We couldn’t decide which title / activity made us laugh more. So it’s a dual entry. :)

Had to give an orientation presentation about library usage on Friday. Was a bit nervous talking in front of 200 people – who I also had to cut off from lunch break dancing - but it went well. Kept it short and sweet! My heart was warmed when I visited the library later and found students skipping the disco (dance) in order to browse the bookshelves. Definite incentive to keep working hard on cataloging the books so that students have real, complete access!

As mentioned, MIRACLE had its first disco of the term, which ended up being so much fun! Nearly died of embarrassment when they told us the teachers had to start the dancing… my face was as red as my shirt! But one of the things I regret about last year is not dancing. I always let being embarrassed about my lack of skills get in the way and was too worried about looking like an idiot. So it’s one of my goals this year to just dance whenever I want and have fun with people and just go with it! So after gathering myself, I did a dance on stage and then proceeded to shimmy down the aisle of students, grabbing girls and getting them to dance. Old-self never would have done that! And you know what? I had a blast. And the students liked it! So pat on the back, Alyson. Also made Emmanuel’s day when I coaxed him into dancing. He may or may not have exclaimed with excitement and sprang up, all 6 foot 2 inches of him. I figured it’d be my last time getting to see him since he’s going for attachment and I love his dancing. Also had a blast watching Yezgani dance. New appreciation for him, even though I already loved him. His enthusiasm and cheerfulness just shine through his dancing! Will definitely spend more time with him this term. And, most exciting bit for last…. They played a Justin Beiber song! Let’s be completely clear here…. I do NOT like Beiber and never listened to him in the US. It just tickled me pink that his music had made it to Malawi, so of course Laura and I sprang up to sing and dance. Looks of confusion all around from the Malawians, but Hope graciously let it play even though they normally would’ve skipped it :)

I’ve also made two new friends at MIRACLE which I’m pretty jazzed about. I love the MIRACLE staff, but they do slip into vernacular a lot more often than the Chaminade teachers, so it tends to be a lot quieter on my end. On that note, though, eating lunches at school has really helped! There’s still a lot of silence, but they’re getting good at slipping side comments to us. And it’s only made me love being there even more! Ok, back to the new friends though. The first is Dickson, the new bricklaying instructor. We bonded during group work during a stupid workshop conference that we had to go to. He seems to be fun, so I’m looking forward to that. The second new friend, I’m especially thrilled about because she’s a woman! Now, I must explain. It’s proven rather more difficult to bond with women here than men. Part of this is language barriers (as their English is minimal and my own Chitumbuka fails after a few sentences) and the other is confidence/cultural norms (I’m guessing). Most of the women simply are not going to make the move to have a good long chat. So most of our relationships consist of “Hey! How’s it going?” It’s easier with the MIRACLE women, but they’re older and live off campus. The Chaminade teachers’ wives are younger and near but they are mainly the ones I’m talking about communication-wise. Anyways, it’s proven difficult. BUT Laura and I have forced our friendship :) on Envy, my fellow librarian and daughter to Mr. Nyondo, one of the Chaminade teachers. And she’s 24. Perfect friend to have! We’ve never chatted much, but it’s pretty awesome because she’s opening up more and we’re loving it. Talked her into coming with us to Gondwe’s shop and had a great time chatting along the walk. She’s just fabulous, so I’m hoping it works out! It’d be nice to have a woman friend around who’s my age once Laura’s gone.

P.S. – Stole little Vitu again on our walk. This time he greeted us with a huge smile. His mother waved us goodbye as he trotted along holding both of our hands. Love him. Alas he got in trouble when we dropped him off because he refused to leave us. So maybe we’ll only stop to get him earlier in the day when we can actually wander with him long enough to make him tired and complacent.

After this highly fabulous day, Laura and I settled down for a relaxing evening. Banda came over while I was bucket-bathing and so Laura entertained him. Came out to him peeling the sun-burned skin off of Laura’s back, sharing in her delight when they managed to pull off a large section intact. Two people after my heart. Although not gonna lie, it did seem a little strange :) So we spent quite a while in that pursuit although I put the veto on the back action lol. I just kept thinking how utterly horrified Mum would be if she knew we were doing that in front of Banda. He, however, was not grossed out at all. It’s times like these when I’m grateful for Malawians’ blasé attitude. Laura and I were horrified by our peeling appearances. But everyone we met just had the comment of “Oh, it’ll be fine in some days.” What will be will be I suppose and no use worrying about something silly!

Had a fabulous wakeup call at 6:30. Normally I would be grouchy about this, but it was Kelvin, so no problem! He wanted to say goodbye to us since he was leaving for attachment (internship) and won’t be back until July. So sweet – I will really miss that kid!

We had our first solo trip to town on Saturday morning. Banda was going to come with us but we made a last minute decision to get dropped off by Paul instead of waiting for the school car. This turned out to be a great choice since it gave us more time and it was actually nice to do it on our own. Sink or swim baby. And I’m so proud of us! We handled it very well! Got everything we needed at the right prices and enjoyed ourselves along the way. Saw several of the attachment students which was nice since I’d missed out on saying goodbye to most of them. Also visited the bank to see my friend. Was telling Laura how attractive he was, without noticing that he was standing right in front of us. Stupid Saturdays when he doesn’t have to wear his distinctive uniform :) Finished all of our shopping with plenty of time to spare so we plopped down in front of some shops to wait for the school truck to arrive, from which we would get our ride home.

Spent a good hour or so drinking minerals and befriending an adorable toddler and later a baby. Pretty sure many adults think we’re strange because we get such a kick out of kids. Also had a great time with Sume. Sume is a girl in town who has developmental issues, which are simply not understood here. People call her crazy and insane and treat her like crap. It breaks your heart to see, especially since all she wants is a little attention and kindness! She kept giving me hugs and laying on me… clearly she was not begging for money like everyone kept trying to tell me she was. Frustrating dealing with such ignorance. Molly, you would be happy to note that she’s looking well. I asked her if she knew Molly and Jesu but I don’t know if she knew what I was trying to say. But we spent a good long while with her, sharing rolls and laughs. Makes my heart sad to hear people yell at her and try to pull her away because they think she is bothering us despite seeing all of our smiles. I don’t think I’ve ever said “yayi” (meaning “no”) more often in an attempt to get them to leave her alone. Kept trying to explain that we knew her. My thought is that people are awful to her all day and if I can be kind to her for 1 hour than dammit, I surely will. Everyone deserves some love and attention. And we probably had as much fun as she did!

Eventually the school car arrived and we piled in. Stupid Chaminade boys scrambled in first, leaving a very awkward opening for myself to climb up. I would’ve made it though if someone hadn’t thought I needed an extra push. This push caused me to tumble head first into some boy’s crotch, with Laura and Kalua frantically grabbing my bottom and shirt (respectively thank god) to try to steady me. Pretty sure I jammed my thumb. Love the foolishness in front of a carload of people and god knows how many onlookers. :) The ride home was certainly interesting. Laura ended up sitting on my lap so that everyone could fit (Molly, I kept having flashbacks to you perched on Kalua’s lap, trying desperately not to touch each other lol. This pairing was a bit more kosher.) Laura’s foot somehow ended up wedged under the slab of beef that they’d bought for the school…. Blood all over her foot and skirt. Enough to make me retch. I don’t know how her former-vegetarian self managed to hold it together. Much love for that girl. But the important part is that we had a successful first solo town shopping experience, caught a ride home, and are looking forward to it being a weekly adventure!