Mar. 19 post (below) is really Mar. 26 post!!

Hey, something weird just happened. I just put up a new post, but the site entered the date I originally started writing it, which was last week (Mar. 19)-- I guess this provides proof for all of my loyal readers that I really tried to post that day, but the connection was lost (I think it was a power-outage that time). In any case, just for clarity, I actually completed the post today, Mar. 26. Some of the items mentioned in the text happened since last week, so I now feel the need to clarify this. Still, no video though... AAARGH!! I'll be sure to alert everyone when I can get it to work... I'm sure it's simple. If you know how to compress a video, please feel free to let me know how in the 'comments' below, and you can even tell me how simple it is and how ridiculous I am for not knowing how to do it. Bring it on, I can take it! ;-)

The Roller Coaster of Life in Malawi continues...

***NOTE: I'm having trouble compressing the video promised in the early part of this posting, but I'm determined to figure this bit of (likely simple) technology out so that I can either upload the thing here or onto a website so that I can provide a link. In any case, it will be up, I promise, before I leave this country, so please keep checkin!!

First of all, I want to apologize profusely to the remaining 2 or so faithful readers for my two-plus week break without posting. As usual, the primary reason is lack of reliable internet here. Ironically, each time I'm about to start writing a new post, I either lose the connection or there is a power outage. Welcome to my life in Malawi! Always a new surprise around the corner.

Luckily, when the internet connection is working here at Domasi, however, it is quite good. I'm counting on that fact right now, as I finally upload my FIRST video onto this site! Finally, below is the video taken back in January that I wanted to share with all of you. I'm not going to tell you exactly what's going on here, as I want you to figure it out for yourself. Then, I want you to ask yourselves (especially those of you from outside of Malawi): What's WRONG with this picture? And then ask, what's RIGHT with this picture? And then, just send me some comments. I'm curious if your initial reaction to the sight depicted in this video is at all similar to mine when I stumbled upon it one afternoon. Once I get a few comments, I'll explain what's happening here a bit further (especially to the non-Malawians out there...).

(VIDEO HERE--when I can figure out how to bloody compress it, that is...)

On a sidenote, I'm very embarrassed to admit that uploading a video onto the blog is REALLY REALLY easy. I just had to click on a 'movie' icon for the new post... my excuse for not realizing this earlier is that I upload pictures outside of my posts using the 'layout' function, rather than uploading them directly into my posts. That's why all the photos appear at the left side. It's also what makes my blog particularly unique, interesting and fabulous, don't you think? ;-)

OK, post your comments NOW! I really wanna see your reactions to this! BTW, more video to come soon (providing this one works), so STAY TUNED!!

So, now that I've finished my fabulous video opening, It's time now to elaborate on the title of this post.

You may recall a posting some time ago which focused on highlights and lowlights of my life here. This one will be somewhat similar, as I will recall the ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ (actually, ‘downs’ and ‘ups’) of the roller-coaster ride I call my life in Malawi. Luckily this time, much like a real roller-coaster ride, for each ‘down,’ there is an immediate ‘up’, hopefully not followed by motion sickness... we shall see…

OK, so here we go. My last posting was March 6, so I’ll try to recall the major events since then...

ROLLIN DOWN I: Chancellor College continues on a stalemate. The last news I heard (about 2 weeks ago) was that the University Council (i.e. ‘government’) were taking 5 of the ‘ringleader’ lecturers to court for violating an injunction ordered against the lecturers’ strike back in Nov. ’07. This was the very court action which forced them to return to work in late Nov. Apparently, by holding the grades, they are currently violating that injunction order; thus, breaking the law. Jail time could result. However, I’ve not been able to find more news on this since two weeks ago. Students have also held a few protests of their own in the major cities here, including a ‘sit in’ outside the council offices, which seems to have had little effect so far.

CREEPIN BACK UP I: On the upside, the impasse at Chanco has allowed me to focus my energies on my teaching at Domasi College, as well as the Village to Village Reading room project (more on that later). I’ve come to realize that had I been teaching at both places this term, I would likely have been quite overwhelmed, considering the fact that I’ve got 95 students in my class at Domasi. This is a record number for me in my teaching career thus far. Let’s just say the marking (grading) alone keeps me off the streets most of the time.

ROLLIN DOWN II: ESCOM!! The dreaded electric company saga continues. This time, I had to bring two gentlemen from Domasi College into the office to help me argue. Let’s just say my ‘Ugly Mzungu American’ line of questioning/ argument was getting me nowhere with these people. Though the 3 of us attempted to meet the ‘guy in charge’ on Friday, Mar. 14, of course we hit the office right at lunch hour, from which he never returned. So, we arranged a meeting for Mon., Mar. 17th… Erin Go Bragh!

CREEPIN BACK UP II: We indeed met on Mar. 17th, and there was a bit of power in our numbers. Just having two relatively calm Malawian men with me to back up my claim of the bogus MK5,800 charge on my bill, seemed to produce some sort of result with the man behind the desk. Let’s just say it’s now ‘under investigation,’ with me vehemently suggesting that ESCOM absorb the costs for irregular billing of its customers (ya, they claimed that my exhorbitant reading back in Sept. ’07 right after I arrived was the result of ‘underbilling’ a previous customer…). Now, he’s investigating who was underbilled, and how long ago, and then if we can locate this person the bill might get paid. Hmmm… I think we’re breakin them down slowly… this reasoning cannot hold up… but then again, this is the powerful power-producing- and hoarding electric company. I have a love/hate relationship with bein the underdog. I think we’re gonna win this one… We shall see… Hopefully the ‘luck o’ the Irish’ was with us…

ROLLIN DOWN III: My friend David discovered he will not be able to buy my car after all, due to the RIDICULOUSLY INFLATED duty tax! It’s MK500,000 (about $3500 USD). This is about ¾ of the price I paid for the car. Looks like I have to find another buyer, likely a foreigner who doesn’t have to pay duty.

CREEPIN BACK UP III: No upside yet, though I have talked with a couple of Mzungus who might be in the market soon. I’ve also got the car advertised in a newsletter in Lilongwe, set up by the Public Affairs people who are my contacts. No bites yet. Still creepin slowly…

ROLLIN DOWN IV: We had some trouble moving forward with the Village to Village Orphanage Reading Room project, due to the carpenter getting sick, and taking a much longer time to complete it than we’d planned. In addition, the painting phase was the opposite—a bit rushed for my taste, and I didn’t get to oversee as much of that phase as I’d hoped.

CREEPIN BACK UP IV: Upon starting the ‘book-stocking’ phase of the project, I’m having much better luck, as well as a lot of fun and renewed excitement for the project. Not only have I taken a couple of very successful trips into Blantyre to look at and order kids’ books—1st with Deliwe and her younger brother Movuto 2 weeks ago, then with Deliwe last week—but I’ve also solicited the help of a few friends back home via a spam e-mail asking for book donations. The most fruitful response came from my Godfather’s daughter-in-law Kimberly Gonder, who is a 7th-grade Geography teacher at Pine Ridge Middle School in Naples, FL. As luck would have it, her classes are currently studying a unit on Africa, so she managed to get her students to organize a school-wide book drive. My last e-mail from her put the book-count into the hundreds! Yahoo! Not only that, but several students at her school are getting involved in a pen-pal program with secondary school students in Mzuzu (in the northern region of Malawi) as the result of a request by one of my ‘distance-learner’ student teachers from last November. These two developments are the most exciting for me since I came to Malawi. I love the idea of getting kids back home involved with my project here, as well as communicating with Malawian kids. I’ve gotten all teary-eyed a few times while reading Kim’s e-mails! Thanks so much to Kim, her colleagues, and the students at Pine Ridge! You guys ROCK!!

ROLLIN DOWN V: I actually had an experience this past week which was a first for me. One of my students passed away due to liver failure. He was in his late 30s, and also a student at Domasi Demonstration Primary School. Needless to say, there is no upside to that one.

ROLLIN DOWN VI: I had to postpone a trip up north over the long Easter holiday weekend (they get Friday AND Monday off here, like the Brits) due to a change in the graduation schedule at DCE for the students who finished in Sept. ’07 (Ya, here they have to wait for exam results to come out months later before they hold the ceremony). It was originally set for Mar. 29, but was moved back to Mar. 22 due to the busy schedule of a certain VIP graduation speaker.

CREEPIN BACK UP VI: The graduation speaker at DCE was the President of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika. So, for the first time in my life I got to see a Head of State in person, in the flesh, speaking live. Too bad they seated us on the stage behind him, so I mostly saw the back of his head (which, of course, made me wonder if they’d ever do this in the U.S. due to the obvious security risks… no friskin upon entry, btw, just in case you were wonderin…)

ROLLIN DOWN VII: Internet service is still spotty and unreliable. When it works, it generally only works for awhile, and then goes out. If the internet doesn’t go out, the lights do. Which reminds me—we’ve had a few more blackouts in the last couple of weeks as well… ESCOM IS EVIL ESCOM IS EVIL ESCOM IS EVIL!!!!

CREEPIN BACK UP VII: I was on the internet for a record 3+ hours Monday evening, though I didn’t get a posting up, since the video uploading was taking too long… (that was a bit of a downslide—I’m actually writing this posting at home—again—it’s becoming a trend now.)… In any case, I’m taking it as an omen that the service will be better this week. We shall see…

CREEPIN BACK UP VIII: After several weeks of REALLY HOT weather since I arrived back in January, we finally had a MAJOR cool-down last week! Ah, I thought it'd NEVER come, but it did-- finally. It was funny how I was so energized in my classes, while many of my students were shivering under sweaters and down ski jackets... Ya, I'm not kiddin, and it was probably in the low 60s on the Fahrenheit scale (about 17 degrees Celsius). The students (as usual) thought I was nuts, wearing short sleeves, a skirt, and sandals (my usual daily attire here). They were also annoyed by my energized, giddy, happy attitude. Funny how perceptions of and reactions to weather/temperature are so subjective. Since last week, the weather has continued to be relatively cool, especially at night. YAAAHOOOOO!!!

