Still breathing...

Hey, I'm just checking in to let the faithful readers know that I am still living and breathing, but not completely healthy... It seems I've contracted a small infection resulting from swimming in wet clothing in the lake, and then sitting in that wet clothing too long. Because of this, I needed to see a doctor in Blantyre on Wednesday (after a bit of self-diagnosis on Web-MD... Great site, that one!) Things seem to be a bit better, but wanted to go in for a follow-up today, so I'm in a bit of a hurry, and may not make it back to post the details promised regarding our trip to the lake... SORRY! As you know, this has been a very difficult week. My day of mourning turned into a couple of days, though yesterday's lack of posting was due to a power outage here which lasted about 5 hours (from 5:30 p.m. when I planned to post, until about 10 p.m.)

So, I hope you can all understand and accept my infrequent and shorter postings this week. I'll also be in Blantyre tomorrow afternoon to attend a wedding celebration for the son of the secretary in my department at Chanco. If things end early enough, I should be able to post the lake stories tomorrow (along with some stories of the wedding). However, for now, I'll have to say that it's possible you may not hear from me again until Sunday.

Thanks again for your patience, and don't worry, you KNOW I'll make up for it with rambling details and fabulous pix!! Tiwonana tomorrow or Sunday!

Day of Mourning...

Hey, I just need to let everyone know that I'm taking a day of mourning on the blog today. Unfortunately, Deliwe's uncle's wife died early this morning, and I've spent much of the day helping her and her family cope with the loss and prepare for the funeral. I recently got back from driving Deliwe and some of her family members to the village where the funeral will take place tomorrow. There is much preparation to be done, so the closest members of the family need to stay overnight to help in that effort.

Though I will not attend the funeral, I did give my condolences today to Deliwe's uncle and family members. The saddest part of it is that this woman was only 35 years old, had 5 young children, and died of tuberculosis (the symptoms of which were largely ignored until it was too late), a disease for which there are vaccinations and cures. I received a vaccination for it (among other horrible diseases common here) before I left the U.S. I suppose when you are far away and know about these problems intellectually, it doesn't hit you as hard. The impact of physically seeing someone suffer the way this woman did from something that she only died from due to her geographical location is difficult for me to come to terms with. Of course, the "save the world" instinct comes to mind. There are several medical organizations around working to help get vaccinations and medications to people here, but it's simply not enough. I did all I could to help, even assisted in paying the hospital fees. But, in the end, it wasn't enough, and 5 kids lost their mother today.

What else can I say? I'm just too sad. Let's just leave it at that for now.

Willy's the Winner!

Hey, I just wanted to check in to let the faithful readers know that Deliwe and I have decided on a name for our new kitty. Willy. (Though, maybe we should call him "whiney" based on his behavior since we returned from the lake...) Ya, I know it's not a Chichewa name, but my boyfriend suggested it last week when we talked, and somehow it just seems to fit. The idea actually came from his tendency towards naming his cats after characters from 'The Simpsons,' which is also his favorite T.V. program. Bart and Homer have already been used, so Willy the Scottish janitor was one of the other candidates...seemed to fit better than Mr. Burns, Moe, Ned Flanders, or Krusty the clown... Of all the names we received, this one was the one both Deliwe and I liked best (though we also did consider Skippy, ironically...). So, the winner is Willy! (and my boyfriend... he'll get his prize when I come home to visit next month... that will be kept strictly confidential, of course ;-)

I also have news about our trip to the lake/Cape McClear this past weekend. It was wonderful, all went very well, but the after-effects of too much sun-exposure are taking their toll on me now. Most bothersome, of course, is the sunburn... ya, I should know better, and I was covered in sunscreen, but I'm very prone to sunburn, and just stayed out in it way too long (especially in the water, snorkeling, swimming, floating). So, both yesterday and today I've been in major pain, and also a bit sun-drained, so feeling extremely tired. This is one reason for my failure to post on Sunday, but more importantly, we were enjoying our stay so much that we left a little later in the afternoon, and didn't get back until around 8 p.m., so the free gin offer would be off if anyone had tried to claim it, though as usual, no one did... Whew! (again, the exceptions are computer issues and physical presence-- though I was here after 8 p.m., it was a bit too late to complete a detailed blog entry of my experiences, plus the fatigue issue, yadda, yadda, yadda.)

With that said, please oblige me in waiting one more day for the descriptions and pix of our trip. I'm just really exhausted, and had another very busy, VERY HOT day today. Thanks for waiting graciously and faithfully! Tiwonana mawa!

Thanksgiving continued...

Today I'll just keep it short and simple, though it was a long, HOT day in Malawi, I must say. A few major events: I finished my final class with my LAN 150 students at Chancellor College... they were quite rambunctious (sp?), I must say. I'm sure they're just relieved to get one course under their belts... not only that, but I was able to convince the head to allow me to use their final research papers as their final assessment... whew! They're very happy for this, of course, as am I, since I was a bit worried about writing an exam for a course for which I only taught the 2nd half (started at mid-term). Luckily, I do have systems in place to make sure they're doing their own work, avoiding plagierism, etc. so it should serve as a good assessment.

After the class, I did go back to Deliwe's uncle's wife's house to take her to the closest private hospital (St. Luke's, in a nearbye village called Malosa). Luckily, Deliwe's uncle (Wilson) was able to get some assistance from a relative to help pay the fees to have her further examined and treated. He only needed me for transportation, since they live in quite a remote place(as I've mentioned before), and transporting her in a mini-bus in her condition just would not be an option. I was happy to do my little part to help them out, and was also astounded by the strength of her older sister (maybe in her early forties), who carried her on her back ("piggy-back" style) down the steep hill from her house to my car, as the "road" to the house is impassible for my little car.

I suppose the most remarkable thing about this situation for me is how many people are spending their time and energy to take care of this woman in her time of need. It may be useful to point out that these people do not have most of the modern conveniences we take for granted (cars, especially), and still they find ways to go out to a remote place and help someone in need, no questions asked. Each time I've visited the house, there are at least 3 women there, plus their children, visiting, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of things for this woman and her family. I'd like to say this is the norm back home as well, but it's quite rare, I believe. I suppose in our "development," perhaps many of us have lost that tendency to become selfless and stop what we're doing to really take care of each other. Perhaps we also have fewer options, too, as demands of work and modern life have taken over. Whatever it is, this aspect of human caring seems so much stronger here than anything I've ever witnessed or experienced thus far. I'm certain that if I became this sick, most likely only one person would have the ability and means to come to my aid, and certainly that person would not have to carry me piggy-back up and down hills.... Do I know anyone that would do that? (Well, maybe one person... but I'd have to confirm it with him first!! ;-)

In any case, just another observation of how truly strong the family bonds seem to be here, at least in this case. Certainly that's a very important factor in an area where people really have to struggle to survive. I suppose it gives me a bit of hope in humanity, and again, something to be thankful for (well, maybe a few things, as mentioned in yesterday's post).

So, we got her to the hospital, where her sister will stay and help take care of her... another tidbit... the hospitals here allow and encourage family members to stay in the ward with the patients, as often their resources for care are quite limited (even the private hospitals), so families must provide care/comfort, as well as food, blankets, and other necessities for the patients. Though this isn't an ideal situation, at least it has the added benefit of the loved ones' presence at the hospital during the patient's care.

My day was completed with a two-hour evening class session with my newest distance-learning group at Domasi College of Education (DCE). I started the class this afternoon for one hour at 2:30 p.m., and then negotiated with them to meet tonight from 7:30-9:30 p.m. in order to free up the originally-scheduled 2-hour class time tomorrow so that Deliwe and I can leave a bit earlier for the lake. Yes, we're attempting our trip to Lake Malawi again tomorrow, hopefully leaving by 1 p.m. Wish us luck! This means I will NOT be posting tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 23), nor Saturday, Nov. 24. I should be back for a posting on Sunday with the details of our adventures on the lake! (Yes, with PIX included!!) I already have been warned that the road to our destination (Cape McClear) will provide at least half the adventure, so I'm going to have to mentally prepare myself and my trusty Toyota for that trip. Luckily, I do have a new battery now, so at least that part should be o.k. This time, I'm just hoping the tires and underbody will survive the trip... Wish us luck on that as well...

So, until Sunday, Tiwonana!! For those in the U.S., Enjoy your turkey, potatoes, and pumpkin pie 'food coma', and GO PACKERS!! ;-) (One more thing to be thankful for this year, so my sisters tell me... Da PACK is BACK!!!)

--Oh,and one more thing... I lied... this post wasn't so short, nor simple! Sorry! Guess the 'faithful' readers are used to that by now, eh? ;-)

Giving Thanks a day early...

OOh, after much ado, I'm finally posting a new blog entry for you... (Ya, starting off with a little rhyming couplet--er, triplet!--sorry the meter's a bit off--a poet, I'm not, and I know it...)

So, did anybody notice I did not post yesterday? Well, the free gin is still a-waitin, and only one winner so far. Lucky for me, no one reads this blog too often (well, at least none of the gin-lovers--Whew!) I do have a good excuse though... my internet connection seems to be very slow lately. I've been using my very rudimentary computer skills to try to troubleshoot the problem, and now it seems to be better. I think most of the problem is due to firewall settings on the network here at Domasi College. I believe I've managed to override the "Windows Firewall" which was automatically blocking some internet usage on the network. Luckily, I have my own firewall program, so my faithful readers won't have to worry about a nasty computer virus attacking my laptop anytime soon. Never fear, 'Malawi'n me' can always be found here! (ooh, rhyming couplet no. 2!! --or 3, if you count that lame take on 'I'm a poet, and I know it' written above... ;-)

As for yesterday, the major event for me was another trip to visit Deliwe's uncle's wife (her 'aunt' by our standards, but the expression is different here for non-blood relatives) who has been very sick for a couple of months now. The faithful readers may remember me mentioning another trip a few weeks ago, during which I drove Deliwe, her mother, an aunt, and a niece to visit her. Unfortunately, since then, she's had at least to 2 more hospital visits, but seems to have taken a turn for the worst. She's very frail, thin, and currently bed-ridden. The doctors seem to be giving her some medicine, but it only seems to help for short periods of time, and then she begins to suffer all over again.

