3 Months at Site

3 Months at site…

So I’ve been at site for 3 months.  Wow, amazing it’s been that long already.  In just a couple of weeks, I will officially have been in Malawi for 6 months, tying the longest I’ve ever lived outside of the United States (or Florida, for that matter).  So here are some things I’ve learned over the past 6 months:

·         Everything is ‘Just OK’

·         ‘Feel Free’

·         Delicious meals can be made over fire

·         Cooking can be fun, on the weekend when I have the energy

·         Lilongwe is expensive

·         The nicest resort in Malawi is no better than site without the right people

·         Most westerners are in fact dumb Azungus, just not the ones that live here (and this does not make it acceptable for children to shout that term)

·         The Kindle could be the greatest invention in the world, followed by the MP3 player that plays videos, in my case the Zune

·         Electricity is a luxury, don’t ever forget it

·         Running water is a luxury, don’t ever forget it

·         Cell phones are everywhere

·         Facebook is everywhere

·         While I was once able to burn hours on the internet every day, I now find it boring after about 30 minutes once a month

·         Mail is amazing!  Especially when there are pictures

·         With a little perspective, you realize who is important to you

·         Tea’s addictive properties rival crack

·         Good booze can be made with rotten fruit and a 20L plastic bucket

·         Draft beer should never again be taken for granted

·         Florida isn’t hot, ever

·         Freshwater fish < Saltwater fish

·         The lake is like one giant bathtub

·         Sprite is cold, even when warm

·         Laundry with a machine doesn’t even count as work

·         Water is precious (at least when you have to carry it on your head)

·         Drinking tap water is not always safe, especially in a big city

·         Drinking straight from the bore hole isn’t always dangerous

·         Mango season literally means it will rain mangos

·         The Gators are amazing, a fact you don’t actually have to see them play to know

·         Spite is more work than it’s worth, with exceptions (thanks Dad for reminding me UGA still deserves nothing good to ever happen to them)

·         Clay pots are like refrigerators

·         Dehydration is always just around the corner

·         ‘Chop my money, and I don’t care’

·         Geckos can provide hours of entertainment

·         Cats can be useful

·         Chickens are the worst, except for maybe goats

·         Checking on a tree every day will not make it grow faster

·         The black-market isn’t actually that sketchy

Hmmm, can’t think of any more off the top of my head, but hope that entertains ya’ll for a couple weeks.  I’m in Lilongwe right now for IST (In-Service Training), hence the new pictures I’m going to put links to at the end of this.  I’ll be going to Likoma Island for Christmas, which will be amazing!  I don’t know when the next time I’ll have a chance to post will be, so if I miss it, Merry Chrismahanakwanzika and a Happy New Year!

PST

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10102668299039151.3701808.2036002&type=3&l=bc932b20df

My life as a PCV

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10102979924843541.3757055.2036002&type=3&l=8ffc337b60

My pets

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10102979917114031.3757054.2036002&type=3&l=0ce7e7beb9

My favorite meals since arriving

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10102979895681981.3757050.2036002&type=3&l=b4b126c5c4

Care packages I’ve received

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10102979915322621.3757052.2036002&type=3&l=e1ee65de2a

A 'Normal' Day in the Life of This PCV

So, I’ve received a request to come up with what a normal day in my life is.  Since it’s hard for anyone to say what their normal day is like, I figured I’d just recap what happened last Thursday, which was mostly routine but still a great day.

So, I slept in a little later than normal, waking up about 5:45am.  For some reason, all last week I was a little tired.  The alarm on my phone is actually set to go off at 6:20am, but since being at site, it has only woke me up once.  Anyways, I gathered my Nalgene, Zune, and whatever other person items are under the mosquito net with me, and exited the bed.  This is also the time that if Tako hasn’t been kicked out yet, she gets the boot.  All day, the bed stays empty and the net tucked in.

After waking up, I put on some shorts and a shirt (it is far too hot to sleep with anything more than my boxers on), open the back door to let Fletcher in, and then we all walk out the front door.  We would use the back door, but it’s currently broken.  I walk around to the chim, and Fletch and Tako disappear for the next hour.  After that, I go back inside leaving the door open for their return, wash my hands, and sit down to my cup of tea.  I turn on the shortwave radio and tune into Voice of America (VOA) to keep up to date on the news from the states and around the world.  Starting at 4:00 UTC (6:00am Malawi Time), they have Spotlight on Africa, which is good for me to know the news and conflict zones around the continent.  I eat my breakfast, brush my teeth, get dressed for school, and head to the school around 7:00am.

