Oct 28: Random thoughts
So on another night with no internet because the key holder is nowhere to be found, I thought I would sit down and journal about some random things. To start, my food situation. I can’t recall if I have given a general layout of what I eat every day. Now that we are almost a month in I can tell you about my new diet (at least Sunday – Friday). Every morning the cook prepares rice porridge. I have found just the right amount of sugar to mix in it to make it very good. Chihiro my Japanese friend is absolutely appalled that the Malawians put sugar in their rice, but that’s just another cultural difference. Around 10 a.m. is tea time. I sometimes grab a butter sandwich or two pieces of bread with butter in between, but I still refuse to drink the “tea” which looks more like milk with think chunks of ground coffee floating around in it. At 12:30 lunch is served and every day the main course is Nsimba, except on Tuesdays when rice is served. Lunch comes with a hearty helping of beans, soup, salad, or veggies and sometimes a small chunk of some sort of mystery beef that I am curious about, but I am hesitant to ask someone what it exactly is because I’m not really sure I want to know. Now when I say soup, salad, and veggies I know what you all are thinking, but your wrong. Soup is some kind of tomato based liquid that just seems to go on top of everything. Salad is not made with lettuce, but rather cabbage which has kind of been sautéed and little bits of tomato. The veggies taste great, I think because they have been drowned in salt, but they look like someone went down to the river and pulled up that thick grass and weeds by the bank, then threw some carrots in the mix for good measure. The beans are pretty much your typical beans. When dinner rolls around at 6:30 again the main course is Nsimba except for on Sunday nights when the meal is chicken and rice. Sunday dinners are obviously my favorite, the students do all the cooking on Sunday which can sometimes take a lot longer than normal, but that’s because they start the day off around 5 am and go buy chickens at the market. They bring the chickens home, prepare them for dinner, and then cook them. I’m going to get in the mix one of these Sundays and I’ll be sure to take a lot of pictures for all you to enjoy. I know you can already imagine me plucking and gutting a chicken, b/c unlike in the US out here we can’t just go to the store and get a nice golden rotisserie chicken for dinner. Most nights we get one boiled egg with dinner, sometimes when I can’t force Fredrick to eat he gives me his egg too. Nsimba, which I also will learn how to make, is a very simple concept. It is just watch and corn flour. You heat your water almost to a boil, then add a little corn flour and stir it in, then add some more and so on and so on. If I want a snack from the kitchen during the day Fredrick will offer me a small tomato. I actually have taken him up on that offer a few times. I know what you’re thinking mom, you couldn’t get me to eat half of this stuff my entire life and now I’m eating cabbage and tomatoes? What must this world be coming to? I also have a multi-vitamin pill every day. I have been trying to drink at least two liters of water every day as well, but sometimes I forget to boil my water the night before, and I don’t have time to do it when I wake up, so if there is water at the school I throw a bottle up on my roof for 5-6 hours and let the sun purify the H2O for me. These days are the longest; I have caught myself just trying to fill up a cup at one of the faucets in the kitchen, but always stopping myself before I do. I am excited about one thing though, I now have a plethora of water bottles and jugs, so I can now start rationing out my water for different uses when we actually get it. I have one 5 liter jug for drinking water and a few normal sized water bottles to drink from. I have 2 two-liter bottles for water purification, and another 5-liter jug for bath water since there is never enough water for me to take a quick shower, and by quick I mean less than 30 seconds, turning the water on and off. I guess bath is a bad word to use, I mean more of a cup shower, I would go into detail, but I think you get the idea. As for snacks, I have a little bag of chips and some cookies that I eat from time to time. When I get into town I like to eat chicken and chips. Chips here are kind of like French fries, but less processed, although they are served very greasy with plenty of salt. Nsimba is the food of Malawi. I think 20 people have asked me so far what kind of food I eat normally. It’s a weird question for me because they expect me to say that Americans eat rice or noodles every day, with some sort of meat every now and then, but I say it just depends on what we are in the mood for. Malawians don’t understand the concept of convenience like Americans do. If they want a different type of food than what is available, they walk 3 hrs to the market to buy something then 3 hrs back, but usually there is no complaint. With Americans, we can just jump in the car and drive to price chopper and get the meat of the day. I guess I’m just saying it’s hard to explain our life style to them without feeling like … well I’ll just let you fill in the blank.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
One thing
There has been one thing that I have started to notice in Malawi that has really bothered me since the first day I arrived here. That thing is the way that most Indian (hindu) people treat the Malawians. My suspicions have been confirmed by several people now, that is why I share this tid bit now. The Indian people act like they are still living within their caste system. They treat the people of Malawi like dirt. They won’t talk to the Malawians or even act like they exist most of the time. The truly sad part about it, is that most of these Indian people came over to Malawi very poor, and now they have made some good money(most store owners in Malawi are Indian) they treat the people(Malawians) that accepted them(Indians) into this country like total garbage. I don’t know if that made since or not, but I just find it to be very sad and bothersome that these Indian people act like they are hot sh*t all the time. I know this is a problem in the US and all over the world. Not just with Indian people, but it is just so sad here. The night of Lawrence’s wedding while we were at the food court, I watched as these Indians just belittled a waiter for not picking up their empty drinks and keeping their table clean. It was disgusting behavior and if I was in Kansas City, I do believe I would have stood up and said something to the people, but since I’m 10,000 miles from home in an unfamiliar environment, I just felt it best to swallow my anger and stay seated.
Saturday was Lawrence’s wedding. My first and most likely only traditional Malawian wedding, unless some of the students or faculty get married while I am here. The wedding itself was very different than an American catholic wedding. There was a lot of dancing, a lot more singing, and there was a camera crew that really had no respect for the church or the ceremony, they just wanted the best shots so they could get paid well. The wedding photographer and camera guys really bothered me. I was taking pictures and had a video camera rolling for Lawrence, but I was in a good spot off to the side, where I wasn’t in the way. The wedding photographer approached me at one point and said I should shoot me camera from the alter to get the best shot. I politely declined and said I was fine where I was, but I wanted to ask him if he thought this was a circus and if he had ever been inside a church before. The one shot that really got me was when Lawrence and Prisca knelt down in front of the alter to say a prayer, the guy walks up and laid down in front of them, in between them and the alter. The best part about it was the shirt the guy was wearing. His shirt was a group that was fighting for photographer’s rights. I just thought to myself how fitting a photographer activist who wants rights, but will just walk all over tradition and religion to get a good shot.