ONE LAST CREEP UP: I bought a bike last week, and finally had a chance to ride it today!! Good times… I’d forgotten how much ridin’ improves my mood… ironically, I bike a lot in the U.S., where most people drive everywhere. However, now that I’m living in a country where many people ride bikes just to get around, I never get to ride one myself. Now, I’m hopin to ride around more often, while providing more ‘crazy mzungu’ stares/stories for the local Domasi people. After all, that’s part of my job here, isn’t it?

With that, ending on a 'high roll,' I’ll sign off for now. Tiwonana soon!! (Internet-God-and-ESCOM-Devil-willing, that is… ;-)

Internet (and Chanco) woes continued…

***NOTE*** I know I've promised pix of the latest trip to Liwonde Nat. park, but due to continued lack of internet, I'm unable to upload them at this time. Hopefully by Sunday, they should be there for all to view, along with a few taken since that trip 2 weeks ago ;-)***

AAAARRRGGGHHH! I know it’s been over a week since my last posting! I’m actually writing this one from home on a Microsoft Word document on Wed. evening, hoping that I’ll have a better chance of getting a posting up by week’s end if I just write it ahead of time, since when I do get internet (either at Domasi or at Chanco), it seems to be limited—on again, off again, so to speak. My friend Jeff who is an ex-colleague from my days teaching at Samsung Human Resources Center in South Korea a couple of years ago recently joked during an online chat that the internet here might consist of hollowed out coconuts attached to strings. I know, this is not a very politically-correct joke, but I’m thinking of trying that method soon. Jeff, I’m not sure whether you’re still reading this blog, but take this as a warning that you’ll be the first one I call when I get that system up ‘n runnin’—Take heed, my friend…I’ve got a neighbor from Japan who’s a Computer Engineer… I wonder what he knows about coconuts? Maybe he’s got some ideas. I’ll keep ya posted…

So, since my last posting, I do have a couple of updates, and then I’ll give a few details of our trip to Liwonde National Park a couple of weekends ago (as promised over a week ago). For that one, you’ll find that the pictures say much more than my rambling notes on this page, but I’ll try to do it all justice, as always…

I’m sure many of the loyal, faithful, ever-devoted Malawi ‘n Me blog readers are dying to hear the latest news of the rumored lecturer’s strike at Chanco. Well, unfortunately, it is no longer a rumor. It is real. They went on strike officially last week when the University Council (i.e. ‘the government’ which funds and essentially ‘runs’ the college to an extent) would not negotiate the 200 % pay hike. Nevertheless, the council was forced to unfreeze (‘thaw-out??’) the frozen bank accts. due to a court injunction filed by the union lawyers. According to the local papers, that release of accounts took place on Monday afternoon of last week. So, upon phoning my dept. head at Chanco late last week, I was told officially that the strike is on. I’ve been on campus twice this week (the 1st time was Monday, a public holiday), and the 2nd time was yesterday, trying to get online—but that time I was interrupted by a storm-induced power outage. Both times, the place was like a ghost-town, though on Monday it sounded like the first-years were having some sort of a party, complete with a DJ blaring out hip-hop and Malawian pop music. Thus, it appears they’re not too shaken up by the never-ending extended holiday.

So, what happens now? It depends on who you talk to. I saw two lecturers from Chanco yesterday, both off-campus, and from different depts. (not my own). The first one I saw outside the bank in the afternoon. She told me, “I think it will be resolved soon. But, even if it is, it’s likely to be at least 3 weeks before classes will begin, since several bodies have to meet to discuss the grade results.” This is another aspect of the Malawi educational system I’m still trying to wrap my little American brain around. There are several meetings that happen after grades are assessed. The first one is at the department level. The next one is at the ‘faculty’ level, meaning Humanities faculty, Science faculty, etc. After that, there is some sort of inter-disciplinary meeting (not sure who goes to that one), and then there’s some sort of administrative meeting, and then a Faculty Senate meeting.

Now, all those Malawians out there, please take what I’m about to say with a ‘grain of salt’ because I come from a very different system. However, I must say I do not understand the point of all these meetings. Even the departmental one we had in Jan. seemed to me unnecessary, as it implies a need to ‘double-check’ grades to make sure they are ‘consistent and fair.’ However, I come from a place where grading/assessment is up to the discretion of the professor/lecturer who should be scholarly and professional enough to assess his/her own grades based on his/her course criteria and expectations. For me, it was a bit of a shock, and somewhat demeaning to have others look at my grades and make comments. We also did that with the exams, with everyone checking each other’s exams to make sure they were o.k., despite the fact that we did not teach the same courses (a process I start again tomorrow at Domasi.) Again, I’m not sure exactly why, except that there seems to be a perceived need to have some checks and balances on how lecturers assess their students. However, for me, the question still begs: If my colleagues have some issue with a grade or two on my roster, should I then change it simply because they say so? Is this ethical? What happens if the student finds out such a change was made, after he/she was assessed for the course, based on my criteria of what constitutes the score? It all seems very odd to me, and I just wanted to point that out. Again, take it with a grain. I’m an outsider, and still learning. Plus, I just bloody hate meetings, of any kind. So, any excuse to NOT have a meeting is heaven in my book, and any excuse to HAVE a meeting, and then another one, and another one, and another one… that’s just bloody hell. Big grain, big grain… For me, deep breaths, happy place, puppies ‘n kitties…

So, I guess they need to have this series of meetings about the grades, and then give some time for the upper-classmen (2nd, 3rd, and 4th years) to return to campus. Altogether, it takes a good 3 weeks to a month. We’re now at the end of the 1st week of March. This means at earliest, the campus will open again, teaching and all, during the final week of March, or, more likely, the first week of April. I’m not sure whether they celebrate April Fool’s day here, but I’ll keep my guard up if the announced start date is April 1. BTW, I’m set to leave the country on June 1, so I likely won’t be able to finish out the term regardless of what happens. BTW, the 2nd lecturer I ran into yesterday evening said she thought the term will never start. This week went by and no official word yet. I’ll keep you posted.

In other news, Deliwe and I took a nice hike up Zomba Mtn. on Saturday, and I finally got to see the famous “Queen’s View” and “Emperor’s View” of the Zomba Plateau. I’ll save my descriptions of that trip for the next posting, as well as the pix. Let’s just say it was a really nice day, and we had a great time, lots of exercise, topped off by fabulous food and too much coffee (on my part). I forgot they often serve a WHOLE pot of coffee here, and since I hardly drink the stuff anymore (only after-dinner treat at fancy restaurants), I literally could not sleep Saturday night. I was wide awake at 4 a.m., and really hungry for some reason, so Penga and I had some quality time in the kitchen at her usual wake-up time. Of course, I heard a few passers-by at some point as well… ya, I was truly on Malawi-time that morning. The freaky ‘caffeine high’ after-effects actually lasted most of the day, as my friend David can attest.

On Sunday, I went to visit my friend David and his family (wife Zion and little daughter) in Blantyre. They of course fed me nicely, and we watched their wedding video and also looked at the wedding pictures. Since I haven’t yet had the opportunity to attend a wedding here, it was good to see how it all works. I did find out that if I do attend a wedding here, I need to bring a lot of small bills, as there is a custom of dancing while throwing money onto a platter for the couple. I think they played about 20 songs, and people kept coming up and throwing more money onto the platter! It was like Heaven! --Well, my materialistic idea of Heaven if you needed money there… I like this custom. I think I’d better get married soon and try it for myself. I wonder if people back home would go for that. Gotta get some richer friends, and then get married. Could take awhile-- I’ll keep you posted…

So, other than that, not too much to tell. I am having a major issue with my electric bill (which I’ve only paid part of), but I’ll save that story for another time. It’s a long one. Basically boils down to the fact that I inherited someone else’s bill (the woman who moved out of here a year ago—April 2007) since she never had a final meter reading taken and failed to close out her bill. Then, another woman lived there for 3 months, and never received a bill, though it appears they read her meter. In any case, after much investigation, visiting 2 offices in Zomba several times and one in Blantyre, speaking with a total of 5 different people at different times on the matter, as well as waiting for over a month for an itemized statement, I was finally told this was the reason that my bill was so high. Yesterday, I finally paid for the part I think I really owe. Not sure if they’ll cut me off anyway. May need to develop the coconut string thing very soon. I’ll keep you posted…

And finally, the news you’ve been waiting for! Our trip to Liwonde National Park 2 weekends ago! Well, as you know, we’ve been there before. I chronicled our journey to the park back in October ’07 in great detail, so this one will be a bit less lengthy (well, just a bit—you know me). The major difference with this trip is that we stayed inside the park, in a campsite called Chinguni Hills. I was really looking forward to this, as I haven’t ‘camped out’ in quite a while, and it’s one of my favorite things to do. We only did a one-night overnight (Sat.-Sun.) since Deliwe is in school on Friday afternoons. In the end, that was just fine, as one night was more than enough, at least for the weekend we had chosen, probably the busiest weekend the place has ever seen. More on that in a moment.

