Sunday Funday?
So Sunday started off just as I had hoped. Hannah, Aumi, and I got the school car very early and it took us to Bvombwe market, where we had to take connecting mini-buses to Shoprite. We had breakfast and did a little shopping; I could tell that Hannah and Aumi were very happy to get a few necessities before the beginning of their first week. I talked to Lawrence, early in the week we had talked about going to a game reserve. He said that his family was planning on going, so there would be room in the car for me, but not my two new friends, so I said we will have to go another time, because I couldn’t leave Hannah and Aumi alone in Blantyre on their fourth day in Malawi. After we were done at Shoprite we took a mini-bus to limbe and then got in a mini-bus that looked like a nice bus, but boy was I wrong. On the outside it looked newish which is very rare here. We got in and I immediately knew I had picked the wrong bus, don’t judge a book by its cover was a popular moral in grade school, but it is a harsh reality in a third world country. Needless to say the bus broke down 3 times, before finally running out of gas less than half way to our expected destination. Two months ago this would have really frustrated me. I also would have probably freaked out a little, but at the time I just thought “oh well, this is Malawi”. We waited for another mini-bus to come by and pick us up for about 30 minutes. Since it was Sunday and there is a major fuel crisis there was only one bus in that 30 minutes that stopped, and since my two new friends didn’t know that you can’t just wait in line here, that if you want to be on that bus you have to take someone’s seat… we missed the bus. After that bus pulled away, I thought oh well lets hoof it. I would say it was about 100 degrees and the sun was beating down on us, and we walked a good 5K probably more to one of the teacher’s houses. That teacher Maiyse had invited me to come to his house at some point and now seemed as good a time as any. Right as we got to the turn off for his house, it started pouring. The rain was coming down like a hurricane. It was nuts, I took some great pictures and I quick camera video of it all from Maiyse’s house. We had to call the school car to come get us from Maiyse’s house. This was really the only option for us and it was good that the car or truck I should say was already in the area dropping off other teachers. When the truck came and got us the rain started to die down, which was a very good thing for the people that were outside. I guess it was even a very good thing for people that were inside, because it seems like just about everywhere you go, no roof that I have seen so far can hold up against this rain. Even the ceiling at the super market leaks when it is raining. When you look at it from an outsider’s perspective, when you put the rain up against something man made in Malawi, the rain always wins. Anyways, when the truck got of the high way and turned onto the dirt road that goes to the school, we had some problems. With the amount of rain that came down, even in only an hour or two the road had transformed into a mud slid. The driver quickly turned on four wheel drive and unlocked the front wheels, but it really didn’t matter. We were slipping and sliding all over the road. We were completely at the mercy of the road. It was like driving on solid ICE with absolutely no traction. The truck was just fish tailing back and forth. The driver and other passengers were a little nervous/ scared, but I was kind of excited. I don’t know why, but I actually thought the drive was fun. Yes, our car could have gone into a ditch at any time, or spun off the road doing one of a hundred things, but I still was like a little kid on a rollercoaster and I couldn’t hide it either. It was the most fun I have had on a drive since I have been in Malawi. Most of the time I’m just hoping the car or mini-bus I’m in doesn’t crash and kill everyone inside, but when it came to the mud, I felt alive. Once we got to the college, all the mud turned back into dirt, because even though less than 1 kilometer away there had been torrential down pours, Amalika hadn’t gotten a drop of rain. That’s just how life is out here in the bush. After I got back, I ran to my room and did some much needed laundry. I have started doing my laundry in the stream about 120 yards from my room. I still am skeptical about bathing with that water, but my uncle Frank(best doctor in the Midwest for those of you that were wondering about his qualifications) told me as long as I don’t get it in my eyes, ears, nose, or mouth that bathing shouldn’t be a problem, so I took that advice as saying it would be ok to do my laundry in; and so far it has worked out great.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Nov 21
Is it bad that I am happy that I will never have to teach my English class again? We had our final party yesterday (I had to promise them I would throw them a party if they actually came to class for the rest of the term, the joke was on me when the project leader shortened their term by two weeks). The class took their final exams on Thursday and can you believe it they all passed! They all passed because it was a pass/fail test with the fail line set at 50%. I was a little disappointed in the classes overall exam scores, but the ones who truly never came to class and just don’t care that much were the ones at the bottom and there was a clear separation between them and the students who actually tried. I passed back their exams right before the party and the ones who never came to class started to challenge me on some of the answers. In class we had covered certain material like figures of speech and parts of speech. Now you have to realize that I only introduced material that was very simple. A problem from the beginning with this class was that they would find other answers outside of the material that I was teaching and be like “well what about this? This book says this is a type of noun,” or “Paul we found these things when we researched on the internet, not the things you told us”. I tried to explain to the students several times that they could find a million different things on the internet or in different books, but the material that I was teaching them was what they needed to look up and study. I asked one of the students who was challenging me, “where did you learn this?” She replied, “in another class”. I am seriously worried about some of these students. On December 7, they start their student teaching term for 11 months, and some of them can’t understand why they got marked down for answers that weren’t covered in class, and WEREN’T ON THE EXAM STUDY GUIDE I MADE FOR THEM THAT HIGHLIGHTED WHAT MATERIAL WAS GOING TO BE ON THE EXAM. Ahhhhh!!!! I wanted to walk out of the classroom and scream after this brief exchange. At the end of the party they students thanked me for teaching and said that they would never forget my kindness and generosity, then they asked me to say a few words. All I could think of was a couple of things that I had wanted to say to the 5 of them that actually tried hard and came to class, the ones that will be great teachers and will help develop the educational system in Malawi. I said that I applauded them for what they are doing and the thanks should be given to them. Good teachers are so important to the growth of Malawi and the rest of the world, after telling them how I felt blessed to have the chance to work with them, I challenged them to always work hard and push themselves every day. Like I was saying before, I wanted to say these words to 5 maybe 6 of the 10 students. I really do believe they can help make a difference in so many children’s lives, and people’s lives in the surrounding villages for that matter. The other students, I wanted to give them an entirely different speech, that might have made them remember me in a slightly different light, but after I had some time to cool off, I realize now that if those students don’t change their act very soon then they won’t be teachers. The system will spit them out just as quick as it let them in. Malawi is looking for real teachers, not wannabes that are just looking for the next paycheck. Just when I was starting to think that all hope was lost for not just these few students, but the majority of the class…!!!BAM!!! A renewed since of hope popped up and hit me in the jaw! A since of hope and encouragement that came from 2 students later that night who I had a discussion with about 9/11 and GITMO. They were curious about GITMO and how the events of 9/11 affected GITMO. I went over some facts with them and then we had a great talk about the Middle East. I was shocked at how informed and intellectually challenging the students were about certain issues. The hour that we spent together renewed my faith that there are one a few bad apples in this bunch. Most of these students are going to be great teachers.