Overall I really did enjoy the wedding, except for the cameramen and the fact that it was in another language. Prisca, Lawrence’s bride looked very beautiful and both of her brides maids were absolutely stunning. Lawrence also looked very nice in his Tuxedo, his two groomsman were his cousin Grisham and Prisca’s brother Toco. The reception was unlike anything I have ever seen or been a part of. Traditional Malawian receptions are fundraisers for the bride and groom. It took me about 45 minutes to figure out why people were just throwing money at them consistently. I also partook in the festivities as I was called on stage to hold the money plate for a song. I forgot to mention, that all of this is done to music. It was fun and different for me, I have started to use the word interesting a lot and this experience was very interesting to say the least. Towards the end of the reception everyone got a beverage for the toast, I got an orange Fanta. I wanted a cocopina, which quite possibly could be the greatest fruit drink on the planet, but I had to settle for a fanta. I had planned on going back to the school after the reception, but it lasted almost 5 hours. So after everything was over myself and the wedding party went back to the food court for a much needed meal. I devoured a small pizza. It tasted so amazing! I realized at that moment, that when I get back to the states, I am going to eat for days. I guess the eating will come after the 2-3 days of sleep that I will need to get back to normal.
After the crazy weekend I finally got back to the school on Sunday a little after noon. It is nuts now, I can’t sleep past 8 am for the life of me. I feel so old b/c I go to sleep so freaking early and wake up at dawn. I know it’s because of the power situation, but it is kind of nice b/c I get to enjoy those little things that I miss out on in the USA. I think that’s what I like best about being out in the middle of nowhere in Africa; the little things. Things like the most fantastic sun sets and the most powerful sunrises. The way the sun bursts over the mountain tops, ripping through the clouds like an explosion of light. Then how the morning mist creeps over the hills as the sun starts to shine over every inch of this old cut down forest. Maybe, it’s the thousands of ants the cover the every inch of the path on the way to school, and how I say to myself every day, “This is really the ant’s world that were just living in.” Whatever they are, I’ll keep updating you on these little things as they happen, because they are all just truly magical.
Overall I really did enjoy the wedding, except for the cameramen and the fact that it was in another language. Prisca, Lawrence’s bride looked very beautiful and both of her brides maids were absolutely stunning. Lawrence also looked very nice in his Tuxedo, his two groomsman were his cousin Grisham and Prisca’s brother Toco. The reception was unlike anything I have ever seen or been a part of. Traditional Malawian receptions are fundraisers for the bride and groom. It took me about 45 minutes to figure out why people were just throwing money at them consistently. I also partook in the festivities as I was called on stage to hold the money plate for a song. I forgot to mention, that all of this is done to music. It was fun and different for me, I have started to use the word interesting a lot and this experience was very interesting to say the least. Towards the end of the reception everyone got a beverage for the toast, I got an orange Fanta. I wanted a cocopina, which quite possibly could be the greatest fruit drink on the planet, but I had to settle for a fanta. I had planned on going back to the school after the reception, but it lasted almost 5 hours. So after everything was over myself and the wedding party went back to the food court for a much needed meal. I devoured a small pizza. It tasted so amazing! I realized at that moment, that when I get back to the states, I am going to eat for days. I guess the eating will come after the 2-3 days of sleep that I will need to get back to normal.
After the crazy weekend I finally got back to the school on Sunday a little after noon. It is nuts now, I can’t sleep past 8 am for the life of me. I feel so old b/c I go to sleep so freaking early and wake up at dawn. I know it’s because of the power situation, but it is kind of nice b/c I get to enjoy those little things that I miss out on in the USA. I think that’s what I like best about being out in the middle of nowhere in Africa; the little things. Things like the most fantastic sun sets and the most powerful sunrises. The way the sun bursts over the mountain tops, ripping through the clouds like an explosion of light. Then how the morning mist creeps over the hills as the sun starts to shine over every inch of this old cut down forest. Maybe, it’s the thousands of ants the cover the every inch of the path on the way to school, and how I say to myself every day, “This is really the ant’s world that were just living in.” Whatever they are, I’ll keep updating you on these little things as they happen, because they are all just truly magical.
Oct 25: Lawrence is officially married
Oct 25: Lawrence is officially married
This weekend was a very interesting one. I went to Zomba on Friday and did a presentation about our preschool program at a NGO called Creccom. It was a very good meeting, and I learned a lot about Malawi and about how the people see the future of their own development. Creccom is a community motivation organization. They work with Oxfam and Unicef and have a terrific executive director, at least they have a terrific Executive Director(ED) until the end of the year. After the first of the year the ED will be replaced, not because he is doing a poor job, but because for some reason this organization is set up where the ED can serve up to two terms of 4 years (kind of like the president of the US). Then they are replaced, regardless of the job they are doing and the direction the organization is in. After meeting one time with the ED that is currently ending his term, I just thought this NGO is losing a great man. After the meeting Masiye the head of partnership and I went back to Blantyre, had lunch and parted ways. I went to meet Lawrence who was scurrying around town getting things ready for his wedding on Saturday. I met him at his reception hall, which was the United Pentecostal Church. I spent a little while there watching the maid of honor teach the children in the wedding the entrance dance for the reception. Around 5 we left the reception church and went to the Chibwe catholic church for the rehearsal. I was a little shocked when the rehearsal began and the priest was going over how everything was going to go with Lawrence and Prisca and another couple. The other couple was getting married 2 hours before Lawrence and Prisca’s ceremony, but I just never thought that you would do a double rehearsal. It turned out to be a good idea, since about 20 minutes into the rehearsal a blackout hit that portion of the city and the rest of the rehearsal was done in the dark. The thing that I’ll remember most about that rehearsal was the sunset. You just don’t get to see sunsets like that in the US, except if you’re on a beach or in the mountains in Colorado. The sky was a orange-ish purple haze, with little streaks of yellow and blue fading off into the shadows of the sunset. It was beautiful, it was one of those little things that you forget how much you enjoy until you’re in the middle of it and you get that feeling of peace and the sense that no matter what happens right now everything is going to be ok. After the rehearsal was over I had dinner with Lawrence and his oldest son Limbani at a food court in Blantyre. He really likes this food court b/c it has “Mini-Soccer”. Mini-Soccer is a bastardized game of foosball. Mini-soccer is all about power and pure luck; it takes all the finesse out of foosball. It is played on about the same sized table, but there is a hill in every corner, it is enclosed in a plastic roof and the handles are spring-loaded at the end so when you pull it back and turn it, your player shoots the ball with force. I disliked the game from the second that I saw it. That night I stayed at a hotel with Prisca’s brother Tuco. The place was nice, but the mosquito netting was subpar to say the least. I woke up on Saturday and Sunday with mosquitoes inside the netting, needless to say the mosquitoes are a big fan of white meat. Now we all get to see what my malaria medication is made out of.
