9:45am Malawi time/ 3:45am EST, Tuesday, 3rd June 2008.
On Thursday I bought a TV episode on iTunes. It is 459.8 MB. As of today 182.4 MB have downloaded. I’m so excited! At this rate I might get to watch it this weekend. Sarah’s downloading a full-length movie. She might have it before she flies back to Northern Ireland on July 13th. We’re having a race to see whose computer is downloading faster. She’s winning.
2 hours later…I left the office to go meet a third year nursing student from Minnesota (or maybe it was Montana). Now my TV show is at 193.2 MB. My boss went into Mzuzu this morning without giving me an assignment. I know I’m supposed to be helping her write a handbook for peer counselors about HIV/AIDS symptoms, but I don’t know how or where or what. For now, I sit and watch the MB download. I’m already tired of stalking people on facebook, so I will talk to you. I’m very good at these one-sided conversations, p.s.
Last night I had a mosquito inside my mosquito net. I’d be worried about having Malaria two weeks from now (that’s how long it takes between a bite and showing symptoms), but since I could hear the mozzie buzzing around I’m not worried. There are two types of mosquitoes—the ones that make noise don’t carry the malaria parasite. It’s kind of unfortunate that the deadly ones are silent killers.
I went to the CCAP church in Ekwendeni on Sunday. It was in the mission station church, which is more than 100 years old. The English service started at 8 o’ clock. The building is magnificent. Once I find my camera battery charger I’ll take some pics. The entire thing is made of red brick that matches the color of the dirt. The floor is a mosaic of diamonds and octagons; there are two rows of diamond-shaped brick columns going down the sides of the church. They are connected by brick arches and stained-glass windows. The pews reminded me of the AIC church we went to once a month when I was at RVA—rough wood, so close together that your knees touch the one in front of you and if you stay in the same position for too long all the circulation to your feet is cut off. I LOVED the hymns—we sang some of my favorites like There’s Pow’r in the Blood. Malawians have beautiful voices and the atmosphere amplified the sound perfectly. The sermon was difficult to follow so after a while I just started reading from my Bible. Lamentations is generally a depressing book, but I found this encouraging:
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail...For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love.
Afterwards Sarah, Allison, and I caught a matola into Mzuzu to do some shopping. I bought some absolutely beautiful fabric which I plan to (get a tailor to) turn into bags, skirts and a dress. It is now lunch time, so I will leave this to you. p.s. I'm now at 199.7 MB...
Oh, and I almost forgot. If you find yourself getting bored with my posts, you should read my brother’s blog (it also has cute pics and video of my little sibs). http://dimswogblog.blogspot.com/
L’amour et Paix.
10:21pm Malawi time/4:21pm EST, Saturday, 31st May 2008.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!
Malawi 8 – 1 Djibouti.
We annihilated them. I really wanted to go to the World Cup Qualifying match in Blantyre this afternoon, but that was impossible. Instead I listened to it on the radio in a packed matola (minibus) between Rumphi and Ekwendeni and blaring in the Ekwendeni market and local bars as I walked from the bus station to the house. I love how football (soccer) is a universal sport. Regardless of whether you speak the same language, it’s possible to enjoy a game together and share an understanding of what is happening.
Laura, Lauren and her three friends left yesterday for two weeks in TZ (Zanzibar—I’ m so jealous). Sarah, Allison (a nursing student from Edinburgh who’s here for 6 weeks), and I decided to go up to Matunkha Safari Lodge in Rumphi. Matunkha is a community project including a primary school, orphan program, water program, donkey breeding program, “model village” etc. that gets some of its income from tourism (lodging, walks, game drives to the Lake and Nyika National Park).It’s run by my best friend’s family (the Nanningas). I’ve been going up there for weeks at a time since they started it ten years ago. Even though Jojo wasn’t there (she’s still in uni in the NL) this time, I thought it’d be fun to surprise her parents. Only her dad was there, but we shared a cup of tea and caught up on our families and the past two years experiences. The project’s really grown a lot and they’re hoping to be able to support 50% of their projects with money from the safari lodge. Their latest project is an outpatient clinic being built in the shape of the AIDS ribbon. I’m eager to google earth it once they’ve thatched the roof. After dropping our stuff in our room we explored, finding all the animals (some cows, 4 horses, goats, and a bajillion donkeys). I enjoyed my first Kuche Kuche at the restaurant with supper (“The Pride of Malawi” and local beer). It was 50 cents for 500ml! The power was out so our food took a while to prepare, but it was good once we finally got it. I had nsima for the first time since I left Malawi two years ago. Its consistency is a cross between mashed potatoes and porridge (that’s Sarah’s definition) and it’s made out of maize meal and it’s my favoritest. After dessert I realized that I had managed to lose the room key over the course of the evening so we spent the next hour retracing our steps in the dark. It gave us an excuse to go lie on the water tank behind the Nanningas’ house and stargaze. The stars were the most incredible I’ve ever seen. Ever. At all. In my entire life. (the second most incredible was in the same place two years and one month ago with Jojo, Elise, and Juls). All my favourite constellations were there—Southern Cross, Scorpio, Orion, the Seven Sisters, caseopea (sp?), the Big and Little Dippers. We could see not only the bands of the Milky Way, but the dark spots in them. We saw 3 shooting stars and a satellite in five minutes. I felt very small. I was also struck by how big God is. And creative. I wish I could have enjoyed the stars more and not been worrying about finding the keys. (btw, keys are the bane of my existence. Last semester I lost three sets of car keys and my room key and my post office key). We found the key in the leaves by the monkey cage (the Nanningas have three grey vervets: Koko, Tommy, and Bummer—they all have something against me and I have scars from all but Bummer). I was so relieved! Our room was right across the hall from Mr. J.B, a board member from Karonga in town for a meeting. He’s lovely and used to be one of Kamuzu Banda’s advisors (Banda was dictator of Malawi for thirty years after independence) and always had good stories to tell at dinner when Jojo and I were little. Unfortunately he’s also a very heavy snorer. He + frogs + donkeys = a hard time falling asleep. Today we slept in, had a late breakfast (@ 9), went for a hike, and eventually made our way back to Ekwendeni, listening to the football match on the radio.
Tonight is “girls night in” (the night life is pretty rockin’ in Ekwendeni…not). We’ve made popcorn with smarties melted on top (smarties are the Cadbury’s version of MnMs), Malawi Gin and Tonics, and we’re watching Casino Royale. By candlelight. It’s pretty perfect.
The Rumphi River (as see from Bunda Hill)
Man, that sounds so cool. So cool. Tonight I was still outside when they turned off the lights on our ensemble field, and I looked up and i was just so surprised. I felt like I hadn't seen that many stars (like 50 :) ) in ages. Anyway, sounds like a great time down there.
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