I'm still kickin'

wow...its been a whole month since I've posted anything. That's a bit hard-core slack isn't it?!!
well, here is a post I wrote a few weeks ago and forgot to post...
I can't seem to move the photos- so its pictures first! An elephant kiss, Liwonde National Park

The view from the front verandah of our chalet at Nkhata Bay (no zoom used)

My colleague and I at a more formally structured Agriculture lesson about farm planning

So, Where have I been? well, for one- I've been forced to think about leaving and all that it entails. Finishing up well, it turns out, takes a lot of time and energy! So far I've sent 23.5 kgs back to Australia (books!!) in other peoples luggage, 3/4 packed the house, written a huge 'to do' list, started telling people I'm leaving soon, endured several 'we don't want you to leave' speeches and am trying to wrap my head around how I'm gonna face so many painful 'good byes'.

(Addendum- I've now said good bye to most of my groups and packing is still a work in progress)

I've also had 3 friends from Australia visiting the last few weeks, which took us on a tour of the country- from Nkata Bay to Blantyre, from the idyllic lake shores at Cape Maclear to lengthy village meetings in the back blocks of Machinga. Have you ever thought about what you would show people of your life if you wanted to give them an overview? hmm. not sure we quite achieved that, but I gave it a shot and had a great time seeing some of Malawi's highlights along the way!

And...I've finally got an 'official' hobby. you guessed it- photography :) I've joined an online group that advises and critiques, discusses techniques and has online competitions (which is where a fair chunk of ususal 'blogging' internet time and energy has gone). But its FUN! :) learning new stuff, keeping an eye out for 'the perfect shot', debating the strengths and weaknesses of different angles etc. the downside is that I've discovered I'm actually less likely to reach for the camera because I know the lighting isn't right etc. :(

(Addendum- I haven't had much time for this the last few weeks. that's the good thing about this hobby- it can wait :)

Decisions Decisions

I slept 11.5hrs last night! The power went off around 6 so I decided to have a candle-lit soak in the tub (with a good book of course!) and it still wasn't on by 7.30 so I thought...'bed time!'... and then I slept and slept with no alarm. Just glorious!

The last few weeks have been busy. The first few days back from my week at Cape Maclear were an up-hill struggle to get back into the swing of things...but now I'm well and truly in the swing!
I think the cause of both the inertia and the sudden activity was the realisation that I only have 10 weeks left!
10 short weeks to finish up all the farm trainings, write up the training outlines, get the translated agriculture brochures finished, prepare M & E and a development frameworks and a proposal, help out with Lake of Stars music festival the permaculture consortium, keep visiting all my friends...

Sort and pack my stuff, say goodbye to everyone and leave well...

Prepare myself for arriving back in the thick of Australian Christmas commercialism, materialism and excesses. Back to a 'home' that has changed since I left. A 'home' that may or may not fit a sojourner whe's been marked by Africa...

And the looming question "what will I do next?''

It's been food for thought talking to people about how they make decisions for the future.
They've all asked different loaded rhetorical questions-

'Where can your life be of most use? -What does God say?' (misso speaking) ...'and the need is really great here and you've already done 2 years and are well into language and culture acquisition so it makes sense to come back...'

'What's the best career step?' (NGO project manager speaking) ...'and by the way, I've got this position that I can't advertise and I think your skills fit and its PAID...'

'What's best for you?- what is your higher self telling you?' (creator of a permaculture hide-away)

"You need to find a husband" (local Yawo friends). ok- that one wasn't a rhetorical question- but I wouldn't expect that from such a straight-speaking culture!

I think each one has a valid point. I do need to listen to God's leading and prompting, and consider how my skills and abilities can best be used...but I don't want to do a job simply because 'there's a need'. There will always be needs.
Career and some form of income aren't bad things either- unless they become the only determining factors.
Making a decision that is best for 'me' is a new one... and quite appealing once I allow the ideas to blossom.
Family- in all it's senses is also something I long for. Yes, a husband and kids would be nice- but bigger than that- do I know my extended family? have I ever made the conscious effort to get to know them and put aside the time that it takes?

Where does the future lead?