This weekend was a very interesting one. I went to Zomba on Friday and did a presentation about our preschool program at a NGO called Creccom. It was a very good meeting, and I learned a lot about Malawi and about how the people see the future of their own development. Creccom is a community motivation organization. They work with Oxfam and Unicef and have a terrific executive director, at least they have a terrific Executive Director(ED) until the end of the year. After the first of the year the ED will be replaced, not because he is doing a poor job, but because for some reason this organization is set up where the ED can serve up to two terms of 4 years (kind of like the president of the US). Then they are replaced, regardless of the job they are doing and the direction the organization is in. After meeting one time with the ED that is currently ending his term, I just thought this NGO is losing a great man. After the meeting Masiye the head of partnership and I went back to Blantyre, had lunch and parted ways. I went to meet Lawrence who was scurrying around town getting things ready for his wedding on Saturday. I met him at his reception hall, which was the United Pentecostal Church. I spent a little while there watching the maid of honor teach the children in the wedding the entrance dance for the reception. Around 5 we left the reception church and went to the Chibwe catholic church for the rehearsal. I was a little shocked when the rehearsal began and the priest was going over how everything was going to go with Lawrence and Prisca and another couple. The other couple was getting married 2 hours before Lawrence and Prisca’s ceremony, but I just never thought that you would do a double rehearsal. It turned out to be a good idea, since about 20 minutes into the rehearsal a blackout hit that portion of the city and the rest of the rehearsal was done in the dark. The thing that I’ll remember most about that rehearsal was the sunset. You just don’t get to see sunsets like that in the US, except if you’re on a beach or in the mountains in Colorado. The sky was a orange-ish purple haze, with little streaks of yellow and blue fading off into the shadows of the sunset. It was beautiful, it was one of those little things that you forget how much you enjoy until you’re in the middle of it and you get that feeling of peace and the sense that no matter what happens right now everything is going to be ok. After the rehearsal was over I had dinner with Lawrence and his oldest son Limbani at a food court in Blantyre. He really likes this food court b/c it has “Mini-Soccer”. Mini-Soccer is a bastardized game of foosball. Mini-soccer is all about power and pure luck; it takes all the finesse out of foosball. It is played on about the same sized table, but there is a hill in every corner, it is enclosed in a plastic roof and the handles are spring-loaded at the end so when you pull it back and turn it, your player shoots the ball with force. I disliked the game from the second that I saw it. That night I stayed at a hotel with Prisca’s brother Tuco. The place was nice, but the mosquito netting was subpar to say the least. I woke up on Saturday and Sunday with mosquitoes inside the netting, needless to say the mosquitoes are a big fan of white meat. Now we all get to see what my malaria medication is made out of.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Oct 21, Revelations from frustrations
Today was more frustrating for me than previous days so far. I woke up to a gas-less generator and with no power comes no water. No water again for about the third straight day. No power means no internet, which means a lot b/c the books that are here aren’t enough information for me to form any sort of a decent lesson plan. With these constant problems floating around me and the fact that if I am supposed to work at the school, then I miss the chance to learn the area that day from one of the other DI’s; which just adds to my frustrations, because I am starting to feel like I am never going to learn how to get around this place. So today I made an agreement with myself (b/c there is really no one else I can talk to) that I am going to memorize the local school map and within the next two weeks teach myself the routes to the different schools. I also found some Chichewa translations and will start to teach myself a little bit of the language, just enough so that I can greet the villagers and ask them simple questions. I can’t rely on other people here, the next two and ½ months have to be about what I can do. If you wait on other people here, you will never get anything done. Time doesn’t mean a whole lot to some of the people here, but it means a lot to me. I need to become self sufficient or I am going to lose my mind and run away. I have started doing every exercise I can think of while I wait on people. If I don’t change something now, I’m going to return home in a homemade orange jumpsuit and a couple of Paul made prison tats. Ahh! Oh well, but in other news I have been having crazy dreams. Not bad dreams or night terrors if you will, but ever since I got here I have just been dreaming. Every night I have vivid dreams, to the point when I wake up I just want to fall back asleep so I can go back to the dream I was having that I was enjoying so much, but I don’t. I have officially been here for two weeks, so two weeks down- ten weeks to go. I am going to Zomba on Friday for a partnership presentation, and Lawrence gets married on Saturday. Then next weekend is my B-day, so I am excited for the weekends here and until I change something I am just treading through the weeks.
Today was more frustrating for me than previous days so far. I woke up to a gas-less generator and with no power comes no water. No water again for about the third straight day. No power means no internet, which means a lot b/c the books that are here aren’t enough information for me to form any sort of a decent lesson plan. With these constant problems floating around me and the fact that if I am supposed to work at the school, then I miss the chance to learn the area that day from one of the other DI’s; which just adds to my frustrations, because I am starting to feel like I am never going to learn how to get around this place. So today I made an agreement with myself (b/c there is really no one else I can talk to) that I am going to memorize the local school map and within the next two weeks teach myself the routes to the different schools. I also found some Chichewa translations and will start to teach myself a little bit of the language, just enough so that I can greet the villagers and ask them simple questions. I can’t rely on other people here, the next two and ½ months have to be about what I can do. If you wait on other people here, you will never get anything done. Time doesn’t mean a whole lot to some of the people here, but it means a lot to me. I need to become self sufficient or I am going to lose my mind and run away. I have started doing every exercise I can think of while I wait on people. If I don’t change something now, I’m going to return home in a homemade orange jumpsuit and a couple of Paul made prison tats. Ahh! Oh well, but in other news I have been having crazy dreams. Not bad dreams or night terrors if you will, but ever since I got here I have just been dreaming. Every night I have vivid dreams, to the point when I wake up I just want to fall back asleep so I can go back to the dream I was having that I was enjoying so much, but I don’t. I have officially been here for two weeks, so two weeks down- ten weeks to go. I am going to Zomba on Friday for a partnership presentation, and Lawrence gets married on Saturday. Then next weekend is my B-day, so I am excited for the weekends here and until I change something I am just treading through the weeks.