My gardener Harold was with us when we dropped Deliwe and her family off at the house, and says she seems to be showing the same symptoms as his brother-in-law, who's suffering from Tuberculosis. Ya, one of the many horrible diseases we have vaccines for back home. It was also one of the many vaccinations I received before I came here. I just wish I could help her somehow.

For now, I've offered to help them take her to another hospital if they so choose, but as always, financial issues are the greatest concern here, and I'm not sure whether they'll feel comfortable asking me to help with payment. Though I made a sincere offer to Wilson (Deliwe's uncle) to help in any way I could, I still did not hear from him today, and upon asking Deliwe, she wasn't sure what he had decided. Perhaps there is a feeling that there's nothing more to be done. I hope to be able to talk with him again and see if there's any way I can help. I'm very concerned, as you can imagine.

Today brought much better news, as I went to visit the 'Village to Village' orphanage to take a look at the progress of our reading room project. It's definitely coming along, with several shelves installed, and the basic framework for the small half-wall partition. Upon looking at it, however, Alfred (the director) and I decided to extend the partition all the way to the front wall of the classroom, rather than ending it a couple of feet before that wall, as it would add considerable more room for both books and kids. This took a small bit of negotiation, but we all agreed, so it looks like our room will be a bit bigger than the original plan (and hopefully stay within budget...we shall see...).

The other nice thing about our visit was that I got to meet some of the volunteers who work with the kids at the orphanage, and was happy to see the involvement and interest they had in our project as well. Alfred seems to really have 'rallied the troops,' so to speak, to get this project underway, involving several members of the community in its construction...(watch for pix of progress/volunteers soon!) In the end, we decided to start the next phase of the project, which is to install glass and fixtures into the windows. For this, three of the women volunteers working with the orphanage will go to a special market in a nearbye village called Songani tomorrow (The market comes together on Mondays and Thursdays each week) in order to purchase the materials for the windows, as Alfred assures me they can get a good price.

So, it looks like the project is underway, and going well. In addition, after our meeting, we ended up walking a fair distance back to the main road from the orphanage in the hot sun (Deliwe and I walked to the orphanage earlier, but took the shortcut, and it wasn't quite as hot). This walk really made me appreciate the difficulty most people in Malawi face every day, as they walk along the roads for long distances, carrying all manner of goods on their heads (especially the women, and often the children). I, on the other hand, was walking for a mere 30 minutes or so, carrying only my camera, a small purse, and a bottle of water (which amazingly, people usually do NOT carry), and really thought I might not make it. I really have no idea how people here do this every day. They truly are amazingly strong and resilient, in ways I cannot imagine. It was certainly an enlightening and humbling experience for me.

The other irony to that experience was the fact that I remembered that tomorrow is Thanksgiving back home, during which we enjoy a huge meal with our family and/or friends, while the weather is getting cooler, and it's even snowing, according to the latest reports from my boyfriend. Ya, I normally loathe the cold weather, but right now I'm actually missing it!! With this in mind, I really started to feel like I'm in another world. I can't even imagine cold weather and snow right now. It seems so distant and fictional somehow. Perhaps I'm a bit homesick, but I'm still glad that I'm here, and giving thanks for all the wonderful people I continue to meet and the experiences I've had. I certainly also give thanks for the relative comforts I've enjoyed for most of my life, especially as I witness the hardships faced by most people here, but also the grace and dignity with which they manage to face them. I truly do have much to be thankful for.

So, for all these reasons, I'd like to extend a (very) warm Happy Thanksgiving!!! to all my loyal Malawi 'n Me readers, one day early... Tiwonana mawa!

New Battery, Nice Feast, Not a Bad Day

I'll start off today's post with the first batch of kitty names entered in yesterday's blog comments. So far, I've gotten the same name suggestion from 2 people (Cherette & friend Heather): Skippy John Jones... I guess this is based on a fictional cat that looks something like a Chihuahua... Not only is it a long 3-word-kinda name, but not translatable, so we probably won't use it. Though, I kinda like 'Skippy' as a name for a cat... Of course, I'll have to discuss it with Deliwe first. The other two names entered were Mphenzi (courtesy of my Uncle Bob), and Katswiri (suggested by Limbika, one of my most faithful Malawian readers).

Hmmm... Right now, I'm guessing Katswiri tops the list, as it has a nice ring to it, I could shorten it to 'Kat'-- which was the name of my first cat when I was little--plus I know what it means since Limbika told me....('clever one'--we'll have to see if it really fits ;-) As for this name given by Uncle Bob, I'll have to consult Deliwe for the translation... He said it took "a lot of research," and he called our lovely kitty a 'beast' (Ya, Uncle Bob's not a cat guy... this can't be good...). So, unofficially (before Deliwe's vote), I'm goin for Katswiri for now--BUT, don't give up yet, as there are still 6 more days to enter your suggestions, since I'll announce the final decision sometime on Sunday! So, keep 'em comin'!!

In other news, I had my car battery replaced today, Malawi-style. Yes, that means with the help of 3 friends, plus a couple of strangers. It first involved taking the car into Zomba, and while parked at the bank, having my gardner Harold (who also knows a few things about cars) test the battery by touching the two 'nodes' (as I call them) --those knobs on top of the battery that show positive (+) and negative (-) charges, and looking for 'blue sparks'. We actually happened to find a random wire laying in the parking lot that fit our purpose perfectly, after an attempt with the jumper cables did not produce the desired effect. In the end, the wire only produced 'yellow sparks,' indicating the battery needed replacing.

So, we proceeded to a gas station, where we discovered the batteries were not only a bit pricey, but also the 'nodes' were too large for the fittings that attach to them. Apparently only cars sent directly from Japan have the smaller nodes (mine was sent from Japan, where it was originally manufactured). So, we decide to check another shop in the market area to see if we can find a different battery, as well as the fittings necessary to attach it. On the way, I receive a call from Chikuni, who is the guy Deliwe and I met when we went to Liwonde National Park (he's the one in the pictures playing the stone game 'Bawo' with her.) He has kept in touch since our trip... Though Deliwe is reluctant to admit it, it's quite clear he's taken a shine to her, as he's made a couple of special trips by minibus from his village just outside of Zomba into Domasi to see her. In the U.S., this would be about the equivalent of hitchhiking from New York City to the Blue Ridge Mountains in West Virginia to see a girl. No one comes to Domasi from Zomba. It's much more common to travel in the other direction... Ya, he's quite smitten. Luckily for me, he's also a decent mechanic, not to mention quite a friendly, pleasant guy, with very good English skills. Unfortunately for him, though, Deliwe is not interested... in anyone. She's very driven to focus on her future, and knows that a boyfriend will have to wait until she reaches her goals. She's a smart girl.

In any case, Chikuni called me as we were leaving the gas station, as he'd agreed to meet me today to help with the battery. He was at the mini-bus stop in Zomba, which happens to be across from the Shop-Rite (the biggest supermarket in Zomba, about the size of one of those mini-marts in the U.S., like PDQ (in the midwest), Stop 'n Go (out west), or Burne Dairy (out east). Where do ya go down South? Never lived there, so my friends in North Carolina would have to enlighten me... Carrie? Carrie? (I know two Carries in N.C.-- where do y'all go when ya need gas 'n milk in the same trip? Hmmm...)

Oops, digressed again, sorry... So, we met up outside of Shop-Rite, just after I ran into Melvin the taxi driver. He's in the middle of a court battle for which I might be a witness (involving potential police brutality, but luckily he's o.k.-- Did I mention this on the blog? Happened a couple of weeks ago...). I'll save that story for another time. In the end, Melvin ended up joining our entourage, so I was lucky enough to have three kind gentlemen help me with my car battery problem. This is just how people are here. I love that! Back home, I'd most definitely be at the repair shop by myself, while I paid through the nose for some mechanic to take his time to replace the battery while I drink stale coffee and suffer through some nauseating talk show on the lobby T.V. set. Nah, I prefer this way any day!

So, after choosing a suitable battery at K 7,500 (about 50 bucks), and the new fittings for about 3 bucks, the 3 men went to work, diligently stripping wires, and re-fitting the battery. In the end, it took over 2 hours (due to some serious wire-cutting/stripping/extending), but they did a nice job, and didn't ask for anything in return (though I did give Chikuni and Harold a bit of money for their time/effort)-- Melvin left after about 10 mins. to pick up a client. So for now, it looks like I've been well-taken care of, with a new battery. I'm just knocking on wood now in hopes that nothing else will start falling apart! Wish me luck, and I'll keep you posted!

The battery-replacing adventure was then followed by a very lovely dinner at my colleague Chokocha's house. He has a very lovely family, consisting of 4 daughters (the oldest in college, the youngest still in primary school), as well as 2 nephews, who are among about 3 or 4 that he takes care of, as their parents have already died. I may have mentioned that it is common in Malawi for aunts & uncles to take in orphaned children in the extended family. Chokocha is a very good man, and though he knows it can be difficult, he accepts this extra responsibility with grace and generosity.

Unfortunately, his wife and youngest daughter could not be there, as they were at her extended family home planting maize for the rainy season (everyone here is busy with that now), but I did get to meet most of the kids living in the house, and ate a fabulous meal which reminded me a lot of our traditional Thanksgiving feast, which, incidentally, is coming up this Thursday, Nov. 22. I've been feeling a bit homesick for Thanksgiving, so I was happy to be treated to such a wonderful dinner of chicken, potatoes (mashed and boiled), rice, beans (green and brown), and finally topped off with a banana for dessert. Ya, no pumpkin pie, but still an amazing meal. Add to that the fact that Chokocha has had some interesting experiences as an international student in the U.S., (UMASS-Amherst) and some exciting plans for building a technical training college in his home village. We had a really interesting chat about his experiences and dreams as well.

So, I guess I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving... not only a new kitty, but good friends to help with the installation of a new battery, and a fabulous meal that reminded me of the ones we had 'back in the day', in a warm, happy home where I felt very welcome and 'at home.' Oh, and Chokocha also has a new kitty (grey striped tabby), about the same size as our kitty, also acquired on Saturday, and also nameless! He's waiting for his youngest daughter to return home with his wife to give her a name. Any suggestions? Hmmm... maybe not... let's just stick to my kitty for the naming contest....

Ooh, I feel all warm and fuzzy after that post... Considering my gloominess as of late, I hope it's not too nauseating for the faithful readers! ;-) I know, it's not like me, but today was a really cool day, so what can I say? (Ooh, a rhyming couplet! Better stop while I'm ahead...) Tiwonana mawa!