Hold-Up

Something VERY exciting has happened in this town. Everyone is talking about it....
One of the banks got robbed yesterday!
The story goes that 4 guys pulled up in a car, walked into the bank, started pointing guns around and everyone hit the floor. They then proceeded to bag a million kwacha (about $10,000), walked out and drove off.
The Police were called, but they didn't have any fuel for their cars so the guys got away.
Today there are 2 security guards out the front of the bank. Better late than never?

I've moved a lot...

Ladies and Gents, the 'How many houses have I lived in?' poll is apparently closed,
so the answer:
7 incorrect
13 incorrect
26 correct
32 incorrect
No one voted for the extremes. you probably figured I wouldn't bother making you guess for a measly 7 moves. BUT, 4 out 7 were right- I've lived in 26 different houses (for 2 months or more) in my life... soon to be 27 in Dec when I head back to Oz. yay

haha

I just got acknowledged by no less than FIVE minivan/truck (public transport) drivers on my way down the hill just now. Two were flickers of the headlights, two inside-the-cab waves and one arm-out-the-window exuberant wave...

dya know what this means? (other than that I drive up and down that hill far too often) It means I'm cool. I'm part of 'the crew'. I'm acknowledged. I BELONG!!!! ok, so the mangochi-chiponde stretch of the Muluzi Highway in the backwaters of Malawi...in the back waters of Africa, which is arguably the back waters of the world- may not sound like the most desirable place to belong- BUT...wait for it :)
it's cool because 1. im a girl 2. im white 3. ive ony been here a year and a half 4. Ive never met ANY of the drivers- so my reputation is sight and word of mouth only and 5....i don't think there's a five. i just think its cool that I'm counted part of a really obscure sub cultural group that Ive never met, simply because of my work.
that is all.

home sweet home

On our little moutain climb on the weekend, one of the climbers did a survey of random stuff- just for interest, like- how many pairs of socks did you pack, how many languages do you speak, how many houses have you lived in...
well- that one made me pause. It took a while- but I finally figured it out. Can you guess how many houses I've called 'home' in my life time?

random photos

I thought it high time for some non serious- no brainer photos. haven't posted a good photo in a while- probably cos they take so long to upload! so here's some stuff I thought worth photographing...but not worth a blog entry all to themselves :)

My village dishwasher - unfortunately doesn'twork so well for the outside of the pots.

I got my hair braided for a party. OUCH!!!! - for a super mullet from hell- why would you? -is all I can say for that. It stayed in 12 hrs exactly.

I took a visitor to Monkey Bay to catch the Ilala Ferry up the lake. I had no idea there was a full (mini) industrial port there! with all the locals washing their clothes and bathing right next to it of course!

Super size Ugali

I really like this photo. Not sure why. Maybe cos the red is pretty? cos it's so symbolic of the sheer amount of soft drinks consumed here. Or maybe the juxtaposition of the multibillion dollar? company as a back drop to the lady selling donuts for a return of $1.30/day if she manages to sell them all. or maybe it somehow captures that it can actually get cold here...sometimes.

More boats and another port- but this time of a different nature. Along the shores of Lake Chilewa the fishermen have cut a channel through the thick reads- all the way out to deeper water. Boats in every state of disrepair litter the shallows. I love it.

I'm an introvert and I'm ok...

Personality types have been a bit of a theme at the moment. I've been reading a bit of stuff about Myers Briggs personality types, but then at the course this week, one of the facilitators came up to me and said- "I've got a book called 'The Introvert Advantage' that you might find interesting". I smiled and took the book and thought...where the heck did that come from? Am I THAT much of an introvert that someone I've met twice is lending me a self help book? Thankfully he was such a genuine person that you couldn't be more than puzzled.


I skim read the book. It said that introversion isn't about whether or not you're shy or like people- it's about where you draw your energy from. If you are energised by being in the thick of the action and interacting with lots of people- then you're an extrovert. Introverts (innies) have a lot less energy in general than extroverts- and really need to pace themselves and have quality time alone to recharge their batteries. It said innies are easily overwhelmed by too much sensory information and when it gets to overload- the brain just blanks out. It said that innies often forget stuff- basic stuff, like what they like to do. Brain blanking can happen when they're put on the spot- just a word lost- or a whole body of knowledge (that they're often experts in) just slips beyond grasp in the hot spotlight of other peoples gaze. Innies tend not to open their mouths unless they think they know what they're talking about- and they probably don't consider themselves to know much at all until they've studied something at far more depth than any normal person would bother. They hate being the centre of attention. They often feel guilty that they don't have the energy or the desire- or even abilty to do the 'group thing' - whether at work or socialising. And they rarely come back with a fast answer- they need time to think about stuff and are likely to re-open yesterdays conversation to say what they couldn't think of saying at the time.