Oct 18, God bless the rains down in Africa
This weekend has been very interesting. I finally meet the met the project leader/ head master Chilote (sp), I met a sick Lawrence in town, and I did my laundry for the first time; by hand and in a bucket. Hey mom I also woke up this morning with my first bug bite , think Its Malaria? I guess we will have to wait and see. Dad it was good to chat with you, I was shocked when your voice actually came through, I didn’t think it was possible. I was on the head master’s internet, so I will have to ask her if I can use it on thanksgiving and possibly Christmas if I’m around. I feel bad for bailey. We now have a tri-pod for a dog. Bailey, my dad and step-mom’s dog had to have a leg amputated. He got into a fight with a grizzly bear up at our cabin in Idaho Springs. Bailey was just trying to protect our house and the bear severely severed Bailey’s right leg. Poor guy, he was always our special dog before this tragedy; one thing is for sure he is not going to be a happy camper for the next few months! So maybe there was no grizzly, but if there was that would be one heck of a story right? So back in Africa, I finally met the project leader Charlotte. This whole time I could not figure out for the life of me what everyone was saying when they pronounced her name. Even my two new Japanese and Korean friends who speak English very well, never gave me the slightest insight as to what her name really was. I came up with Chilote as my best guess, but I finally saw it written and it is Charlotte. I was like wow, and just started laughing. If anyone wants to mail me something the address to send it to is:
Paul Titterington
DAPP Amalika TTC
2732 Blantyre, Malawi
That is a PO Box, by the way. I am very impressed so far with Charlotte. She is a very knowledgeable and kind woman. What I like about her the most is the way she is running the college. She has a new age kind of mind. She likes to try new things like giving students money and responsibilities. So far I think there have been a couple of misuses of the school’s money, but Charlotte expected some bumps in the road at first. I like how she is teaching the students responsibility and giving them a chance to prove that they can be trusted with large sums of money. The other head masters/ project leaders think she is crazy for doing things like letting the students go out and buy things for the whole college, but Charlotte doesn’t mind, she is always looking for a new way for things to work. We had a meeting on Monday morning where one of the students said, “Culturally, some of the students were afraid to speak their mind or even ask a Charlotte a question because of her position in the school and the power that she had.” She immediately countered this statement by talking about how we are all equal in this world and no one should ever tell you different. It was very Martin Luther King-esk(?), and very inspirational. The students listened to what she had to say, but it will take a lot longer than 30 minutes to change a lot of their minds on this subject. I find that very sad, there are so many great students here who are afraid to talk b/c they don’t have a high self worth, I hope I can help improve their self esteem and confidence in some way, but I get the feeling a lot of them look at me in the same way.
I did my first presentation yesterday. I gave my Planet Aid presentation and did some short facts about the USA. I asked all of the students after what they wanted to know about the USA? I told them I would make a presentation for them. I thought there would be a lot more suggestions, but that’s when I could feel the cultural suppression. The suggestions I did get were, to talk about how and why the US has a Black president, to talk about 9-11 and Guantanamo Bay, to explain more about how Christopher Columbus and how he founded America, and about that actor that became a politician and yes they mean the TERMINATOR! So I will start on that in my free time. I also got a new project to work on, on Monday. I am going to create a survey for the primary schools so that Charlotte and the Dean can see the progression of the 7 primary schools in our area over the next few years as Amalika teachers graduate and start working at these schools. I am actually interested to keep up on the survey also. It will be interesting to see how the enrollment of girls fluctuates over the next few years as well as graduation rates and the overall environment of these schools. As the title of this post says, we had a great rain storm yesterday. It was all day, I was very excited. The rains here are intense. I think some of the storms could get pretty bad though, because there is a very strong wind that rips through the campus on a regular basis. We are supposed to be in the Amalika Forest district, but all the trees have been cut down by the people who live around here. They need to wood for day-to-day survival. The pictures that I have of the “Forest” are shockingly sad. There is nothing, it reminds me of the flint hills by Manhattan, with a little red dirt mixed in. I think this problem could make for some terrible weather when the rainy season does get here, but I will keep you posted. I’m sure that will turn out to be quite an adventure.
This weekend has been very interesting. I finally meet the met the project leader/ head master Chilote (sp), I met a sick Lawrence in town, and I did my laundry for the first time; by hand and in a bucket. Hey mom I also woke up this morning with my first bug bite , think Its Malaria? I guess we will have to wait and see. Dad it was good to chat with you, I was shocked when your voice actually came through, I didn’t think it was possible. I was on the head master’s internet, so I will have to ask her if I can use it on thanksgiving and possibly Christmas if I’m around. I feel bad for bailey. We now have a tri-pod for a dog. Bailey, my dad and step-mom’s dog had to have a leg amputated. He got into a fight with a grizzly bear up at our cabin in Idaho Springs. Bailey was just trying to protect our house and the bear severely severed Bailey’s right leg. Poor guy, he was always our special dog before this tragedy; one thing is for sure he is not going to be a happy camper for the next few months! So maybe there was no grizzly, but if there was that would be one heck of a story right? So back in Africa, I finally met the project leader Charlotte. This whole time I could not figure out for the life of me what everyone was saying when they pronounced her name. Even my two new Japanese and Korean friends who speak English very well, never gave me the slightest insight as to what her name really was. I came up with Chilote as my best guess, but I finally saw it written and it is Charlotte. I was like wow, and just started laughing. If anyone wants to mail me something the address to send it to is:
Paul Titterington
DAPP Amalika TTC
2732 Blantyre, Malawi
That is a PO Box, by the way. I am very impressed so far with Charlotte. She is a very knowledgeable and kind woman. What I like about her the most is the way she is running the college. She has a new age kind of mind. She likes to try new things like giving students money and responsibilities. So far I think there have been a couple of misuses of the school’s money, but Charlotte expected some bumps in the road at first. I like how she is teaching the students responsibility and giving them a chance to prove that they can be trusted with large sums of money. The other head masters/ project leaders think she is crazy for doing things like letting the students go out and buy things for the whole college, but Charlotte doesn’t mind, she is always looking for a new way for things to work. We had a meeting on Monday morning where one of the students said, “Culturally, some of the students were afraid to speak their mind or even ask a Charlotte a question because of her position in the school and the power that she had.” She immediately countered this statement by talking about how we are all equal in this world and no one should ever tell you different. It was very Martin Luther King-esk(?), and very inspirational. The students listened to what she had to say, but it will take a lot longer than 30 minutes to change a lot of their minds on this subject. I find that very sad, there are so many great students here who are afraid to talk b/c they don’t have a high self worth, I hope I can help improve their self esteem and confidence in some way, but I get the feeling a lot of them look at me in the same way.
I did my first presentation yesterday. I gave my Planet Aid presentation and did some short facts about the USA. I asked all of the students after what they wanted to know about the USA? I told them I would make a presentation for them. I thought there would be a lot more suggestions, but that’s when I could feel the cultural suppression. The suggestions I did get were, to talk about how and why the US has a Black president, to talk about 9-11 and Guantanamo Bay, to explain more about how Christopher Columbus and how he founded America, and about that actor that became a politician and yes they mean the TERMINATOR! So I will start on that in my free time. I also got a new project to work on, on Monday. I am going to create a survey for the primary schools so that Charlotte and the Dean can see the progression of the 7 primary schools in our area over the next few years as Amalika teachers graduate and start working at these schools. I am actually interested to keep up on the survey also. It will be interesting to see how the enrollment of girls fluctuates over the next few years as well as graduation rates and the overall environment of these schools. As the title of this post says, we had a great rain storm yesterday. It was all day, I was very excited. The rains here are intense. I think some of the storms could get pretty bad though, because there is a very strong wind that rips through the campus on a regular basis. We are supposed to be in the Amalika Forest district, but all the trees have been cut down by the people who live around here. They need to wood for day-to-day survival. The pictures that I have of the “Forest” are shockingly sad. There is nothing, it reminds me of the flint hills by Manhattan, with a little red dirt mixed in. I think this problem could make for some terrible weather when the rainy season does get here, but I will keep you posted. I’m sure that will turn out to be quite an adventure.
