Cape Maclear

I'm aware that 2 non-work-related blog entries singing the praises of Malawi's beauty in a row...several weeks apart is going to make it look like all i do is sit around waiting for the perfect sunset shot. But you probably know better. I'll get 'round to actually 'writing' soon, but in the mean time here is a few shots from some time out I took last week in Cape Maclear. I think It's all pretty self explanantory!

having fun. enjoying beauty

I've been realising lately that I don't take much time out to have fun- in fact, I think climbing Mount Mulanje (which I haven't gotten around to blogging about yet) was the first 'fun thing that I didn't have to justify' that I've done since holidays in Namibia in December. Work is important, but so is fun. So yesterday, my Mulanje climbing buddy called and asked if I'd like to climb a hill nearby with her boys in the afternoon? And instead of saying- 'I'd love to, but actually I've got 3 overdue reports to work on and I haven't reconciled my August petty cash' I said 'sounds great'.

So off we went. It was SO much fun! here are some pics.

Intrepid adventurers through the burnt scrub.

View of the Catholic complex below. Somehow it jsut doesnt fit visually with the surroundings...
I've witnessed some pretty beautiful sunsets here- but this one wins. Isn't our God amazing? So gracious not only to allow us life and relationship- but to create a world that has such moments of splendour... and give us the senses to absorb it. Sunsets are good for the soul I tell ya. that's the Shire River down there by the way.So big you wanna just reach out and grab it... and then - it doesn't finish there- you turn around and the show continues!
So anyways ...the petty cash still got done...just after dinner :) And the reports? I'm actually working on them now as I wait for Blogger to upload photos. Multi-tasking!

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.

Cool video

explanation to follow... ;-)

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?

Ode to Inebriation

It's that time of year again. Every country's got it. Silly season. The season when normal, everyday people behave very, very strangely ...

Those that usually shy away from the camera are suddenly right in front of the lense, demanding a picture, performing even!

I give you (drum roll) my photographic ode to inebriation :-)

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.

Unyago- Initiation Celebrations

It's that time of year again. I got back to the village to find that a few of my little friends (8-9 yr olds) had gone- taken into seclusion for their initiation. I also got back to discover that the initiation area for the boys had been constructed 100m from my house! wow- that's cultural exposure!

I couldn't figure out why they would have put it there where I can hear everything - when I'm such an outsider? Then I found out why. My night watchman is the head organiser, teacher and carer for the boys. He has to be there 24/7. He also has to make sure my house doesn't get broken into at night. Solution to the problem? Put the initiation area next to work! hahaha yay for me.

There are 3 symbolic 'gates' along the path to the grass enclosure and if the uninitiated enter- woe to them - the place is protected spiritually. The singing and drumming happens sporadically throughou tthe day. It's still early in the piece so they only drum and sing for a few hours each night- but I'm sure the best is yet to come.
I know this is an incredible experience that very few people get to witness- but Im thinking I might buy some earplugs.

Transmission Oil

I ran out of cooking in the village yesterday, so wandered down to the local 'golosale' (grocery) and brought myself a 10c bag of oil- like everyone elses.

That evening I pulled it out to cook with and it had changed from a golden oil consistency to a pale butter-yellow textured consistency.

Now it also happened that I had two young men visiting me at the time- one from Zimbabwe who doesn't speak Ciyawo and one who wants to learn English- both of whom were eating into my precious Ciyawo learning/speaking opportunities with frivolousness about my MP3 player that they were covoutesly making playlists on ... Anyways- I held up the oil and asked what the heck was going on and one of them said 'oh- that's transmission oil' as if it was the most normal thing in the world and continued to flip through Alicia Keys songs which reminded me that I really needed to cleanse my player of her music at the nearest opportunity. A discussion ensued about whether it might be sunflower or peanut oil- but they both agreed that vegetable oil doesn't change colour like that so 'yeah- it's transmission oil- they buy it cheap from Mozambique'. Back to Alicia Keys. Granted she probably does hold more appeal to red blooded males than my cooking oil.

Needless to say I didn't find this explantion very satisfactory. I've heard that the power problems are often due to people draining the oil form transmission boxes for cooking but I didn't think it happened on a massive scale- i mean- this cooking oil is sold EVERYWHERE.

Having to choose between dinner cooked without oil or with oil (even if it was transmission oil) I chose the transmission oil and decided to ask my language helper about it the next day.
'Do they sell transmission oil for cooking?' I asked - ever so tactfully. 'yeah' she replied. 'Isn't that petroleum based - like- really bad for you to eat? Isn't it like cooking with vaseline?' she thought about it for a while 'they sell that one cheap for the poor people- I think you should buy your oil from the supermarket'.
'ok'

Does someone out there in blog land know what kind of oil is used in electical transmission boxes? Surely it would taste bed?! Is there a correlation, by any chance, between this and malawi's horrifically low life expectancy? I'd love to know what's going on.

27/7/2009 The workers around here got a shock this morning. First a concoction of aloe vera gel, honey and lemon juice. Then a mug of lemon grass tea with honey. They're hovering to see what's next. Lucky them- I'm also in a baking mood, so it's chocolate cake.

Yup- the whitey's been to a natural medicine course and has come back all full of garden, concoction and dietary ideas :) The course was great. it was called 'Natural Medicine in the Tropics', run by 'anamed' (http://www.anamed.net/).


I think what I liked most about it was the fact that half the medicinal palnts are growing in my garden already- ie readily available to normal people (people living inthe tropics that is!)

So a few natural health tips to my Aussie friends?


Garlic is fantastic for boosting the immune system. It has antiseptice, anti-viral, anti-biotic, anti- fungal adn antidiabetic properties. Include as much raw garlic in your diet as possible. Tip: chop it small, adn stir it through your food jsut prior to serving. If the whole family is eating it- no one will complain of the smell. If you're still worried about aroma- apparently eating a bit of ginger is good at getting rid of garlic breath!

