The good, the bad, and the ugly...

Hey! Are you all still there? The faithful? The Loyal? The not-so-faithful, nor not-so-loyal? Well, I'm still here... in Malawi, that is... Hoping to get back in the swing of the bloggin' thing soon, as finally I'm almost myself again.

Now, it's down to about 3-4 weeks left here (still waitin for official itinerary, which is the reason for the non-committal (is that a word?) time frame... Not that I'm countin the days or anything, but I must say I have my moments... the good, the o.k., and the not-so-good. Or, shall we say, the good, the bad, and the ugly... Ya, I like that. In fact, I'll make it my title now (writing title, already written by the time you see this). Ya, it's a borrowed cliche from an old Clint Eastwood western (if I'm not mistaken), but a good one for this post...

So, here it is, my life here, as of late... I'll start with the good:

THE GOOD #1:

I had a really cool visitor come to see me most of the week right after we lost Penga. Her name is Kate, and she's here on a short-term project with the UNDP (United Nations Development Program, for the international-organization-acronym challenged). Luckily, she'd been working with the USDOS (U.S. Dept. of State, for the U.S. Govt.-acronym challenged) when she'd decided to take on this small project, and they told her about me, saying something like, "I think we have an English Language Fellow posted in Malawi." (A good --well, decent-- joke about the USDOS has been recently censored here due to sensitive nature of subject and certain people formerly and currently being paid by them-- I'll just leave the last part in, and you can try to figure out the rest). Last part of censored joke: Could explain why our country's foreign policy is a complete disaster (well, besides that guy in the White House, but don't get me started)...

Eventually, Kate got my contact info, e-mailed me before coming over, and also called me when she arrived in early April. After a short stay in Blantyre, she came to the Zomba region for her research and stayed with Deliwe and I. During her stay, we had a great time, just chatting and enjoying some of the tourist attractions of the area, including Liwonde National Park (where we actually stayed at the fancy Mvuu Camp Deliwe and I wandered into during our first visit there in Oct. '07-- we also had a GREAT elephant adventure there!!), Zomba Plateau, Lake Chilwa (not much to see, but at least we saw it), and the one 'site' I've actually visited in Blantyre-- David Livingstone's mission church built in the late 1800's. That was actually the first place we visited when we met up on Tues., 22 April. Afterwards, I stayed one night in Kate's room at Kabula Lodge (very nice, affordable place with a great view, for those lookin for somewhere to stay in Blantyre).

Kate stayed with Deliwe and I for the next week, leaving early in the morning on Friday 2 May, and her stay couldn't have been at a better time, since we were still reeling from what had happened to our kitty Penga. Kate was very sympathetic to our sadness over our loss, and also a fun and interesting person to have around, so helped take our minds off of this terrible thing we'd just experienced.

This leads me to:

THE BAD #1:

Kate left. Now, we really miss her as we'd gotten used to having her around, and she also was using the room we'd kept Penga's food and litter box in... so, of course, things felt really empty and a bit sad again. Especially Sunday. Sundays are really hard for me these days.

THE UGLY #1:

The trip to Zambia with the aerobics group fell through at the last minute, leaving me to figure out a way to go on my own. I spent a lot of time/money (for phone calls) trying to find someone else with time/money to go with me. Couldn't find a soul. Kate (who'd been travellin with her boyfriend since she'd left) had gone on a safari in Zambia with her boyfriend this past Thurs. (8 May) to today (Sun. 10 May), so asking her was not an option. Which leads me to:

THE GOOD #2:

I found a way to go to Zambia on my own with the same safari group this coming week, and visit Luongwa National Park, which Kate just told me today is spectacular. I haven't seen a lion, zebra, or a giraffe in Malawi (not many here), so I'm excited for the close encounters she's told me about.

THE BAD #2:

I don't get to see Victoria Falls, unfortunately (my primary goal of this trip).

THE UGLY #2:

I'll be travelling alone, with one other couple whom I don't know. I hope they're cool. Chances are about 30/70, based on my experiences here so far. (30 percent that they'll be cool, unfortunately... though I have had better luck with 'travelling/temporary' mzungus here than I've had with the more permanent ones living here (one reason I'm travelling alone...It's not me, though... this I know, as I've never experienced this before anywhere else-- more on that issue another time...)

To end this post on a high note, I'll finish with a few more of the 'Goods':

THE GOOD #3 Despite what some may have believed, the investigation of the ridiculous excuse for a vet Dr. Bakili has begun. I've been in contact with certain members of the board, the 2 doctors who saw her on that horrible day filed reports last week, and the latest I hear is that the board is set to meet on the issue very soon. Keep the good vibes and prayers comin on that one... it seems to be working!

THE GOOD #4: The Children's Reading Room at Village to Village Orphanage is now open for 'business'. Most of the books from the U.S. (98% of which were from the Pine Ridge Middle School book drive in FL) came in on Tues., we stocked the shelves Tues. and Wed., and opened our doors to the kids on Thurs., 8 May. After a quick orientation to 'Jennifer's Rules,' by myself and our primary volunteer Alex (retired primary school teacher-- PERFECT for the job), the reading began. Soon I'll post some pix of the resulting happy faces. We're also planning a launch on 22 May with all the local V.I.P's (including my colleagues of course) hopefully in attendance... Whew! It's finally happening!


THE GOOD #5: I finished my class at Chanco this past Thursday, and was actually a bit sad about it, as they turned out to be a really good group. They gave me all the credit saying that I was a great instructor. It was really nice to end that on a high note, as I'd felt so badly for teaching them on such a short-term basis. In fact, I will miss them, as I'd already gotten a bit attached to this group. They were very committed students, and had great attitudes... even laughed at most of my jokes (even the lame ones) during class. Too bad the strike kept us from working together longer. Hopefully the next instructor (I'm told to be hired this week... hmmm...) will have a similar experience to mine. Good luck LAN 150 & 160! Hope your stay at Chanco is relatively strike-free and you finish within 4 to 5 years!! ;-)


So now, I must sign off, as I'm waiting for a visit from my gardener, whom I've discovered has an issue with domestic abuse (Ya, another 'ugly' unfortunately), stemming from a problem with alcohol. I came very close to kicking him off my property for good last week, but settled for a visit to the police (who told me that violence related to a 'domestic dispute' is not against the law-- ya, they got a piece of my mind that day--), followed by a serious counseling session in which he promised not to drink anymore, as this seems to be the source of his intermittent violent temper. Two strikes and he's out. I suppose this is a personal issue, so I'll just leave it at that. I have no tolerance for either alcoholism nor violence. Though I wouldn't normally write something of such a personal nature here, I feel compelled, as it's now in my backyard and doesn't seem to be going away (though up to this moment I thought everything was fine).

I'm relatively certain that deep down this man is a good person, which makes it hard to take such action. If he raises a hand to anyone on my property again, he's out (don't worry, the family can stay). By the way, this is a VERY common issue in Malawi... more on that later, too...

Wish me luck, and sorry to end with an 'ugly,' but unfortunately the timing (a phone call from him minutes ago) was the catalyst. I'll keep you posted. Tiwonana Mawa!