There's never a right time to say goodbye

November 5, 2009

I have 8 days left in Malawi before I leave the country. 8. I never thought that I would be so sad to be leaving- especially with the homesickness and loneliness that I felt in the beginning. But now, I feel like I have a community. I have Jamira and Maxwell and Tasha and Vanessa in Mangochi who have become my family here in Malawi. They are so supportive and I attribute a lack of tourist- type travel to the love that I feel when I visit with them. I have the friendly faces on my way to work in the morning- the people who greet me every day although we do not even know eachother’s names. I have the cleaning ladies at Kabula lodge. These women work so so hard every day to keep the place clean and moving and get too little respect from tenants. I know each of them and often cook a little extra just so that I can share. I have the cleaning ladies at work who speak no English and communicate with me solely in my extremely limited Chichewa. Our smiles go a long way. I have the Chichiri Cultural Troupe, a group that I sometimes dance with. My attendance has been sparse but they always go out of their way to make me feel welcome. I have the guards at work- friendly men who greet me daily and try to help me improve my language skills. I have the guards in Mangochi, who I have not seen in some time but who always light up when I come into town.

And then there are my azungu friends as well. There is Jodi, who I traveled with in Tanzania and Craig, the Australian medical student that I live with at Kabula. Many other friends have already left but I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each of them. Kay and Vince are an older American couple who have taken me in and helped me get to know the town. They have also introduced me to others and really helped me to adjust. At the end of the day, I know that it is a huge success to feel so connected and so happy in Malawi. But at the same time, it makes leaving that much harder and sadder. Saying goodbye is not my forte- especially now that I know how hard it often is to return to a place that you love. I LOVED Ghana and still do but have only visited once since leaving. The costs of travel and the need to expand and see other places are huge barriers. In the next 8 days, I plan to visit Jamira and the family and also Jodi and our friend Nevermind in Mangochi. After that, I will come back to Blantyre and go to work and dance as much as I can with Chichiri Dance Troupe. On Friday, I leave for Uganda and have about 10 days there. But just as anxious as I am about leaving Malawi, I am that same amount of happy and excited to be coming home for Thanksgiving. I can’t wait to see my family and friends and it is a perfect time to come because I can do just that ☺

Tanzania Adventure

November 4, 2009

Tanzanian Adventures!

For the past two weeks, my friend Jodi and I have been traveling around in Tanzania. It has been fun and amazing and also exhausting! We left after the Lake of Stars festival and took a 40-hour bus ride from Lilongwe to Dar es Salaam. It was the longest travel that I have ever endured. On the second night, we could see the lights of Dar and Jodi even woke me up to tell me that we were almost there. But then, the bus pulled into a gas station and we were informed that we would be spending the night there. The driver was afraid of bandits attacking the bus and refused to drive into the city at that hour. Jodi and I crawled back onto the bus and went to sleep. The next morning at around 3 or 4 am, we started off and finally got into Dar. Jodi and I noticed that the British boy who had also been on the bus was no longer there but that all of his bags were. We decided to take them to the British High Commission. Finally, we were able to call my friend Pam and made our way to her place. Pam is a friend from Hopkins who is doing her internship with Engender Health in Tanzania. When we got to her place, we showered and decided to head off to the beach. It was the perfect first day in town. Tanzania as a whole is amazing and very different from Malawi. People seem to be more laid back in terms of their interactions with muzungus. If you decline someone’s offer for a service or a product, they mostly just back off instead of pushing it again for a cheaper price. Really nice!