man it made me feel better!!! :)


I remember when I first did the personality test- I got all the letters, looked up the description... and found myself reading all about my Dad. No- that's my dad- not me. Then I did the test again trying to draw my answers from how I would respond in a work situation. Different letter combo- different description. This time I was reading all about my boss. No- that's not me either. Did it again and got straight down the middle. A perfectly balanced human being?! :) really confused?! no just a 'pleaser'.


I've gotten to know myself a lot better in Africa and be ok with it. Take myself less seriously. Accept the facts. The fact is- I did find it a big effort to socialise at the course. 15 new faces were overwhelming and I was quite happy to spend a large number of the breaks in the corner with a cuppa and book. I watched on mildly envious as people formed little cliques - but really enjoyed one on one conversations with people- even if I did forget my words sometimes....


The book also provided much entertainment both to me and my extrovert room mate (for the duration of the course) where it got into relationship advice - starting with tips for how to meet a potential partner. It included gems like 'smile at people in the elevator, do your washing at the laundromat, or take your dog to the dog park' which had my friend in stitches imaginging all these really shy people buying dogs so they can meet someone in a dog park... :)


Thankfully introversion-extroversion is a continuum and I'm hovering just off centre :-p

So- a question for you- the book said 25% of the population are innie and 75% are outie- do you recon that's true? what are you?

Rambling

Sorry I've been useless at blogging this week. it's not that there's nothing to write about.. I just haven't had time. village living, farmer training, house mate packing for home assignment, car juggling...and im going on a 'natural medicine in the tropics' course on Wednesday. I'm really looking forward to it- a change in pace, learning new stuff and meeting new people. it's gonna be good!

I got my RAV back today. I never thought I'd be SO happy to get a vehicle back- but I guess a few months of vehicle juggling had taken it's toll. The RAV got taken to South Africa to have (among other things) the wind screen replaced for a crack where a kid lobbed a rock while I was driving one day. The windscreen got replaced... and chipped on the drive back to Malawi :( so now, instead of a top to bottom crack on the passenger side, I have a star right in my line of sight! hehe

Well- must sleep, but will leave you with a pic from my weekend.

troopies, teleporting, death and sunsets

Do you ever wish that other people could see what you're seeing- feel what it's like to do what you're doing even for a few seconds? Sometimes, like this evening, I would love to teleport in my friends so they could share the moment. I reckon one day, instead of logging into someone's profile on Facebook, you'll click on their picture (mentally?!), wait a few moments for their permission to enter (longer if they're on the loo at that precise moment) then the next thing you'd see/hear/feel is whatever moment of their day they happened to be in. Obviously they would have to still be 100% in control- otherwise- Being John Malkovich. i knew I couldn't possibly be having an original idea. not at this stage of the universe. what was I saying? oh yeah- it wouldn't be allowed to compromise who a person is- their individual thougths, actions or decisions. no the idea isn't to tap that- just tap and share the senses. hmmm, imagine the possibilities...

So anyway, this evening I was standing on an open savannah grassland plain, watching a stunning pink and orange sunset smudged with smoke and the fingernail moon gleaming through the silouette of a thorn tree and I thought ' It really doesn't get more stereotypical African than this. Wouldn't it be cool to live in Africa?!' It had been a long day, so my thoughts had fully turned to who I would teleport if I could before I remembered that I DO live in Africa and it would probably be a lot easier to just invite one of my friends to come visit so we could share the regularly spectacular beauty in person.

It was a rough trip home. no street lights. plenty of black cows, black people and black bicycles on a bumpy road with frequent single lane bridges and the odd car not understanding the concept of turning hi-beams down.

It had been a great afternoon though. One of the communal farms that we're assisting is run by a HIV-AIDS Support Group- and what a fantastic bunch of people! Nowhere in my time here have I seen male and female, young and old, educated and un-educated with different tribal languages- all enjoying themselves and treating each other with respect as equals. There's nothing like impending death to level the playing field, get the trivialities of life into perspective. i think these guys have got it right. and when you think about it- we're all facing impending death- we just choose not to think about it. Having spent the afternoon with this bunch- Im thinking maybe we should all think about death more often!