I felt a little jinxed, actually, because I’d chosen that particular weekend for our trip on purpose, as I knew the following weekend was a holiday weekend, so might be a bit busy for traveling. With this in mind, and my need to really ‘get away,’ I thought I’d laid out a great plan. Well, you know what they say about ‘the best laid plans of mice and men…” Ya. The place was packed. Not only packed, but packed with kids. No, not little rugrat kinda kids… the worst kind. Teenagers. But not just teenagers. Rich, spoiled brat British teenagers who thought they owned the bloody world, much less bloody Malawi, and the little Bloody Liwonde National Park… (Incidentally, have you noticed my fondness for the term ‘bloody’? the best curseword ever made, and ya, it’s British… I don’t hate all British things… love most of them, except for those bloody British blue-blood boring little brats)

Oh, but I could go on and on… and I have! Those kids took over the entire campsite… all the good ‘hangin out’ chairs with the great views of the river, the porch area outside the lodge, everything. We couldn’t escape them. It got even worse after dark, when they stayed up drinking ALL NIGHT, continued their loud ridiculous conversations until bloody 2 a.m. (if my calculations are correct), capped off by a bloody hysterical girl freaking out over a big spider or something (yes, I can relate, but luckily I was at home at the time...) Incidentally, I did find out later from one of the less annoying boys in the group (the boys in general were less annoying, actually) that all of them are ‘volunteers’ who just finished their secondary school (hence yes, about 17 years old) and are teaching in primary schools around Malawi for 3 months and then traveling around southern Africa for a month. I’m not sure how this could possibly work, as these kids admitted having no background or teacher-training. Teaching standards continue to be an issue in the Malawi public education system, which is something we are working on in our own education programs at Domasi College, which I’m proud to say are lauded as the best in the country. This type of ‘volunteer group’ is one symptom of the larger disease here; though I can’t be certain whether these kids are adding to the problem, my instinct tells me quite frankly, YES, bloody likely.

So, enough about them. That was the bad news. But, there was some good news, too. On Saturday evening, Deliwe and I decided to do our own ‘sunset drive’ around the park to see some wildlife. We had checked into doing a ‘sunset safari’ in one of the park jeeps, but that was quite expensive, and we figured the car would be just fine. However, we did run into a few rough patches on the road (filled with water, since we’re still in the rainy season), but the trusty Toyota made it through some nasty stuff as usual, despite my newly-acquired tendency to increasingly try my luck on insanely pot-holed, boulder-ridden Malawi dirt roads. In the end, we only spotted a few waterbuck, bushbuck, and impala, but found out later we’d passed up a group of elephants since we couldn’t see over the tall grass. Oh, so THAT’S why people pay 20 bucks a head to ride in the jeep. Hmmm….

After we returned from our little Toyota safari, car and bodies intact against all odds (though, ironically, I did bump into a stone wall while parking and knocked the back right hubcap off—no real damage done), we discovered that almost all of our teenage friends had gone on that sunset safari (we passed them on the road, actually, and I turned to Deliwe and said… we gotta hurry back before the bar closes and grab those chairs with the view!). Sure enough, the chairs were there, empty, with a bunch of the stuff people left behind (empty bottles, blankets, binoculars—gifts, perhaps?). Perhaps they were staking their claim, but we invaded anyway. The only bad news was that the bar seemed to be closed. AARGH! We’d seen the barman walking along the road. Hopefully, he was coming back. After waiting a few mins., we saw him at the campsite, working up an open fire for the braii dinner to come later. AH! Our luck seemed to be changing after all. Soon we had cold beers in our hands, and were enjoying the sunset in peace and quiet.

After a few minutes enjoying our beers and the sunset, a young, friendly Scottish couple came by, whom I remembered seeing during lunch (which was traumatic, filled with the snotty kids pushing their way around… long story, I’ll leave it at that). In any case, I remembered that these two were also very quiet, and seemingly as disturbed by the loud horde of whiney teenage girls trying to impress their male counterparts, or each other, or something… In any case, they were extremely friendly, interesting, and just the kind of people I was hoping to run into during this stay. Their names were Kirsty and Graem. She’s a doctor, and he works for the British foreign service as a consultant, currently working on policy in Iraq. Very interesting stuff, but of course he couldn’t share too much with a loud, opinionated American like me. Still, we had a great conversation which continued to dinner, and on into a little canoe safari the next day. In addition, while in line for the braii dinner later that evening, I managed to chat with another couple from the Netherlands, also not with the British horde (and equally unamused by their presence), who also turned out to be very interesting and friendly, and whom we talked with more the next day at breakfast and during the canoe safari as well. As it turned out, the Dutch group included 2 medical students working at a private hospital called St. Luke’s in Malosa, just 10 minutes’ drive north of Domasi. Unfortunately, that’s the place where Deliwe’s aunt passed away last November, so I know it well. I’ve been there a couple of times since, but luckily under better circumstances. In any case, that was quite the coincidence. One of the guys was leaving soon, and his girlfriend was traveling around Malawi with him before he leaves the country, but the other one will be here for another 6 weeks, so hopefully we can get together again soon. I actually gave them a ride back to Malosa after the canoe safari the following day.

So, the next morning, we got up early (despite loud teenagers all night), had breakfast, and headed out to our canoe safari. The pix at left really say it all. It was about 2 hours long, but we only saw a few hippos in the first few minutes after emerging from the tall grass. We had to remain calm, but Graem admitted to me later that he was very nervous about the hippos. I was, too, as they seemed rather close to the canoe, and I now know that they are the most dangerous animal in the park, and possibly in Africa. Of course, we’d just finished listening to the guide telling us about how people had been attacked by hippos in the park, in a canoe. When I asked whether the people were on one of these canoe safaris, the guide was silent. ‘Nuff said. I remember Graem saying something like, “But aren’t they herbivores?” to which the guide said, “Yes, but they can still kill.” (if I remember his words correctly). Yikes. I was actually happy that we didn’t see anymore after that.

Of course, the other main attraction during the canoe safaris is crocodiles. Luckily, we didn’t see any of them. Why are people going out in canoes to see animals that have been known to attack people in canoes? It’s a good question. Ya, when I was out there in the middle of the water, I felt like a complete idiot. When I realized nothing dangerous seemed to be in the water, I relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. Take note: I think that’ll be my last time riding in a canoe in Africa…. I’ll keep you posted.

So, in the end, we survived the journey, saw a few animals (but no Elephants this time!! WHHAAAAA!!), and made a few new friends. I even ran into Kirsty and Graem the following Monday while running errands in Zomba, and made arrangements to meet them up on Zomba mountain the following evening for a meal and some drinks at my favorite restaurant, Ku Chawe Inn. We had a really nice chat. Too bad they were only visiting, so left this past weekend. Perhaps we’ll meet up someday in the Highlands of Scotland. I’ve got roots (or maybe branches) there, or so I’m told… I’ll keep you posted.

That’s it for now. Tiwonana… someday soon, I hope, internet-willing!! I’ll work on that coconut-string-network thing and get back to ya!

Weekend in Wilderness, Chanco in Crisis

Well, it appears for now that we have internet service restored at Domasi College... Yahoo! So, that means all my 3-5 or so faithful readers may soon be able to enjoy my ramblings of my endless adventures here on a daily basis again... Lucky you! I'm not making the 'free Malawi gin' promise again though, since the new connection has been rather spotty, and is confined to a small faculty computer center which can get quite busy, rather than our individual offices, as was the case back in '07. I'll use this week as a tester and get back to my loyal readers once I have a verdict on returning to my fabulously-famous daily ramblings--er, posts, I mean...(complete with free gin offer!)

So, as suggested by the title above, I had my first weekend away since arriving back in Malawi in January, and it was quite a nice little trip. Deliwe gladly came along, and we drove back up to Liwonde National Park (where we went back in October) just for a one-night stay at a minimally-developed a campsite in the park. We didn't see as much wildlife this time, but did run into more wildlife of the human kind than we had anticipated, due to the arrival on the same weekend of a 30-plus group of teenagers from the UK. This form of human wildlife added a dimension to our getaway which was a bit unexpected, but created a few interesting stories nonetheless. Let's just say I came away from the experience with a few new friends, none of whom were in that teenage group. I'll leave it at that for now.

However, rather than telling those and other stories of our weekend adventures, I'd like to focus this post on the experience I had at Chanco today, and save the weekend story for tomorrow when I'll have a few pix to post along with my stories. In the meantime, I'll post a few more of the pictures I promised last week in order to get caught up. So, for those faithful who check this site daily, you'll have something to look forward to tomorrow, eh?

So, as for today, I wanted to post the latest news from Chancellor College (a.k.a. Chanco) regarding the ever-present lecturer's strike. Remember last December? I think I'd updated my readers on the situation then, but just as a refresher, there had been a strike regarding demands for a 200 percent pay increase which was apparently approved by government back in 2005. If I understand the issue correctly, the 200 percent was a portion of an original 500 percent increase to be paid to lecturers over a period of time, though this period was not clearly agreed upon by the University Council (Government) and the Lecturer's Union. The teaching strike which took place starting in October of last year was finally ended when the lecturers reluctantly agreed to a 20% increase in late October (following a student protest of the strike after about 5 weeks without instruction), pending further negotiation after the end of the semester. However, this negotiation apparently never took place. Because of this, the lecturers who are part of the union (not all of them are, and I'm not sure what the percentage of members is, but I think it's about 50%) decided to withhold their end-of-semester grades until the University Council agreed to meet their demand of a 200% pay increase.