Call for kitty names-- all reasonable suggestions considered!

OK, so the most exciting thing happening on this blog today is the naming of the new member of our household, our little kitty. I chronicled a bit of his first day with us in yesterday's blog post, but as you can see at left, there were a few things I chose to leave out. Most notable is the fabulous bath adventure. The pictures are worth a million words, so I'll just leave it at that.

So, Deliwe and I are now faced with a dilemma, as we don't know what to name our new kitty. Of course, as we were trying to think of a name, I remembered my throngs of faithful 'Malawi'n me' blog readers, and thought it might be fun to have a little naming contest this week! He's too young to really know or respond to his name (well, he's a cat, so he's not likely to EVER respond to his name, anyway...), so I figured we would make a decision at the end of the week, which I'll announce on the blog on Sunday. The reason I'm choosing Sunday is because I'm almost certain we'll be making another attempt at our trip to the lake this Friday afternoon, so I'm trying to make that day as free as possible (which likely means no blog entry that day-- I'll keep you posted, though!) I also want to give the contest a full 7 days, so that those who 'tune into' the blog only once or twice weekly will get a shot at the naming contest extravaganza.

Will there be a prize, you ask? Hmmm... Maybe! I'll have to think about that one, but it's likely that there might be a little token of appreciation sent to the creative person who can conjure up an original name that captures the very essence of our little kitty, inside and out. What that prize will be, of course, will remain a surprise until it is sent and received (as was the case with my sis Heather's prize for the bug-guessing contest).

So, without further ado, here are the things I can tell you about our new kitty, which might help you to come up with a good name for him. First of all, he's a boy (obviously). We don't know how old he is, but he's REALLY little, so probably no more than a month old, I'm guessing. Any cat age experts out there? Please enlighten me if you wish... We picked him up yesterday, which was a Saturday, Nov. 17. He is black (maybe dark grey to be exact) and white, and I think he may be long-haired, though it may also be too early to tell for sure. He has very cute little grey eyes as well. He follows me and/or Deliwe everywhere, he loves chambo fish, milk, and also beans (though I heard it's not good to feed him beans... any thoughts?... the local neighbor girls say that beans can make cats lose their hair... hmmm... I gave him some beans today... I'll let you know the results...) and I think he misses his mother, because he always tries to 'suckle' my fingers, toes, and sometimes my nose, especially at night (AAHH!). Unfortunately, when he does this he tends to bite, so I usually have to put him into another room and shut the door after too much of that. He's very playful like most kittens, and loves to play with cloth strings, or anything dangling. He seems to be especially interested in feet and toes, though, which he tends to 'attack' by scratching or biting... ya, we love that... As I mentioned yesterday, he alternately meowed and slept on my left shoulder as I drove home last night. The trip was about two hours long, so that was quite impressive to me.

OK, so that information should be more than enough to come up with some good names. We have decided to give him a Chichewa name, since after all, he's a Malawian cat, and he will stay here with Deliwe and her Mother after I leave. I'd hate for him to be shunned by the other cats by having some strange Mzungu English name ;-) However, if it is an English name with no Chichewa translation, and it's just too perfect to pass up, we will consider it as well. Otherwise, all English name candidates will be considered, but translated into Chichewa for the final naming. In addition, the final decision will be made with equal consideration by both Deliwe and myself.

So, in order to enter a name suggestion for our new kitty, please use the "comments" section of this blog, or e-mail me directly at jbeilke@yahoo.com. I look forward to seeing your ideas!

In other news, as I mentioned awhile back, we also have a small family living on our property now--our gardener Harold, his wife Dorothy, and two of his children, Pacharo and Miracle (his oldest is staying with his aunt until he finishes school at the end of Nov.), who are living in the small servants' quarters behind our house. Harold was having some difficulty with his housing situation, so had asked me if he could stay with us until things were worked out, so I agreed. I finally got some pictures of them last week Thursday evening when we had them over for dinner.

As you can see, they're a very lovely family, and Deliwe and I are really enjoying having a couple of kids around! It's really good for her, since she really would like to have her own family someday, but wants to wait a few more years and finish her education first. So, this allows her to be around the kids without feeling the need to have her own right away. As you may know, in Malawi, it is common for women to have children at very young ages (like Harold's wife, who became pregnant as a teenager), especially in small villages like those in Domasi, so Deliwe is a minority amongst her friends due to the fact that she is both single and does not yet have children. As I've mentioned before, Deliwe is only 20 years old.

In any case, we're enjoying all of our new household additions, both human and animal. In my case, it's wonderful, as I've been feeling rather homesick and lonely these days (a usual occurrance for me about 2 months into a long-term overseas stay--right on schedule). So, having a few more people and a furry friend around definitely is a welcome development!

With that, I'll sign off for now... Tiwonana mawa!

Surprise Post!! Lake Malawi trip cut short---AAARGH!!

Hello, all you faithful readers, especially those logging on to read my blog on Saturday, knowing that I didn't actually plan to post anything on this day, as I intended to be floating out in Cape MacClear, visiting all the thousands of fish species and forgetting about the phone, internet, classes, strike demonstrations, and other such matters for awhile.

However, it was not meant to be. Let me tell you the story.

First of all, I take full responsibility for bringing on the bad kharma by leaving a good hour later than planned, due to a need to drop by my office (yes, to do my quick blog posting, but also to take care of some necessary e-mails for work). Unfortunately, as is often the case with me, my visit to the office took quite a bit longer than planned, and in the end, we left at 4 p.m. rather than the planned departure of 3 p.m. Deliwe was a bit annoyed (not visibly, of course), but understanding. Luckily, we were both ready to go when I got home, so packed the car quickly and were off.

The first problem occurred after about 10 minutes on the road, when Deliwe mentioned something about cameras, and I remembered that I'd left the memory stick for my digital camera inside my computer, so I would not be able to take ANY pictures during our trip!! AAARRGH!! What a stupid mistake!! Doubly-stupid because I have 2 memory sticks, so when I take one out to download onto my computer, I can easily replace it with the other! What was I thinking? Not thinking at all, apparently. As you may have been able to figure out from this blog, I like to take pictures. Here, I feel absolutely naked without my camera, especially when travelling. I came VERY close to turning around and going back home to get the memory stick. However, due to our late departure, I decided that would not be a good idea.

So, we continued on our journey, with me lamenting for awhile (sometimes out loud) about how I'd wished I had that bloody memory stick. Luckily, Deliwe is a patient soul and knows how to tune those things out, though from her initial reaction, I know she was also disappointed that we wouldn't be able to take any pics. So, we continue on down the highway, passing through the town of Liwonde (where Liwonde National Park is located), after which I remarked that the last time, I turned down the wrong road when we were looking for our accommodation, and remind Deliwe that she was right later on when she told me I should've gone straight. This will be highly significant later on.

We continue driving without incident for about another hour, when we reach the town of Balaka. Suddenly, something triggers in my brain when we come to this town. "Deliwe! We're in Balaka. Isn't that on the way to Lilongwe?" "I don't know," she replies. Then, I remember that Deliwe has never really been further than about 10 km. north of Domasi, so of course she wouldn't be familiar with the highways in this region. We then consult the (very bad) map of Malawi featured in my Bradt guide to Malawi that I bought in Washington, D.C. during my ELF training back in August. I was so happy to see a guide dedicated specifically to Malawi, that I immediately bought it, assuming it must be wonderfully accurate (That, and the inset quote by Michael Palin of Monty Python fame, who swears by Bradt guides. Mike wouldn't lie to me, now would he? After all my years of dedicated worship of his comedy troupe? NEVER!)

So, back to the story. The map was lousy (as was a different map in this book for the Liwonde region), because it makes the highway to Mangochi (which is where we were headed) appear to go straight, while the highway to Lilongwe (the M1, I believe--don't have the book on me right now, sorry) appears to make a left turn near Liwonde. Of course, I took this at face value, but then remembered that during my trips to Lilongwe, I never noticed the driver turning at all. It's pretty much a straight shot--- AAAARRRGH!). Problem number two. Shortly after this discovery, we did see a junction sign confirming we were headed north on the wrong highway. Deliwe, never being one to shy away from asking directions, confirmed this fact with a highway official standing at the side of the road (we were approaching a police checkpoint). The only way to correct this mistake was to turn around and head back south.

At this point, it was decision time. I turned to Deliwe, and I said, "Because of this mistake, we've lost about an hour. It's now approaching 5 p.m., and it will be dark by 6 p.m. I think maybe we should just head home, as finding our way in the dark might be very difficult, and very stressful." To this, Deliwe replied, "No, I think it'll be o.k. I can ask, and help us find it." Clearly, she was really set on this trip, and I was as well, but I didn't want to tempt fate, and the kharma just wasn't feeling right to me. So, I said, "Well, are you sure? At this rate, we're lucky if we get to Mangochi by 8 p.m., and then if we want to continue to the lake, the trip might be much longer." To which she replied, "No, it's o.k. We should go. We'll be o.k. I'll ask for directions. Don't worry." So, reluctantly, I agree to push on.

We continue down the road, back to Liwonde, where the nice official at the side of the road had assured us that the Mangochi turn off would be. See? I told you my comment upon passing through Liwonde would prove significant. At that point, I vaguely recalled people mentioning the "Mangochi Turn-off" before, but just never realized exactly where it was. Of course, at that point, I felt a bit homesick for the highly organized, signposted highways back home. There is rarely a question of which highway you're on, which direction you're going, which towns you'll find and how far away, as there are signs EVERYWHERE along the road, especially on the major highways. Ya, driving the American roads does not require much intelligence. Just a basic understanding of the English language, and you're set. But here, in Malawi, one must have the orientation skills of a skilled navigator, as signs are very scarce here. Luckily, there are few major highways, so the Malawians out there are probably having a good laugh at this idiotic Mzungu driving tale... There are literally only about 3 major highways in the southern region, so the fact that I took the wrong one is pretty amazing... however, this is me we're talking about, and unfortunately I inherited my father's sense of direction. Let's just say he was one of those typical men who never asked for directions, but always needed them... hence, we spent a few family trips taking long scenic drives to unknown destinations. I'm like that. The difference is, I'll stop and ask. This time, I made the very sorry mistake of not doing that sooner. AAARRRRGH!!

