The Winemaker Retires

After 13 buckets of wine, some delicious and a couple not so yummy, I have made my 14th and final bucket of wine. Malambe (Baobab fruit) was selected both because it is uniquely African and because I've always wanted to try making it. Plus, they're finally back in season.

We have to wait three to five weeks to find out how it has turned out, but if the smell is any indicator, this could be my best batch yet.

Voterani

Happy Erection Day!

Quick explanation: as I believe I have previous stated, Malawians are unable to differentiate between 'L' and 'R.' What they say (and therefore spell) depends solely on the vowel it comes after, so "Fletcher" becomes "Fretcher, "Parr" is "Paul," "chlorophyll" shows up on the national exams as "chrolophyl," and "election" turns into "erection."

Well, May 20th is the day selected for Malawians to exercise their rights in a democracy and vote for there new president, parliament, and councilors.

I walked over to see the local polling station, and chat with the poll workers (they're all teachers, so I know them already). As of the afternoon, everything was going well in Thunduti. 

Fletch going to cast her vote.

Karonga Brothers Gathering

For the first time in my Peace Corps history, we have managed to arrange all of the Karonga Brothers (PCVs based in Karonga) to have a brief get together. It was only a brief gathering, but it was still very nice to all be in the same place for once, and I was happy to serve as host. I am happy to have served with so many distinguished PCVs and am proud that our district serves with such distinction.

Library Finished!!!

It's done! The porch is done, the walls are done, the windows are installed, the doors are hung. Soon, we will have a grand opening, move the books in, and start working on furniture.

Presenting Thunduti CDSS's new library

The back of the building

The reading room of the library.  Thanks Mom for the map!

The right room with the window will be the book room and the left room will be for laboratory equipment.

Inside the book room

Last Litter of Zen-Babies

For the last time in my service here, Zen has had a litter of kittens. Four healthy balls of fur were born late at night of Kamuzu Day (in the basket, not on my foot).

Mama Zen and her new kittens

Baby Kirk, male

Baby Spock, male

Baby McCoy, male

Baby Scotty, male

"Goodbye" and "Hello"

I had a strange experience recently.

Naomi, my site mate who was medically separated, has just been replaced. I arranged a day to rendezvous with Amy in Uliwa so that I could meet her and show her around the trading center. 

Well, Abby, a friend who is an American and that has been teaching at the next CDSS down the road from me, messaged me and asked if I wanted to grab lunch with her in Uliwa on the same day, as she was flying out Thursday. 

So, basically, I had lunch with Amy, someone just at the beginning of her two years in Malawi, and Abby, someone I have known and worked with in Malawi for two years. 

"You say 'goodbye,' I say 'hello'"

Flights Booked

I have now booked my flights away from Africa. Shit just got real!

I will travel through Southern Africa for about a month with Cam. Planned stops include Victoria Falls, the Great Zimbabwe Ruins, Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Mozambique, Lesotho, and somewhere we can see lions and rhinos. 

After that, I fly out of Jo'berg where I'll have a few days in Dubai. If you're gonna have a layover, you might as well make the most of it, right? The only thing in Dubai I know I want to do is go to the top of Burk Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. 

From Dubai, I'll travel to New York City, where I've also extended my layover (and  a ticket to see Book of Mormon), then back to Florida.

What adventures come after that? Your guess is as good as mine, but I promise you my passport won't be getting dusty. 

Thank You for All the Care Packages

Thank you so much for all your generosity over the past two years!  The constant stream of care packages and letters has really gone a long ways is making my service more enjoyable.  I'm leaving this page up for reference reasons.

Due to the fact that I'm in my last 3 months of service,  I am officially ending my call for care packages.  Anything sent now would get here either right before I leave site or after I've already left.  If you feel an overwhelming urge to contribute, please go to Determined to Develop or the Peace Corps Volunteer Projects website.  If you want to get something for me, come see me and buy me a drink when I get back.

Thank you again!

COS Conference

As I'm sure you have figured out from my previous post about my COS date, Education 2012 has recently attended out Close of Service (COS) conference, which was held at Sun 'n' Sand Resort in Mangochi.

The venue was incredible! Sun 'n' Sand is the largest and one of the premier resorts in Malawi. Located on the southern part of Lake Malawi, this resort included an Olympic sized swimming pool, very delicious restaurant, kid fun-land, air-conditioned rooms with TV, multiple bars, pool tables, and much much more! (I sound like I should be writing the brochure.)

Peace Corps provided us with transport from Lilongwe, and we arrive at the resort on Sunday afternoon. That first afternoon was pretty chill, enjoying drinks next to the pool.

Our sessions over the three days focused on closing our service (finishing projects, saying goodbyes, paperwork), life after Peace Corps (resumes, job searches, readjustment), and feedback to the office. Most of it was quite useful. Possibly the most entertaining session was office feedback, or as I called it, "The Airing of Grievances." We were actually very nice in our feedback, and didn't complain about things that had no solution, but there was a lot of feedback. 

There were many entertaining and fun activities throughout the conference, plus a whole lotta drinking. We used the diving board and pool slide (I ripped my swim trunks off on one poorly executed flip), played in the ball-pit and on the trampolines in the Kid Fun-Land, competed in pool, watched Guli Wamkuli, and best of all, we rode camels.

The last session was very nice. Everyone had drawn the name of another member of our group, and we did some sort of tribute to that person. A few people make skits, a couple people wrote poems, Travis sang a song, Cam roasted Rita, and in true Ed12 style, a few people mixed up cocktails and made a toast.

Since this was our last conference together, and possibly the last time we'd see each other in Malaei, it has the potential to become very emotional. However, since our group is so small (only 12 out of the original 22 are going to make it to the end), all but four of us will be COSing in a three day stretch, meaning we will all be in Lilongwe getting our final medical and administrative clearances together.

So, lets raise a glass to the best damn group of PCVs this country has ever seen, this strange mixture of people I am proud to consider my close friends! May we always stay in touch.