The next day, Jodi and I ran some errands while Pam worked and then the three of us set off for Zanzibar. There was a 2 hour ferry ride across the ocean to the island and we arrived just as it was getting dark. Our arrival in Zanzibar was hectic to say the least. Huge groups of men swarmed us, trying to take us to a hotel. Even the three of us, with experience in Africa and in other developing countries, felt overwhelmed. Ultimately, we escaped them and took a taxi into Stone Town and found a hotel. Once we settled in, we found a night market for dinner and then made our way to a bar for drinking and dancing. In the morning, we woke up and headed through town and into the market to find some of the famous Zanzibar spices. Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain the whole day! At around noon, we took a van to the north of the island for our beach trip. We decided to stay at Sunset Lodge in Kendwa. It was soooo gorgeous- crystal clear water, white sand, the whole works. Our hotel room, which was perfectly nice, costed about 15 dollars per person per night. Not bad at all. We spent the day on the beach reading and relaxing and then had coconut curry for dinner. That night, one of the other hotels on the beach had a party and we went out drinking and dancing.

The next morning, Pam had to leave and go back to work. I thought that I had a bad hangover all day, but it soon became apparent that I had some sort of food poisoning. I was so sick that Jodi gave me oral rehydration salts. Nevertheless, I pulled it together for long enough to get a nice hour long massage (for about 8 bucks!) We went to bed early and hoped that the next day would be better.

I still felt sick in the morning but was determined to move through it and enjoy my vacation. We ended up walking to nearby Nungwi- another area with a bunch of hotels. We went on a Dhow sunset cruise- hands down the highlight of the trip. The man who took us offered a reasonable price and was really nice and laid back. We got to jump from the top of the Dhow (which is a sailboat) into the ocean- really fun. The worst part about Zanzibar was the trip back to Dar. The waves were massive and nearly a quarter of the boat (including yours truly) got violently ill. It was pretty disgusting to say the least.

Finally, we did make it back to Dar and stayed with Pam for another two days. We went to a local market and shopped for fabric- I got SO SO much. After this, we were off to Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, to see Jodi’s friend Paul. Paul works for Peace Corps and stays in a village about 2 hours from Dodoma. Paul met us in Dodoma and showed us around town. Although MUCH smaller that Dar, Dodoma has a lot of character and is a really nice city. Paul speaks Swahili well and it was nice to have him around to communicate with people. Whereas most Malawians can and will speak English, most Tanzanians expect you to be able to speak Swahili. I like the sentiment but it is also really hard when you are just there for 2 weeks and don’t have time to really study it.

We went to Paul’s village for the next day. I am really glad that we went- life there is so much different from life in cities. As he showed us around the village, we stopped and talked to just about everyone that we saw. Everyone was really nice but no one really spoke English. I am sure that Paul was exhausted from all of his translation. Many different ethnic groups live in Paul’s village including the Masai, a group of rather nomadic pastoralists. In the morning, we awoke to the sound of cows as they brought them to a nearby watering hole. In Paul’s village, I also became quite ill. It was a bit concerning and I plan to visit a doctor when I get home and have everything checked out. I am not the most cautious traveler and I think that months of street food and contaminated water may be taking their toll on me. Anyway, the thing that I took away from my experience with Paul is that Peace Corps can be quite tough and remote and that it can be a lonely time. But, I also know that I could do it if I decide to make it a priority. We went back to Dodoma for a night and then bought a ticket for a 6:30 am bus to Mbeya- a town near the border with Malawi.

At 6:05, we arrived at the bus station and were told that we were late. Although they had told us that the bus would leave at 6:30, it had actually left at six. After a lot of frustration and tension, we realized that the 6:00 bus had not yet left and bought a ticket for that one instead. Despite our best efforts to get our money back, we just had to take the loss. When we arrived in Mbeya that night, we tried to find a guesthouse and realized that most of them were full or out of our price range. We were ultimately led to one that costed the equivalent of $3 per person. Although I am good at toughing it out through a lot of situations, this place was too much for me. It had roaches everywhere and lacked running water and looked just plain filthy. I was nervous about bed bugs (not a fun experience) and scabies and worse. Although we had paid for the place, Jodi and I found somewhere else and stayed there instead. After a long day of travel, I needed somewhere that felt clean at least.