Oh Yea?
Oh I forgot, yesterday I went into town because it was a holiday (Mother’s Day), so school was out and in the market I saw a guy wearing a yellow MIZZOU shirt. I wanted to take a picture, but again I didn’t bring my camera, ahhhh! It would have been a great picture for all you Mizzou people! Well just wanted to add that in.
Oh I forgot, yesterday I went into town because it was a holiday (Mother’s Day), so school was out and in the market I saw a guy wearing a yellow MIZZOU shirt. I wanted to take a picture, but again I didn’t bring my camera, ahhhh! It would have been a great picture for all you Mizzou people! Well just wanted to add that in.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Oct 16: Little bug
I survived my first little bug in Africa and by little bug I mean little sickness. I don’t know why, but for some reason the Big D caught up with me last night. It wasn’t very pleasant in my tiny bathroom, but the worst part was probably the funniest. The first time I had to go # 2, the toilet seat broke into 3 pieces. I have asked 4 times now for a new toilet seat, but it seems like I will never get it. So the worst part of everything is that every time I need to use to the toilet I have to assemble the seat back together before I squat down. It is hardly stable and always makes for an interesting experience. Today I feel much better, I hope to actually do something this weekend. Quick question for all for medical people out there, is it strange that when i wake up in the morning my tongue is brown? I have been eating a lot of beans lately, but i didn't eat any beans yesterday and this morning still brown, so i was just curious. when i brush my teeth and tongue the brown comes off, but better to be safe than sorry out here! Gmail is the best way to get ahold of me or Skype!
Real Human?
A lot has happened in the past 48 hours. On Tuesday I visited some pre-schools and a primary school with Chihiro. It was my a great day! It seemed like we walked all over the country. It was a total of almost 8hrs of walking/ hiking. My feet were a little sore to say the least, but whenever I was asked if I needed a break I would say I was fine because I wanted to see more. I wanted to go to one more school and talk to one more teacher. In the afternoon Chihiro taught an English class. I think she was nervous because I was there, but I don’t think I could have done as good a job as she did. Young, another DI from South Korea also came to Chihiro’s class. On our 2 hour walk home from afternoon English the two girls talked about how sometimes the walk or sun can get to you out here, but there are so many more problems that we can actually help fix so you have to just fight through the pain. I don’t remember their exact words, but it was something like that. I think they are totally right. My foot pains will go away once I get used to the walk, but the pains of these people won’t go away until they receive real education and learn that they can pull themselves up and there is a brighter future for each and every one of them. One thing Chihiro said during the day has really stuck with me this week. She said, “It has taken me all my life, but now I know what it feels like to be a real human being.” I was curious by what she meant, and all she meant was we finally are living like the vast majority of the people in the world. We are facing the same struggles they are and have to figure out what to do for ourselves. We don’t have our own cars or have a quick shop down the street where we can eat when we are hungry or grab a quick drink when we are thirsty. We don’t have the luxuries we have always had, now we are just regular people. I agreed with her, we had a great reminder of just how true her words were when we got home that night. During the day the generator had run out of gas, so there was no power on Tuesday night. While we were out that had diverted most of our water to the kitchen for cooking rice that day and upon our return I had enough water to wash my feet. So after walking around in 95 degree heat all day, no shower, no light, only hope for a better day tomorrow. The one thing I did have was a bottle of water I had put on the roof that morning. My way of purifying the water is to put a clear plastic bottle of water on the roof for 5 to 6 hours and let the UV rays purify the water. So far it has worked out great.
On Wednesday I was blindsided by my head teacher. I came to class and he was gone for the day. When I called him, he said just teach what’s on the schedule, but when I got to class he had told the had supposedly assigned. It was an interesting class, once I get acquainted with how the school works I feel I will be a lot more effective. The biggest shocker for me was that night when I finally saw the teacher he approached me to apologize for putting me in that situation. I was utterly shocked, in a very good way. I was surprised and happy that he recognized that as being a bad situation to put me in. On Wednesday night I got some sad news. The one man I like the most on the staff is Fredrick, and he is the cook. He has taken a liking to me and helped me out from time to time. I came to dinner early on Wednesday to talk to Fredrick and he was telling me about his life and family and then he said it all changed when he tested positive for HIV. I was stunned. I have read all the statistics and given presentations about HIV and AIDS, but not once since I had arrived had I thought about people at the school being sick. He was very upbeat about it and he said that he likes the DI’s, because they actually talk to him about it. They make sure he is eating regularly and taking his medications. I know this is something that I can do too! Fredrick is a very nice older man and a great cook. We are going to get along just fine while I’m here. After dinner the student’s turned on the T.V. while the power was on. There is only one local station in Malawi, so they put in a movie. I was excited to see what was on because there was a lot of commotion in the eating hall. The students were screaming and chanting to what? WWE Judgment Day! I couldn’t believe it, the WWE is popular in Malawi, but don’t tell the students here that it’s not real or you might be the one getting hit with a steel chair or being choke-slammed through a table. It was mother’s day in Malawi on Thursday so of course the internet place that is always open was closed.
On Wednesday I was blindsided by my head teacher. I came to class and he was gone for the day. When I called him, he said just teach what’s on the schedule, but when I got to class he had told the had supposedly assigned. It was an interesting class, once I get acquainted with how the school works I feel I will be a lot more effective. The biggest shocker for me was that night when I finally saw the teacher he approached me to apologize for putting me in that situation. I was utterly shocked, in a very good way. I was surprised and happy that he recognized that as being a bad situation to put me in. On Wednesday night I got some sad news. The one man I like the most on the staff is Fredrick, and he is the cook. He has taken a liking to me and helped me out from time to time. I came to dinner early on Wednesday to talk to Fredrick and he was telling me about his life and family and then he said it all changed when he tested positive for HIV. I was stunned. I have read all the statistics and given presentations about HIV and AIDS, but not once since I had arrived had I thought about people at the school being sick. He was very upbeat about it and he said that he likes the DI’s, because they actually talk to him about it. They make sure he is eating regularly and taking his medications. I know this is something that I can do too! Fredrick is a very nice older man and a great cook. We are going to get along just fine while I’m here. After dinner the student’s turned on the T.V. while the power was on. There is only one local station in Malawi, so they put in a movie. I was excited to see what was on because there was a lot of commotion in the eating hall. The students were screaming and chanting to what? WWE Judgment Day! I couldn’t believe it, the WWE is popular in Malawi, but don’t tell the students here that it’s not real or you might be the one getting hit with a steel chair or being choke-slammed through a table. It was mother’s day in Malawi on Thursday so of course the internet place that is always open was closed.