A few corrections from previous posts:
The Malawian gov’t had to borrow $50 million dollars to solve the gas problem
The play that I saw at BAF was called The Frogs, it was an adaptation of Aristophanes’ The Frogs and it was performed by NANZIKAMBE.
The two new DIs have arrived. They are Hannah from South Korea and Aumi (I know I spelled that wrong, but her name sounds like (I-U-ME)) from Japan. They got in last night, and wouldn’t you know it the water pump is broken again, so there has been no water for 3 days. I feel really bad for them that there is no water. I can imagine how I would have felt it there was no water when I got here.
Obama
The people here love that a black man is the president of the United States, but they don’t understand that I love that Obama is the president of the United States. They look at me like I just insulted their mothers when I say that I voted for Obama or when I say Obama is my president. One of the students that I discussed GITMO with asked me, how does it feel to be ruled by a black man? I kind of shook my head a little and said a president is not a ruler, my president, your president are our leaders. I tried to explain that a president in a democracy is not like a king or dictator, but a leader of the people. This is something I will have to further discuss with the students in a larger group discussion. Speaking of Obama, I ate my first piece of Obama bread today. It was really good, I joked with a few other teachers that Obama was giving me strength to be here at Amalika. So I should probably explain to you about this bread situation, there isn’t an actual bread that’s name is Obama bread. The people here have given nicknames to the two main types of bread here in Malawi. There is Obama bread which is big and soft and tastes very good, and there is Osama bread that is small and very hard. So the people say Obama bread is for everybody so it is better than Osama bread.
Rain
The rains have officially started. It rained a few times this past week, all of Friday night, and now we are have a huge storm as I write. I took Aumi and Hannah on a walk today and as we got to the first pre-school I wanted to show them I could see the sky starting to get gray and black, so we turned back towards Amalika. It was crazy, as we walked the storm just stalked us. Every step it felt like the storm was getting closer behind us, but when I would turn back to look at it, it looked like it was still a mile away. Then right as we got to the make shift bridge where we cross over a stream I turned around and the storm was right on top of us. The sky swelled with dark ominous clouds and it started pouring. I had a blast in the rain. I wasn’t actually in the rain, but I had a blast during the rain storm, I actually made very good use of my time. I filled up a bucket with water so I could flush my toilet, I filled up a five liter jug and 2 one liter jugs so I can shower for the next few days, and I used the time and extra water that the sky gave us to mop the crap out of my floor. I mopped my room floor like 5 times until it was immaculate. I was very proud of myself, I accomplished a lot… it was a very eventful day. Tomorrow I will go into town in the morning with Aumi and Hannah. Hopefully the money exchange place will be open on Sunday. I need to also pick up a few things at shop-rite since the party pretty much cleaned out my stash of snacks. I hope to meet up with Lawrence and Grisham tomorrow, but we will just have to see. Water is my main concern so it is great when I am able to get a ride home from them b/c then I can buy mass quantities of drinking water. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that the car will be on time and we can get into town in the morning, but only time can tell.
P.S. Dear Titterington Family, i love you all, but could you please take me off the list serv for messages like "thanksgiving menu an count". My Thanksgiving will consist of Nsima and maybe beans...if i'm lucky.
Is it bad that I am happy that I will never have to teach my English class again? We had our final party yesterday (I had to promise them I would throw them a party if they actually came to class for the rest of the term, the joke was on me when the project leader shortened their term by two weeks). The class took their final exams on Thursday and can you believe it they all passed! They all passed because it was a pass/fail test with the fail line set at 50%. I was a little disappointed in the classes overall exam scores, but the ones who truly never came to class and just don’t care that much were the ones at the bottom and there was a clear separation between them and the students who actually tried. I passed back their exams right before the party and the ones who never came to class started to challenge me on some of the answers. In class we had covered certain material like figures of speech and parts of speech. Now you have to realize that I only introduced material that was very simple. A problem from the beginning with this class was that they would find other answers outside of the material that I was teaching and be like “well what about this? This book says this is a type of noun,” or “Paul we found these things when we researched on the internet, not the things you told us”. I tried to explain to the students several times that they could find a million different things on the internet or in different books, but the material that I was teaching them was what they needed to look up and study. I asked one of the students who was challenging me, “where did you learn this?” She replied, “in another class”. I am seriously worried about some of these students. On December 7, they start their student teaching term for 11 months, and some of them can’t understand why they got marked down for answers that weren’t covered in class, and WEREN’T ON THE EXAM STUDY GUIDE I MADE FOR THEM THAT HIGHLIGHTED WHAT MATERIAL WAS GOING TO BE ON THE EXAM. Ahhhhh!!!! I wanted to walk out of the classroom and scream after this brief exchange. At the end of the party they students thanked me for teaching and said that they would never forget my kindness and generosity, then they asked me to say a few words. All I could think of was a couple of things that I had wanted to say to the 5 of them that actually tried hard and came to class, the ones that will be great teachers and will help develop the educational system in Malawi. I said that I applauded them for what they are doing and the thanks should be given to them. Good teachers are so important to the growth of Malawi and the rest of the world, after telling them how I felt blessed to have the chance to work with them, I challenged them to always work hard and push themselves every day. Like I was saying before, I wanted to say these words to 5 maybe 6 of the 10 students. I really do believe they can help make a difference in so many children’s lives, and people’s lives in the surrounding villages for that matter. The other students, I wanted to give them an entirely different speech, that might have made them remember me in a slightly different light, but after I had some time to cool off, I realize now that if those students don’t change their act very soon then they won’t be teachers. The system will spit them out just as quick as it let them in. Malawi is looking for real teachers, not wannabes that are just looking for the next paycheck. Just when I was starting to think that all hope was lost for not just these few students, but the majority of the class…!!!BAM!!! A renewed since of hope popped up and hit me in the jaw! A since of hope and encouragement that came from 2 students later that night who I had a discussion with about 9/11 and GITMO. They were curious about GITMO and how the events of 9/11 affected GITMO. I went over some facts with them and then we had a great talk about the Middle East. I was shocked at how informed and intellectually challenging the students were about certain issues. The hour that we spent together renewed my faith that there are one a few bad apples in this bunch. Most of these students are going to be great teachers.