At school on Thursday, I didn’t have class until 9:10am, but this gives me time to grade anything, scheme out my lesson plans (scheme is the proper word for it here for lesson planning, and it’s fun to say you’re “scheming”), and chat with the staff.  At 9:10am, I went and taught Form 3 (11^th grade) Physical Science for 40 minutes (I was covering chemical reactions).  After that, I had a break until 12:15pm, so I decided to ride into Uliwa real quick since the guy working at the post office had texted me the day before to let me know the mail was finally coming and I had some (first mail in November due to some sort of complication).  I rode to Uliwa, did a little shopping, got my mail, and went to the People’s (grocery store) to drink a Fanta and read some of the mail.  Sitting out front of People’s I read a couple letters and I finally got to read the Gainesville Sun article about Amy.  After this, I went to buy some paraffin (kerosene), which involves me finding a sketchy guy down a little, empty ally and him getting me some of the black-market paraffin from his shed.  Sounds sketchy, but it’s just how things are done here.  Sadly, he only had 0.5L, which will only last me a couple weeks.

When I got back to school, I had enough time to drop my stuff in my house and come back to the school.  I taught a double period (80 minutes) of Biology to Form 4 (I was covering population).  After that, lunch was already ready in the staff room.  I sat down talking with the staff and ate sima with usipa and a tomato stew.  Overall, it is my normal lunch, and strangely delicious (if you want to know what usipa is, I hope you can find it online, because words wouldn’t do it justice, but it will explain why I say ‘strangely’ delicious).  As I often do, I forgot to take my Doxy at the beginning of my meal, which limits the heartburn, so I took it after lunch.  No heartburn, so still good.

After lunch, I went home, changed into shorts, and laid in the hammock on my courtyard with a book and a Gatorade sports bottle filled with watermelon bucket wine.  I read and sipped on a little wine over the next couple hours.  Around 4:00pm, I took my shower using the solar-shower my site-mate, Ilana gave me.  Then, I lit my bawula (clay stove filled with charcoal), and got dinner together.  Dinner, as it usually is, was Karonga rice cooked with soya pieces, tomato, onion, and garlic in it.  I cooked it, put it on the table, filled a pot with about 2L of water and put it on to boil.  I then sat down to dinner, ate all I could, gave the rest to ‘The Kids’ (Fletcher and Tako).  As always after dinner, I took the vacuum thermoses outside to fill them with the now boiling water.  The 1L thermos was filled and a tea bag was inserted, and then sealed for the following morning, while the 0.5L thermos was filled with just water, which would be used for eating the instant grits I got in a care package for breakfast.

Once this is all done, I’m usually pretty exhausted and it’s about 6:30pm or 7:00pm, but I was in the middle of a chapter in the book, so I sat at the table and finished it under candle-light until about 7:30pm.  I then put Fletcher out on in the courtyard to avoid any accidents overnight (she likes it best out there when she can’t be inside).  Finally, I took my Zune and full Nalgene to bed, used the flashlight on my phone to do my nightly bed scorpion check, and then crawled under the net and tucked it in.  I started watching an episode of Outsourced using the monstrous 2.5” screen on my Zune, but about halfway through Tako started meowing to come into the mosquito net, so I let her in and proceeded to have a 3 minute petting/purring session.  After she settled down in her favorite spot, between my legs, I finished a couple episodes of Outsourced before I realize I was starting to fall asleep.  I turned off the Zune, rolled over, and fell asleep.  I woke up a couple of times that night, which is normal, since I’m usually dehydrated from sweating all night (hence the 1L of water in the Nalgene and an extra 0.5L in an emergency bottle under the bed that I actually broke into that night).  When I woke up around 1:00am, I notice Tako was a little restless, so I let her out of the net.

So, that’s a day in my life.  Hope it was more interesting for you than it was for me, because this whole thing seems kinda mundane, but it was requested.

On another note, I updated my wish list a little for those of you that care.  A great Christmas gift I idea (something I won’t say I desperately need, but desperately want) are the collapsible water bottles like the Platypus.  Camelbak makes them, too.  If someone is feeling really generous, you could send me a 5L Camelbak bladder for my backpack; I got the backpack that’s made for it, and I had one, but the day I was leaving for Malawi, I realized the cap was busted. :’(  Another idea, which is only need one of, is one of those super-portable, inflatable sleeping pads for camping.  I would be carrying it around long distances in a backpack, so portable is important, but durable and preferable waterproof are also important.  Thanks everyone!  Have a great couple of weeks!

Training in Senga Bay

So, a quick recap of Halloween: we laughed, we danced, we had fun.  Overall, one my favorite weekends in country, but nothing in particular or interesting enough to bore you with.  In case you were wondering, I was a dirty hippie.