Moving on with the story now, we continue south to Liwonde, and lo and behold, there is a sign--in major disrepair, but legible enough. The Mangochi turnoff. I spot it, we turn left, and off we go. The road turns out to be generally smooth, with a few potholes here and there, and a short off-road diversion (which is somewhat common here) due to a section of road that is under repair. So far, so good. We continue on, and after the diversion, Deliwe suggests that we ask a man walking along the road about the distance to Mangochi. He proceeds to tell us it's about "one or two more hours." Of course, by now, it's after dusk, so I'm getting concerned. Wow, that's a big difference, I think... one or two more hourse? Which is it? We later realized he meant that it was one hour to Mangochi, and two hours to the lake. Ahhh. Unfortunately, we'd hoped to stay at a hotel on the lake, so this presented a potential problem for us.

Well, we'd committed to going ahead with this trip, so off we went. Eventually, we reached Mangochi (a little sooner than we expected, at around 7 p.m. So, things were looking up. As we came into town, I noticed a couple of Petrol (i.e. 'gas' for the 'Yanks') stations on the right, so decided to stop to fill up, just to be safe. I stopped at a place called 'Petroda', which is one of about 3 major gas stations in Malawi--the other two are Total and BP (i.e. British Petrol...ya, they mask that pretty well in the states...). I pull up, turn off the engine, get the gas, proceed to turn the key to start the engine, and that's when problem no. 3 arises... click click click click click!! Not gonna start... AAAAARRRGGHHH!!!

Of course, right away I remember the starter incident on the first day I drove my car. Ah! It's the starter again! I thought... Luckily, as usual, there were several men hanging around-- some employed there, but most not, willing to help out. Right away, they determined that it was the battery. Without getting into all the sordid details, after about 30 mins, they were able to take care of it by testing the car with another battery, and adding some fluid. However, despite the fact that I did have jumper-cables in the car, they never did use them... however, Deliwe believes they somehow charged my battery with the newer batter, though I'm still not sure exactly how they did so. This will prove to be important later.

On a sidenote, in the meantime, as we were waiting for the car, I noticed a guy with a small kitten. "Oh, a kitty!" I exclaimed excitedly, after which he told me he'd sell it to me for 500 kwacha (about 4 bucks). I immediately said I couldn't take a cat, but then after discussing it with Deliwe, who reminded me of the huge RAT living in our house, also saying she could keep and take care of the kitty after I left, we decided to take him... (See pix at left). In the end, the manager of the Petroda who helped us fix the battery, offered to give us the kitty on our way out of town on Sunday (which as you know now, turned out to be today, Saturday). So, we agreed, and off we went (again). (Oh, and another sidenote... we tested the car for about 4 km. before leaving to the hotel, and all seemed o.k. It stopped, and started without any trouble.)

After our adventure at Petroda, we decided to head down the road to the lake to find this hotel "Palm Beach Resort" we'd seen in the trusty Malawi travel guide. We'd been directed to another hotel by one of the Petroda guys (The Villa hotel), but it was booked, and cost about 3000 kwacha more than I wanted to pay. So, we headed off down the road toward Monkey Bay/Cape McClear (our final destination), but this hotel would be about halfway there. On the way out of Mangochi, Deliwe diligently asked a guy on the road for directions, and he asked if he could ride with us as we went. This is also a common occurrance here (as I may have mentioned before), and since there were two of us in the car, I agreed. Of course, he was a decent guy, and it was good to have some local company on an unknown road going to an unknown place in the dark, so we were happy to have him with us.

This road was not very nice at all... riddled with potholes, so it did take us close to a good half-hour to get to our destination. We dropped off our passenger, and came to the turn off to the "Palm Beach Resort" shortly afterwards. Of course, the road to the "resort" was a dirt road, but not too bad compared to some others, and meandered through a few villages towards the lake. We eventually arrived to see a dining room full of Mzungus, including this older guy Mike, whom I met through a Fulbright student named Kathleen about a month earlier. I'd also run into him by chance last weekend on our way back from Blantyre at a small restaurant in Zomba. I keep running into this guy in the funniest places, so of course we had to comment on that to each other.

Now, when I enter a hotel establishment and see only Mzungus in it, I know it must be expensive, so I was not thrilled at the sight. Sure enough, when I asked the British ex-pat owner the cost, it was over 2 times what my 'trusty' Malawi guidebook had said (DOH!-- another problem, Michael Palin!! Must give him a call...) She then went on to say, "Oh, I don't know where they get their information." But, in the end, did give us a 600 kwacha discount (about 5 bucks), which I guess was something. We also ended up eating a free buffet dinner. I'm not sure if it was meant to be free, but upon returning home today, I realized that we'd never been charged for it, but I doubt it was included in the price. If so, this was a first for me.

We ended up having a very nice meal, complete with a couple of glasses of complimentary South African red wine (I believe Cabernet, though this is not confirmed) offered to us by a very friendly Portuguese gentleman who was sitting at a table near us. Wow, a friendly Mzungu! Let's just say that's been rare for me here, especially among the upper-class traveling types. Very refreshing, and a much-needed alcohol boost, I must say. Of course, he did make the offer after we'd already started drinking beer, but nonetheless, I wasn't complaining!

After dinner, we strolled outside with our glasses of wine, walked out onto the sandy beach, and without hesitation, I kicked off my sandals and walked into the water. Shortly after doing so, however, I realized someone had mentioned that crocs live in the lake. For some reason, my pride still had the better of me, so I gently strolled out without saying anything at first (except to Deliwe), as all the Mzungus were also out on the beach having a drink and a chat. A bit later, I summoned the courage to ask the owner, who was sitting just behind us, if there were crocs in the lake... she confirmed there were, but that she had never actually seen one... Whew! Mixed blessing though, as there's always a first time for everything.

So, after one more beer and a bit of chatting with the Mzungus, who all turned out to be rather friendly (plus Mike came out, and we finally learned more about each other), Deliwe and I decided to 'turn in' for the night. After all, it was already 10 p.m., which is a good hour past her bedtime, and about average for me these days. (My friends back home are dying of shock, but it's true!)

After returning to the room, more disappointments crop up, as we realize there is no TV (no big deal, but considering the room rate, we thought we should have one), no air conditioning (not suprising, but again the cost), and the room was VERY hot... I even got up after trying to sleep for about 5 mins. to take a cold shower... only to realize the hot water heater switch had some malfunction, so I couldn't turn it off.. only warm to scalding hot water would come out... AAARRGGGHHH!! It just kept getting worse and worse. Of course, I did remember that we had a place to sleep and good food/drinks, so I wasn't completely upset at that point, just annoyed with the amount of money I'd agreed to pay for this place.

I eventually got up in the middle of the night (around 3 a.m.) sleepless due to the heat, and positioned my bed just under the ceiling fan, after wandering around the room and discovering that I could feel a breeze at a certain place, which ironically was not where the beds were positioned. Luckily, it was easy to move. I slept much better after that.

In the morning, Deliwe woke up at the crack of dawn as usual, and by the time I became conscious (around 7:30 a.m.-- ya, shocking to my friends and family), she was already headed out the door to the beach...I decide to get up, and take my shower, only to discover there's NO WATER! AAAARGH!! Did I really pay that much money??? I was determined to ask for a discount upon leaving (since of course I had not yet paid the bill). I ended up taking a pseudo-sponge bath at the sink, eventually running that out of water as well, getting everything packed, and schlepping the bags back to the car, beginning to feel that this trip is not meant to be. Stay tuned...

After putting the bags in the car, I stroll down to the beach, dip my feet in the water, and call Deliwe, who is actually hanging around with the locals up the beach 'a piece' (as my little sis Heather would say). Of course, who could blame her, with all these Mzungus around? So, I decide to head up in that direction, which looked much more interesting that our empty beach with one sunbather. On the beachfront just adjacent to us, there were several small boys casting and pulling in nets to catch small fish. It was really cool to see, but of course, I have no pictures. AAARRRGHH!! Ya, we'll have to come back (but not to 'Palm Beach,' no way!)

Of course, I see Deliwe, and we head up to the hotel for breakfast, which was just cereal and toast. The interesting bit there is that the woman who owns the place actually yelled at her elderly Malawian cook for cutting the toast in half. "Who can butter that?" She bitterly chastised him. I really wanted to yell, "I can! I can!" just to get her goat, but decided I may not want to enter that battle today. What a nasty person she turned out to be! If I can get a hold of Michael Palin, I'll be sure to tell him to get that bloody hotel out of that guide. What a way to treat your employees!! I was really shocked and disturbed. After bitterly scolding him, she turned to us and said, "I just don't know why, he insists on doing that, after I tell him time and again." I won't even go into how wrong it is for supervisors to treat matters like that in this manner. It's just wrong on so many levels. Let's just leave it at that.

So, at this point I decide I will ask for a discount, knowing I won't get one and that I might get yelled at. I, of course, decide to handle the matter very delicately, pointing out that the water was out this morning, and I couldn't get a shower, so is there any possibility of a discount? No, she says, "But you can go ahead and take one now," fully knowing that we'd planned to go up to Monkey Bay/ Cape McClear (about an hour away) after settling the bill. Whatever. You won't get my business anymore, and Michael Palin will know about this, and so will all my throngs of loyal Malawinme blog readers!! So THERE, Miss-high-falutin-crappy-hotel-owner-snobby-British-colonial-mentality-lived-here-for-17-years-n-too-good-to-learn-Chichewa-or-treat-employees-with-respect-old-rag! See if I care!!! AAAARRRGGHHH!!

OK, now I feel better. But, things got worse. I got in the car, and again... click,click,click,click.... no start. AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!!! Luckily, just before the bill-settling conversation, I'd also struck up a little chat with this South African couple we'd met briefly the night before, and they turned out to be quite friendly. After the (not so) lovely hotel owner tried to reach her mechanic and failed, the guy from SA (Craig) was kind enough to use the owner's car to give me a jump. Luckily, I'd had the presence of mind to buy jumper cables and tools shortly after buying the car (could it be the starter issue that prompted this? Hmmm...)