A few corrections from previous posts:
The Malawian gov’t had to borrow $50 million dollars to solve the gas problem
The play that I saw at BAF was called The Frogs, it was an adaptation of Aristophanes’ The Frogs and it was performed by NANZIKAMBE.
The two new DIs have arrived. They are Hannah from South Korea and Aumi (I know I spelled that wrong, but her name sounds like (I-U-ME)) from Japan. They got in last night, and wouldn’t you know it the water pump is broken again, so there has been no water for 3 days. I feel really bad for them that there is no water. I can imagine how I would have felt it there was no water when I got here.
Obama
The people here love that a black man is the president of the United States, but they don’t understand that I love that Obama is the president of the United States. They look at me like I just insulted their mothers when I say that I voted for Obama or when I say Obama is my president. One of the students that I discussed GITMO with asked me, how does it feel to be ruled by a black man? I kind of shook my head a little and said a president is not a ruler, my president, your president are our leaders. I tried to explain that a president in a democracy is not like a king or dictator, but a leader of the people. This is something I will have to further discuss with the students in a larger group discussion. Speaking of Obama, I ate my first piece of Obama bread today. It was really good, I joked with a few other teachers that Obama was giving me strength to be here at Amalika. So I should probably explain to you about this bread situation, there isn’t an actual bread that’s name is Obama bread. The people here have given nicknames to the two main types of bread here in Malawi. There is Obama bread which is big and soft and tastes very good, and there is Osama bread that is small and very hard. So the people say Obama bread is for everybody so it is better than Osama bread.
Rain
The rains have officially started. It rained a few times this past week, all of Friday night, and now we are have a huge storm as I write. I took Aumi and Hannah on a walk today and as we got to the first pre-school I wanted to show them I could see the sky starting to get gray and black, so we turned back towards Amalika. It was crazy, as we walked the storm just stalked us. Every step it felt like the storm was getting closer behind us, but when I would turn back to look at it, it looked like it was still a mile away. Then right as we got to the make shift bridge where we cross over a stream I turned around and the storm was right on top of us. The sky swelled with dark ominous clouds and it started pouring. I had a blast in the rain. I wasn’t actually in the rain, but I had a blast during the rain storm, I actually made very good use of my time. I filled up a bucket with water so I could flush my toilet, I filled up a five liter jug and 2 one liter jugs so I can shower for the next few days, and I used the time and extra water that the sky gave us to mop the crap out of my floor. I mopped my room floor like 5 times until it was immaculate. I was very proud of myself, I accomplished a lot… it was a very eventful day. Tomorrow I will go into town in the morning with Aumi and Hannah. Hopefully the money exchange place will be open on Sunday. I need to also pick up a few things at shop-rite since the party pretty much cleaned out my stash of snacks. I hope to meet up with Lawrence and Grisham tomorrow, but we will just have to see. Water is my main concern so it is great when I am able to get a ride home from them b/c then I can buy mass quantities of drinking water. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that the car will be on time and we can get into town in the morning, but only time can tell.
P.S. Dear Titterington Family, i love you all, but could you please take me off the list serv for messages like "thanksgiving menu an count". My Thanksgiving will consist of Nsima and maybe beans...if i'm lucky.
Monday, November 16, 2009
This and that
So over the past few weeks there has been a major fuel crisis in Malawi. It is more of a diesel crisis and it has affected everything. Outside every gas station that has diesel there is a line of cars/trucks and people that easily stretches ½ mile; but if you’re willing to pay that right price to bribe the gas attendant, you can leave you container and come back in a few hours to get it. The whole bribery system here is getting ridiculous. I mean you can’t go more than a few miles without seeing a policeman taking a bribe from a mini-bus driver or the gas attendant taking a bribe to let someone skip out on waiting in the 10 hour diesel line. Yep that’s right folks, on average the people in line are waiting ten hours to buy gas. Sometimes we get impatient when we have to wait for ten minutes in the McDonald’s drive thru, can you even imagine waiting in line for ten hours to buy gas? Well, don’t worry I couldn’t either. I see the people in line, but I really doubt I could do it. The gas attendants would probably try to charge me more too; they would say “no this is the myzungu price for gas”. Ahhhhh! Is it sad that I can visualize that scenario in my head? The problem is coming from the fact that the Malawian government doesn’t have the money to buy gas. This seems kind of funny to me, not b/c I’m an American and we don’t have to worry about this sort of thing, but because two weeks before there was a big article in the Blantyre papers about how the President just bought a private jet for himself. I mean the jet only cost 2 billion kwacha. This situation is funny because it’s like any person in the world that lives way above their income level, and at the same time has terrible credit and a mountain of debt. I mean I went to a music and arts festival in Blantyre last weekend and it was sponsored by the German Embassy! I mean come on, they have a sponsor for everything here, so when anyone gets a good some of money they go out and spend it on something luxurious. I guarantee you that the president could have kept that 12.5 million us dollars and saved it for something important (like gas for the country) and some first world country’s embassy or international aid organization would have donated a jet to the Malawian government in less than 6 months. So instead the Malawian government had to borrow like 15 million dollars to buy gas so the country can go back to normal. By the way, with a shortage of diesel that means there will be a shortage of water. I have been doing fine on personal water intake, but the villages around us have been really struggling to get water.