Of course, the withholding of the grades has a serious consequence here in that it forces the delay of commencement of the next term, as several meetings must take place regarding the finalization of the grades, recording them, submitting them to heads, deans, and students, followed by an agreement by the administration as to when the new term will start. From my own experience, this is quite different from how it's done at other academic institutions, at least in the U.S, where departments do not meet to confirm grades and then submit them to deans, who then meet again to review and approve them prior to deciding on the start of the semester. Where I come from, we follow an academic calendar and keep to deadlines. If an instructor misses the deadlines, then he/she might request an extension, or some other type of arrangement, but this does not affect the academic calendar. Hence, this type of system was quite confusing to me (still is, quite frankly). However, what I do understand is that this system is very conducive to the type of action that is taking place. In order to pressure the government powers to meet their salary demands, withholding grades is a viable option for lecturers here, as it enables them to disrupt the academic calendar, thus the start of the new term.

In this case, only the union lecturers agreed to withold the grades, but those who do not belong to the union (many in disagreement with this type of action) decided to submit their grades on time. Despite this, the University Council took a very serious step this past Friday-- just after lecturers' salaries were deposited into people's accounts, the council somehow (with cooperation from the banks) managed to freeze the accounts so that no one could withdraw their money. Many were saying they couldn't even access money they had apart from their salaries. This action was not taken only against lecturers in the union, but against all academic staff at the college, regardless of whether they'd submitted the grades or not. In addition, all were given an ultimatum to submit their grades by tomorrow (Tues. Feb. 26) or the salary/acct. freeze would not be lifted. Wow. A shocker for me. Of course, I'm not personally affected, as my pay comes from the lovely U.S. Taxpayers-- (Thanks, you guys! I loveya!! Rest assured, I taught all of my classes last term, and submitted my grades on time... your money's been very well-spent on me, and by me ;-)

So, today the Humanities Dept. called an emergency meeting to decide what will happen next. After much discusssion (a little over 2 hours--very short by Malawian standards, btw), a decision was made to let the council know that the faculty takes serious offense to the fact that their bank accts. were affected, especially considering the fact that the dispute was between the union lecturers and the council, not the entire faculty. Add to this the fact that one of the Education Ministers in the Government was quoted on the front page of the paper saying something like, "If they're unhappy with their salaries, they should quit." Many union lecturers in the meeting reassured their colleagues that the union lawyers did manage to get a court injunction against the salary/acct. freeze and it should've been lifted sometime today, though I haven't gotten any confirmation on that yet.

All in all, the long and short of it is that this labor dispute seems to have escalated into a battle, if not a war, between the academic staff and the government university council. As many asserted in the meeting, the council seems to have decided to take such an action in order to 'pit' the non-union members against the union-members, by punishing everyone for the actions of a few. Luckily, they don't seem to be taking the bait (at least not in the Humanities Dept.), and the Union lawyers seem to have taken care of this legally-questionable action by the University Council as well.

The sad part is, we're already a good month behind schedule on an academic calendar that was already a year behind schedule due to this dispute when I arrived here. Unfortunately, those who suffer most in this whole process are the students, still waiting at home for the new academic term to begin. Not only that, but the first-year students who are already on campus for orientation may actually be sent home next week if this thing doesn't get resolved soon. For their sake, I hope it does. That said, Tiwonana Mawa, hopefully with better news--stay tuned.

Yup, I'm still here! (In Malawi, that is...)

**NOTE: At several times during this post, I mention new pictures to be posted. Some are already here. Some will come throughout the week, so stay tuned!!**

First of all, please let me apologize profusely to my 5-6 faithful readers (a number which I'm afraid has dwindled to 0-0) for not posting much earlier. Of course, I have a million excuses for my nearly one-month hiatus, none of which you're interested in, but all of which have to do with lack of the following: internet access, time, energy (both electrical and human). I'm sorry to say that despite the best intentions of the administration at Domasi College of Education (where I live, for those who have forgotten), we as yet do not have internet access on campus. This, of course, means I must travel about 30 mins. to Chancellor College and then log on hoping that I (1) can get online--service is spotty, and (2) the connection is fast enough for me to do all the things I need to do online in one sitting. After having the convenience of internet service on-campus at Domasi in 2007, this is taking a lot of getting used to, since I prefer to write my blog entries in the evening after dinner when my mind is sharpest. However, due to the current situation, I'm forced to write during the day, scheduling time for the drive, taking care of other internet-related activities, etc., usually with a VERY SLOW connection. As I may have mentioned earlier, this leaves little time for a decent blog entry. Perhaps I'm too much of a perfectionist, but I'd rather not do it at all that do it sloppily and in haste (hmmm... that could be dangerous in another context).

So, after breaking my promise not to bore you with all my excuses, let's get on with it. It's been a long time, hasn't it? So much to tell, but I'll try to limit it to the highlights. Before I do so, however, I did want to let everyone out there who is waiting patiently for the video I promised weeks ago to know that I have not yet figured out how to upload a video onto this blog. When I look at the set-up, it appears that I can only download from 'YouTube' or 'Google Videos', and I don't think it would be appropriate to post the little videos I make for this blog onto those sites. So, if any computer wizzes out there know how to upload a video onto a blog without using YouTube or Google Videos, please feel free to insert a comment below this post to let me know. I'd really appreciate it, as I was hoping to share some interesting experiences via video on this blog between now and the end of my fellowship June 1.

So, yes, it appears that I'm now on the downslope of my journey-- meaning, among other things, past the mid-point. I now have approximately 3 and 1/2 months to go in this 9-month experience. This, of course, has created some mixed feelings for me, as at times this seems like an eternity, and at others it feels like a nanosecond in the grand scheme of my time here. I suppose since coming back from a visit home, I've been a little bit out of sorts, as I'm a bit trapped between two worlds, not really fitting neatly into either one. Those out there who have lived for an extended period overseas (or still do) can relate to this feeling. Though I often have a sense of looking forward to leaving in June, there's another part of me that wonders how difficult it will be to leave a place that in some ways is beginning to feel a bit more like 'home'.

Like any experience, however, there are good days and bad days. As promised, the highlights and lowlights over the past months are as follows (in backwards order --present to past--, as that's how my backwards brain tends to remember things):

Hmmm... Good news first, or bad news? Let's do the bad news first to end on a happier note:

Lowlights:
1) Almost every week since I've returned from my holiday visit to the U.S., I've suffered from some type of ailment. The latest one seems to be a slight cold/allergy. Though it's nothing serious, I'm feeling a bit run down and groggy. Before that, I was having stomach/intestinal issues. Before that, another 'feminine' issue I won't give the details of, but something I'm prone to, especially in times of stress. I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but I certainly have not been as healthy physically since coming back as I was during my first 3 months in the country.

2) This past week, several people (all Malawians) have come to me asking for money. While I really like to help people out, I'm now having some mixed feelings about this issue. The Malawians reading this blog, as well as the Mzungus living here, know what I'm talking about. There's a tendency (likely begun during the British colonial period) of locals believing that all those with white skin are infinitely rich and willing/able to fund/sponsor anyone in need. Now, at some level, the relative wealth part is true. Most visiting Mzungus do have much more money than most local Malawians. However, those who come here to live are here to do a job, hopefully helping the local population to improve their circumstances, not by donating money to them, but by helping them to acquire skills and gain access to materials and training that will benefit their lives now and in the future. As I've contemplated the continuous requests for money, I've now limited my charitable lending (not giving) to those who can provide some sort of proof that the money is being used for further education or training. I do have a very generous heart, for I as well came from a background in which I did not have a lot of money or means to advance my education, but relied at least in part on the generosity of a scholarship fund to help me get through school. In this spirit, I'm doing my best to help those who are willing to help themselves. This week, I did have to draw the line, however, and have decided not to give out any more loans during my stay here. Saying 'No' to people in need is not one of my stronger suits. However, I have also been warned by many locals here that several people 'embellish' their stories and end up using the money lent for less viable endeavors such as the 'bottle store' (i.e. liquor store). Advice well-taken. Let's just say I ask a lot more questions now.

3) Deliwe's mother's mud-brick house collapsed under the weight of heavy rains a few weeks ago. Fortunately, she did have a relative living nearbye who is now staying in Mozambique and was able to allow her to move into her house until she can re-build. Deliwe had told me just a couple of days before the collapse that she was very concerned about the house, and that the plastic we'd purchased for the roof back in November was leaking again (due to the munching of at least one nasty little rat living in the thatched roof--bloody varmint!). Though I'd just helped her to buy more plastic to replace it, the heavy rains were just too much, and unfortunately the house fell. The other good side of this story is that only the kitchen area was initially affected, so no one in the house was hurt, since this happened late at night, and the bedrooms stayed intact. Deliwe's mother lives with her teenage son (Deliwe's brother) Movuto and a young niece, so this was a very lucky outcome as well. Of course, had they not been able to stay elsewhere, our house would have been open to them until they could re-build. These days, the rains have become much less frequent, so hopefully they'll be able to re-build soon. I hope to help them in that venture in any way I can, including my vast knowledge of home construction (he he just kidding...;-) Maybe I can elicit the help of my little sis Heather, who's an expert in that area.

3) The carpenter involved with the orphanage project fell ill with Malaria a few weeks ago, and essentially abandoned the project (Malaria season seems to have come upon us since I returned in January--certainly due to the heavy rains). Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of this immediately, and upon visiting the project last Saturday, was told he'd be back to work again to finish. However, he never did return to work, despite the orphanage director Alfred's insistance that he is no longer feeling ill. This means we'll have to demand some of his pre-paid stipend back in order to hire another carpenter to finish the job. I'm now a bit concerned that the project is falling behind, and hoping that will not happen. Luckily, Alfred seems to be on top of things, and thinks he can find a reliable person to finish the job this week so that we can start on phase II: the painting.