Sweet!  Now that you know all about that, we can move on.  This week, I’ve been in Senga Bay for GrassRootSoccer training.  GrassRootsSoccer teamed up with Peace Corps to create something called Peace Corps Skillz.  It’s a program that my counterpart, William, who works at a local CBO (Community Based Organization) named Focus, and I will do in the Uliwa area.  We get a group of about 20-25 kids that are ages 10-19 (preferably keeping the groups in as close of a age range as possible) together for 12 different one-hours sessions where we teach about HIV prevention and sex education using soccer skill drills as teaching aids.  The training was organized by my sitemate, Ilana, and trainers from South Africa and Zambia have come in.  This is the large-scale start of the Peace Corps Skillz program in Malawi and it is our responsibility to spread the program around and run lots of sessions.  Overall, it seems like it’s going to be a lot of fun.  The curriculum is a little lighter of the soccer side that I thought it would be, but they do have incredible ideas to keep the kids interested and excited.  For more information, you can look on facebook.com/grspcskillz

Anyways, Senga Bay is pretty nice.  The lake here is great (not quite as great as south Karonga), and the resort they have us staying at for training, Kambiri Lodge, is incredible.  This is the same place they do COS (Close of Service) conferences a lot of the time, cause they like to send PCVs off nice.  We have electricity, a little fridge, fans (when they work), a view of the lake, and a buffet every meal including two tea breaks. On top of all that, I get to room-up with one of my sitemates, Aaron, which has been an endless source of entertainment.  Pictures will be posted…someday (we have IST in less than a month and after IST I plan to spend a couple nights in Lilongwe, where the PC office is, and use the internet there to finally upload pictures).  On my way back to site Sunday, I'm planning on staying at the Mzoozoozoo, which is always fun.

Well, no stories that will blow you away this week; I just thought while I had electricity and an internet dongle, I better post an update.  As always, I’m just living life the best I can, which lately has been pretty great. 

Good Times in Malawi...

Well it’s been a good week.  Last weekend I visited Karonga got to hang out with Donald, Megan, and Sarah, all from my training group.  Monday was Mother’s Day (Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!) in Malawi, so no school.  Then there was a meeting Tuesday for teachers’ union members and school was closed.   Also, with Ilana’s help, I’ve made great progress on a secondary project I’m super excited about.  Finally, for those of you that know what it means, I’ve now switched off of Mefloquin and am on Doxycycline, so already my outlook on life has improved and my dreams have gotten a lot less weird.  Only better things to come, seeing as Mef has a half-life of 3 weeks and I took my last dose on Tuesday, so hopefully in a few weeks I’ll be all healthy and happy.  To top it all off, my first bucket of wine, Papaya Wine, is beyond delicious!  I haven’t tried the Watermelon Wine yet.

In November I’m now signed up for Grass Roots Soccer training down in Salima, so it’s exciting to get outta site for a while.  I’m also hoping to go up to Chitipa over the weekend after Thanksgiving for a mental health holiday and to see what the district of Wildlings is like.  With IST (in-service training) the 2^nd week of December, I got my weekends pretty packed up.

This weekend I’m just chilling, but next week is super exciting!  First, Helen, our PC program assistant is supposed to visit me sometime this week, and hopefully she brings me a Peace Corps Cook Book and medical kit refill.  Then, Friday Melissa is making her VSV (volunteers supporting volunteers) visit on Friday.  And the big event is Saturday night at Maji Zuwa, where the Halloween party is going down!  Woot woot!  And since Maji Zuwa, a local resort that also has multiple NGOs operated out of it, is within my catchment area and it’s one of my secondary projects, I’m not even out-of-site going!

Ok, I gotta throw you guys a fun story or else I might lose my one registered follower and the countless unregistered ones.  Let me think…

So I’ve somehow become a member of the ESCOM Club in Uliwa, which is a private bar located at the power plant and mostly for workers of the power plant, but also for some prominent community members that are interested in membership and can hold their own in a game of darts (me being both white and a teacher, I qualify apparently).  Well, I have been going to the club every weekend and made friends with some important people, basically integrating with a Carlsburg in my hand, which in my book is probably the 2^nd best type of integration, but sadly Kuche Kuche has not been available in the north lately (that’s a type of beer, not an innuendo).  Moving on, I was there a couple weeks ago, having traveled with my Deputy Head Master.  We ended up catching a hitch about 9km of the 10km to the club, and walked the rest.  We were concerned when we got there, because while ESCOM normally is running vehicles, they weren’t, so we were going to have to walk all the way home.  I just remembered something that was once said about my luck in these situations: “He could walk through shit and come out smelling like roses.”  So after a couple beers on a nice empty stomach, I was feeling good and assured my Dep. HM that we could get a ride.  I had no basis for this claim, seeing as very few vehicles run on this road.  I mean like other than the ESCOM vehicles running every few hours, there is normally about 4-5 vehicles all day, and they usually aren’t interested in taking a hitch.  Well, playing darts and people keep buying us beers, at a rate that was quite difficult to keep up with.  I was feeling somewhere beyond just ok, at least from what I can remember I was.  I’m sitting there outside with the other patrons because the power had gone out and someone comes up and offers us a ride.  My Dep. HM was floored.  He couldn’t believe that we actually got a ride, and I’m just sitting there going “told you so.”  So I don’t know if I’m actually that lucky, or if this is just a case of confirmation bias, but it was pretty impressive either way.