Last Thursday I got to see some of the country on a trip to visit two pedagogical workshops being built at primary schools in rural areas. I went with a couple people from the school and a woman from the DAPP office in Blantyre. On the way we passed mulangie(sorry my spelling is so wrong) and I got another great reminder about the little beautiful things Malawi has to offer. Mulangie Mountain is the highest peak in Malawi. I don’t know how tall it is, but I could see the top while driving, so I’m thinking not very high. Anyways, I was captivated by how beautiful the mountain and landscape were. There was a luscious flourishing green forest covering the entire mountain! I was so excited to see all the trees together, the view was mystical. The forest was untouched; I was actually in shock that the people hadn’t ravaged this land as well. Then I remembered that Malawians believe that part of the mountain is cursed so that is probably the reason none of the trees have been cut down. The sky was so clear while we were driving by the mountain. The clouds looked like they were right above the car, they looked so close, close enough for you to reach you arm out the window and grab a big, white, fluffy clump of them right out of the clear blue sky. A kind of weird way to describe the view is just to say it was pure and untouched. I can imagine being on that road 100 years ago and everything looking the exact same way. There isn’t much if anything I can say that about in the US, but this mountain looked like it had just been on its own for a very long time. I wrote some words in my notebook while I was looking at the mountain that might really help you visualize what I am trying to say. “The forests look like one of David’s (my cousin David) paintings. All the perfect blotches of different shades of green mixed together in such a crazy way, the combination of colors makes you want to just stare at it for hours and just see if maybe you can find a hidden Buddha in its amazing beauty.”
This past weekend I went into Blantyre again. It was more of a work oriented weekend for me. I went to the DAPP country office and worked on a study guide for the English students , their final English exam, and the rough draft of a primary school survey I am making for the primary schools around our college. I worked for most of the day on Friday and on Saturday from 8-1. All I wanted to do was join in on the festivities in Manhattan, but I was 10,000 miles away! Plus I never know what happens until Sunday night or Monday morning. I mean yes I could call home and find out, but my mom feels it is necessary to tell me about what the KU basketball team is doing when I talk to her. Needless to say I would rather wait an extra day or two until I could find out on my own. Like I said before I went to the a music and art festival called the Blantyre Arts Festival. I went with Chihiro and we met another DI there. The other DI was Valentina from Italy, and it was the first time we had the chance to meet. She works at the other TTC at Chilengoma. We were at the festival for a few hours and i got to see Lucious Banda, one of the more popular reggae singers in Malawi and a play put on by an acting troop called The Frogs. The play was put on to challenge the people of Malawi to stand up for themselves and do things together. I had heard that drama was a very popular way to get politically and community development messages across, but I didn’t think I would have the opportunity to actually see one of these plays. It was actually very good and I enjoyed it immensely. Both nights I stayed with Lawrence at his house and both nights were terribly hot. Friday night was so hot that I couldn’t get to sleep until 3 am. I stayed awake with Grisham and watched Transformers 2 and Inglorious Bastards, both of which were very good movies. Sleeping in Blantyre is like sweating out a fever. You wake up 5+ times a night sweating profusely, at least once needing to change your sweat soaked shirt and you can’t wait for the morning to come so maybe you can cool off a little bit. On Saturday I got to bed around 11, but still had trouble sleeping because of the heat. Although it is dreadfully hot when I sleep at Lawrence’s house, I don’t mind for a few reasons. The first being because I actually have people to talk to when I’m there. His family treats me like I’m a part of their family which is great and I can actually have conversations with Lawrence, Grisham, and Prisca. I think I could talk to Lawrence’s brother Jonathon too, but he is a very quiet guy, so we don’t talk much. The other great thing besides great people is ice cold water. Now I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right I am being selfish and probably spoiled, but being able to wake up to a glass of cold water is so refreshing. Their house has electricity, so they have a fridge and freezer that runs constantly and after a long hot week at Amalika with warm or hot water 90% of the time, a glass of frosty H2O might possibly be the best thing on the planet!
On a sad note, Young the DI from South Korea left today. Her 6 month tour of duty is over and she is headed back to her school and then home. I will miss her very much. This is my 6th week. I am almost half way there and it was great to have my first 6 weeks with someone that had been here for 4+ months. She taught me a lot about the students and the school itself. Young and Chihiro have acted like two older sisters for me since I have gotten here. They have showed me around and gotten me little things that I was in desperate need of. Things like a blanket and mattress slip cover, also a little hand held mirror for when I put my contacts in. I used the reflection of my camera and computer screen for over 2 weeks before they hooked me up. It was very sad to see young go, it was sad for several reasons a couple being that unless we meet while traveling odds are that we will never physically see each other again, and more importantly I felt like we were on the same page on so many things. Although she had been here for a lot longer than me, I felt like we shared common feelings on a lot of the different issues, topics, and concerns about the project and people here. I guess one isn’t more important than the other, but I am sad to see her go. I am also happy for her, because it was time for her to move on. Now with Alberto and Young gone, in the next few days there will be 2 new DIs coming. One from South Korea and one from Japan. Hopefully I will get to know them like I have gotten to know Chihiro and Young, but only time will tell. Good luck Young!
Last Thursday I got to see some of the country on a trip to visit two pedagogical workshops being built at primary schools in rural areas. I went with a couple people from the school and a woman from the DAPP office in Blantyre. On the way we passed mulangie(sorry my spelling is so wrong) and I got another great reminder about the little beautiful things Malawi has to offer. Mulangie Mountain is the highest peak in Malawi. I don’t know how tall it is, but I could see the top while driving, so I’m thinking not very high. Anyways, I was captivated by how beautiful the mountain and landscape were. There was a luscious flourishing green forest covering the entire mountain! I was so excited to see all the trees together, the view was mystical. The forest was untouched; I was actually in shock that the people hadn’t ravaged this land as well. Then I remembered that Malawians believe that part of the mountain is cursed so that is probably the reason none of the trees have been cut down. The sky was so clear while we were driving by the mountain. The clouds looked like they were right above the car, they looked so close, close enough for you to reach you arm out the window and grab a big, white, fluffy clump of them right out of the clear blue sky. A kind of weird way to describe the view is just to say it was pure and untouched. I can imagine being on that road 100 years ago and everything looking the exact same way. There isn’t much if anything I can say that about in the US, but this mountain looked like it had just been on its own for a very long time. I wrote some words in my notebook while I was looking at the mountain that might really help you visualize what I am trying to say. “The forests look like one of David’s (my cousin David) paintings. All the perfect blotches of different shades of green mixed together in such a crazy way, the combination of colors makes you want to just stare at it for hours and just see if maybe you can find a hidden Buddha in its amazing beauty.”