4) The housekeeper next door to us also fell VERY ill with Malaria a few weeks ago. For those reading from outside Africa, I've learned that there seem to be several types of Malaria, with various symptoms, ranging from mild to serious. This woman had a type that was VERY serious, and to my surprise, her employers (though one was at home) did not help her at all. The housekeep actually had to send someone to ask Deliwe for help, as her and Deliwe are good friends. Deliwe then told me how she was suffering, so I took her to a private hospital a few miles away in a town called Malosa. Luckily, she received excellent care there, and within 2 days, was released healthy and back to normal. Needless to say, she no longer works for those employers. Word around the campus/village has me branded a hero for saving her, and her employers as the opposite. Though I do not consider myself a hero, I was, and still am, confounded by the fact that someone was there who could have helped her, and chose not to do so. Perhaps there's a part of the story I still don't understand, though I could never bring myself to confront these people on this matter. In any case, I'm certainly not a hero. I just did the right thing, which I believe anyone should do in a similar situation.

5) This last lowlight is a bit out of order, but I must bring it up. It's gotten HOTTER again. When I came back in January, the weather had definitely cooled down, at least in part due to the rains. However, this past week, the temperatures definitely shot up again. I'm told the true cooling down happens in April, though I'm really hoping it'll happen sooner. I'm not sure if I can survive the Oct./Nov. temps. again... HELP!!

That's it for the lowlights... Now a middle-light (made-up word--i.e. 'jen-ism' for a story that's half-bad, half-good)

-+ We had a SERIOUS blackout on the Domasi campus about a month ago, due to a blown transformer caused by lightning hitting one of the above-ground power lines. This story actually is mostly negative, but bordering on positive, because the problem was remedied much faster than we anticipated. The power went out on a Saturday evening at about 6 p.m., and never returned all day the following Sunday. That, in fact, was the day I decided to go up to Ku Chawe Inn on Zomba mountain with some friends to enjoy the view and some good food (see below). Unfortunately, upon my return Sunday evening, we still had no electricity. It never came back all night, and still nothing on Monday morning. At that point, I began to realize what life is like for the majority of Malawians living in villages with no electricity. Of course, I've had this experience on a much smaller scale as a back-country backpacker/camper back home (and also during a very bad ice-storm in the 70s as a young kid), but this was very different. I realized how dependent I am on electrical power for so many things. The things I missed most were hot showers (it was actually pretty cool back then) and the refrigerator. Food was going bad, especially the yogurt I'd bought the day before the blackout... ugh. The amazing part of the story, however, is that the electric company, known as ESCOM, somehow came through with a new (or newer) transformer, after informing the Domasi College administration that they may have to ship it to Blantyre to be fixed, and it would take at least 3 days (translation: at least a week, probably two). The unofficial story speculated by many was that they'd have to send it to South Africa due to the lack of a qualified technician in Malawi to fix it (which is common for many similar issues here, due to brain-drain and other issues involving access to technical/higher education, but I digress). Let's just say we were all preparing for at least one long, cold dark week (probably 2). Then, lo and behold, the following day (Tuesday), the ESCOM technicians showed up with a big lorry (semi truck) loaded with a new (or new-looking) transformer. They proceeded to install it while gaping spectators, myself among them, watched in shock, awe, and amazement. We couldn't believe our eyes. This is the company that was known for not reading meters for months, failing to bill people for their usage, and then suddenly switching off their electricity prior to slapping them with a huge bill (I know because it happened to me back in September, shortly after my arrival, of course for usage by prior occupants of my house). Somehow, they got it together. Our electricity was up and running by nightfall that day. I'm still in shock. Electric shock. Pun intended.


OK, so finally on to the better news, the highlights:

1) I just learned a couple of days ago that my favorite band, THE POLICE, are extending their tour, currently in Europe, to conclude in the U.S. this summer!! Woo Hoo! Carrie, my best buddy in worshipping this band, is on the mission of getting us some really good seats during the pre-sales starting tomorrow--the goal is first 5 rows, toward the center--ya, could be a long shot, but we're goin for it anyway. We're also hoping to repeat our 2-show tour of last summer. Wish us luck! How does this relate to Malawi, you ask? One NGO benefitting from the huge profits made during this tour is WaterAid (mostly thanks to Sting and his wife Trudie). Check their website to see the work they're doing to improve access to potable water in Malawi and other developing nations around the world.

2) I joined an aerobics club in Zomba which is run by the P.E. teacher at Domasi College, meeting 2 nights a week. I realized that last year, after purchasing my trusty Toyota, I wasn't getting enough exercise (ironically, as most people here get so much more exercise just by walking), so I thought the club would be a good idea. So far, it's going very well, I'm slowly getting back into shape, having fun, and meeting some really cool people in the process. In addition, the group is planning a trip to Zambia in April, which is one of the destinations I really want to visit before leaving the continent. I'm really excited to be doing that with a local group, rather than with Mzungu tourists, which was plan B. Woo hoo! I'm also good friends with a guy on the planning committee (a colleague who joined the aerobics group with me), so I'm hoping to have enough influence to make sure we make it to Victoria Falls for a day. Wish me luck on that, too!

3) Deliwe started attending school again. It was her wish to repeat her Form 4 courses (for the Americans, that's the British/Malawian equivalent of the senior year of high school) in order to get higher scores on the government-designed exams in a bid to eventually continue her education at the post-secondary level. Though the system here is quite competitive, it does allow for students who want to repeat and/or finish their studies as adults to attend night classes at the secondary school. Luckily, Domasi has both a primary and a secondary school on campus. With funding from her previous employer Fay, who was a Fulbright scholar living in my house in June/July 2007, she was able to begin classes about 3 weeks ago, and seems to be doing very well. I contributed by purchasing a few school supplies for her during a visit to Blantyre, and have since been told that she's the envy of all her classmates due to the superior quality of her school supplies. Good stuff.

4) I've discovered the beauty and brilliance of Zomba mountain, finally. For some reason, I hadn't traveled to the top since the initial visit my first night in the area at the U.S. Embassy cottage, so I figured it was time. I've now been to the top 2 times, and plan to go much more often when I'm home on the weekends (as I have been since I came back). At the top of the mountain is an amazing fancy hotel by the name of Ku Chawe Inn (Ku Chawe is also the name of the village at the top of the mountain). Because it's a rather fancy hotel, they offer services such as a beautiful (but pricey) Sunday lunch buffet, so the 2nd time I visited, I made sure to go on a Sunday, accompanied by Tamake, a Japanese volunteer at Domasi. After a nice big lunch and a couple of refreshments (only 1 or 2 beers, I think), we went for a nice hike around the place. The hotel also offers maps of the trails/roads in the area, so I plan to explore these much more on future weekends. I'll post a few pix of our excursion today or tomorrow, so watch for those.

5) I finally met Deliwe's younger brother Movuto, who comes to visit us on a regular basis, and is quite an impressive young man. He's also in Form 4, and Deliwe tells me he's no. 1 in his class. I have good reason to believe her assessment of his scholastic aptitude, as I lent him a very challenging historical book on the recent (post-apartheid) political situation in South Africa, and he finished it in a little over a week. I was amazed, as I have yet to tackle that book myself, which is why I brought it along with me to Malawi (purchased back in 2004, I'm embarrassed to admit). I'm enjoying our visits, and hoping to witness this young man have a very bright, promising future. My friend David--who also plans to purchase my car, another highlight this month-- tells me that talented students here can get money from the government for their higher education, as long as they are accepted to university. I've talked with Movuto about this, and I'm hoping to provide him some guidance that will help him to further his education. I know he will do great things if given the opportunity.

That appears to be all for now. Right now, it looks like the negatives and positives are about even. Hopefully, my next post will lean more to the positive side. For now, it appears that we are all caught up--Whew!! Keep watching for more posts, especially pictures to come this week! Tiwonana for now! (***Reminder: Due to lack of internet access at Domasi, my posts will continue to be less frequent than in '07, though I do hope to post at least once or twice per week until internet access is fully restored at Domasi ;-)

Don't worry, I'm still here!!

Hello, all you truly faithful, checking every day, hour, minute and second for a new posting from Malawi 'n Me. We're both doing fine, btw (meaning Malawi 'n Me, if you didn't catch the little pun there). The major issue is my lack of convenient, fast internet access, which has limited my ability to properly update my faithful readers as to my latest adventures here. Among the issues are the fact that I need to drive 30 mins. to get to a computer with internet at my Chanco office. Once I arrive, I find that the connection and my laptop are very slow, and in order to take care of the things I need to do (update virus software, check e-mail, do my banking), it can take an exhorbitant amount of time. Not only that, but due to very heavy thunderstorms since I've come back, I often experience power outages and interruption of internet service here due to lightning strikes, etc.

So, there's my list of excuses for not keeping this blog more faithfully updated. I haven't lost faith, and I hope you haven't either. Today, I'd planned on uploading a video (thanks to the cool Christmas gift from my little sis Heather) I made yesterday of something VERY interesting on the campus at Domasi College. Unfortunately, the SLOW laptop situation will not allow me to do that today (since that's where the video is located), so I'll just have to leave a 'tease' for my faithful readers to tune in tomorrow when I hopefully can share the video with you. Most of you from North America will be shocked at what you see!

So, with that, I'll leave you to ponder the possibilites! Tiwonana MAWA!!

I'm finally back--in Malawi, and online...