After jumping the car, Craig told us that the problem was that we hadn't driven long enough after the intitial charge last night to get the battery charged up enough. He suggested that after we drove into Monkey Bay, we find a 'battery charging' station (whatever that is) and try to get it charged there, and we should be fine. In the meantime, I'm very worried about my cash situation, as I've paid more than twice what I'd planned to pay for that bloody excuse for a hotel. My decision was made. Go back to Mangochi, pick up the kitty at Petroda, and head back home. Hopefully next weekend, leave earlier and head directly to Cape McClear, leaving this 'Palm Beach' excuse for a 'resort' in the dust.

I explained my feelings to Deliwe, who reluctantly agreed, but understood how I felt. So, here we are, back in town, but with a few more things we acquired along the way, in this order: a new kitty, a woven wastebasket, two nSima flour baskets, 4 huge chambo fish, a woven mat to sit on outside (can you tell there's lots of weaving going on in the Mangochi region?), and today's newspaper. Let's just say we made up for our weekend vacation cut short by picking up a few items at the side of the road. The kitty rode on my left shoulder, alternately whining and sleeping the entire time... Should be an interesting week!

Watch for pictures of our kitty, fish, and some more suprises mawa!! Tiwonana!!

Off to Lake Malawi!

I just wanted to enter a quick post today to let all the throngs of faithful readers know that I'm off to Lake Malawi with Deliwe for the weekend, but I will return faithfully on Sunday morning with more stories and photos of our adventures. So, Saturday is an off-day from the blog for me, which means the free gin offer is of course on hold for that day.

In addition, I wanted to let you all know that I did teach my Chanco class today, and it looks like we'll be able to finish the course next week (Well, that is if the story in the paper today about the lecturers 'rebuffing' the 20% raise offer just went to press prior to the decision to lift the strike yesterday afternoon... we shall see...)

This means that next week will be EXTREMELY busy for me, as I'll be finishing up one intensive distance education course at Domasi College, starting another distance education course, and finishing up the Chancellor College course. So, please be patient, as my postings may be a bit shorter and less detailed than usual. Sunday's post is likely to be a nice long one, computer/electricity/internet-connection-willing. After that, who knows? I'm only human, of flesh and blood, I'm made...after all (in the words of "The Human League"... I LOVE THE 80's!!) With that, I leave you... Enjoy your weekend, and Tiwonana Sunday!

Strike off again, Chanco on again...

So,are you getting that up-and-down roller coaster feeling yet? You are not alone. The good news is that the Chanco strike is OFF again, officially starting this afternoon, according to my source, which this time is a colleague in my office. She called me this afternoon to inform me that the government had made an offer to the University of Malawi Faculty to give them a 20% raise, effective immediately. Though this is only 10% of the 200% raise they'd asked for, the lecturers decided that it was better than nothing, and in a showing of good faith to the students, they agreed to go back to work... Hallelujah!

Now, it looks like a few students may not be present tomorrow, as they'd been sent home, or, as today's source tells me, decided to go home. It appears that the earlier information I had as of yesterday might have been incorrect, and that the students were not actually required to go home. However, many may have decided to leave on their own due to safety concerns, or because they were worried about being cited for the violent acts which occurred during Monday's and Tuesday's demonstrations. So, it looks like my class will meet again 'mawa', and for that I am glad, as it means we can finish almost on time after all. Whew! I suppose all my naysaying yesterday was incorrect after all... or was it? Only time will tell...

As always, I'll keep you posted. Tiwonana Mawa!

(By the way, in other, much more frivolous news, I have to give a 'shout out' to my sista' Carrie in North Carolina, who is seeing 'our boys' The POLICE (the band, not the boys in blue) tonight in Charlotte for the FOURTH TIME THIS YEAR, and breaking our record of a mere 3 times screaming for our band, which we accomplished in August while following them up the east coast...HAVE FUN CARRIE, I'm SO JEALOUS, and DYING to be there with you!!-- Sorry, just HAD to do that today... ;-)

Chanco closed until further notice

Yes, it's now official. As of yesterday afternoon, the powers that be decided to close down Chancellor College until the lecturers' dispute with the University of Malawi administration can be resolved. Unfortunately, the decision to close campus was made after the student protests yesterday got increasingly violent, resulting in a lot of property damage, but luckily no major injuries (at least as far as I heard/read).

Due to the students' frustration over the on-again, off-again, on-again lecturers' strike, and unfortunately a possible 'copycat' mentality after their counterparts at University of Malawi-Polytechnic in Blantyre held a similar violent protest, the students marched into town and took their frustrations out on people's homes, businesses, and at least one car. I was very disturbed to hear about this for several reasons. While I understand that the students are very frustrated about the situation, what I don't understand is why they would then go into private neighborhoods and business districts and destroy innocent people's property? I suppose a mob is a mob, university-educated and privileged or not. I just suppose I expect more from these students. To their credit, they were very patient for a month. I guess it just became to much for them in the end.

Unfortunately though, it appears they've shot themselves in the feet now, as the likelihood of the dispute being resolved before the end of the calendar year is now much further away than if they'd used their mouths and pens rather than their fists and feet. At least that's what Malawi President Mutharika said in his radio address regarding the incident this afternoon, and I tend to agree with his sentiment. The students needed to take the 'higher ground' on this, and use channels of negotiation rather than giving in to their anger and taking it out on the community in which they live.

I just hope no one in my fabulous class was involved. I took a short drive around the campus today, and it looked pretty calm and quiet. A few stones and branches were laying around, but no property damage to the college itself was evident. Could it be that students calculated their attacks off-campus on purpose, knowing they'd avoid attacking themselves on their own turf in doing so? Food for thought. Any way you look at it, it's a no-win deal at this point.

With that, I leave you to ponder. Tiwonana mawa.

Bad news 'n Good news... Bad news first!

As you may have guessed, today I stayed away from Chanco (in case you haven't figured it out, that's the abbreviated form of Chancellor College--most colleges have similar nicknames here), as the student protests have continued, unfortunately. Though some of you teachers and/or students out there may be thinking, "Oh, but this must be a nice, welcome break!", it's really not a good thing at all. This college has been plagued by such disturbances several times, from what I'm told. My director Sydney reiterated to me this morning that the academic calendar already is a full year behind due to strikes over the past few years held both by lecturers and students. So, for those of you out there who either have earned college degrees or are in the process, consider the possibility of your graduation being delayed for an entire year, not because you wanted to take a year off, but because you had no choice due to problems in the system. Ya, it sucks.

What also really bites (my other favorite slang term) is that my course was scheduled to end this week, as I'd been faithfully teaching and the students had been attending and doing their work very faithfully as well, despite all that's been going on. Now, with this latest development, we are not likely to finish this week. Perhaps we will be able to do so next week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, especially since I have a trip home planned for mid-December, so I'm unable to delay my course much further. As it stands, the academic calendar will be delayed by a full month (including this lost week), meaning the classes delayed by the lecturers' strike will be in session at least until the 2nd week of December-- Good Grief! (in the words of my favorite childhood philosopher Charlie Brown).

So, those faithful Malawi'n me readers who are religious, please pray to your chosen gods that this thing will end as soon as possible, if for no other reason than for me and my fabulous LAN 150 (Language and Communications for First Year Political Science & Public Administration--ya, it's a mouthful) students, who have worked so hard to finish this required freshman course (which they love so much because of their fantastic teacher) ON TIME! Enough already! We're almost done!

OK, I feel better now. Perhaps for me that can substitute for prayer. Let's see if it works, shall we? I'll keep you posted. By the way, at left I posted a couple of lovely pictures of me with my class in the "American Corner" computer lab/resource area of the library, taken in October, as we were starting the preliminary research for the papers they're trying to finish up right now. I thought you might like to see me "in action" at work ;-) I'd set up that lab for them to use for a couple of class sessions during this project in an effort to help them find reliable resources on the internet (which can be a challenge for anyone out there who has tried-- NO, Wikipedia is NOT a reliable source!), as well as to give them some time in the lab free-of-charge, since they have to pay to use the computers here. They seemed very appreciative of this time, and incredibly, I didn't catch anyone chatting online, checking e-mail, or visiting 'questionable' sites, if you know what I mean. Mostly, they were very engaged and on-task. What a great class! (Ok, I'm gushing, but it's true...).

In other news, I had promised to also tell you about the "Village to Village" orphanage project I'm working on now. I visited Alfred (see previous post/pictures) on-site this past Saturday to finalize the plans we'd discussed the previous Saturday for building an English/Chichewa reading room/library for the orphanage. This project is funded by the ELF (English Language Fellow) program, and the idea is actually 'borrowed' from another kind ELF (sounds funny, eh?) in South Africa (don't worry, she let me borrow it). When I visited the orphanage back in September, I really wanted to do something to help out those kids, and Alfred, who seems to be very committed, hard-working, and is truly making a difference in the community with the orphanage programs and facilities. When I was reminded of this in-country project money I'm supposed to spend, the orphanage was the first place that came to mind, but developing something sustainable was the tough part.

When Elizabeth, the ELF in South Africa, mentioned that she had started developing a small reading room at an orphanage in her village, I immediately knew that was the way to go. So, Alfred and I have met a couple of times, worked up a budget, and starting on Monday (yesterday), the carpenter started building the shelves.

The pictures at left give some idea of what the project is about, but I'll describe it a bit more for my 3-5 loyal readers... (oh, by the way, I just found out from my brother Briggs that I also have a following in the Yuba City, CA area--just outside of Sacramento, where he is a radio news announcer/ morning show personality and local celebrity (check it out: www.kkcy.com)... I had the honor of talking on-air during a phone interview with him and his cohort Dave before coming to Malawi, and now my blog is featured on their website, so I guess maybe my readership is up to 4-6 or so... Yahoo!!!)

OK, back to the orphanage project. Basically, what we're trying to do is build a small 'reading corner' for children between the ages of 5 and 12 years (but some early-childhood, too), similar to the type you often see in elementary classrooms in the U.S. The idea is to encourage kids to read for pleasure, and to develop a joy for reading at a young age, which as we all know also encourages greater literacy, more success in education, and greater opportunities. The reading room will be facilitated by local volunteers who will help the kids learn to read, as well as oversee the facility and materials.

Right now, we're just getting the facility together, and have decided to use the small classroom I posted a picture of back in September. We cordoned off a small area of that classroom (as shown in the pictures at left), where the carpenter will build a small wooden partition, and several wall-mounted shelves for the books. We'll also install some linoleum tile on the concrete floor inside the reading room area, and hopefully put some nice rugs there as well to make it a bit more inviting. Of course, we'll also put in some chairs and tables for the kids, and we're also hoping to have them help with the painting (mostly pictures on the walls, and maybe the partition), so they can really make the place their own.