This past weekend I went into Blantyre again. It was more of a work oriented weekend for me. I went to the DAPP country office and worked on a study guide for the English students , their final English exam, and the rough draft of a primary school survey I am making for the primary schools around our college. I worked for most of the day on Friday and on Saturday from 8-1. All I wanted to do was join in on the festivities in Manhattan, but I was 10,000 miles away! Plus I never know what happens until Sunday night or Monday morning. I mean yes I could call home and find out, but my mom feels it is necessary to tell me about what the KU basketball team is doing when I talk to her. Needless to say I would rather wait an extra day or two until I could find out on my own. Like I said before I went to the a music and art festival called the Blantyre Arts Festival. I went with Chihiro and we met another DI there. The other DI was Valentina from Italy, and it was the first time we had the chance to meet. She works at the other TTC at Chilengoma. We were at the festival for a few hours and i got to see Lucious Banda, one of the more popular reggae singers in Malawi and a play put on by an acting troop called The Frogs. The play was put on to challenge the people of Malawi to stand up for themselves and do things together. I had heard that drama was a very popular way to get politically and community development messages across, but I didn’t think I would have the opportunity to actually see one of these plays. It was actually very good and I enjoyed it immensely. Both nights I stayed with Lawrence at his house and both nights were terribly hot. Friday night was so hot that I couldn’t get to sleep until 3 am. I stayed awake with Grisham and watched Transformers 2 and Inglorious Bastards, both of which were very good movies. Sleeping in Blantyre is like sweating out a fever. You wake up 5+ times a night sweating profusely, at least once needing to change your sweat soaked shirt and you can’t wait for the morning to come so maybe you can cool off a little bit. On Saturday I got to bed around 11, but still had trouble sleeping because of the heat. Although it is dreadfully hot when I sleep at Lawrence’s house, I don’t mind for a few reasons. The first being because I actually have people to talk to when I’m there. His family treats me like I’m a part of their family which is great and I can actually have conversations with Lawrence, Grisham, and Prisca. I think I could talk to Lawrence’s brother Jonathon too, but he is a very quiet guy, so we don’t talk much. The other great thing besides great people is ice cold water. Now I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right I am being selfish and probably spoiled, but being able to wake up to a glass of cold water is so refreshing. Their house has electricity, so they have a fridge and freezer that runs constantly and after a long hot week at Amalika with warm or hot water 90% of the time, a glass of frosty H2O might possibly be the best thing on the planet!
On a sad note, Young the DI from South Korea left today. Her 6 month tour of duty is over and she is headed back to her school and then home. I will miss her very much. This is my 6th week. I am almost half way there and it was great to have my first 6 weeks with someone that had been here for 4+ months. She taught me a lot about the students and the school itself. Young and Chihiro have acted like two older sisters for me since I have gotten here. They have showed me around and gotten me little things that I was in desperate need of. Things like a blanket and mattress slip cover, also a little hand held mirror for when I put my contacts in. I used the reflection of my camera and computer screen for over 2 weeks before they hooked me up. It was very sad to see young go, it was sad for several reasons a couple being that unless we meet while traveling odds are that we will never physically see each other again, and more importantly I felt like we were on the same page on so many things. Although she had been here for a lot longer than me, I felt like we shared common feelings on a lot of the different issues, topics, and concerns about the project and people here. I guess one isn’t more important than the other, but I am sad to see her go. I am also happy for her, because it was time for her to move on. Now with Alberto and Young gone, in the next few days there will be 2 new DIs coming. One from South Korea and one from Japan. Hopefully I will get to know them like I have gotten to know Chihiro and Young, but only time will tell. Good luck Young!
November 9
This weekend it was very hot. I know what you’re thinking; it was hot hot in Africa? No way! But this weekend was hot! It was so hot I never stopped sweating, 24 hrs of sweating is too much, too much for anyone. On Monday i was so uncomfortable, I felt like I was drowning in sweat all day. Drowning in your own sweat and suffocating in blistering heat, yep that just about describes my weekend and Monday. For the first time since I have been here I actually needed to rest mid day because the heat was just too much. I slept for a little over an hour during out 2 hour lunch break. I started my stretching and mid day exercises, but as soon as I started profusely sweating I had to stop. I washed off with some of my saved water and immediately starting sweating again. Tomorrow is going to be bad. I am going out with Chihiro and if it is as hot as it has been, it will be an insanely long day. I am excited to go though; Tuesday has become my favorite day of the week. I like getting away from the school and going out into the villages. Although, it bothers me the most when little kids come up to me and all they know how to say in English is “GIVE ME YOUR MONEY NOW”, I do actually like getting out and meeting the elderly people. These people might truly be the nicest people in the world. The beggars in Malawi are relentless, like they are all over Africa. The people who are uneducated and even some that are think that white people are going to give them something. Just yesterday as Lawrence was driving me back to Amalika an old man walked up to my window and demanded money. We were driving through a little market at Tunga and this little old man it tattered clothes walked up to my window and said give me 10, give me 20! I looked at him and shook my head and said no. Lawrence rolled the window down and hell yelled give me 50! Lawrence said something to him in Chechewa and he started to hit and kick the car. Right as Lawrence rolled the window up he spat on the window and continued to hit the side of the car. Now you must realize that giving this man even 100 kwacha would have been less than one dollar, but the amount of money is not the issue. The people here that beg, beg because people give money and food and land and aid all the time. They have become dependent on people’s charity. If the people stop expecting money and other charities from mzungu (whites) and stood up and worked for themselves, Malawi could become a very great and self sustained country.