Finally, a quick shout out of the Trofis for stumbling upon one of the greatest care package items, ever.  Koolaid packets!  They super small, sugar is readily available, and using half a packet in my 1L Nalgene, it is an amazing little dessert.  So, if anyone is interested, easy item to include in those wonderful letters (along with pictures.

P.S.  Here’s an adorable picture of Fletcher and Tako playing and I put up a better picture of Fletcher in the original article.

Fun Stuff and "Azungu, I'll Give You Money"

So not too much going on out of the ordinary. 

For you Game of Thrones fans, we have a long running and very complicated joke about how Peace Corps Malawi and GoT are similar (since we all have a ton of free time, we tend to read them, and even though they're 1000+ pages each, it only takes a couple weeks each).  As someone in Karonga, I'm am one of the Karonga Brothers.  As a Karonga brother, we are the equivalent to those on The Wall (keep the Chitiba Wildlings out of the rest of Malawi).  Along the lake, we have also adapted the Stark saying to "Hot Season is Coming."  Well I have news, hot season has arrived.  No matter how often I clean my sheets, one night and they are soaked and the next day after they dry you can see the caked up salt from so much sweat.  I wish I had a good thermometer for getting room temperatures, but it would probably max out, so I use a meat thermometer (cause lets face it, if we were human roasts, we'd be done), and it is easily in the triple digits inside my house.  I don't even want to know what it is in the sun.

Fletcher and Tako are now getting along so well.  The two of them play constantly, and a little rough for a concerned parent.  The only problem is dinner time, when Fletch has realized her size and doesn't want to let Tako near the food bowl, even after Fletch is full.  I've started feeding Tako up on a chair so Fletch can't argue.

I'm reading GoT, as previously stated, and am 70% done book 3.  For the GoT fans out there that have ready this book, WTF JUST HAPPENED?!?  This might be the best book so far.

Wish I had some funny stories for you, but just making friends around town and such, nothing special.  I had a fun time last week watching the Gators beat Texas A&M on DVD (Thanks Steve!) on my laptop in the TDC with random Malawians coming to see what I was so worked up about.  I also have received word that the Gators beat LSU, which is amazing and awesome and I bet The Swamp was nuts.  I'm not necessarily disappointed I have up a couple football seasons for this experience, but why did I have to get the last two years and miss this year?  Any RPCVs that worked it so you missed '10 and '11, good work.

Last week was like Christmas, but better cause I didn't have to buy anyone anything.  So I guess it was like my birthday!  I got three care packages in one week!  Thanks to Juice, The Zahoras, and Mom!  The contents are varied and amazing!

Well, I know you all count on me for exciting fun stories of adventures and crazy things, so here's a super quick one.  It happened on my way here today.  A little background, we've already discussed the term "Azungu" and how children will chant it like I'm a genie that will grant their wishes if they say my name enough.  They also like to shout random English they know like "Hello, Bye-bye, How are you?" and everyone's favorite "Give me money."  Well on my way here, I passed a few kids about 12 years old, and one goes "Azungu!  Give me money." so I look at him and say "No."  I keep riding my bike past them, and another one goes "I'll give you money."  I skid my bike to an immediate stop, turn around and go "Ok!"  They look confused as I hold out my hand and say "Ndrama?" (money).  The kid then realizes he might have said it wrong and immediately tried to back out of the situation, but I just stand there holding my hand out for the money.  After I feel these three children and thoroughly terrified they're going to have to pay me off, I blatantly laugh at them, get on my bike and ride away.  This has given me the idea that next time I get the 'Azungu, give me money' I'm going to stop my bike, practice my Chitumbuka, and keep following the kids and telling them they need to give me money.  Let's see how long this is fun. (Scaring children is fun in any culture!)

That's all I got!  Sorry I can't be more entertaining on a regular basis, but let me tell you, my letters are amazing, and I respond to any letters you mail me (address can be found under "Send Me Stuff, Please!").  The best way to mail me a letter is to write something nice and interesting for me to read, updating me about your life, include a few pictures (I use them as wallpaper), and put that all in an envelope.  Then put that envelope into a box loaded will all sorts of goodies, and mail it off to me!  Thanks in advanced!