random update

wow...it feels like I haven't written for ages... 4 whole days!!! :) well, im tired, and my computer started to sporadically shut down (every few minutes without warning), and language with 2 helpers -3days a week is full on- not just the 3-4 hrs of concentrating contact time, but the lesson prep, review nad homework. All self imposed- but I want to learn this language, and Ive got 3 months devoted to it...so im devoted to it :) Over the weekend Swa-'s 3 kids all came down with malaria, so she's bee looking pretty exhausted too. Tomorrows lesson is pending childrens health.

Amazing miracle- one of the guys who works here is in South Africa at the moment so can bring me back a replacement computer. wow- we sure ain't in the old days! Im no technocrat (is that the word?) so reading all the specs on 100 different laptop options over breaky this morning wasn't the best start to the day- how do you choose? well, I set a price limit, figured out how to look at the specs of what I've got now, picked my top 4 and took them to another guy here who knows lots about computers who selected one of the four- then we emailled our mate in SA who brought it. Im still amazed.
well, dinner time
write later...if my computer lasts :)

Its lasting! probably knows its about to be replaced. hehe Its doing better than me- I just decided to go to bed-checked the time and discoverd it was 7.15pm! so Im determined to stay up another hour...which means you may get another hours ramble. Alternatively i might fall asleep on the key board.

Had a slightly unnerving experience this evening. 2 guys at the door. Background explanation #1: we have fences and gates and night guards to ensure only authorised people come right to the house. In Malawi if there is a fence, no matter what size, you call from the gate. Right before my arrival there was a spate of brutal breakins (ie 7 armed men, 1 dead guard) in the close vicinity - so security is taken seriously...
#2: one of the guys was our 'neighbour' who volunteered himself to find me a language helper when I first arrived. Since he helped find my 2nd language assisitant he's been leaving missed calls on my phone almost everyday. I stopped calling back and put my phone on silent- it was spooking me out.
#3: In Malawi you always greet people you know the 1st time you meet them for the day (yes- takes a long time in an office situation- I wonder who they bill the hour to?! haha)
So, 6pm, getting dark, here he is, paying me a visit with a solidly built 'mate'. No greetings - the mate, who I've never seen before simply says 'you've been missing'. I laugh and say- 'No I haven't, Im here'... great time to be a smart alec. He went on to say that I hadn't been at work and I said that that was because I hadn't started yet- I was studying. where? here- with an assistant- ask Er- who, by the way, was looking very uncomfortable and took the opportunity to ask if I was having any problems with the lady assistant, to which I responded 'no, no problems at all'. the other guy then introduced himself and said he studied at some accounting school- and was also a neighbour (oh yay) and then they left. Left me utterly bewildered and the guard lurking nearby with a machete in hand. The guard said he had told them they couldn't come in but was ignored.
Harmless neighbourly conversation? or should I keep a mace spray handy tonight?
I'm sure in the course of the strange conversation many 'messages' were given... but I honestly have no idea what they were.

What else can I tell you? Malawi has great fish. food here tastes...wholesome. Actually- you are probably wondering what I eat every day? or not. either way Im gonna tell ya cos Ive still got 30min before I can go to bed :-P Well, I normally have porridge for breakky, but today I had toast (home made bread) and vegemite. Im baking bread again tomorrow ( i found some wholemeal flour in Blantyre-yay!).
Then for lunch i had left over ugali (pounded maize porridge) from yesterdays lunch with steamed greens and tomato (the 'recipe' is in one of my other blogs). I don't have to eat ugali- but its filling and I kinda like the taste and the 'ceremony' of making it- which doubles as a work-out when stirring thick glup for 5-10 min. If im not in the mood there is usually toast and tomato and sometimes avacado. We've even got rocket growing in the garden right now. The one vegetable/fruit? you can rely on here is tomato. they're everywhere and in everything. sorry to naturopath who said I shouldnt eat them!
Snackage is fruit (banana's and mango, pawpaw, pineapple and guavas in season- its banana and guava season right now- mangoes are sadly on the way out) and whatever cakes/biscuits we make. there are packet biscuits but they're like milk arrowroot which gets a bit ld after the 1st week.
Dinner- well, tonight we had fish and steamed potato, cabbage and pumpkin. Beautifully healthy until I smeared mayo on it. Im craving junk. Food wise you can get most things in Blantyre if you are willing to pay, so we eat a mix of western and malawian food- but a lot simpler than at home- probably mostly cos there is no 'take away' factor. We can't order pizza, or pop out for Mexican, or go out for coffee and cake. We have great coffee here, but we've usully gotta pop down to the markets (hat, bag, chitenje, armed with chiyawo phrases, 10 min walk away) to get the eggs before making the cake- which takes the spontineity out of it a bit.
well...I think Ive made up for 4 days of no blogging and its now 8.15 which is a slightly more acceptable hour to go to bed... cool shower, sleep.
hey- ive noticed a lot more people are checking my blog now- please leave me a comment and let me know who you are, what ya think, what you're up to today. It would be a very exciting for me. hehe
gnite