Speaking of death, we all piled into/ on the troopy for the few km drive to the farm. 3 in the front, 3 on top, 14 in the back plus 2 babies and 2 watering cans. We had fun walking around the communal farm, me asking lots of questions, them showing me the different soils, the areas that flood, where it's hard to dig, where the maize was extra big and of course the dreaded termite mounds. The pinned me down for a date for my next visit. It's going to be a whole day and we'll all work together- making an A frame to mark out the contours, incorporating the crop residue and making compost with all the organic matter lying around (and growing 10 foot high!). I look forward to it. On the way home one of the guys insisted that I come and ask questions at his farm too :) hence the opportunity to enjoy the susnset in one of the little visited parts of the country.

You lot aren't very talkative are you? well- I guess i haven't exactly been too chatty myself.
Life, even in Africa, is busy!
So, what's been happening in this dusty corner of the world?

Funerals, language learning, births (thankfully not in my car- we made it just in time), meetings, comings and goings, harvest, decisions...oh yeah- and Election fever, that's what. Thankfully everyone seems to have recovered now, but the rallies were big, the loud speakers blared, free party shirts, wraps, brochures and posters were distributed and excitement was high... (see one of the previous posts for pictures). This had all reached a fevered pitch by the weekend before elections and since we live in the heart of opposition territory, we felt it wise to lie low for the week. Campaigning had to stop by 6am Monday morning in preparations for the elections Tuesday, which dawned bright but unusually quite. Apparently people started queuing about 3am at the polling stations to make sure they got to vote. The day passed without any incidents- except for the presidential helicopter arriving with more ballot papers. That got everyones attention! Then we waited for the results... suspense... and it was all a bit of an anti-climax really. The existing President got voted in for a second term and the mood around town was... despondent. no riots. a few little, quite celebrations, but overall glumness.

It was a week of report writing and procrastination for me. I'm proud to report that the bathroom cupboards are clean AND my overdue reports are now in. It was a lovely change of pace though. Life's been a bit chaotic, and is set to get even more so after the short reprieve.

This week we'll be having two farmer training sessions at the demonstration farm. Two groups of 30 and for the first time we're taking on self catering. Eeep! We've hired 3 ladies who will cook under a tree while farmers are taught how to construct contour marker ridges, how and why to incorporate their crop residues to improve soil fertility rather than burning it all in a few months time and, of course, how to make compost manure.

I've also started a role of working with and advising 10 'communal garden' clubs on better farming and environmental methods which is exciting- but a huge responsibility and logistical challenge given they're spread far and wide up to 2.5hrs drive away! Four of the farms are particularly far, so I've decided I'll overnight in the nearest town to save doing more driving each day than actually chatting and working with people...but that means I need a language assistant (that's right- im still not fluent) who is willing to stay overnight with me ie woman, right tribe, speaks some english, no kids, doesn't mind working long days in the sun. Miraculously we've found 2 ladies that fit that description so I'm going to meet each one individually tomorrow for a short language lesson to see how we get on and if they suit the job.

well, its 9pm and I'm tired. I shall endevour to write more frequently. feel free to do the same :)

Snapshot US elections

'Obama!'
I stopped. 'Obama! Yes we can!' I replied with a raised fist and a teasing grin. The market fish sellers cheered and the mango seller grinned and launched into a monologue about Obama and America. My language hasn't got to politics yet. After registering my blank expression he returned to business 'Mango ten kwacha ten kwacha'.

I love cross cultural connection, however brief -but sometimes it is on the most random topics!Some events, for better or worse, have massive ramifications. All the way to Mangochi markets? i wonder.
time will tell.

I start work for a Malawian NGO 8am tomorrow morning. Its hard to believe. Im nervous :) I realised this morning that I haven't started a new job for ... 4 years! and this is one Ive been working towards for almost 2 years and its in a different country with a different culture and a very loosley phrased job description. what do i wear?! hehe
I cleaned my desk this evening, and ironed my clothes and packed a shoulder bag- notebook, pen, wallet etc let the next phase begin!