This weekend it was very hot. I know what you’re thinking; it was hot hot in Africa? No way! But this weekend was hot! It was so hot I never stopped sweating, 24 hrs of sweating is too much, too much for anyone. On Monday i was so uncomfortable, I felt like I was drowning in sweat all day. Drowning in your own sweat and suffocating in blistering heat, yep that just about describes my weekend and Monday. For the first time since I have been here I actually needed to rest mid day because the heat was just too much. I slept for a little over an hour during out 2 hour lunch break. I started my stretching and mid day exercises, but as soon as I started profusely sweating I had to stop. I washed off with some of my saved water and immediately starting sweating again. Tomorrow is going to be bad. I am going out with Chihiro and if it is as hot as it has been, it will be an insanely long day. I am excited to go though; Tuesday has become my favorite day of the week. I like getting away from the school and going out into the villages. Although, it bothers me the most when little kids come up to me and all they know how to say in English is “GIVE ME YOUR MONEY NOW”, I do actually like getting out and meeting the elderly people. These people might truly be the nicest people in the world. The beggars in Malawi are relentless, like they are all over Africa. The people who are uneducated and even some that are think that white people are going to give them something. Just yesterday as Lawrence was driving me back to Amalika an old man walked up to my window and demanded money. We were driving through a little market at Tunga and this little old man it tattered clothes walked up to my window and said give me 10, give me 20! I looked at him and shook my head and said no. Lawrence rolled the window down and hell yelled give me 50! Lawrence said something to him in Chechewa and he started to hit and kick the car. Right as Lawrence rolled the window up he spat on the window and continued to hit the side of the car. Now you must realize that giving this man even 100 kwacha would have been less than one dollar, but the amount of money is not the issue. The people here that beg, beg because people give money and food and land and aid all the time. They have become dependent on people’s charity. If the people stop expecting money and other charities from mzungu (whites) and stood up and worked for themselves, Malawi could become a very great and self sustained country.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Water woes
It’s official, I have been through of my first drought. We did not have water at the college for 7 days. Only 7 days you say? Yes 7 days and it was terrible! I can’t even imagine when people in any country go without water for a year or more. Every time I needed to use the toilet I had to walk to the river, fill up a bucket, and walk back so I could flush. Yes, WE HAVE TOILETS HERE. I talked to someone on facebook the other day that I knew from K-state. She said, “There are toilets? You mean you don’t just dig a hole, go to the bathroom, and then fill the hole back up?” No, we have toilets, there are out-houses also, but where I am now everyone is past just taking a dump in the backyard (sorry for the bluntness). I was a little heated after that conversation; some people are just very closed-minded about the world we live in. Anyways, back to the water woes. During this week you can forget about a shower or washing your face, the river water is not exactly the ideal choice to bathe in, at least for me. Some of the Malawians can drink this water and not get sick, but I would be glued to the toilet seat for a week. There is the option of boiling the river water, but there wasn’t as much free time as I had expected to take an hour to boil the water to bathe. On Tuesday it was especially depressing because I went out with Chihiro. We left the school at 6:30 am and got back at 5:45 pm. We walked for a good 8 hours and I was exhausted, dirty, sweaty, sticky, and a plethora of other unfavorable words. All I could hope for was that there was enough water to wash my face and my feet, but no, there was none. Luckily during the weekend I bought enough bottled water for me to drink this week. I was planning on saving some of the bottles for later during the rainy season, but they were called into action much sooner than expected. I wrote a poem during the mini drought:
Oh …Water… Water,
where are you?
You’ve been gone for so long,
You’ve left me feeling blue.
I know I’ve taken you for granted
year after year,
But I long for you now,
If I didn’t need it so much I might shed a tear.
Please come back to me very soon,
For I fear I shall have drank my last drop of your bottled brother tomorrow by noon.
During this experience I have started to write poetry and draw pictures during my spare time, I even sometimes find myself wandering around in the library picking up books and reading, yes I said reading mother. When I am at my hostel I am deep in Paul Theroux’s Dark Star Safari, but at the school I have started to read a book about Einstein. The water kicked back on on Thursday morning, the whole issue revolved around the facts that the pump was broken and our constant power issues. I woke up on Thursday in a cranky mood b/c there hadn’t been water on Wednesday night and I was officially out of drinking water. I was lying in my bed, just hoping for some reason I could go back to sleep, when all of a sudden I could hear the shower in the room next to mine. I jumped out of bed, massively tangling myself up in the mosquito netting, after quickly untangling myself I was so excited it was like Christmas morning when I was a little kid! The water Santa had come and I could finally shower! It was a great shower too, definitely a memorable shower haha. My expectations that our water woes here at Amalika will continue were confirmed on Friday when one of the project leaders relayed the message to us, that the pump that was supposed to be 45 meters down was in fact placed only 25 meters down in the borehole and now the other 20 meters has become too muddy to pump clean water; so we have to have the water company(borehole company) come back out and process the mud out of the water. Now you think since they made this gigantic mistake this company would want to come fix this problem, but they have not been answering the phone for over two weeks now and we finally worked out a deal for us to go and pick their surveyors up and bring them out here to fix the problem, then take them and their equipment home after the job is done. It’s a different world out here, unbelievable. The rainy season will be upon us soon. I am actually excited, because I like rain. The Malawians think I am crazy, and they all say I will not like rain by the time I leave. It will be a crazy month no doubt; I’m expecting tremendous downpours and unfavorable ground conditions. One of the teachers suggested that we start to build small bridges in between the college and the hostels, I laughed when she brought up the idea, and the other teachers took it into consideration. So that tells you something about how bad it can get. I’m more worried about the power situation than bridges though. It has been a rough month electricity wise here at the college. We are supposed to have 6 hrs of power each day, but during the past 2 weeks we are lucky to get one hour in the morning and two hours at night. It isn’t anyone’s fault here at the school; I guess you can blame it on Malawian society. I say this b/c we need diesel to run the generator. So the school has a contract with Total, a fuel company that has gas stations all over Malawi. Recently the gov’t said that the diesel price is about to rise. Every time the price of gas us risen, Malawians go to all the gas stations and buy all the diesel they can and then sell it themselves. So Total was bought out of diesel early this week, therefore we can’t just go to a Total gas station and get the fuel we have already paid for. Now the school has to find someone on the side of the road and bargain out a deal to get enough gas for one day. Since we have already paid Total, the school has been scrambling around to try and find petty cash for these extra expenses. Then it all starts to make since, without power there is no pumping of water. Without power the pump cannot fill the water tanks and the tanks cannot flow into the showers and toilets, add a broken pump and a muddy well and it all makes since why there is no water. Hmm, well at least it makes since to me. I just hope when the rains do come, that no one minds a mzungu (white person) running around in his boxers with soap taking a shower in the rain.