Oct 12, something to do
I started my job today and I couldn’t be happier about it. On Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday each week I will be teaching English to the 2008 team. I had a choice to teach English, math, or science, and I think English is my very bestest subject out of those 3(bestest haha). On Tuesdays I will go out to the preschools with one of the other DI’s or I will go talk to the American who runs the local orphanage and see if he could use my help on Tuesdays. On Fridays I will be working with the partnership officer. I am very excited for Fridays, because the partnership guy is very excited to work with me. Any group or business interested in sponsoring an activity or group at Amalika Teacher’s Training College in Cholo, Malawi? Think about it and get back to me; what can I say I’m a natural!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Hi Dad/ Bye Dad
Oct 11: Attempt to call home…Failure
I think dealing with the extra time especially on the weekends is going to be my greatest challenge over the next 3 months. Once my job starts hopefully they will give me so much work that I don’t have time to stop, but I’m sure the weekends will still be very uneventful. Today I felt like I was in prison, I sat in my tiny square concrete room, read, played phone games, exercised, and tried to sleep in between. I was hoping to take a walk with Chihiro, another DI from Japan, but she went into town very early this morning. I don’t want to wonder off by myself just yet in fear that I might get lost or into some kind of trouble. I’m really just not all that comfortable in my surroundings yet. If I can meet new people in town and have a place to go on the weekends that has INTERNET life would be awesome. As my title says I did try to call home today. I got 2 minutes on the phone with my dad/ step mom and those 2 international minutes took up 300 local minutes on my phone. Sorry to leave you hanging dad, but that’s just how it is down here in the bush. It kind of puts me in a pickle now, b/c I won’t have a chance to get to town again until the end of the week, and the people at my project use their cell phones more than we Americans do. Anyways unless something drastic happens, I doubt I will have strong enough internet to web cam for all the family on my birthday or thanksgiving. I’m going to ask for my week off the week of Christmas for my investigations, so I might be able to see you guys then, but unless something drastic happens there is no possible way that will happen if I’m at Amalika. I’m trying to rally the DI’s to get together and talk to heads of the school about appointing a Head DI that has more responsibilities like a master key and the password to the internet, because as it stands right now there are only 2 teachers that have keys and the password to the Server (internet), the problem lies in the fact that both of these teachers do not live on campus, so they are nowhere to be found on the weekends. I am already frustrated with this process. I’m also going to talk to the project leader about the possibilities of starting a student government to strengthen the community of the student body. Well time to take a shower and hit the sack. The power goes off in 10 minutes, is it sad that I go to sleep at 8pm now?
I think dealing with the extra time especially on the weekends is going to be my greatest challenge over the next 3 months. Once my job starts hopefully they will give me so much work that I don’t have time to stop, but I’m sure the weekends will still be very uneventful. Today I felt like I was in prison, I sat in my tiny square concrete room, read, played phone games, exercised, and tried to sleep in between. I was hoping to take a walk with Chihiro, another DI from Japan, but she went into town very early this morning. I don’t want to wonder off by myself just yet in fear that I might get lost or into some kind of trouble. I’m really just not all that comfortable in my surroundings yet. If I can meet new people in town and have a place to go on the weekends that has INTERNET life would be awesome. As my title says I did try to call home today. I got 2 minutes on the phone with my dad/ step mom and those 2 international minutes took up 300 local minutes on my phone. Sorry to leave you hanging dad, but that’s just how it is down here in the bush. It kind of puts me in a pickle now, b/c I won’t have a chance to get to town again until the end of the week, and the people at my project use their cell phones more than we Americans do. Anyways unless something drastic happens, I doubt I will have strong enough internet to web cam for all the family on my birthday or thanksgiving. I’m going to ask for my week off the week of Christmas for my investigations, so I might be able to see you guys then, but unless something drastic happens there is no possible way that will happen if I’m at Amalika. I’m trying to rally the DI’s to get together and talk to heads of the school about appointing a Head DI that has more responsibilities like a master key and the password to the internet, because as it stands right now there are only 2 teachers that have keys and the password to the Server (internet), the problem lies in the fact that both of these teachers do not live on campus, so they are nowhere to be found on the weekends. I am already frustrated with this process. I’m also going to talk to the project leader about the possibilities of starting a student government to strengthen the community of the student body. Well time to take a shower and hit the sack. The power goes off in 10 minutes, is it sad that I go to sleep at 8pm now?
Oct 9
It was a hot one today, it got up to 100. I went into town today; I finally got my bag and went shopping. Lawrence picked me up with his brother Grisom. We went and picked up our bags at the airport, had lunch, and shopped at the shop rite. I’d say more but the sun really drained me today. The temperature might not go past 105 where I am, but it reminded me of the good ol’ days on the Merriam crack seal team. It felt great to finally get out of my 5 day clothing selection and I’m super excited for my cold cup shower in the morning. I might go back into town tomorrow, there is a big world cup match tomorrow that has the Malawians buzzing with excitement. They play Ivory Coast at home. Their stadium holds 60,000, but Lo told me that FIFA will only let 25,000 tickets be sold b/c of safety issues. Needless to say im going to be there at the very top rocking with my Malawian brothers! Jk mom I think we are going to watch it from a bar or restaurant. Well that’s it for me tonight, dinner and bed.
Oct 10: Malawian Time,
Today has been a long uneventful day. I was hoping to get into town early in the day and be on the internet for at least 3 hours, I mean I need to check fantasy football and maybe write my mom and dad if time permits. Again just kidding mom. The van into town was supposed to arrive at 10, but like usual(from what I have been told) the van didn’t arrive till around 12:30. When the van did get to Amalika we left rather quickly only making a few stops until the van parked at the shop rite across from the stadium. The entire area was a disaster, there were people everywhere. All the Malawians were blowing those plastic horns, it was rather annoying. We drove around for the next 30 minutes trying to find a bar that showed the game and had internet. We went to Mustang Sally’s first b/c it is owned by an American. It’s funny how rude Americans can still be even 8,000 miles from home. When we asked the waitress if they had internet and if they were showing the game, the owner just said with disgust, “Does this look like an internet café to you?” I wanted to say no sir it looks like a pretentious sh*thole in the middle of Africa, but I refrained. So we got back in the car and we came to Doogles lodge. No game, but they had advertised internet so I stayed and tried to connect. Unfortunately for me you get 5 free minutes, and after trying to check fb for one minute I tried to upload my 3 days of blogs and was cut off right after. Immediately after it said I needed to buy internet cards for this internet which they didn’t have. So I sat at Doogles for almost 90 minutes waiting for the game to be over. I tried to call Lawrence and see if he would pick me back up, and at the time I was annoyed that he wanted to finish the game, but as I think about it now, I came into town unannounced and the game was a very important event for Malawians. I am lucky Lawrence was able to pick me up in the first place and I think I just need to be more patient from now on. By the way African cell phones are awesome! Mine has 6 games and a bunch of other cool features, like a built in flash light! I got it for $25 US dollars, I do have to buy blocks of minutes, but it just makes you realizes how much we truly do get ripped off in the US for every little thing.