So, what else is happening in my world? well, country wise- there was an assasination attempt on the President last week which is a bit of a worry.
Also at least 12 'foreign workers' (probably malawians and Zimbabwians) have been killed in anti-immigrant protests in South Africa. Apparently South Africans have to be members of unions to work, and foreigners don't- so foreigners are scooping the work which has lead to protests, bad sentiment and murder. not cool.

On the completely insignificant front- I had a lovely time gardening today. Spread lots of manure and mulch, started a compost heap and planted a heap of kidney beans as part of a long term 'fix nitrogen in the soil' plan. Weekends get pretty lonely when you don't have anywhere to go or anyone to visit. poor me :) nah- im thinking i really need to be more proactive about making some friends 'outside team/work' but 'in country'. Email is great to keep in contact re big stuff going on in Aus- but i am really missing sharing 'life' with physical people :) people my own age. Somehow compters and the wonderful technologies of blogs/facebook/skype just dont fill that longing to have a good goss curled up on the couch with a coffee and a pack of timtams...or a walk in the park with someone. hmm I either have to really improve my language -fast, and/or look further a field :) i think i'll go with the 'and' option.

g'nite

Update to 'Rambling'

the meeting happened!
the meeting went well :)
I start orientation Monday!
Woohoo!! (joy dance)

Rambling

Can you believe...("YES" I hear you say!) ...that my parents had all their luggage stolen on their bus trip from the mine to the airport?
They pretty much boarded the plane to Europe with the clothes on the back and their hand luggage- which thankfully contained passposrts, wallets and cameras.
What a way to start the holiday! Well, they did some major clothes shopping once they got to London, and today...they'd be having lunch in Italy I think? hopefully having an absolute blast :)

Today I had a language lesson this morning and am hanging out with my colleagues kids this avo and watchin 'spongebob squarepants' - I can't wait! seriously. I love spongebob.

The meeting Ive been waiting months for is happening tomorrow afternoon. Too good to be true? I hope not. The plan starting next week is that once Ive done a few days orientation in the TLC office and spent a few weeks heading out on the back of motorbikes with some of the guys, I will be facilitating the development of a TLC farm property as a demo farm and training centre. Some of the existing ideas for the site are constructing a training area and accommodation, demos for water management, crop diversification, agroforestry, house gardens, animal husbandry, low input maize growing methods, as well as seed trials and the tourism potential of setting up a ‘real’ village on the site- lived in by the workers but suitable for tourist groups... So heaps of potential!! I’m heading up there this Friday (its about an hours drive away) to have a look at the property and start feasibility planning and, at some stage soon I’ld like to go and have a look at other similar projects around the country to see what works...what doesn’t.

Im really struggling with the role of ‘westerners’ in an environment like this- our attempts to ‘help’ come complete with huge cultural packages- usually, it seems, for worse. I spent all Friday at ‘development training’ where a bunch of people- easily classified as amongst the worlds poorest spent time brainstorming ways they could reduce their poverty. They came up with a great list-
send your kids to school,
get an education yourself,
work hard, farm and plant extra to sell,
work together to solve one problem in the village at a time,
use initiative-don’t wait for handouts,
start a small business,
learn a trade...
They have great ideas of what they can do. Are they doing it and its not working? Or are they not doing it- and if not- why not?
I suspect our/my expectations and agendas are vastly different than theirs. We're aiming for ownership, self empowerment and sustainability - which Im fast realising doesnt gel with the bigger permeating culture here (of Africa?) - and its patron –client- culture. The wealthy are obliged to help the poor (whom they have relationship with) that is their duty. Im not convinced that ‘economic stability’ or standing independently on their own feet is the goal at a national level let alone a village level. The culture is very much about dependence and /or interdependence. Has it always been that way? Or is it a cultural coping mechanism in abject poverty? Someone asked me last week- can you improve the lot of one group of people in Africa in the setting of another group of people? I dunno. I almost feel guilty for being here- being arrogant enough to think that I have something to offer- and yet people here DO starve, are dying from preventable diseases... and the system isn’t working- so maybe there is a place for outsiders to ‘help’...I guess the question for me is –what should that help look like? Maybe Ive had too many months to think about all this :)

snake, cakes and birthday celebrations

Happy Birthday to me! 27- what a blah age- but it certainly wasn't a blah day of celebrations!