We bought a ticket that claimed to link Mbeya and Lilongwe because we thought that it would be easiest. But when we got to the border, the Malawian bus that was supposed to be waiting there was nowhere to be found. We had been duped. Again, we bought another ticket and went to Karonga and took a bus to Lilongwe. We stayed a night there and then I took a night bus to Blantyre. I got in at 5:30 am- totally exhausted.

This blog post really doesn’t do the trip justice- it looks like a lot of ranting. Overall, the trip was fantastic. Tanzania is somewhere that I could definitely see myself living long term. Dar es Salaam is a big, busy city but it right on the ocean and has fun things around. People are friendly and most don’t try to rip you off. It was really fun to travel with Jodi and amazing to see Pam in such a different context from usual. Her place was GORGEOUS- I mean flat screen tv, wireless internet, leather couches…the works. It was a great experience but I am also glad to be home in Blantyre.

Nkhuku, nkhuku, CHIMBUDZI!

Yesterday, we went to Mpemba to start the fieldwork for the Couples' Study that I will be assisting with. Basically, the study looks at the acceptability of both couples based HIV voluntary counseling and testing and couples based family planning counseling in a rural area of Malawi. We spent about a week training counselors and then took a week to prepare for the study. Yesterday, we went to the field. The study is extremely sensitive so it isn't possible for me to attend the counseling sessions. Instead, me and the other Centre for Reproductive Health supervisors found somewhere to wait in the village. While we were waiting, the children became increasingly curious about the lone mzungu. They slowly made their way over to us. Instead of staring at each other with curiosity, I decided to teach them duck duck goose- a game from my childhood. Instead of using these animals that they don't know and using English (a language that they don't know), I decided to switch the animals to chicken chicken goat. I know a little bit of Chichewa so I went ahead and translated them to Chichewa. While we were playing, I noticed my coworker snickering in the corner. I asked why she was laughing and she informed me that I was, in fact, playing chicken chicken TOILET with the kids. The words for a big goat and a toilet are extremely close and I had confused them! Haha at least the kids waited until I had left to make fun of me. After duck duck goose, I tried my best to teach them red light green light but stuck with the commands of "come" and "enough" instead of trying to communicate about traffic lights. They didn't quite understand the part where you send kids back if they move so it basically became a race. All of the big kids kept winning so I broke it down into two games- one for older kids and another for the little ones. The kids are really cute- I wish I had more games to teach them. Going to the field all of this week so I have plenty of time to think about it.

Liwonde National Park and Zomba Plateau

October 5, 2009


This past weekend I went to Liwonde and to Zomba. Liwonde is perhaps the most famous national park in Malawi in terms of seeing large game animals. Jodi (my former roommate from Mangochi) and I met up in Liwonde and decided to stay at the cheaper lodge, Chinguni Hills, instead of camping at the famous Mvuu Lodge. Mvuu wanted 15 dollars per person per night for bringing your OWN tent- which to us was a bit excessive. Overall, the weekend was good. We got there on Saturday morning and made some friends with two women and two children. The two friends had met when they were living in Zimbabwe and had since moved away from each other to Malawi and Guinea Bisseau. They were in the midst of a two-week reunion in Malawi. One of the women had two children by a Zimbabwean man and explained to us that she was now raising them on her own. It was clear that she loved her kids but it was also clear how much work it was to raise them as a single mom and so far away from family (she was initially from Germany). We went on a drive with them (in their car) and saw kudu, waterbuck, impala, sables, and a herd of buffalo. When we got back, Jodi and I offered to watch the kids to allow the two women to go on a canoe safari and have some adult time. The kids were cute but a bit of a handful. The next morning, we got up and went on an early game drive with staff from the lodge. We left at 6 and drove for quite a while without seeing much. Then, we came across about some elephants eating bark off of a tree. Our driver drove right over to them and we were SO CLOSE. We watched them for a while until they eventually decided that they had enough. As they paraded off, we realized how many there truly were. What had looked like four or five initially was a herd of about ten. There were babies as well, which was especially cute. After our drive we headed back to our homes. Jodi hitched back to Mangochi and I took a mini bus to Zomba.