So, after about 2 or 3 comments and e-mails wondering what had happened to me, I realized that my faithful blog readership of 3-5 has sadly dropped to 2-3 :-( Oh, well, I suppose that's to be expected after the spotty postings over the holiday break, which, I'm sorry to announce, should continue now that I'm back on Malawi soil. Yes, as it turns out, I've actually been back in the Domasi/Zomba area since Tuesday, Jan. 8 (after a 48-plus hour journey back, including an 8-hour layover in Detroit, a 14-hour layover in Amsterdam, an overnight stay in Lilongwe, followed by a 4-hour drive from Lilongwe to Domasi on Tuesday).

However, I soon discovered after my arrival that Domasi College still has no internet service. Those truly faithful may remember my comment in one of my last postings in 2007 that there was no internet service during my last few days in Domasi prior to leaving for the U.S. As it turns out, the service was out due to the fact that the contract with the internet service provider had ended in early December. Apparently, payment for that contract was subsidized by a Japanese aid organization known as JICA for a limited period of time until it was time for contract renewal. That time has now come, and according to my sources at the college, due to end-of-year budget deliberations, as well as a desire to change internet service providers, it's likely to be at least a good month until the service will be restored.

Those who know me well know that this is like cutting my throat. The internet is my lifeline here. I do not know how I will survive. Luckily, while drowning in the sea of no-internet-desperation, I was thrown a lifeline yesterday, as I was told by a colleague that Chancellor College was open, and I would be able to log on there. Of course, I have an office at Chanco, so I finally came here yesterday to catch up on e-mail and the blog. Of course, since it'd been a week since I'd seen my e-mail, it took me a while to get through that, leaving the blog entry for today.

Of course, as you may have figured out by now, this means that my promise of daily postings will be postponed until further notice. (Sorry Heather, no more free gin for you! You've had enough! ;-) I'll do my best to post at least once a week, maybe more when time allows, but I cannot be certain, as the service at Chanco can also be quite spotty, and it's a good 30-minute drive to get here (unlike the 5-minute walk to my office at Domasi).

One thing that I can say is that I now feel much better that I can get online. Anyone reading this who has ever lived overseas, especially since the beginning of the information age, knows what I'm talking about. There are days of isolation and loneliness that are difficult to describe. Anyone who has lived overseas on their own has experienced this. If you say you have not, you did not go overseas alone, or you are a liar. It can be very difficult at times, and for me, the internet is my savior. I can catch up on the news back home (which can either help or hurt my mood, depending...), chat with my friends for free and in real time, read and respond to e-mails, and write in my blog. It's really what keeps me sane in those lonely moments. So, I must say, I'm incredibly thankful to the 'techies' and engineers who brought us this wonderful connection to the universe. How I lived without it during my 1st and 2nd lone foreign country living experiences in England and Mexico is now a complete mystery to me. Perhaps I was just stronger then. Well, certainly much younger, and I had roommates. In Mexico, I didn't even have a phone... used to run to the payphone once a week as I recall. Wow.

As for news, the first item is very sad, I'm afraid. I called Deliwe the day before leaving the U.S., and one of the first things she said was, "I have to tell you about Willie." Immediately, I knew something terrible had happened. As it turns out, our little kitty was attacked by one of the neighborhood dogs about a week before I came back. Unfortunately, Deliwe couldn't get to him in time before some major damage had been done to his stomach. She even tried to get him to a vet twice, but the office wasn't open. After a couple of days, little Willie died. I'm still very very sad. Deliwe felt really badly about what happened, so spent the next week looking for another suitable kitty about the same size and age as Willie. She looked in several villages in the area and found a nice female kitten. We haven't named her yet. We just call her 'kitty' (me in English, Deliwe in Chichewa). I suppose we could have another contest to name her, but right now, 'kitty' is o.k. while we mourn the loss of Willie.

The ironic thing in all this is that the dog that attacked Willie was Buster. Anyone out there who's been reading this blog long enough knows that Buster was the dog who was literally dying when I arrived in Domasi. He was emaciated, skin and bones, wormy, and had fleas. I helped one of the Mzungus he follows around campus to give him worm and flea medication back then, and have been feeding him religiously ever since. Essentially, I helped nurse that dog back to health. And this is how he repays my kindness. Yes, I know he's just a dog. But he came into the house (they rarely try to come in) and took the cat from my kitchen. Those two dogs I've been feeding were literally 'hunting' my kitty. Needless to say, we no longer feed them, and have banned them from our property. I've noticed for the past few days that they haven't been coming around. Is it possible that they got the message? Hmmm...

So, partially because of the Willie incident, my return to Malawi has been bittersweet. Anyone out there who has lived overseas (or even in a city away from their home) knows this feeling as well. It's always more difficult to return after a visit home. Apart from the bone-chilling weather in the northeastern U.S., it was very hard to leave my friends and family there, and return to a place where I'm essentially alone much of the time during school breaks. If it weren't for Deliwe, the new kitty, and the internet, I'm not sure if I'd have made it through this past week, really. I know it may sound like a downer, but that's really how it is. I'm somehow addicted to overseas living, but the isolation factor is very real, especially during the initial adjustment, and now during the re-adjustment. I know it will get better, though, in due time.

For me, this time before classes begin is always the most difficult, as I have a lot of free time to fill. The positive side of this is that I'll have enough time to plan my course at Domasi College which begins Jan. 21. It was initially set to begin Jan. 14, but the schedule was pushed back (or is it up? I always confuse those 2 expressions) a week due to some new year's budgetary issues. I guess this is also a common issue here in Malawi, as organizations have to figure their new budgets at the beginning of the year. The actual school year begins next Mon., Jan. 14, but my course is for 1st years who go through orientation, so it will start a week later. (Incidentally, due to the lecturers' strike at Chanco last semester, classes there will not begin until February or March.)

So, this past week was spent mostly with trips into Zomba to buy food and other necessities for the house. I even had the steel belt in one of my tires replaced, which was a task I had put off for awhile. I know, exciting stuff.

I do have a funny 'cop story' to tell, though. On Thursday, I was driving through the chaotic market/shopping area of Zomba (someday I'll take a picture or video on the cool camcorder my sister Heather got me for Christmas to show you just how chaotic it is), and I mistakenly drove the wrong way down one of the streets. Crap. I knew almost right away, as it is the 2nd time I've made this mistake. A couple of nice pedestrians pointed out my mistake, so I immediately tried to turn the car around, accidentally turning down another one-way street the wrong way in order to do so. By then, a couple of traffic cops walked up to my car. Then, I started having flashbacks of the 'triangle plate incident' as I like to call it. Remember that? If not, check past postings (about 2 months ago, I think). It's a good story. I even think the two cops (a woman and a man) might've been the same ones who stopped me that day.

Here's the conversation that ensued:

Man Cop: Madame, you are going the wrong way on a one-way street.

Me: Yes, I know. I'm trying to turn around.

Man Cop: This is also a one-way.

Me: Yes, I know. I'm sorry. I just need to turn around.

Man Cop: You are in violation. We'll have to take you to the station.

Me: Really? But it was just a mistake. I didn't know.

Woman Cop: Please let us in. (BTW, they don't have patrol cars here, so you actually have to give the cops a ride to the station. Something tells me this would never work in the States.)

Both cops get into the back seat as Deliwe and I give each other the "oh, crap!" look.

Woman Cop: Didn't you know this is a one-way street?

Me: No, I didn't know. Is there a sign?

Woman Cop: Yes, there's a sign at the junction.

Me: Where? I didn't see it.

Woman Cop: It's that yellow line painted on the road. It means 'Do not Enter' (referring to a bold yellow line painted across the road at the intersection)

Me: Oh, I never even noticed that line. Is that what it means?

Woman Cop: Yes. Maybe you should get a driver, if you don't know the traffic laws in Malawi.

Me: Well, I've been driving for a couple of months, and this is my first violation. I just didn't know, I'm sorry.

Woman Cop: When did you start driving?

Me: Last September

Woman Cop: in 2007?

Me: Yes

Woman Cop: I see.

Me: It was really a mistake. I just forgot. (OOPS! NEVER should've said that)

Woman Cop: I thought you said you didn't know.

Me: Yes, I didn't know. I don't live in Zomba.

Woman Cop: Where do you live?

Me: In Domasi.

Woman Cop: That's Zomba. (Note: Domasi is considered part of Zomba, as Zomba is the closest commercial center in the region, so all area villages are considered to be 'part of Zomba')

Me: No it's not. It's 30 miles from Zomba!

Woman Cop: So, you never drive in Zomba?

Me: Well, not every day. I don't really know Zomba very well (as we all know, this is a bit of a lie...)

At this point, we come to the major intersection to the main highway through Zomba. I turned left accidentally, on the road heading out of town towards Blantyre. This helped my case, as you'll see.

Woman Cop: Where are you going? We need to go to the station.

Me: Where is it?

Woman Cop: It's the other way. Don't you know?

Me: No. As I said, I don't know Zomba very well. Sorry!

As I turn the car around in a parking area, the two cops have a discussion in Chichewa. After I turn around and head back into town in the correct direction, this is what she says:

Woman Cop: As it turns out, we've decided to let you go this time, since you don't seem to know Zomba well.

Me: (so excited I missed the turn back to the chaotic market area) Really? Thanks!

Woman Cop: But please be careful. Next time, we won't forgive you. (This is one reason I think she was the same cop... at the end of the 'triangle plate incident,' she said something very similar: "Next time, I'll take you to court," I believe were her exact words.)

Me: Thanks! Really, I'm sorry. It was an honest mistake. I'll be more careful.

