dinner cooked over the fire just seems more satisfying than one cooked on the stovetop.

PS – Laura is doing well. I’m very proud of her thus far! It can’t be easy but she’s doing great rolling with everything. She says she feels like she’s at camp – only it’s a much more exciting place :)