At Zomba, I hired a driver to take me to the top of the plateau. The plateau has great views of the city and a superb restaurant as well. I stopped at Ku Chawe inn and had lunch and walked around a bit and took some pictures. It was really very beautiful. I had to get back though so I headed back down after an hour or two and boarded another minibus for Blantyre. I got home before too late and started to get ready for work the next day. We were going to the field so I knew that it would be a bit busy.

Overall, the trip was really empowering. It was my first time traveling alone through Malawi and the whole experience was absolutely fine. I never felt lost of anxious and everyone was more than willing to help. I now feel like I can see whatever I want and do whatever I want without worrying. I also have been getting to be quite comfortable spending time alone and even eating meals alone in restaurants. It is always awkward but I feel grown up because I am able to do it (and even sometimes really enjoy it). Jodi and I also started making plans for a trip to Tanzania, which is also really exciting. I am pumped about how I am going to spend my remaining time here. I am planning to head back to Zomba next weekend with some friends from Kabula and am looking forward to doing a bit more exploring. Til next time…

Mount Mulanje Excursion

September 27, 2009


I am mentally and physically stronger than I ever knew. A few people at Kabula lodge (where I am staying) decided to make an attempt at the summit of Mount Mulanje. Mulanje is the third highest mountain in Africa and stands at a height of 3100 meters. I knew that the hiking would be tough but asked if I could come along. I had no idea HOW tough it would be. We left early on Friday morning and took a mini-bus into Mulanje town. After some confusion, we hired a guide (Anthony) and two porters to carry our big bags up the mountain (John and Finley). We took off and almost immediately I realized what I was in for- after all this was a MOUNTAIN and not a walk in the park. The whole way was uphill and I quickly realized that I was (by far) the most out of shape person in the group. One of the guys (Craig) was in the Australian army and has plans to conquer Kilimanjaro. The other two guys (Sean and Luuk) frequently go running in the hills of Blantyre for about 10 kilometers at a time. Jayne, the other girl, recently climbed another large mountain in Tanzania and runs regularly to keep fit. I am up to about 5k per day on the treadmill so that is NOTHING compared to these fitness superstars. The first day, Anthony lagged at the back with me and willed me up the mountain. I was sweating so much that all of the other people that I came with gave me their water in addition to my own. Craig even emptied my daypack into his (and he had chosen NOT to get a porter!) All in all, the first day took about 5 hours to get from Likabula camp to Chambe camp. We spent the night at Chambe camp and had a delicious beef stew for dinner. We went to bed early and woke up at 5:00 am to get started towards our next camp. We made it there in about 3 hours and rested for an hour. At this point, I had to decide whether I wanted to try for the summit. I had the option of staying behind and resting since we were going to stay at this camp for the night. I decided to try it- which was a bit tricky since John and Finley wouldn’t be coming. I would be a bit more on my own for this part. The hike to the summit was to take another 3-4 hours up and 2.5 hours back. Craig graciously offered to hike behind me and helped me up the mountain. About half an hour into the hike, I wanted to quit. My legs were shaking uncontrollably and I was so frustrated at my slow pace as compared to the others. At this point in the hike, we were scaling sheer rock and I was on hands and knees scampering up the side of the mountain. I had a bit of a breakdown but managed to pull it together so as to not scare my new friends. If I had had anyone very familiar with me, I would have totally lost it. I rested for a bit and then moved closer to the summit. The climbing was hard- often it was sheer rock or boulders and the peak seemed infinitely far away. When we finally reached it, my new friends made the kindest gesture and offered me the first shot at the peak. I went up there first and they all joined for lunch of avocado sandwiches. Victory was so sweet.

