Have been doing a dreadful job at updating lately! Pephani chomene [very sorry]!

Life here is continuing on.

Electricity has been particularly terrible lately, going out nearly every single day. When we returned from picking up the books, there was a solid 2 weeks where it would consistently go out before each meal. Literally cooked only 2 meals over the stove during that time period. Not days, but individual meals. The rest required cooking outside over the charcoal cookers. Fortunately our current batch of charcoal is fabulous, catching quickly and staying so hot there are actual flames. The only bummer is the filthy hands and dizzy head from blowing on the coals. And the added cooking time as you have to wait a good 30 minutes to avoid having the smoke blacken the pan’s bottoms. Still, I am now an expert charcoal cooker and Banda’s never been a complainer so he often picks up my slack! More annoying though was the internet fakeouts. I’d hike to school, only to find out that the power had gone out as I was walking over. That ceased to be a problem recently though as the internet has not been functioning at all for the last 2 weeks. Feel very much out of the loop socially, job applications have been put on hold, and I know nothing about what’s going on in the world. Just heard about Hurricane Irene the other day courtesy of one of my Malawian co-workers. I’ve gone to the Museum in town a couple of days to pay to use their internet. But it’s just so slow I can barely stand it. Hopefully my boss will come back soon and fix it! As of now though I am coming to you from the beautiful Mikoma Beach Lodge, a ridiculously expensive beachfront lodge that is undeniably beautiful. They even have a swimming pool! That you have to pay 1,000 MK to swim in (roughly $8) lol. So I’m sitting poolside, looking out at the waves, enjoying a cool breeze and wishing Laura was here with me to soak it in!

We’ve been continuing with the visa process. Poor Banda has been traveling throughout the country trying to get stuff done. He made the trip to his home village and then on to Blantyre to get his birth certificate. And he left again a couple of days ago to go to Lilongwe to do his medical exam and police record. He’s been a real trooper, getting all of the stuff done and weathering multiple shots, which he’s never had as an adult and was thus rather scary for him! He was so cute, giving me worried updates about how his whole arm had gone numb. Gotta love him. He had to do a couple of the basic shots in Karonga at the government hospital. Good because it was free. But bad because the ‘doctors’ here had no idea what to do. They’d never immunized an adult before. He got shuffled to 5 different people and they eventually just told him they’d do the baby schedule – 3 shots over 6 months. HA. Not going to stay here for 6 more months Mr. Clinical Officer Man. This resulted in some rather frantic, disjointed calls to the Embassy-approved British doctor in Lilongwe as I tried to explain the situation to him and that while I indeed understood the meaning of a booster shot, the people in Karonga did not. But we finally got it all sorted out! The paperwork is also done and Mom’s papers came in too. And just got word that the interview will be on Tuesday, September 6! So that’s the last stage in the process. If we get the visa then we can come whenever we’re ready – which will be mid-end of October. Very nervous about the interview (I think I’ve seen “The Proposal” too many times!!) but I keep telling Banda (and myself really) to just be calm and confident in the fact that we’re telling the truth and have a plan.

Fulfilled my duty as a Woman on Campus a couple weeks back. One of the teacher’s kids was sick and in the hospital, so as per the norm, the women took turns cooking meals and bringing them to the hospital for him. So I was summoned to cook lunch one day. It would be just my luck that it was the day after Banda left for Blantyre. Awesome lol. So I was a bit nervous about managing it all myself. But the universe was smiling on me. The electricity stayed on (this was during that dreadful 2 week period). I cooked the best rice of my life (I usually either burn it or turn it mushy). And the eggs were glorious too (I usually am paranoid and thus overcook them). Go me. The ladies were sweet, too. Mrs. Nkhata offered to go with me since I’d never done it before. And Madame Kaunda also came over beforehand to check everything out and keep me company while we waited for the truck to come. Handled the in-hospital stuff pretty well, though I was rather nervous culturally and also given that I just hate hospitals in general. It was rather interesting to me though that these women – who 1. I don’t see very often and 2. I can hardly communicate with given they don’t really speak English and I don’t really speak Chitumbuka – should because of those reasons technically see me as more of an outsider than my co-workers who I see every day and who I can fluently converse with. And yet the women of Chaminade have always welcomed me wholeheartedly. They invite me to everything, excitedly invite me to sit and chat, and include me in their activities (like hospital visiting). And yet my Miracle co-workers leave me out of everything, gossip behind my back, or pencil in my name afterward as an afterthought. So I was truly grateful and touched that the Chaminade women included me in the food cooking. Sure I was nervous and I don’t like hospitals, but the inclusion over-rode any such concerns. My heart was glowing with love for them.

Had a lovely adventure in town one day. While Banda was gone to Blantyre, I was bored. I’d already swept dirt, worked in the library, and burned trash (huge bonfire which – thankfully – did not spread to the overhead trees). Plus I needed more anti-malarial medicine and didn’t foresee any brothers driving to town. So I decided to walk to town! I woke up at 6 one morning and felt fit. Fit enough to walk the 2 hours. So I slapped on some sunscreen and headed out early in an attempt to beat the sun. Rather enjoyed walking along by myself, enjoying the scenery and having something to do. Walked for a good hour and then started feeling tired. Flagged down a truck whose owner kindly carried me the rest of the way. Had a splendid time wandering around town – picking up a few odds and ends, chatting and laughing with our usual vendors. The mango lady (the WEP lady, Molly!) and I had a particularly enjoyable exchange as she gave me a seed to try which she claims people suck on like candy but when I nibbled on it made me suck in my cheeks like a lemon. The ladies loved my face. Banda talked me into getting a taxi ride home, which I willingly did. A nice day in town. I love those days in town where no one harasses you for money, screams ‘mzungu’ at you, or tries to cheat you. It’s so much nicer when you fade into the crowd and yet still find some friendly faces to joke around with.