It was a hot one today, it got up to 100. I went into town today; I finally got my bag and went shopping. Lawrence picked me up with his brother Grisom. We went and picked up our bags at the airport, had lunch, and shopped at the shop rite. I’d say more but the sun really drained me today. The temperature might not go past 105 where I am, but it reminded me of the good ol’ days on the Merriam crack seal team. It felt great to finally get out of my 5 day clothing selection and I’m super excited for my cold cup shower in the morning. I might go back into town tomorrow, there is a big world cup match tomorrow that has the Malawians buzzing with excitement. They play Ivory Coast at home. Their stadium holds 60,000, but Lo told me that FIFA will only let 25,000 tickets be sold b/c of safety issues. Needless to say im going to be there at the very top rocking with my Malawian brothers! Jk mom I think we are going to watch it from a bar or restaurant. Well that’s it for me tonight, dinner and bed.
Oct 10: Malawian Time,
Today has been a long uneventful day. I was hoping to get into town early in the day and be on the internet for at least 3 hours, I mean I need to check fantasy football and maybe write my mom and dad if time permits. Again just kidding mom. The van into town was supposed to arrive at 10, but like usual(from what I have been told) the van didn’t arrive till around 12:30. When the van did get to Amalika we left rather quickly only making a few stops until the van parked at the shop rite across from the stadium. The entire area was a disaster, there were people everywhere. All the Malawians were blowing those plastic horns, it was rather annoying. We drove around for the next 30 minutes trying to find a bar that showed the game and had internet. We went to Mustang Sally’s first b/c it is owned by an American. It’s funny how rude Americans can still be even 8,000 miles from home. When we asked the waitress if they had internet and if they were showing the game, the owner just said with disgust, “Does this look like an internet café to you?” I wanted to say no sir it looks like a pretentious sh*thole in the middle of Africa, but I refrained. So we got back in the car and we came to Doogles lodge. No game, but they had advertised internet so I stayed and tried to connect. Unfortunately for me you get 5 free minutes, and after trying to check fb for one minute I tried to upload my 3 days of blogs and was cut off right after. Immediately after it said I needed to buy internet cards for this internet which they didn’t have. So I sat at Doogles for almost 90 minutes waiting for the game to be over. I tried to call Lawrence and see if he would pick me back up, and at the time I was annoyed that he wanted to finish the game, but as I think about it now, I came into town unannounced and the game was a very important event for Malawians. I am lucky Lawrence was able to pick me up in the first place and I think I just need to be more patient from now on. By the way African cell phones are awesome! Mine has 6 games and a bunch of other cool features, like a built in flash light! I got it for $25 US dollars, I do have to buy blocks of minutes, but it just makes you realizes how much we truly do get ripped off in the US for every little thing.
October 8, 2009
Today when I woke up, the reality that my bag was not here set in. I have I extra set of socks and underwear in my carry-on, but not much else. The only mosquito repellent I have is 2: 36hr mosquito patches given to me by Sean Berger during our secret Santa gift exchange last Christmas. I ate all three meals at the college today and found out that all 3 meals are the same meals every day. I think I can get pretty used to the rice porridge in the morning; when I figure out what the right amount of sugar to put on it is, I will be set! Lunch and dinner and a different subject, they both consist of Nsimba and beans. Nsimba is some kind of corn based thing. It is very bland, its looks like mashed potatoes, but is thicker and with no taste. The beans are great and at dinner there was some kind of red sauce out on the Nsimba which made it very good. I’m excited to get into the routine here; my time table is still very off. Two of the DI’s are from India and they invited me to dinner tomorrow. They cook for themselves every meal, so if I’m around I will accept.
We also had a meeting where I was introduced to the teaching staff. They were all nice and very welcoming. It’s going to take me a while to learn everyone’s name, but I’m optimistic that I can. I mean there are only 20 staff and 128 students. At the meeting they did mention an outbreak of diaherra within the students. This outbreak could be because breakfast is the only meal the people eat with utensils. Lunch and dinner are eaten by hand. I’m going to stick with my spoon though. Another reason could be that each class room has a water cooler (bucket with a spout) and a bowl underneath that. When someone drinks a cup of water the rinse it out in the bowl underneath and the put the cup back. There are only 3 cups per room. Although, I have been drinking borehole water for the past day and a half which my project leader said was clean, I will start boiling everything on advisement from two other DI’s from Japan and South Korea. Although, I have not been sick yet, I don’t want to keep risking it, I do have my pepto tablets handy if I do have any strong sensations soon.
Im headed to bed in an hour or so, really whenever the power goes off. We have power from:
8am-11am, 2pm-3pm, 6pm-8pm. The other DI’s from more developed areas really dislike the power situation, b/c they say the power is on Malawi time. Lawrence showed up today out of nowhere and is going to pick me up tomorrow morning and take me to get my bag, go shopping, and go back to the country office. I was very relieved when he showed up. Its going to be a long/ hard three months. One day down 95 to go.
Today when I woke up, the reality that my bag was not here set in. I have I extra set of socks and underwear in my carry-on, but not much else. The only mosquito repellent I have is 2: 36hr mosquito patches given to me by Sean Berger during our secret Santa gift exchange last Christmas. I ate all three meals at the college today and found out that all 3 meals are the same meals every day. I think I can get pretty used to the rice porridge in the morning; when I figure out what the right amount of sugar to put on it is, I will be set! Lunch and dinner and a different subject, they both consist of Nsimba and beans. Nsimba is some kind of corn based thing. It is very bland, its looks like mashed potatoes, but is thicker and with no taste. The beans are great and at dinner there was some kind of red sauce out on the Nsimba which made it very good. I’m excited to get into the routine here; my time table is still very off. Two of the DI’s are from India and they invited me to dinner tomorrow. They cook for themselves every meal, so if I’m around I will accept.
We also had a meeting where I was introduced to the teaching staff. They were all nice and very welcoming. It’s going to take me a while to learn everyone’s name, but I’m optimistic that I can. I mean there are only 20 staff and 128 students. At the meeting they did mention an outbreak of diaherra within the students. This outbreak could be because breakfast is the only meal the people eat with utensils. Lunch and dinner are eaten by hand. I’m going to stick with my spoon though. Another reason could be that each class room has a water cooler (bucket with a spout) and a bowl underneath that. When someone drinks a cup of water the rinse it out in the bowl underneath and the put the cup back. There are only 3 cups per room. Although, I have been drinking borehole water for the past day and a half which my project leader said was clean, I will start boiling everything on advisement from two other DI’s from Japan and South Korea. Although, I have not been sick yet, I don’t want to keep risking it, I do have my pepto tablets handy if I do have any strong sensations soon.