But it wasn’t over- I had to get down. In some ways, descending was worse than the climb up Mulanje. It wasn’t as physically rigorous but it was nerve wracking because you had to put so much effort into watching your footing. About ten hours after having set off in the morning, we were back to camp. We had dinner, played some cards and went to bed early once again. The final day included a five-hour descent back to Likabula base camp. This was harder than I anticipated as well. Much of the time, I was slipping on leaves and grass and fell probably six times on my way down. John, the porter, even walked with me and held my hand at a lot of the trickier moments. On the way down, we went by some waterfalls and even stopped for a swim- one of the nicer moments of the hike. Finally we made it back to base camp but needed to get transport into Mulanje town. Our guide asked an ambulance driver to take us and he agreed- mentioning only that he needed to pick up medicine. Next thing we knew, he was loading a maternity patient into the back of the ambulance. She was on all fours and looked as if she was about to deliver. Who decided that having us share an ambulance with her was a good idea?! We rounded out the tough trip with some pizza and beer at the foot of the mountain and hopped on a mini-bus to get back to our place.

Overall, the experience was a good one. The mountain was gorgeous and the company was excellent. It was, however, probably the most physically challenging thing that I have ever done. My legs ached and I wanted to quit and go home throughout the entire trip. I am proud that I stuck it out and made it to the top. Even my guide, Anthony, was surprised. He said, “you must be fit because most people of your body structure fail to make it to the summit.” It was sort of a shitty compliment but I have decided to take it as a compliment. I would recommend the trip to anyone but would also recommend some level of training for it. Three days and 20 hours of hiking later- I am exhausted, sore and completely impressed with what I have accomplished.

Best Compliment Ever

The other day, I was driving with my favorite taxi driver, Tom. I met him when I first got to Blantyre and he is always happy to drive me around whenever I need help. He charges me fair prices and even sometimes offers me rides free of charge.

Anyways, he was bringing me somewhere and he turned to me and said "people in Malawi like you so much." I wasn't sure what he was talking about and asked him whether he was talking about Americans or azungus or me. He said, "no, you!" I asked him why and he replied, "You don't have one racist bone in your body. So many of the azungus that come here don't greet us and don't want to know us. But you are friendly and you try so hard to know the people." It sounds silly but that simple comment made me feel so good about myself and how people here perceive me.

Malawi has interesting racial dynamics. It is in the south of Africa so there are large white settler populations. A lot of the expats do keep to themselves and are able to insulate themselves from everything African. Their interactions with Malawians consist largely of talking to their gardeners, cooks and guards- all people who work for them. In my time here, I have come across many South Africans, white Zimbabweans and Brits who now make their homes in Malawi. There is also a group of doctors and medical professionals who work here on a shorter term basis. These two groups don't really interact a whole lot.

I personally love Malawian people. Although there is a small subset who is constantly trying to rip me off, most of the people are helpful and kind. The simple act of greeting people in Chichewa and learning a few words off of them makes all the difference in how they view you. You can always get a big smile by practicing Chichewa with the vendors on the way to work.

Weekend at Ndkudzi Bay

September 21, 2009


This past weekend, I went with a friend to Mangochi and Ndkudzi Bay. I met Jeremy at my previous hostel (Doogles) and he is doing irrigation projects in Southern Africa. Born in the UK, he grew up in Zambia and has been living in Southern Africa since. He calls South Africa home but spends long stints in Malawi and other parts of Africa. Jeremy came and met me on Friday morning and we left around nine in the morning. From Blantyre, we drove to Mangochi and he dropped me off at Jamira and Maxwell’s place. I spent the day with them and it was nice to feel at home again. We didn’t do much- just cooked and talked and relaxed and played with the kids. Maxwell and Jamira are so sweet- they bought all of the vegetables that are available in the market for me since I don’t eat much fish or meat. I had green beans, peas, onions, tomatoes, carrots and potatoes. I had it with nsima for lunch and then had rice for dinner. I feel spoiled having meals cooked especially for me when I know how much the family likes meat! But I also know that it is their way of being good hosts and I try to be a good guest by bringing gifts for everyone. The only hard thing is finding something for Maxwell because it is hard to know what an adult man would like! Jamira’s dad gave them a chicken so it was moving around the yard. They soon put it in the house so that they wouldn’t confuse it with the other chickens outside. I had some fun posing with the chicken and with the baby goats next door. At night, I went and said hi to my former roommate, Jodi and then came back to the house totally exhausted. I was just recovering from being sick so I didn’t have tons of energy. I went to bed early and shared a bed with Vanessa. Vanessa is like Barbara- she takes up the ENTIRE bed and even sleeps diagonally! It reminded me of home to be sharing a bed with my baby sister (relax B, you are not being replaced). In the morning, we woke up and Jamira made a big breakfast of eggs, bread, tea and French fries of all things. Jeremy came and picked me up at nine to take me to the lake. It was sad to say goodbye and the two little twins even cried when I left. I promised to come back and am planning to take the family to Liwonde National Park to see the wildlife. They have never been and I think that they would enjoy it and should see what tourists come from around the world to experience!