So, that's the new, exciting project we're working on that I wanted to tell you about. It was great to see Alfred during our meeting on Saturday. He was like a kid in a candy store, as he talked about how happy he was that we were putting this project together for the kids.

I imagine that some of you out there may want to help out with this in some way. Though I'm not asking for any monetary donations, if you do want to help out, the best thing you can do is refer me to good, affordable (possibly online) sources for children's books, good titles for kids of those ages (I'm not a mother nor elementary schoolteacher, so bring it on!), or any agencies you may know of that may be willing to donate books. We do have a decent amount of money budgeted for the purchase of books, and our target is to start with about 100 (for about 50 kids housed at this orphanage, but there are other orphanages in the area that may also make use of the reading room), though we could certainly stock more if the budget will allow, or we are able to procure donated books.

For the Malawian readers out there, we're of course also interested in books written in Chichewa for children in this age group (5-12 years), as well as bilingual (Chichewa/English) books. If anyone out there can help with recommending titles and/or resources for finding these books at reasonable prices, please let me know! For the first time, I'm posting my e-mail on this site (though it is posted in my profile as well), so please contact me if you'd like to help out, at jbeilke@yahoo.com. (By the way, if you do want to donate books of your own, please let me know about that as well. There are some details we'd have to discuss, but of course personal book donations would be greatly appreciated as well.)

So, that about covers it for today. As always, Tiwonana Mawa!

Lucky to be alive...(Well... at least not bruised or battered)

Well, today turned out to be quite an interesting one for me. Though it started out rather uneventfully, it certainly did not end up that way. It started with a short stint in the office, followed by a rather routine trip to the Domasi post office to send some items to my aunt which I hope will arrive before Thankgiving (AAHH!! wish me luck on that one--for the Malawians, that's next week Thursday, Nov. 22). Ya, it has to first go to Zomba, then to Limbe, then to South Africa, then to the U.S. (most likely New York or Washington, D.C.), then to a place called Villa Rica, Georgia. Hmmm... I'm doubting it'll get there in time... Maybe we should take a poll, eh? HA! I'll never do THAT again! ;-)

So, after my trip to the post office, I went into Zomba with Deliwe, dropped her off near the market, and then went on to my office at Chancellor College, which was locked. Oh, yes. I should back up. Prior to leaving for my class, I received a phone call from Sydney, the Head of my department. He was calling to confirm a rumor I'd heard yesterday that the lecturer's strike that was called off last week was now back on, as a member of one of the ruling bodies (in this case the University of Malawi Council Chair, if I'm not mistaken) made a statement that the timeline for issuing salary raises was still open, and that they could not give a deadline. This is my very rudimentary understanding of the issue. I believe he made this statement over the weekend, so the lecturer's union decided to respond by calling the strike 'on' again, starting today. Now, for me this seemed to be 'par for the course,' since I've been teaching through the entire strike anyway, so this information didn't really phase me too much (though it should have, as I was soon to find out...).

Back to the timeline... So, I tried to enter my locked office (it was also locked on Friday, so also becoming 'par for the course...') This time, the secretary was sick with Malaria (BTW, did I mention Malaria is treated like a 'common cold' here? More on that another time), as I found out from the (not so) nice lady in the office next door. As she was calling the secretary to find out whether she'd left a key for me, I noticed two of my students waiting in the hallway to talk to me. This is a pretty normal occurrence these days, as my class is working on a big end-of-term research paper, so I often have students coming in for help. However, this time they were coming to inform me that they were planning to attend a 'general student meeting' to discuss how to react to the continued lecturer's strike, and that this meeting was set for 2:00, just 30 mins. before our class time. The students assured me the meeting would likely go much longer than 30 mins., so they'd need for me to cancel the class. I then took a look at their schedules and determined that tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. would work, since our class doesn't normally meet on Tuesdays. I asked them to spread the word, and then went to get the office key in my 'pigeon hole' (British for internal mailbox, for the bloody Yanks out there...).

Soon after arriving in my office, 4 of my other students came to ask the same question, and also took care of posting the class postponement notice I'd written up on the bulletin board outside the library, which is where such information is gathered at Chanco. A couple of those students actually needed help with their papers, so I took a look, gave them some advice, and off they went.

It was then that things got a little strange. I considered working on some materials for class the next day, but then decided I'd rather leave and take care of it later. Also, I realized that the cancellation allowed me to pick Deliwe up at the market, rather than letting her schlep onto a dreaded minibus back to Domasi.

As I headed out the door, that's when I noticed something was amiss... The place was a bit too quiet. Very few students were walking around, and faculty were non-existent. When I went out to the parking lot, my car was one of only two remaining. I had a strange feeling, but still didn't really realize what was happening. So, as I blindly pull out of the parking lot and begin to turn right down the road leading away from the college and towards the main road, I notice several large rocks had been placed in the road, blocking any possible exit. Uh oh. Student Demonstration. I'd heard about the infamous student protests at Chancellor College, but up until this point, they'd been merely myth to me. It was hard for me to see from where I was, but it appeared to be rather serious.

Luckily, there was a man walking down the road who assured me that I could not drive that way, and should take the "other road back into Zomba." I didn't actually know there WAS another road into town. Then, when I laid eyes on it (after first heading down the wrong road and turning around), I was very concerned. This was one of those "God, I wish I had a huge 4-wheel drive" kinda moments. I've had quite a few such moments since my car arrived, and though not fun, they're a common occurrence here in Malawi, where many of the roads are not fit for little Japanese cars. But, this was my trusty Toyota... the 'little car that could'.

So, I head down this very sketchy, very steep road which features a small wooden bridge over a small river. These bridges are also common here, and look rather sketchy, but so far, all have held up well for me, though I do clench my teeth, grimace, and white-knuckle it every time I have to cross one. Luckily, they are confined to the small dirt roads and only seem to cross smaller streams/ditches.

After crossing the stream, I gently meandered my way over boulders, through washed- out gullies, and around various obstacles in the road, all the while having no idea whether I was actually heading in the right direction. Luckily, this road also meandered through several villages, and there were always people around to ask when I came to a 'Y' junction, which happened several times. As usual, I heard several cries of 'Muzungu!', usually followed quickly thereafter by a "Hello! How are you?"

Eventually, some nice young schoolgirls helped to direct me on the final leg of my journey, and I offered them a ride in the car. This is a common practice here, but I'm always careful about who I'll pick up. I often give rides to my Chancellor College students as I'm heading down the road to campus, or young kids like these. There seems to be a lot of hitch-hiking around here, and people claim it's safe, but I'm still very cautious about it.

Once I got into town, made a quick market stop, and picked up Deliwe, we headed back to Zomba. On our way, we witnessed a large army truck with what looked like soldiers riding in the back, heading onto one of the back roads towards Chanco. Apparently, these were military police sent to restore order. I'd also received a call from one of my students after I arrived in Zomba, who was kindly checking to see that I was o.k. It seems my harrowing drive down the bumpy road was nothing compared to the danger I'd have faced had I made the mistake of heading down the main road from campus. She told me the demonstration had turned into a riot (by my standards), with students throwing rocks and getting violent. I know starting fires is a common occurrence at such 'demonstrations,' but she hadn't mentioned whether that was happening (yet). In any case, it looked like martial law was being put into place, which leads me to believe it had gotten pretty ugly.

I consider myself very lucky today, though Mr. Mwanza at Domasi College did assure me that the students would've left me alone, since they know "who had been teaching during the strike and who had not." Regardless, I'd never want to try my luck in the middle of an angry mob. Whew! Glad I made it to tell you all about it. I'll be sure to keep you posted. Actually, while writing this, I just received a text message from Sydney, my department head, saying that the college may close down tomorrow subject to 'approval of the council,' which I believe is the University Council. Looks like I won't be teaching tomorrow after all. Updates nightly. Stay tuned.

Hopefully mawa, I can also provide updates on the 'Village to Village' orphanage reading room project which is now officially underway. I'll try not to promise too much of an update right now, though, as I know where that gets me! Let's just say the carpenter's been paid for his materials, and should have started building shelves today. As always, stay tuned! Tiwonana Mawa!

Finally, time for LiLONGwe week... Not just Li-lONG-we, but WAY LONG!

Ok, ok... Finally, I've decided to write about my week in Lilongwe from Oct. 28-Nov. 2. I truly apologize for the late arrival of these stories. I even had one of my faithful Malawian readers write to me in Chichewa (Thanks to Deliwe for the translation, which I think she worded in a much nicer way than it was actually intended), chastising me for taking so long in writing about my week in Lilongwe. He or she even called me 'lazy' for not writing and uploading the pictures last week! Ah, that cut me to the core!! How many blogs do you know of that are actually written by full-time working professionals (not unemployed web-surfers) which actually feature updated (witty, creative, lively) posts EVERY day? I'd venture to say mine is the only one!! If you can find another, please let me know! Lazy! HA! Maybe that reader just doesn't like bugs... SORRY! ;-)

OK, so, I do have another story about the 'Village to Village' orphanage library/reading room project which is officially underway Monday morning, but I'll save that one for tomorrow, as I don't want to disappoint more readers by delaying the Lilongwe stories one more nanosecond.

I think I'm a bit worried that I built up the Lilongwe experience so much that perhaps now, a week later, it won't seem so incredibly interesting, and perhaps all of you (including the person who called me 'lazy') will be let down by the lack of thrill and intrigue of that week... perhaps I can 'beef it up' a bit... I'll do my best!

Since it has been over a week since I returned from my excursion, I'd just like to remind the 3-5 faithful readers out there that the reason I was sent was to work with a team of Domasi College of Education lecturers sent to the 'Lilongwe zone' of secondary schools and Teacher Training Colleges at which our 'traditional' (meaning resident, non-distance-learner) students are currently performing their teaching practice duties. What's interesting about the teaching practice here is that it is done over several years, rather than just at the end of the students' 4 years of study, which is usually the case in the U.S. These students are actually sent out for practice in their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years of study, and each time they are observed by DCE lecturers an average of 4 times. Of course, the goal of these observations is to give feedback for student improvement, rather than just to determine whether they've 'passed' or 'failed' this practicum portion of their programs. I think it's an excellent experiential model for any good education program, and this in itself was impressive to me.