Malawi’s doing alright as a country. Peacewise anyway. There were supposed to be a second round of demonstrations on August 17 if the President failed to respond to the demonstrators’ petition. The general atmosphere was very tense in the preceding days. The President hadn’t done anything constructive – calling for dialogue on day and then the next giving hate speeches, linking demonstrators to the devil, blaming them for the deaths, saying that he’d smoke them out and fight them in the streets, and the latest yet, that he’d bring down war on them and didn’t care if Malawi went up in flames. Oi. So it seemed very likely that the demonstrations would go down – this time scheduled to last 48 hours – and that they’d be more violent than the first ones. But the day before, UN mediators arrived and the demonstrations were put on hold so that there could be discussions. I wasn’t convinced that people would stay at home, but excepting a few random acts of violence, the day passed in peace. Thank goodness! The next demos are planned for 21 September. Hopefully those will get canceled too and that good things actually start happening for this country.

Banda LOVES “Rocky Horror.” And I love that he loves it. He put it on again the other night and it came out that he’s also watched it solo while I’m at work. He always giggles hysterically at certain parts and the other day he was dancing in his seat to the “Oh Janet” song. Cannot wait to take him to a midnight showing at Alamo Drafthouse when we get home. Laura get ready – you’re in charge of our outfits!

I’ve been working frantically in the library trying to get it all done in the next month and a half. I decided to hire some boys to help me with the heavy lifting. Turned out to be a god-send because even with their help, my body is still aching to no end. I’ve decided that all of my back problems have stemmed from this since it had been feeling better the last couple of months, but is now all messed up again. We spent 5 days pulling books off the shelves, sorting them by numbers, and then reputting them on the shelves in order. So thrilling to see all of the 100s all in a row lol. Did all the way through the 700s. Eventually realized that I had underestimated the number of unlabeled ones remaining, so we’re now pausing as I label those. Looks like I will indeed finish within the month though, so I’ll have enough time to train Envie how to maintain it and also orient the students on how to use the library, a skill which the majority of people in Malawi never learn.

Since INCOS – the organization to which I was going to give half of books– seems to have died out, I was searching for another good, reliable place to work with. My biggest concern was finding someone who would be honest enough to actually use them correctly and who had enough resources to do it right. So I ultimately decided to give them to Ms. Kim since she is building multiple youth centers, complete with libraries. She is definitely a mover and a shaker who gets things done quickly and thoroughly, so I feel secure that they’ll make it to the right place! And she was absolutely thrilled. Some will go to her music center. Others will go to the orphanage which currently has an itty bitty shelf of books, and the rest will go to various village youth centers. Wonderful to know that a good 2,000 books are being spread throughout Karonga district.

I also decided to pull several children’s books from her boxes in order to give them to the teachers’ kids at Chaminade. One little girl whose mom is a cook at MIRACLE wandered in one day and I gave her a pop-up book. Not that she can read English, but her face lit up. Kids here just don’t have books. They’re far too expensive and the nearest shop is in Mzuzu (4 hours) anyway. So I’ve decided that each kid will get 2 or 3 books and then hopefully they’ll share them with each other too.

Had some lovely times with Jim and Robyn, our American and Australian uncle and auntie here in Malawi. They stopped by the library for ‘5 minutes’ the other day to bring us some cupcakes and we ended up sitting and chatting for a good hour. Decided at the end of it that we should have another lunch, this time with a Malawian friend of theirs who spent a big chunk of time in New York City. Lunch was great, listening to them and the girl chatter on. Banda and I also bucked up and weren’t quite so quiet as we usually are around them, and even added some stories :)

Wonderful day yesterday. I was feeling lonely because Banda was gone to Lilongwe for visa stuff and the power had been out all day so my computer had also died. Spent the morning in town doing some shopping. Waited outside of the bakery for a good hour, inhaling deeply the wonderful smell of baking bread while waiting for the Brothers to finish and drive me home. Then in the afternoon I got to go to Ms. Kim’s house for our English lessons. We hadn’t met for a while so it was lovely to catch up with her. Also went on a long walk through the villages and then ended up back in her kitchen where she stuffed me with rice rolls (amazing!!) and I got to see how a generator works. Was thrilling. And I simply adore her and love that we have become close enough where we just chatter away, despite the fact that she’s my grandmother’s age. Such a remarkable woman. Anyways, I was grateful to have spent 3 hours in such a great way rather than being lonely at home. Decided to stop in on Mrs. Chawinga on the walk home. Turns out she is STILL pregnant. She said August. Well it’s now September. And she’s still preggars. Adorably so of course. Had a great time chatting with them, asking all kinds of invasive questions and successfully convincing her and her husband that she’s having twins :) I wish I wasn’t so bogged down with household stuff all the time, so that I actually had time to go chat with her and the other ladies more often. Reminds me of the days at the volunteer house where we had Alick and Vicki and thus no responsibilities and plenty of free socializing times.