Woman Cop: OK, goodbye.

After they left the car, Deliwe told me that when they were speaking Chichewa, they were commenting on the fact that Mzungus 'really know how to argue and explain their case...' I think they also commented on how lost I really seemed to be driving around Zomba... however, as we now know, that was just 'dumb luck'... literally.

So, that's the latest story, which I was happy to relay to Melvin the taxi driver over a couple of beers last night, to celebrate the fact that his traffic court case was dropped just before I left for the U.S. That was the case in which I helped testify in early December, mentioned in an earlier post. We talked a lot about the traffic police situation, especially the inherent corruption in the system. Though no one has ever asked me for a bribe, I imagine had I offered one in either case, all charges likely would've disappeared. He also made a good point about the large number of traffic police in such a small town, all gathered in specific areas. This is quite a curious thing.

With that, I'll leave my loyal readers. Ya, I'm back... Get ready for less frequent, but much longer posts until further notice! Tiwonana!

Happy New Year!

I just realized that this blog (set to Malawi time) will appear on Jan. 2 in Malawi, though I'm actually writing it at 8:45 p.m. on Jan. 1 in the U.S. I just wanted to wish my 3-5 faithful readers (along with the much more numerous less-than-faithful readers) a very happy new year!!

My sisters and nephews just left our house on Dec. 30, and it feels like we're having 'empty nest syndrome' now. The house is so quiet, and our youngest cat Homer doesn't know what to do without my nephews here to play with him. We had a great time together, and I was so glad to have at least most of my immediate family here with me during my visit home.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to do the sledding trip we'd hoped to do, as the rain we had the weekend before Christmas virtually melted all the snow that had accumulated since late November. Ironically, on the day my sisters left, a new storm came through and dumped about 5-6 inches on us that evening. Luckily, neither sister's trip was affected, which was truly remarkable as both of them had to travel home through the dreaded 'Snowbelt' (Great Lakes region of the northern midwest for the Malawian readers). My younger sister Heather had a flight to Milwaukee with a connection in Detroit, while my older sister Greta and my nephews traveled by car to the Chicago area. Somehow, they both managed to travel outside the path of the storm...Whew!

Since we'd stayed up late (playing 'Buzztime' trivia ;-) Dec. 29, and all were up early for a 6 a.m. departure (for me, to get my little sis to the Syracuse airport 2 hours away, and for Greta to get on the road as early as possible for her 10-hour drive), I was pretty wiped out on Dec. 30. I spent most of the day laying around the house. Yesterday was similar-- we only left to rent some movies for our New Years' Eve celebration, consisting of beer 'n Sukiyaki (ya, same as the Christmas meal--love the stuff), followed by red wine n chocolate, then capped off with spumante-style champaigne at midnight... oops. I wasn't feeling so well after that. (Ya, beer before liquor... duh--Cheesehead girl should know better...).

So, as a result of last night's foolish drinking mistake, I was also feeling a bit out of it today. In the meantime, I just realized that I have a lot to do to prepare for my return to Malawi this Saturday (Jan. 5), so I've resolved to get myself back to Malawi-time (i.e. early to bed, early to rise...). Among other things, I need to sell my car and start figuring out my taxes. AAHH!! Wish me luck!! I hope your New Year has started out on a better foot than mine! Tiwonana!

Happy Holidays!

Since it's Christmas Day, I thought it might be nice to do a quick update posting to wish all of my faithful (and not-so-faithful) readers a very happy holiday season and fabulous new year!

As for me, I'm on my own with my boyfriend today, actually getting ready for my family's arrival tomorrow. My sisters and two nephews were kind enough to travel a bit of a distance to see me this year (as they did last year), to spare me the trouble/extra cost of flying to the midwest to see them after making the trek over the Atlantic a week ago. They'll stay with us until Dec. 30, so I'm really looking forward to that. My cousin who lives a couple of hours from here will also be coming tomorrow, and possibly staying the night.

Unfortunately, however, we made a special trip to a Japanese market in New Jersey (across the Hudson from Manhattan) Sunday (a 4.5 hour trip each way) and returned yesterday, but failed to finish cleaning the house before we went. Thus, at least part of our Christmas holiday will be spent cleaning up and organizing the house for our guests. Fun, fun! For us, Christmas really starts tomorrow, though, so that's o.k.

So, the schedule will be: clean, possibly visit some nearbye friends (if time allows), cook special Japanese food (Sukiyaki, to be exact) for our holiday meal, go to a movie (probably "Charlie Wilson's War"). Hope we can get it all done!

I must say I am missing Malawi lately, especially the weather. We'd planned to walk around Manhattan a bit on Sunday night, but it was literally pouring down rain, and so windy and miserable we just stayed in. We actually ordered in pizza, which is one of the 'simple' pleasures I missed while in Malawi. Though I rarely indulge in delivered pizza while here in the U.S., I suppose I just missed having the option. On a cold, blustery, rainy night, it managed to hit the spot.

One other adventure since arriving back has been the strangeness of driving here again. Ironically, staying on the RIGHT side of the road hasn't been the problem. Now, it's figuring out the opposite side directionals/lights/wipers again (wipers/lights on right (up for higher speed/down for lower speed), directional on left (up for right, down for left)-- Ya, I keep turning on the wipers when I need to turn, and confusing up from down and right from left. Eventually, I'll have to go back to the opposite way after arriving back in Malawi Jan. 7. Should be fun. As always, I'll keep ya 'posted.'

Another interesting observation is the silence. The place where I live in Malawi, though rather remote, is much noisier. If it's not the roosters, it's the random fish/vegetable peddlers yelling out the specials of the day, or neighbors/kids yelling "ODIE!" (similar to "Anybody Home?" in English), or dogs barking, or other signs of life that tend to seep into my windows. I really miss those noises (well, maybe not the dogs at midnight and the roosters at 4 a.m.), but generally, this place is too quiet for me. Perhaps the weather has something to do with it. Ya, the weather. Everyone's inside, and apart from the random car whizzing by now and then, there's very little sign of life here.

So, for now, it's just us and the cats. More signs of life arriving tomorrow. I can't wait! Tiwonana!!

Back in the 'Hinterland'

So, I promised an update once returning home, so here it is. Finally, after almost 11 hours at the FREEZING Detroit airport, I made it onto the one and only plane out of Detroit to Elmira, NY, which left at around 10 p.m. last night, arriving at around 11:30 p.m. Needless to say, I was exhausted, and freezing, but still didn't actually go to bed until around 3 a.m. due to the fact that it was 'wake-up time' in Malawi (around 7 a.m.) when I got home.

I pretty much spent the rest of my afternoon/evening yesterday wandering around the airport, much of it searching for a warm enough jacket to keep me from freezing to death. It's amazing how difficult it can be to find a good fleece jacket in an international airport. All I could find were cotton 'hoodies,' which is what I was wearing, and that wouldn't do. I eventually had to treck back down to the main terminal about an hour before the boarding of my flight, where ironically the only place selling anything warm enough was the PGA (Pro Golf Association) store. Luckily, they were having a 50% off sale, so I didn't have to drop a big wad of cash for the oversized, but very warm fleece jacket I bought. I'll have to figure out who gets it for Christmas, since it's way too big for both me and my boyfriend.

OK, well, that's it for now. I'm not likely to post every day while here, since I'm no longer in Malawi, so Tiwonana for now!

Ohmigod, I'm in another world...

Hello, faithful Malawi 'n Me readers! Sorry for my days-long hiatus. I actually have a very good excuse... When I tried to get online to post on Wed. and Thurs., I found that I could not log onto the internet. After a bit of investigation, I found out that Domasi College had gotten delinquent in the payment of the internet service bill, thus no internet access as of Wed. I'm not sure whether there was access Friday, but due to my need to leave by noon to travel up to Lilongwe, I hadn't planned to post after Thursday, anyway...

So, this is the first time I've been able to get online long enough to enter a new post, and you'll never guess where I am now, nor what I am doing.

OK, I'll give you 3 guesses... In the U.S.? Yes. At home? No. Stranded in the Detroit Airport in the middle of a huge winter storm? Yes! Wow, nice job with your guesses! I'm actually at an internet bar at the Detroit Airport which allows unlimited internet access for about $7.00 U.S. Not only that, but my favorite American football team (The Green Bay Packers) were pummelling the St. Louis Rams (33-14 final score--Yippee!!), so of course I had to order a couple of beers and watch them play. Today's brew is Sam Adams (my favorite Eastern beer, which I usually order when I can't get a 'Leini's'--only the Wisconsinite 'Cheeseheads' will know what that is... and, by the way, for the Malawians-- Carlsberg definitely is NOT the best beer in the world, as they like to claim on their billboards around Malawi--qualified by 'probably' for a reason (full slogan, for the 'Yanks': Carlsberg--probably the best beer in the world'... No way...it's Leini's all the way, baby!!)

I also had a portobello mushroom and cheese panini... something you can't find in Malawi (especially the mushrooms), but it wasn't as satisfying as I'd expected somehow... Could it be I've lost the taste for certain 'American-style' foods??? (though paninis are Italian)--- Hmmm....

Let me back up a bit. I flew in at around 11:30 a.m. this morning (Sunday, Dec. 16) My one checked bag did not follow me from Amsterdam, but I'm told it'll come here later. My 1:30 p.m. flight to Elmira (where I live here in the states... well, actually Horseheads, NY which is a little town where my boyfriend lives) was cancelled due to this crazy 'Noreaster' storm... (as they like to call them here... due to the fact that they usually move south from Canada, and generally pummel the Northeast U.S., though this one apparently came up from the south and through the midwest first...)