The week in itself started a bit late, as the chief coordinator, Dr. Kalande, had a church engagement that delayed the start of our trip by about 3 hours. She had visited my house on the day before (Sat. Oct. 27) to let me know, but since I wasn't home, Deliwe relayed the message, but somehow misunderstood that we were leaving at noon. Of course, I was ready to go on time (for once, as my close friends/family can attest), and then ended up waiting a good 2 hours, until I saw the deputy principal, Mr. Mwanza, driving past my house, and found out the actual departure time was changed to 3 p.m. Oh, well... I got some papers graded in the meantime.

The other big triumph for me was that I managed to pack a week's worth of clothing and toiletries into one small backpack. Again, my close family/friends will be amazed by that one... Ya, I only brought 3 skirts and 5 shirts, and no extra outfits. I also wore everything I packed. You'd have to know me well to know that was a big milestone. It was packed to the gills, but I got it all in.

The way up was relatively uneventful, so I'll skip over the details. We got in after dark, checked into the hotel, and then had dinner at a nice Indian-owned restaurant. One thing I noticed during this trip is that Malawians (well, at least my colleagues) seem to have one favorite meal to eat when on the road-- fried chicken and chips ('French Fries' for the 'Yanks' out there...). I couldn't really understand why, but a couple of my colleagues ate this same meal at least once a day every day during that week. Deliwe did explain to me this past weekend that it's something people don't generally cook at home, so I guess this could be a good reason.

So, we settled into our rooms, had a short meeting at around 8 p.m. during which we talked about the goals for the week and chose a 'programmer,' (i.e. 'scheduler')which was the poor guy who had to stay up late every night figuring out which students each lecturer should observe based on the subject being taught, the student teacher's schedule, the location of the school, among other factors. Needless to say, the chief and the programmer were up very late that first night planning the schedule. (and also up late most other nights that week...). This is an overwhelming project in terms of coordination, as you can probably imagine.

The other huge challenge for me was the fact that we started our days very early in comparison to my usual schedule here. I generally get up after 7 a.m., but in this case we were usually leaving the hotel by 6:45 a.m., and of course eating breakfast before that, so these were much earlier mornings for me.

For me, one of the biggest thrills of staying in the hotel ("The Capital City Motel") was the presence of a T.V. Though I hate to admit it, I have missed watching T.V. a bit. However, much to my dismay, there were only about 3 channels, and only one of them had anything interesting airing on any given night. This particular channel changed networks at different times of day and on different days. On Sunday night, they were airing a program on the National Geographic Channel, which is my favorite cable channel back home. I was really psyched about that. However, every other night, it aired as MTV. Now, when I was a teenager, I loved MTV. But, those were the days of The Police (Best band EVER), Duran Duran, Split Enz, U2, Cindy Lauper, The Cars, INXS, Madonna (early years), and the list goes on and on... The stuff they're playing now-- well, I just don't get it. Ya, I'm old. Now I finally understand how my mother felt when my little sis Heather and I wanted to watch that channel for hours on end... Still, it was SO MUCH COOLER and MORE FUN then! But, I digress...

The only other 'staple' program was 'Big Brother Africa.' Holy snooze button! I've never seen a more boring program in all my life. They actually show people sleeping. Sleeping! And they call this entertainment! Yes, I know... this show started in the U.S. Reality TV is another American export I can hang my head in shame about. Sorry Africa!! At least there's no McDonald's here in Malawi! Count your blessings every minute on that one...(actually, I have yet to see an American chain restaurant in this country... this is a first for me, and I've been to a few different countries, so that's saying a lot... Wow, what a relief!)

So, back to business. Each day, we visited different schools, and usually observed either 3rd year or 4th year students teaching in secondary schools or Teacher Training Colleges. For the non-Malawians, I have to explain the system here a bit. It's at least partially based on the British system, so is quite different from the system we have in the States. First of all, primary education here is from 1st to 8th grade-- it starts at "Standard One" and ends at "Standard Eight." After each level, students take big national exams to pass to the next level. After "Standard Eight," students can go on to Secondary School, but this is somewhat limited, as it is not free (though primary schools here are free). So, only the students whose parents can afford school fees can attend secondary school, which is similar to the American High Schools, with four grades, known as "Form One" to "Form Four." After Form Four, those who want to go on to college take college entrance exams, and those exams determine whether you can continue into post-secondary education. Of course, the exams are quite tough and competitive, so only the intellectual and socially elite (i.e. those with the means) generally have the privilege to continue their education past the secondary level.

In addition to traditional state-run universities (Like the University of Malawi, of which Chancellor College is a branch), there are also several Teachers' Training Colleges (TTC's). These are focused on training teachers for primary-level education certificates (mainly to address the ever-present teacher shortage here), which are earned in two years-- one year of classwork, and one year of student-teaching. Many students at Domasi College of Education train to work at these colleges, training future primary school teachers. Most of these students are trained primary school teachers themselves who go on for a diploma in order to train teachers.

OK, so there's the background. So, each day we travelled to one or two different schools, or TTC's, observed classes, filled out an evaluation form, and discussed it with the student teachers. For me, it was a great opportunity to see what the typical public school classrooms are like, and also to meet some of the traditional students at DCE, since I arrived here just after their programs ended, so didn't have a chance to meet or talk with them. What really made an impression on me was the huge challenges these teachers face, often with class sizes in the 70-80 range, very limited resources, and sometimes very worn-out facilities. Despite all this, they still manage to teach well-planned, orderly lessons, and overall the students are well-behaved and eager to learn...(I wonder how my public schoolteacher friends are reacting to this). Unfortunately, I was a little shy about taking my camera out until later in the week, as the most interesting classroom for me was the first one we visited on Monday morning (myself and Jacqueline, the Dean of Education, who was guiding me through that first day, since I was new to the process), due to the fact that the class was VERY big, and very crowded, often with 2 or 3 kids sitting at one desk.

That class also had its weaknesses, one of which being the fact that this very young, inexperienced student teacher was working on tag questions (i.e. You don't like Indian food, do you?), and made the mistake of having students demonstrate in front of the class two-by-two, choosing randomly from students who raised their hands. Each time, she worked it out so that there was one boy and one girl doing the small dialogue, and of course they each had to come up with a tag question which the other student then had to answer. During one such practice, the very brave girl asked her male counterpart, "You are very handsome, aren't you?" Of course, this was followed by roaring laughter on the part of the young, hormonal, teenage class (Form one, I believe, which is about age 13/14, if I'm not mistaken). After the roaring laughter finally died down, the cute young boy confirmed for her, quite confidently, smile beaming across his face, "Yes, I am!" (again followed by roaring laughter). I can't help following that story with a tag. Some things in life are truly universal, aren't they? Puberty, it appears, is definitely one of them. This was definitely the highlight of that lesson for all of those present.

Another thing I noted is that here, the teachers tend to take a very authoritative tone with the students. I suppose this is somewhat necessary with such big classes, but at times it seemed a bit harsh from an American point of view. In addition to that, in some ways it didn't agree with the learner-centered, interactive approach championed by DCE. This, among other factors, led to a bit of a gap between practice and theory as it was outlined on our observation logs, and I, for one, upon following the rubric, turned out to be the toughest critic/grader. I was a bit worried about this, but my colleagues assured me I was on the right track, and that the disconnect actually exists in the gradual transformation taking place currently from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered approach in secondary education. Of course, things like class size and limited materials also factor into these matters, and there is a way to go, though it was good to see that DCE is on the right track as far as educational theory is concerned. The question may be as to whether learner-centered approaches are always realistic considering the large class sizes, as well as the cultures within which these schools operate. This is something I hope and expect to learn much more about during my stay here.

So, other than the classroom visits, we did get a chance to do a bit of sightseeing, the first of which was to the Deputy Principal, Mr. Mwanza's village on Tuesday afternoon. The pictures at left tell all. We went to visit his mother and brother briefly since we were in the area. This visit was preceeded by a visit to a roadside stand to buy beef. This was a bit of a culture shock for me, as the vendors basically have a side of beef hanging from a hook (like you might see in a slaughterhouse), and you choose the part you want, after which they saw it off with a big knife, put it on a basic scale, and then throw it in a plastic bag for you. All the while, flies are crawling on the meat. Ya, enough to make even this carnivore a confirmed vegetarian. As a sidenote, I'm much less of a carnivore here in Malawi, as meat is really eaten as a treat here. I think I've had beef once since I came. I've had chicken maybe 5 or 6 times. Fish has been my major animal-based protein, and Deliwe usually cooks that about once a week. Ya, we're definitely eating way too much meat in the U.S., among other things... I'd better not 'go there' just yet. This is one of my favorite topics to discuss here... the oversized American populous... whooaaa...

So, we had an interesting, but quick visit. Of course, the beef, as you now know, is a very special treat here, so Mr. Mwanza's mother was very happy to see it. I did the Mzungu thing and took out my camera, encouraging the throngs of village kids to crowd around, fighting for a spot in every picture. As usual, it was fun, and interesting, and I was a complete oddity. The pictures at left say it all.

In addition to that, on our last afternoon in Lilongwe on Thursday, we made a quick stop at Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda's Memorial site. This was a kind gesture also made by Mr. Mwanza, who, incidentally, is one of the best 'bosses' I've ever had. I was paired with him for most of the week, and found him to be excellent company, quite enlightened, humorous, friendly, frank, and pleasant. I haven't had a supervisor like that in quite some time, and I must say it's so refreshing to be around a person in power who is actually confident, respects the people working for him, and isn't afraid to show that respect, and just 'be real.' Let's just say that as I get older, that kind of 'boss' seems to get more and more scarce. Thanks, Mr. Mwanza, for restoring my faith in the possibility that I can work for another human being without losing my mind!