Oh …Water… Water,
where are you?
You’ve been gone for so long,
You’ve left me feeling blue.
I know I’ve taken you for granted
year after year,
But I long for you now,
If I didn’t need it so much I might shed a tear.
Please come back to me very soon,
For I fear I shall have drank my last drop of your bottled brother tomorrow by noon.
During this experience I have started to write poetry and draw pictures during my spare time, I even sometimes find myself wandering around in the library picking up books and reading, yes I said reading mother. When I am at my hostel I am deep in Paul Theroux’s Dark Star Safari, but at the school I have started to read a book about Einstein. The water kicked back on on Thursday morning, the whole issue revolved around the facts that the pump was broken and our constant power issues. I woke up on Thursday in a cranky mood b/c there hadn’t been water on Wednesday night and I was officially out of drinking water. I was lying in my bed, just hoping for some reason I could go back to sleep, when all of a sudden I could hear the shower in the room next to mine. I jumped out of bed, massively tangling myself up in the mosquito netting, after quickly untangling myself I was so excited it was like Christmas morning when I was a little kid! The water Santa had come and I could finally shower! It was a great shower too, definitely a memorable shower haha. My expectations that our water woes here at Amalika will continue were confirmed on Friday when one of the project leaders relayed the message to us, that the pump that was supposed to be 45 meters down was in fact placed only 25 meters down in the borehole and now the other 20 meters has become too muddy to pump clean water; so we have to have the water company(borehole company) come back out and process the mud out of the water. Now you think since they made this gigantic mistake this company would want to come fix this problem, but they have not been answering the phone for over two weeks now and we finally worked out a deal for us to go and pick their surveyors up and bring them out here to fix the problem, then take them and their equipment home after the job is done. It’s a different world out here, unbelievable. The rainy season will be upon us soon. I am actually excited, because I like rain. The Malawians think I am crazy, and they all say I will not like rain by the time I leave. It will be a crazy month no doubt; I’m expecting tremendous downpours and unfavorable ground conditions. One of the teachers suggested that we start to build small bridges in between the college and the hostels, I laughed when she brought up the idea, and the other teachers took it into consideration. So that tells you something about how bad it can get. I’m more worried about the power situation than bridges though. It has been a rough month electricity wise here at the college. We are supposed to have 6 hrs of power each day, but during the past 2 weeks we are lucky to get one hour in the morning and two hours at night. It isn’t anyone’s fault here at the school; I guess you can blame it on Malawian society. I say this b/c we need diesel to run the generator. So the school has a contract with Total, a fuel company that has gas stations all over Malawi. Recently the gov’t said that the diesel price is about to rise. Every time the price of gas us risen, Malawians go to all the gas stations and buy all the diesel they can and then sell it themselves. So Total was bought out of diesel early this week, therefore we can’t just go to a Total gas station and get the fuel we have already paid for. Now the school has to find someone on the side of the road and bargain out a deal to get enough gas for one day. Since we have already paid Total, the school has been scrambling around to try and find petty cash for these extra expenses. Then it all starts to make since, without power there is no pumping of water. Without power the pump cannot fill the water tanks and the tanks cannot flow into the showers and toilets, add a broken pump and a muddy well and it all makes since why there is no water. Hmm, well at least it makes since to me. I just hope when the rains do come, that no one minds a mzungu (white person) running around in his boxers with soap taking a shower in the rain.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Nov 1: Birthday Weekend
I can’t say that my birthday weekend started off the way I had expected. I was given an early birthday present on Friday morning on my way into Blantyre. As I was getting of a mini-bus I was pick pocketed. Immediately I knew realized what had happened and I started to freak out. Luckily, there were students from the college that had made this trip with me and Young one of the other DI’s. Once I said someone pick pocketed me they all said one thing to the mini-bus driver who comes to the school daily and he proceeded to walk into a crowd of around 50 people and came straight back with the guy that took my wallet. I again wanted to give this dude a piece of my mind, but instead he took 500 kwacha for going to the trouble of giving me back my wallet. I gave the bus driver a few hundred kwacha for helping me. I really could have cared less about the 3500 kwacha that was in my wallet, I was much more concerned about my visa debit card that I do really need. It would have been a VERY big hassle if I would have had to cancel it and have commerce bank send me a new one, especially for this weekend. After this little experience and a couple of unfortunate things that happened to my friend Chihiro and one of her Japanese friends a few weeks ago, I will not let myself become comfortable again while I’m here. Some Malawians truly do deserve the title, “the nicest people in the world” and some of them do make this the warm heart of Africa, but at the same time the second that you let your guard down or start to feel the slightest bit comfortable and trusting you will be taken advantage of or robbed. My mistake Malawi, it won’t happen again. Lawrence and his brother Grisham said that it won’t just happen to tourists or foreigners, if they as Malawians let their guard down, the same thing will happen to them. I know it is the same all over the world, but it just really sucks that so far in my traveling life I am 0-2 on were you robbed while traveling overseas alone? The rest of my Friday was quite nice. I went to the DAPP country office in Blantyre and used GREAT and FAST internet for really the first time since I have been here. It was much needed since I had a couple of projects I really needed the internet to finish. In the early afternoon I went to lunch with the other DIs from Amalika. We ate at the Hong Kong restaurant. I was super excited to have Chinese food and the two Asian DIs Chihiro(from Japan) and Young(from South Korea) were also very excited. The restaurant looked exactly how most American Chinese restaurants look, so I got a little giddy that the food might be the same way. Needless to say, my hopes were soon after crushed when they brought out our food. I ordered the specialty item of orange chicken, it was the medium size and there were maybe a total of 8 pieces, it was like paying 100 kwacha per piece. Besides the size of the dish the chicken tasted awful, but I plugged my nose and got it down. Alberto the DI from Spain ordered Mu Shoo Pork. His dish came out on a salad plate and it was full of thick noodles that you might see in homemade chicken noodle soup, large chucks of rubbery scrambled eggs, a few mushrooms here and there, and about 4 specs of pork that didn’t exactly taste like meat. After lunch the DIs surprised me with a small chocolate birthday cake and a chocolate bar. It was a nice little pre-birthday celebration. After we left the restaurant we walked around town for a while, then Young and I went and met Lawrence at Shoprite. Lawrence took Young to her friend Jenny’s house and then we went to the store and back to Lawrence’s house for dinner. After dinner we watched Coming to America and a very good bootleg copy of “The Goods”. I spent the night at Lawrence’s house, it was nice and I had a great mosquito net so my night was a little hot, but mosquito free.