The “cottage” at Ndkudzi bay was absolutely incredible. Jeremy’s friends, Suzie and Mark, own the place and use it as often as they can. Suzie is a British woman who was born and raised in Malawi and Mark has been here for ten years. The cottage is right on the lake and has four bedrooms, a common area, two showers and a beautiful patio. A huge tree hangs over the patio and provides plenty of shade to anyone trying to escape the heat. We spent many, many hours out on that patio relaxing, reading and enjoying the lake. Hands down, the best part of the lake was their toys. They had a catamaran sailboat and a speedboat. Both were a lot of fun. On Saturday, we took the speedboat out and went all the way across the lake to snorkel. The water is so clear and you can see all of the fish down there. I was amazed at the variety and colors of the fish in this freshwater lake. We spent the day on the boat swimming and snorkeling and watched the sun set in the evening. We even managed to go water skiing once the water calmed down. At night, we went over to Cape Maclear for dinner and drinks. One of the bars there was hosting Spanish night so there was plenty of Spanish food, music and sangria. On the way back to the cottage, Jeremy and I managed to get lost in Cape Maclear and spent hours finding our way back to the main road.

On Sunday, we slept in and Suzie took us out sailing. The wind was blowing pretty strongly so the boat moved quite quickly. I was almost a bit afraid of it capsizing! We headed back to the cottage and took a nap- I decided to sleep on the beach and have the tan/burn to prove it. Sometimes, I did feel a bit awkward because there was such a divide between our life and the local community. Wilson cooked and cleaned for us and we did very little besides relax. The kids from the community just sat and watched and I am sure wondered what it would like to be on a boat like ours. Overall it was a really nice trip and I had a good weekend away. Jeremy and I left this morning and went straight from the lake to work. When I arrived, I had to give a presentation for the study that we are doing- pretty quick change in lifestyle! Next weekend, I am planning to go to Mulanje and perhaps do some climbing. We will see how it goes…

I am loving Malawi ☺

Life is GOOD.

I am feeling so much better about life in Malawi. Things at work are coming together well and I am feeling independent and confident about being on my own out here. Kabula is nice and I am meeting many friendly people there. A Scottish girl, Allison, is especially friendly and invites me all sorts of places with her. Sean, from England, is also really nice and we often take the mini-bus to work together in the morning. They all went out to Blue Elephant bar last night and I was really torn. I wanted to go but I was still getting over being sick. I decided against the trip and it was fine. Another girl, Ellen, decided against the night out as well so it wasn't just me being a party pooper. Tomorrow, I have decided to go back to the lake and see Jamira and Maxwell and also do some jet-skiing with a new expat friend from South Africa.

Today, I went to the museum and danced with a traditional dance company, Chichiri dance ensemble. It wasn't quite the same as Africana but it had drumming, smiles and nice people. I held my own (despite not having eaten in 2 days) and had a lot of fun. They rehearse from 10-12 and from 2-4 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They have also just decided to add Mondays to the schedule. We will see how much dancing I can fit in with work.