Aloe vera - slit open the leaf adn scoop out 1-2 Tbspn of the gel/day, or chop and boil the leaf to make a tea. Add honey if it's too bitter for you. Aloe is an immune system regulator- boosts it if it needs boosting, settles it if you're having an allergic reaction. It also facilitates the absorption of vitamins adn other minerals and is great for soothing stomach ulcers.

Lemons are full of vitamins- drink the juice of 1 lemon every day.

Lemon Grass and guava leaves - made into tea's are also really good for you- but Im too tired to remember what they do right now...if you really want to know- email me :)

Goodbyes addendum

I'm sorry- I ended that last post badly. The news was a shock.

This place fades all my petty insecurities into insignificance. With life expectancy hovering around 40 and one in 5 kids not making it to the age of 5 - my friends all face the eternal goodbyes with horrifying (for me) regularity.

The well digger asked for an advance on his pay 2 months ago so he could pay for his young daughters funeral. Then a fortnight ago he asked for another advance so he could buy medicine. I gave it- but I had no idea how sick he was. I can only image how devastated his wife must be.

Not that we- in the west- are immune to death- most of us have had someone close to us die - it's just that the unexpected ones happen alot less frequently- with a lot more outrage.

Perhaps my loathing of goodbyes isn't insignificant. Perhaps it reveals my understanding and experience of the transience of life on this planet. I live knowing today could be my last. Not taking the gift of other people- relationships- forgranted.

In the past I've asked -what is the solution? how do I make goodbyes easier? make the pain go away?! (not cry embarrassingly :-x) But I think I've come to the conclusion that it's ok. It doesn't need to change. The pain is a good pain - it means that I've embraced life, and friendships- soaked them in deeply. And when they change, or end- although I feel deeply sad and have a hole in my life where that person used to fit- I've actually gained so much- the richness and depth of the relationship that has contributed to who I am.

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?

goodbyes

I have issues with 'goodbyes'. I always have. Ask anyone that knows me - I really don't cope with 'em very well at all. You'd think it'd get easier with practice- or less get wrenchingly painful with age...but for me-nope. The tears still well up and very goodbye is a trauma.

Unfortunately I'm not exactly living in suburbia where people are born, live and die in the same suburb. Nope, the expat community in third word countries are incredibly fluid. Two years is classified as a 'long haul'. Just as you get to know someone they leave.

My house mate left today. A year and a half ago I moved in with a complete stranger. Today I said goodbye to a dear friend. We've laughed together, cried and prayed together, gotten annoyed and tiptoed around each other, shared life, cooking and dishes... and now she's going for a 6 month break back in Australia and by the time she gets back I'll be gone and...and life has moved on.

I want to hold on to it. Let the moments linger. But now they're just echoes in this big empty house.

I think separations and goodbyes are so difficult because other people become a part of our lives- who we are - and when they go- they leave a gaping hole. The only way to make goodbyes easier is to not let people in. But where is the joy in that?! nope- it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

I just got a phone call from the farm manger. The man that dug the well at the farm just died a few minutes ago from 'infection'.






goodbye

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.

Training

There is something so beautiful about this part of Malawi. Maybe the grassy plains and the thorn trees. Perhaps its the blue smudge of lake in the distance- or the rising hills. It's certainly not farming country- floods, poor clayey soil, termites mounds galore- but what the heck!

Siyala

Friday 10th July

I think I earned my stripes today. I’m not sure if I told you already about pump cleaning duty? Well, a few weeks a go I was visiting random people and was telling this lady that I wanted to learn everything- how to talk, cook, carry my own water…. So she took me seriously and enlisted me to join her ‘team’ for 6am water pump cleaning duties on Fridays. So I had set my alarm for 6 and had woken to the sound of her yelling at my night guard to get me out of bed- and him yelling back that its wrong to make me do that work and he wasn’t going to wake me up and I smiled wryly to myself that I had now found my ‘special’ friend in the village. And lucky me-she’s a tough task master!

I had rolled out of bed and faced her chiding for being 5 min late and learnt all about how to sweep and clean the pump. Last Friday I was in Mangochi. This morning – I was there before her. In fact – I’d swept half the area before any of them got there and she was as proud as punch. I told her off for being late and she was beaming from ear to ear.

I visited her this afternoon and she is going to take me to some religious celebration that goes all night Saturday through to Sunday morning. She reckons showing up 7am Sunday morning is enough. Maybe she ain’t such a hard task master after all.

Thursday 9th July

My language helper visited me in the village today. It was lovely. It was freezing cold and raining most of the day which is very unusual. So it was a perfect day to sit in the house and do language and grammar. But first we sat and chatted and prepared lunch- futali and cabbage…yummm.

Futali recipe.
Approx 1kg sweet potato
About ¾ cup of finely ground raw peanuts
About 1 tblspn salt.

Peel the sweet potatoes whilst sitting on a mat, chatting to your friends. Cut into 2cm rounds. Light your fire. Wash sweet potato and put in pot with water ¾ the height of the potato. Add the salt, put on a lid and steam until just starting to get soft. Pour the ground peanuts (previously crushed and sieved (a coffee grinder will do!) …or brought from the market) evenly over the top. Add more water if needed. Replace the lid and steam until cooked. And peanuts have formed a sauce over the potatoes. Share with friends. Also tastes great cold the next morning for breakfast.
Any staple can be prepared this way: cassava, pumpkin, plantain bananas and white potatoes- but I like the sweet potato version the best.

I am so exhausted - my head is throbbing from talking ciyawo from 11am to 4pm straight. It’s only 7.30- but I gotta sleep.