In any case, for those who need a quick history lesson, Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda was what Most Malawians refer to as the "Founding Father of Malawi." He enjoys this title because he helped lead the country in its revolution against the British which was accomplished in 1964. He then pronounced himself 'life president,' and ruled the country as a dictator for 30 years, until giving up power due to internal and external pressures in 1994. His regime has been described as very autocratic, heavy-handed, and intolerant of opposition. It is said that many of his rivals, including some intellectuals who challenged his policies, were actually either exiled or fed to crocodiles. Despite these criticisms, many Malawians (including Mr. Mwanza) look to him as their true leader, and as a 'father figure.' Unfortunately, the multi-party democratic system which was established in 1994 with the election of Bakili Muluzi, also was incredibly flawed, and the country ended up much worse off in a lot of ways after his 10-year reign ended in 2004. Muluzi has been blamed for a lot of the failings of the democratic system here, and is one huge reason that people long for the days of Banda, who at least kept a semblance of order, developed agricultural systems, and improved the infrastructure of the country.

In any case, I'm not a Malawian historian, but I've been doing a bit of reading on the subject lately (much of which was due to an essay assignment my Chanco students wrote which I finished grading last week), so I feel like I've gained a lot of knowledge on the subject. My main point is that though Banda is highly controversial, he is also regarded here as a great man who made some significant developments in the country. I'm sure a few of my faithful Malawian readers will set the record straight if that conclusion is incorrect... ok, bring it on! I can take it! But, if possible, can you write it in English for ALL of us to enjoy? Zikomo Kwambili! (Thanks a bunch!)

OK, so, with that, I think I'll close for the evening. It is approaching midnight, and this post is quite long. I think I've covered the main events of my week in Lilongwe, without getting into too much exhaustive detail (hmmm... that may be debatable, at best)... But, at least this time NO ONE can call me lazy in ANY language... at least not truthfully, that is! ;-)

Thanks for sticking with me through it all, and exhibiting the greatest virtue, patience, during that crazy spider-laden week!! (BTW, it's been raining a lot, so I'm bracing myself for the next ninja spider outbreak...) Tiwonana Mawa!

Not a 'real' post...Or is it?

Hey, just checking in... this is not a 'real' post, as now I'm actually doing this at a very late hour, but I'm concerned that someone might actually take me up on the free gin offer (again) for not posting yesterday or today. Yesterday (Friday, Nov. 9) the power actually went out here just as I was about to start writing, and tonight I just got started too late!

I've had a very busy day, starting with the beginnings of a small reading library project at the "Village to Village" Orphanage which I described in a much earlier post. It's a project I'm very excited about, and it's now underway... details to come tomorrow (hopefully). Deliwe and I then went to Limbe this afternoon for a small errand (buying an AC adaptor for a printer sent from the U.S., since I burned out the first one on the high-voltage input here.. Duh...), then off to Blantyre for lunch and a bit of shopping. We actually ran into a woman there... Kathleen, the Fullbright PhD candidate I believe I also mentioned in an earlier post. She just moved to Blantyre from Zomba for reasons both professional and personal, so of course we had to chat about that for awhile. By the time we got going, of course it was after dark, so we had the joy of the harrowing drive in the dark back to Zomba, where we stopped for Dinner, then on to Domasi...(though I'm finally getting used to being bullied to the edge of the road by huge trucks heading my way on very narrow roads, not to mention the continuous high-beam headlight blindness caused by drivers who turn them down at the last minute or not at all. Good times. Luckily, unlike some of my less-fortunate siblings, I have the night vision of an owl (most likely my spirit animal, but we'll touch on that another time).

Speaking of the owl, proof is in the hour (12:45 a.m.). I'm wide awake and in my office, rambling on this blog. It's the first night for awhile that my internet connection's been good, my computer's behaving, and there hasn't been a blackout...I even had a nice long 'Skype' convo. with my boyfriend, followed by my first visit to Facebook in a long while, featuring several interesting 'You Tube' videos sent to my 'Super Wall'-- had no idea all that stuff was on there-- Ya, there's a reason my name is JenX...TOO MUCH INFORMATION, runnin through my brain, too much information, drivin me insane! (Ah, in the words of my favorite band OF ALL TIME... remember who?)...

On that note, I'll sign off... hope to get 'caught up' with all the stories/pix tomorrow... Tiwonana Mawa!

***NOTE: Guess that turned out to be a 'real' post, after all... HA!

Guess I need to change topics, huh?

So, it appears that insects are not on the top of the list of things that excite my loyal readers, as evidenced by the lack of participation in my exciting ninja spider sightings poll. Only 6 respondants took the time (approx. 2 seconds) to enter their guesses. Well, 2 of you were right-- exactly 30%. The answer is... (drumroll, drumroll, drumroll), I know you're all on the edge of your seats now... FOUR! Congratulations to the 2 anonymous respondents that may someday get a paperweight in the mail featuring a big hairy spider killed especially for you by Deliwe and put in that clear stuff that hardens so you can see the beautiful dead spider in all its glory forever and ever, AMEN!

So, for those who want to claim their 'prize,' please reveal your identity in the comments section, including mailing address and/or e-mail, so I can get those preserved dead spiders out to you right away!

Something tells me my loyal readership just dwindled by 30%. Well, 4 outta 6 ain't too bad, is it?

OK, so, new topics. It's now after 10 p.m., so, this'll be short. I've been having lotsa computer connection problems lately, so gave up this afternoon and decided to come back to the office after dinner to do my internet duties. In addition to that, it's gotten REALLY HOT HERE! It appears that during this time of year in Malawi, one has basically 2 options: 1) Lots of pouring rain, followed by cooler temperatures and insect/spider infestations, or 2) drought-like conditions featuring extremely hot temperatures with relatively high levels of humidity. I'm still trying to decide which is worse... Spiders or sizzling heat? The jury's still out. I'll keep you posted.

In other news, rumor has it that we experienced an earthquake last night in Malawi! I had no idea this was possible here, but as it turns out, they're quite rare. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), this anomaly occurred in the early morning hours (around 4 a.m.) so neither Deliwe nor I experienced it, as we were still snoring happily at that hour. However, as I've mentioned before, many people here are actually up at such god-forsaken early hours, so based on their eye-witness accounts, it appears to be true! I've been trying to find news of it on the internet, but as of yet, no luck. I'd love to see some actual documentation of this occurrence, so if anyone (especially the 2 or 3 faithful readers in Malawi) can forward any via the comments section here, I'd be eternally grateful! (I might even send you one of those preserved spiders, just to show my gratitude! ;-)

Another quick note... Deliwe and I now have a family living with us... stay tuned for more details on that tomorrow...(he he, now I know how to keep you comin' back!)

Due to the late hour, and my need for sleep due to a complete energy drain from extreme heat, I'll now sign off. Don't worry, tomorrow I promise to finally tell all the stories of last week's trip to Lilongwe, complete with pictures. (that is, if all 4 of you are still interested...) Tiwonana Mawa!

Spiders in hiding (for now, that is...)

OK... I've noticed that only 5 readers have participated in the poll so far. Again, possible confirmation that I really only have about 5 faithful readers. Well, that's better than zero, so I'll count my blessings ;-) Due to the low turnout, I'll keep the poll up a bit longer, and refrain from giving the answer until the official deadline, which is 5 p.m. tonight. It's already after 5 p.m. Malawi time, so I'm guessing that's U.S. time, though I have no idea which time zone on which "Blogger" operates. So, according to my computer clock which is still set on U.S. Eastern Standard Time (11:50 a.m.), the masses of faithful 'Malawi 'n me' readers out there who'd still like to make a guess should have a little more than 5 hours to do so. Act now, or forever lose your right to vote in the fabulous exciting mutant ninja spider poll!!!

***(BTW, I just looked again after posting and the poll tells exactly how much time is left when you log in... DUH!! Sorry for that rambling, but I'm too lazy to go back and edit my previous comments...)

So, what are you waiting for? Make a guess! How many did I see? Don't you wanna know? Aren't you curious? What I can say for now is that as of last night, the spiders seem to have gone into hiding (except for that one fat black one I saw last night, but he was a mere speck compared to our other furry friends).

According to my sources here (o.k., Deliwe, since she's my source for just about everything these days), they'll all come back after it rains again. It's been quite dry so far since Sunday, so the numbers and sizes have clearly dwindled since my last post. In fact, tonight I was able to keep my office door open after dark for the first time in a long while. As I've mentioned earlier, it appears that after a big rainstorm, all kinds of creatures surface from some underground bog where they hibernate until the moisture above sets them free.

I made this glorious dicovery late last week even before the spider incidents, when I was caught in my office after dark with the door open (I'd already closed the windows), and little by little, these small insects flew in. Somehow, I didn't realize it until the office was swarming with them, so of course I had to close the door to avoid letting more in. This, of course, resulted in a catch-22 situation, as now I was trapped inside the office with all the flying insects swarming around me. Not only that, but the power cut out at around the same time. So, at that point I couldn't see anything except my computer screen, and meanwhile things were flying around my head, and into my hair, and of course this was a bit traumatic, as I tried to shut everything down, while trying to see what was going on, simultaneously flailing my arms around as I tried to fend the little buggers off. Little did I know that my experiences with insects would get much worse the following day (as we all now know from this week's posts).

On that same note, I'd also like to point out that these flying insects don't seem to live long, which of course could be a major reason for their recent absence. When I returned to my office later, all of them were lying dead on the floor. There's also a large, gold-colored flying beetle-like insect which I call the 'suicide bug,' because every time I see it, it seems to literally fly headlong into walls, and even into the floor, and then it eventually dies. I watched one of these things literally work its way under my bedroom door last night (yes, it crawled under the door), and proceed to fly around the room, smashing itself into the walls and furniture, then apparently having something that looked like an 'insect seizure' belly-up on the floor. This ritual happened a few times, until finally, silence. In the morning, I found his carcass waiting for me to collect and give back to the earth (specifically, he became fertilizer for one of my small papaya trees.)

So, this is the cycle of these bugs, apparently. It rains, they're born, they throw themselves against the walls for a day and then die. Hmmm... sounds a bit like human life at times (well, at least mine... I can't speak for all humans, though sometimes I'm inclined to do so...). Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to live for just one day, eh? Though I know I wouldn't be spending it smashing into things incessently until I finally die in a seizure-like state belly-up on the floor-- at least I hope not...Hopefully I could get some travel, romance, enlightenment, good food and wine, music, and a few other pleasures in first. Food for thought.

So, with that strangely philosophical take on the life of the 'suicide bug', I'll sign off for today. Tomorrow, a new topic. I get the feeling my loyal readership isn't as "into" the bug thing as I am... Ya, last week in Lilongwe! I need to tell those stories mawa! See you then!