On Saturday we started off the day looking for houses. I went with Lawrence and his brother Grisham to 2 potential houses. We had to pick up the real estate agents at different areas of the town and then they gave us directions to the house. It was a little different process than what goes on in the states. I’m sure my Aunt Mary would love to have potential buyers come pick her up at Country Club Christian Church when they were interested in seeing one of her properties. After the real estate agents showed us the houses we dropped them back off and gave them bus money for their time. One of the two properties was for rent and the other was for sale. The house that was for sale was a fixer-upper, but the lot the house was on was huge. It actually was a 3 bedroom house and garage, with a sitting area, bathroom, and kitchen plus a 2 room servant’s house. The property had enough room in between the two houses for a garden and laundry lines. It was a huge property for Malawi and it was selling for 1.5 million kwacha or $9,375.00. The owner was also selling the lot next to the house which was a little bit bigger for 150,000 kwacha or $937.50. Taking both of the lots and combining them you would have enough property to build a house on Ward Parkway and add a 50 meter swimming pool all for a little over $10,000 dollars US. If you actually wanted to construct mansion and the pool you might spend an extra $25,000 at the very most and you would have a VERY nice house. That night I had dinner with Lawrence and his family at a place called TJ’s. It was a very small, but nice restaurant. It was a lot more upscale then what I have been getting used to during my first month. Lawrence also invited his niece Diwinner(sp) and two of her friends. He gave a little speech about how he hopes and expects that all of the people will take care of me after he goes back to the US since I will be in Malawi for my b-day, thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. At the end of dinner we had some traditional Malawian cake, the cake was definitely special in its own way. It was very special for me to spend my birthday with such great people. After the restaurant, Lawrence, Grisham, Toco, Diwinner, Neaty(diwinner’s friend), and I went to my favorite club in Malawi to dance. I know you can’t read sarcasm, but we went to Mustang Sally’s for their Halloween party. Since it is owned by an American the club celebrates American holidays. I was surprised how international the club was, I think every European country was represented by a backpacker. There were even a couple Japanese guys there, but no other Americans. I am still in search of my first American. I really want to find an American for the simple reason of conversation. I have to speak so slowly when I talk here and still half of the time nobody has any idea what I am saying. I know a couple of the students are actually trying to learn from me and try to listen to me, but I have recently starting noticing that the majority of them aren’t even listening and they aren’t even trying to hide the fact that they don’t give a shit.
On Sunday I came back to Amalika and Charlotte also threw me a little birthday party. We had pancakes that she and Indu made, and we also had some hot chocolate. It was the first time that I have ever had milk and water hot chocolate. After we ate she gave me a really neat mahogany bowl. Overall, I would say that my birthday weekend was very nice, besides a few minor setbacks.
On Saturday we started off the day looking for houses. I went with Lawrence and his brother Grisham to 2 potential houses. We had to pick up the real estate agents at different areas of the town and then they gave us directions to the house. It was a little different process than what goes on in the states. I’m sure my Aunt Mary would love to have potential buyers come pick her up at Country Club Christian Church when they were interested in seeing one of her properties. After the real estate agents showed us the houses we dropped them back off and gave them bus money for their time. One of the two properties was for rent and the other was for sale. The house that was for sale was a fixer-upper, but the lot the house was on was huge. It actually was a 3 bedroom house and garage, with a sitting area, bathroom, and kitchen plus a 2 room servant’s house. The property had enough room in between the two houses for a garden and laundry lines. It was a huge property for Malawi and it was selling for 1.5 million kwacha or $9,375.00. The owner was also selling the lot next to the house which was a little bit bigger for 150,000 kwacha or $937.50. Taking both of the lots and combining them you would have enough property to build a house on Ward Parkway and add a 50 meter swimming pool all for a little over $10,000 dollars US. If you actually wanted to construct mansion and the pool you might spend an extra $25,000 at the very most and you would have a VERY nice house. That night I had dinner with Lawrence and his family at a place called TJ’s. It was a very small, but nice restaurant. It was a lot more upscale then what I have been getting used to during my first month. Lawrence also invited his niece Diwinner(sp) and two of her friends. He gave a little speech about how he hopes and expects that all of the people will take care of me after he goes back to the US since I will be in Malawi for my b-day, thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. At the end of dinner we had some traditional Malawian cake, the cake was definitely special in its own way. It was very special for me to spend my birthday with such great people. After the restaurant, Lawrence, Grisham, Toco, Diwinner, Neaty(diwinner’s friend), and I went to my favorite club in Malawi to dance. I know you can’t read sarcasm, but we went to Mustang Sally’s for their Halloween party. Since it is owned by an American the club celebrates American holidays. I was surprised how international the club was, I think every European country was represented by a backpacker. There were even a couple Japanese guys there, but no other Americans. I am still in search of my first American. I really want to find an American for the simple reason of conversation. I have to speak so slowly when I talk here and still half of the time nobody has any idea what I am saying. I know a couple of the students are actually trying to learn from me and try to listen to me, but I have recently starting noticing that the majority of them aren’t even listening and they aren’t even trying to hide the fact that they don’t give a shit.
On Sunday I came back to Amalika and Charlotte also threw me a little birthday party. We had pancakes that she and Indu made, and we also had some hot chocolate. It was the first time that I have ever had milk and water hot chocolate. After we ate she gave me a really neat mahogany bowl. Overall, I would say that my birthday weekend was very nice, besides a few minor setbacks.
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