I was up at 6am awaiting a call to go harvesting maize. Harvesting seems to be very much a family affair- where the owner of the garden supplies lunch and the extended family joins in to help. A friend of mine picked me up, then we picked up Swa-, her children and 2 of her sisters and met the men out at the garden. The work itself doesnt require much muscle- but it requires tough hands and it gets pretty hot working in the sun all day. Us whities lasted from about 8am till 11am- at which point i wasn't convinced i had much more skin on my fingers to lose- and I had to get back to help prepare for my afternoon teaparty.
While we were harvesting I felt something sharp in my shoe ( I was wearing crocs) I kicked it off and as it didn't hurt wasn't worried 'til it got really itchy. i called my friend over to inspect my foot and said 'a snake bite would hurt would it?- What do you do for a snake bite?' she answered- 'pray!' so we did. There is still some speculation as to what bit me (take a look- what do you reacon? ok- the pic is a bit small but i can't be bothered waiting to upload a bigger one) - but im thinkin its a real-deal miracle that Im feeling fine- and Ive learnt a lesson- DONT WEAR CROCS IN A MAIZE FIELD.


Back home my lovely house mate had cooked up a storm- 3 cakes and 3 slices. About 11 adults and 15 kiddies came for afternoon tea and it was lovely - sitting in the shade on the back lawn enjoying each others company, sipping coffee and indulging in cake- they were all dairy free! yay.

Afterwards some people stayed for dinner. What I love about living in a small, isolated place is that it is unpretentious (sp?)- as in- often everyone will pitch in to prepare or clean up a communal meal- and its not a 'show', not 'entertaining guests', its more about spending time with people and community. We had sausages and steamed veggies. We all helped prepare it (even if it was moral support!), pitched in to clean up, and sat around chatting enjoying my second (third? or was it fifth?!) birthday cake for the day- a devine orange poppyseed cake. mmm.

Pretty cool day huh?

The only sad bit was missing my mates wedding in Australia today- and not being able to get a 'telegram-email' through in time cos the internet was down overnight. I guess part of the cost of choosing to live overseas is missing the major landmarks in your friends lives. I wish I coulda been there guys.

Well Im zonked. goodnight. goodbye 26.

My Head Space

Hiya! sorry for not posting regularly these days...Ive been getting distracted by language study (woohoo! miracles do happen :)

As of this week I have upped the ante (sp?!) on my language 'regime' having realised I only have 1 month left to get to the stage of cummunicating by myself.

My repertoire now includes chatting to our night guards, daily lessons with 2 language teachers, one day a week driving/village visits - observing and listening AND as of Tuesday - a “rent a friend”. Saj- is a beautiful lady, early 20’s, 3 kids, doesn’t speak English, has spent her whole life in a little village about 20 min drive outta Mangochi. She seems really nice and the plan is for me to go there every Tuesday (just the avo's to start with) and just hang out and try and chat- doing whatever she and her sisters are doing- which on Tuesday was destringing pumpkin leaves and shelling beans for their dinner. 2 guys took me out to introduce me so it was all a bit- unnatural...but I hope as I head out there regularly by myself I’ll blend in as well as a white chick with a car in a small African village can...

So, whats on my mind this morning?
- Zimbabwe's elections are tomorrow and Im praying for a miracle. This link: http://www.sokwanele.com/map/all_breaches is really interesting- but abit depressing. A summary guide on how to rig an election...ya know- i always thought that dictators just didn't count the votes- or didn't allow the votes- but I was so naive!! there is a whole plethora of ingenious ways of swaying votes, deciding who does and doesn't vote, intimidation, payoffs etc that would result in a much more ego boosting positive indication in the dictators favour than just not counting the vote at all. Everybody likes to feel popular.

- Our own politics are abit interesting- apparently the current president created his own party AFTER he was elected (ignoring the constitution), hasn't allowed parliament to sit for at least 6 months now and gave away all the countries reserve maize to a relative (Mugabe is his father in law) - and I just read this morning that the previous president (currently facing serious corruption charges) has got the all clear to run for president again in the elections next year. yay.

- What else- can green curry paste be swapped in for red curry paste in a recipe? surely...