Im headed to bed in an hour or so, really whenever the power goes off. We have power from:
8am-11am, 2pm-3pm, 6pm-8pm. The other DI’s from more developed areas really dislike the power situation, b/c they say the power is on Malawi time. Lawrence showed up today out of nowhere and is going to pick me up tomorrow morning and take me to get my bag, go shopping, and go back to the country office. I was very relieved when he showed up. Its going to be a long/ hard three months. One day down 95 to go.
The beginning
October 7, 2009
Lawrence and I were sitting in the Jo-berg airport waiting for our final fight to Malawi, when something unbelievable happened. The Mozambique women’s national soccer team started to rush by us onto a flight they were very late for. The airline was obviously holding the flight for the team/ coaches. When all of a sudden the last 3 or 4 of the team and the coaches got off the escalator and the head Attendant just yells out Really, they refuse to run to us? Well congrats your laziness just made you miss you flight! She continued to shut the doors and would not let the remaining players/ coaches get on the bus that takes you to the plane. It was unreal, I have never seen anything like it. The Mozambique coaches were furious and this lady that worked for South African airlines continued to just stand them and call them lazy until she was finally old to leave by a supervisor, who didn’t stay and help the situation and just left himself without saying a word to the left passengers. We were there about an hour after this incident had happened and to the very minute we got on our bus to go to the plane, they still had not been helped, put on a new flight, or ever talked to for that matter. They missed their flight and were treated like they didn’t exist.
Lawrence and I’s flight from Jo-berg to Malawi was without a doubt the worst flight I have ever been on. We got to the plane and there was no limit for carry-on bags. We each had our back packs and a small rolling suitcase for carry-on and some people had 4-5 shopping bags full of things, so needless to say by the time we got on there was no overhead room left in the entire plane. Both of us being extremely tired were having trouble understanding why someone could not take their purse out of the overhead to fit our bags, but the worst part was there was about 25 people get on the plane after us and the flight attendants were so confused that we had to fight our way back off the plane to put our bags under the plane ourselves. After we got back on the plane there was an African in my seat who refused to move and the flight attendant agreed by saying it’s not a full flight. So I was forced to take a middle seat instead of the aisle. Normally I wouldn’t care, but after traveling for a little over 30 hours at that point I was pretty tired and cranky(no me never).
We finally got to Malawi after what seemed like forever. I was so ready to get out of the clothes I had been in for two days, but our luggage did not make the same trip we did. ¾’s of our plane’s luggage went to Lilongwe, the main airport and capital in Malawi. What did make the trip instead was 2 women’s personal medical supplies, about 10-15 boxes of it. On a bright note when I got to the airport there was someone waiting for me. After talking to the guy for about 5 minutes Lawrence said that he was going to take me to the project. I asked the man how long we were going to wait for the car to get here and he said no more than 5 minutes. I told Lawrence to go home with his family and that I would speak with him the next day. Needless to say, I should have gone with Lawrence. We waited for a little over an hour for the car to pick me up. The car took me to chilengoma the Main TTC in Malawi. I spent about 10 minutes there before I was shipped off to the plantation office to deal with my immigration issues (don’t worry mom I just have to get my passport checked at the end of every month). From there I was taken in a van to Amalika. Amalika is the school I will be living and working at for the next three months. Upon my arrival I briefly talked with Moses who is in charge of me and the other Development Instructors, tried to use the internet, had my first glass of borehole water (interesting), and went to bed. I think I slept for almost 12 hours.
The beginning
October 7, 2009
Lawrence and I were sitting in the Jo-berg airport waiting for our final fight to Malawi, when something unbelievable happened. The Mozambique women’s national soccer team started to rush by us onto a flight they were very late for. The airline was obviously holding the flight for the team/ coaches. When all of a sudden the last 3 or 4 of the team and the coaches got off the escalator and the head Attendant just yells out Really, they refuse to run to us? Well congrats your laziness just made you miss you flight! She continued to shut the doors and would not let the remaining players/ coaches get on the bus that takes you to the plane. It was unreal, I have never seen anything like it. The Mozambique coaches were furious and this lady that worked for South African airlines continued to just stand them and call them lazy until she was finally old to leave by a supervisor, who didn’t stay and help the situation and just left himself without saying a word to the left passengers. We were there about an hour after this incident had happened and to the very minute we got on our bus to go to the plane, they still had not been helped, put on a new flight, or ever talked to for that matter. They missed their flight and were treated like they didn’t exist.
Lawrence and I’s flight from Jo-berg to Malawi was without a doubt the worst flight I have ever been on. We got to the plane and there was no limit for carry-on bags. We each had our back packs and a small rolling suitcase for carry-on and some people had 4-5 shopping bags full of things, so needless to say by the time we got on there was no overhead room left in the entire plane. Both of us being extremely tired were having trouble understanding why someone could not take their purse out of the overhead to fit our bags, but the worst part was there was about 25 people get on the plane after us and the flight attendants were so confused that we had to fight our way back off the plane to put our bags under the plane ourselves. After we got back on the plane there was an African in my seat who refused to move and the flight attendant agreed by saying it’s not a full flight. So I was forced to take a middle seat instead of the aisle. Normally I wouldn’t care, but after traveling for a little over 30 hours at that point I was pretty tired and cranky(no me never).
We finally got to Malawi after what seemed like forever. I was so ready to get out of the clothes I had been in for two days, but our luggage did not make the same trip we did. ¾’s of our plane’s luggage went to Lilongwe, the main airport and capital in Malawi. What did make the trip instead was 2 women’s personal medical supplies, about 10-15 boxes of it. On a bright note when I got to the airport there was someone waiting for me. After talking to the guy for about 5 minutes Lawrence said that he was going to take me to the project. I asked the man how long we were going to wait for the car to get here and he said no more than 5 minutes. I told Lawrence to go home with his family and that I would speak with him the next day. Needless to say, I should have gone with Lawrence. We waited for a little over an hour for the car to pick me up. The car took me to chilengoma the Main TTC in Malawi. I spent about 10 minutes there before I was shipped off to the plantation office to deal with my immigration issues (don’t worry mom I just have to get my passport checked at the end of every month). From there I was taken in a van to Amalika. Amalika is the school I will be living and working at for the next three months. Upon my arrival I briefly talked with Moses who is in charge of me and the other Development Instructors, tried to use the internet, had my first glass of borehole water (interesting), and went to bed. I think I slept for almost 12 hours.
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