- I need to do some more languge prep. We are going through wordless kids books and, in 30 min blocks we are constrained to only using Ciyawo, and I have to describe everything I see on the page, with Swa- helping. Its great- I can say stuff! Im also getting her to record stories about her day/life and I tell her what I think its about-then we listen to it together and she fills in the gaps- then I can listen when she's not there and here a 'normal' monologue- already knowing what its about. very cool.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Fridays? Im not sure if its Fridays themselves, or the anticipation of the weekend. no can't be the latter cos the weekends aren't that different out here- just time to catch up on everythig that didn't happen through the week :)
Its 8am. gotta run.
ps got a phone call from Oz yesterday- thankyou thankyou thankyou! floating on cloud 9.

Monday

Todays achievements include 7 sparkling clean ceiling fans and getting to 'C' in my 'words Ive learnt recorded english to Ciyawo' dictionary. What an exciting day. Village visits was cancelled, so i (with an amazingly willing Swa-!) took advantage of my lingering cleaning bug and had a spring clean marathon. windows, bathroom shower bays, curtains, walls, floors (with polish!)...you wouldn't know a humid, wet country could be so dusty. Unfortunately I forgot to get a photo of one of my super-clean white ceiling fans while I was up the ladder (boohoo), so a few pics taken at intervals thoughout the rest of the day will have to suffice.

A cameleon in the back yard

A quick trip to the markets for fresh food supplies- my folks are coming tomorrow for a week! Trying to find some exciting veggies to roast with the chicken Baba Lemon is going to bring 'prepared' for me tomorrow. Did I tell you that a few weeks ago they moved the market?! there one day, gone the next. the old market burnt down just before I arrived, so everyone had just 'squatted' and set up their stalls in the ashes. Then one day the local authority decided it was time to start rebuiling and moved everybody on...so the market is now around the corner in a narrow street with the fish section located right in the middle to ensure maximum exposure to the aroma on a hot, still afternoon.

Upholding a long standing tradition of HungryJacks for late lunch after a cleaning spree :)

Blantyre

we wandered up and down every aisle- soaking in the colours and variety of the ...supermarket shelves :) It's been about 2 months since I last made it to the 'big smoke' of Blantyre, so even grocery shopping was a real treat. We also indulged in 'Indian' for dinner and had iced tea and spice cake at a cafe in one of the old colonial buildings- what a lovely day! the next day I took my housemate to the airport for her holidays and proceeded to get lost trying to find the right road to Mangochi. no helpful road signs here - BUT I made it home with a greater appreciation of the size of Blantyre.
my first though this morning was 'oh no!' hehe my week of tasting poverty has begun. A cold dipper shower, proceeded by carrying more water in from outside and boiling up myself some plain rice and tea for brekky. yup its gonna be a long week!
Im off on a village visit this morning- then Ive got all my washing from the weekend waiting for me. God has such a a sense of humour- I had planned to use yesterday to catch up on all my washing to minimise the amount of water lugging etc this week...but the power was off all day wasn't it?! so I ended up handwashing all my sheets and towels anyways :) they who want to taste hardship cannot be choosers about when it suits them !!

3 points from today that Won't change your life

Today I learned that the President of Malawi is the father-in-law of Dictator Mugabe of Zimbabwe (fairly sure thats not his official title. oh well). Ahah light bulb moment! -this is why people are queuing for days at Ardmark (govt bulk food supplier- mainly maize).
Don't see the connection?
Well, apparently our President sold all of Malawis stockpiled maize to Zimbabwe to feed Mugabe's hungry people- leaving Malawi with lots of hungry people. this is called 'solidarity' - or something.

Today, in the village, I actually understood a lot (ie 7%?!) of what what was being said. Certainly better than nothing, however Im feeling increasingly frustrated with how slow a process language learning is. 6 weeks and I can still barely say anything!!!! I know ... patience ... cut myself some slack ... etc its just really annoying for someone like me who likes to talk! I really want to meet new people- connect... Its been almost 3 months since I left Australia and Im starting to feel the 'isolation' factor a little more acutely now. Im really missing being able to talk to my friends... catch up for a latte/beer... just hang out...

Today I achieved a personal best in Barbie (the Rav4) - 12 people!! yessirree- 3 in the front, 6 in the backseat and 3 in the boot. Im getting dangerously close to my colleagues record of 16 in the troopy- and my cars half the size-so the pressure is on!! hehe. yes, i did read my last blog and yes I am driving carefully- usually Im just used to shuttle people less than a km over bumpy dirt tracks to a meeting etc. my 4WD skills are improving!