So, the next flight available to my little town is at 9:30 p.m. Ya, about 10 hours to kill... that's a lotta beer (now down to 4.5 hours). I'll have to pace myself. I'll be sure to keep you posted again tomorrow on the status of my travels. I'm really in another world... everything is white here, including most of the people ;-).... and COLD--- REALLY, REALLY, REALLY Cold!! How did I grow up in this place? It's nuts... Well, at least there aren't any big, hairy spiders crawling around (As my sister Heather kindly reminded me while chatting online today)-- I suppose everything has its silver lining, eh?

So, with that, Tiwonana Mawa!

Curios of 'Happiness'

This will be another short post, as I'm just getting started, and it's almost 9:30 p.m. already. I spent the day in Blantyre today, visiting the doctor for one final check-up before leaving for the states, and all is looking very good, so I'm feeling quite relieved. I also met with a new friend David, whom I met through one of the Blantyre guys we met at the lake (Juffah, the guy who lives in Canada). David is Juffah's cousin, and a very nice guy who seems to have taken some pity on me, being a Mzungu all on my own living in the middle of nowhere. I don't have a lot of opportunities to 'hang out' in the city, so it's nice to know someone I can do things with in Blantyre once in awhile. Hopefully next time I'll get to meet up with his wife and young daughter as well.

He also obliged me in visiting the 'Curios' area in Blantyre (also known as 'souvenirs' to my fellow 'bloody Yanks' out there...). I'd been told by Juffah before he left for Canada to ask for a guy named 'Happiness' (ya, that's his real name... a lot to live up to, eh?). So, I asked for 'Happiness', and he appeared. Ah, if only it were always that simple. Not much later, meeting 'Happiness' brought me some 'sadness' and 'regret', as I spent a good chunk of the money in my purse. But I got good stuff for my 'homies' in the states. Betchya wanna know what I got. Not gonna tell ya (last line should be read aloud in 'Dana Carvey imitation of Bush-Senior' voice--that one's definitely for the 'bloody Yanks'). Of course, I don't wanna spoil the fabulous Christmas surprises!!

Actually, I only needed a few things, as most of my purchases have already been made. But, now I have more stuff from 'Happiness' which will hopefully bring more happiness to the ones I love. Isn't that sweet? Tiwonana mawa!

Fuzzy bugs, Fancy prison

Hello, again... For those few faithful who may have noticed, I have to apologize for not getting my post in yesterday, but I when I actually did get online yesterday evening with the intention of entering a short 'blurb', the connection to blogger wasn't working... though everything else online seemed fine. Perhaps the site was down. So, not entirely my fault, but it was Sunday, and I was feeling a bit tired and 'out of it', so I guess I just needed a rest day anyway.

I did take a short walk (well about an hour, which for me is short) around campus yesterday afternoon, as the rains seem to have come back again (finally), so it was so much cooler than usual...heaven for me. I also felt a walk might do me good, since I'd been cooped up in the house all day trying to grade those research papers. Ya, fun stuff. Why did I give that assignment, anyway? Can't imagine what I was thinking...(Ya, all you students out there... the grading is the payback for the big projects, in case ya didn't know...)

I was accompanied on my walk by a young man named Chikuni (the guy we met at Liwonde National Park who played the 'Bawo' game with Deliwe). He was in the area, and is a driver by trade, so I wanted to talk with him about helping me with my trip to Lilongwe on Friday, as I need to drive there (4 hours away) for my flight to the U.S. on Saturday. He agreed to help me with the driving both ways (I was especially worried about coming back in January, as I'll likely be VERY jet-lagged).

As we walked along, there were two VERY interesting things we spotted. One was this very strange, but beautiful bug. It looks like it's made of felt, or velvet, and is shaped a bit like a deer tick. It's a bright orange color, and when you pick it up, it compacts itself into a little tiny ball. We kept seeing them everywhere, and Chikuni picked all of them up and carried them around for awhile. I also did, but felt badly about the little guy all curled up like that, so put him back. Chikuni joked about eating them later. I think it was a joke (???) I saw one in our garden the other day as well... they're so interesting... they don't actually look real. I'll try to get a pic next time of one of these little guys. Maybe one of my faithful Malawian readers can help me with the name of this creature??? (Chikuni didn't seem to know its name, and I likely would've gotten it wrong here, anyway...)

The other interesting thing was the Domasi Prison. Though I knew where it was, I had never actually walked near it before. It actually looked like a pretty nice place to be. I didn't realize it was a prison until Chikuni told me it was. There was a guard sitting out front, talking with a young woman and her young daughter (maybe about 7 years old). Of course, they both lived there at the prison, and Chikuni told me the woman must be an inmate. He also said that there are serious criminals there, accused of crimes as serious as murder, though you'd never know it from looking at the place. It actually looked like nicer accommodation than many people enjoy in this area. It was a brick and concrete structure, surrounded by very nice landscaping and gardens, very green and lush. The building itself looked quite pleasant from the outside, and the only true security (besides the one guard) seemed to be a metal perimeter fence made of wire with coiled barbed wire at the top. That's it. I wonder if I should be worried about that at all... hmmmm....

I'm not sure if the woman inside was a convicted murderer, but had I been alone, I would never have suspected she was a prisoner, or that the place itself was a prison. Maybe the inside looks much different from the outside. I suppose I'll never know. At least I hope not.

So, that's my story for today. Tomorrow, I'm off to Blantyre for a quick doctor's visit and to buy a couple of things in preparation for my trip home. It'll be good to get out of town for a day. Been feeling a bit 'cooped up' lately...Tiwonana mawa!

Grading meeting evaded (ooh that almost rhymes...)

Though I know many of you out there are waiting with great anticipation for the exhilarating story of the grading review meeting scheduled for today, I'm afraid you'll be overwhelmingly disappointed to find out that in the end I didn't make it there after all. I came to the office with the full intention of attending (though fashionably late by 15 mins., which appears to be somewhat standard here), I found the conference room locked. As I was walking away, a colleague from Social Sciences by the name of Sane (yes, as opposed to INsane, as he kindly obliged me in confirming) let me know that the meeting was postponed a few minutes due to a transportation scheduling issue involving the bus sent to collect faculty living off-campus. I then ran into the Dean, who said the department printer had run out of toner, so they were arranging to make copies in another office, but the meeting would begin 'at any time.' That said, Sane then assured me he'd check back in the conference room later on, and come to my office to let me know when the meeting starts.

So, I went back to the office, started my e-mailing/checking up on the world news daily ritual (some shocking stuff going on these days..), and as time went by, no Sane. Then, I started to think: "Should I check to see if the meeting started, or just wait for someone to come?" Hmmm... though I knew the responsible thing to do would be to go back and check, the other side of me really wanted to stay in my office and catch up on communications, as well as work on some of the Chanco research paper's I'd brought in with me. "Maybe just 5 more minutes," I thought. Then, about 20 minutes later, I realized, "Hmmm... some time has passed now... it might be rude to show up so late in the meeting. Maybe in a couple more minutes..." This went on for a good hour or so, until I decided it would be WAY too rude to show up that much later, not to mention I'd already committed to some other work, plus a much-needed international 'Skype' telephone conversation with my boyfriend back home.

Thus, I never made it to the meeting. In fact, I don't know whether the meeting actually took place, as Sane never did come over to my office to let me know. Not to say I'm too relieved, but well, I'm not a big fan of meetings... Is anybody? In a way, though, I was interested in how this one works, as it's culturally something new for me. The department faculty (in this case, Humanities) actually gets together (in this case, long after the end of the term which ended in September) to review the final grades for each course and make decisions based on whether the overall grade spread is too high or too low. If a course grade-spread seems to lop-sided, the faculty may recommend changing some of the grades in this meeting. Shocking, eh? Well, at least for me...

I learned from Mr. Mwanza (Deputy Principal at DCE) the other day that this is something the Malawians adopted from the British, who take pride in standardization, as well as keeping grades on the lower side. You really have to be extremely brilliant and exceptional to receive an 'A' in the British system. However, in the American system, this is not always the case, depending on the institution (and sometimes the region). It's one reason (among many) that our post-secondary institutions are sometimes accused of 'grade inflation.' In addition, the system here is very focused on end-of-term evaluations, rather than continuing assessment (i.e. projects, homework). In the U.S. (at least in my field), we tend to weigh more of our grading on work done throughout the term (i.e. homework, projects, periodic quizzes/exams etc.), and a bit less on final exams, which may account for only 20-40 percent of the final grade. Here, the final exams account for 60 percent of the final grade. Ya, for me, this is an extremely different approach to evaluation, reflective of an equally different view/theory on education/learning.

So, from that point of view, perhaps I missed out on something useful, at least in terms of how I approach my grading, as I must consider this as I finalize my grades this week with my Chanco students. I am finding, however, that the research paper (also being considered their final assessment, an exception approved by the dept. head at the end of the term, as I mentioned in an earlier post) has proven quite challenging for some of my students, so seems to be evening out the grades so that the curve should be acceptable enough to avoid any type of 'high' or 'low' general results.

Standardizing. Wow. This is tough for me. I like to give them what they deserve, not base it 'on a curve'. Ooh, I rhyming couplet. We were due for one of those...

Better end on that high note. Tiwonana mawa!

Road to Recovery

Today it appears that I'm on the road to recovery. Hallelujah! I was starting to lose hope. Though I woke up with a feeling of light-headedness (Which I also had Wed. while at the hospital--all hospitals do that to me...), that eventually passed late this morning, and for the most part I'm starting to feel 'normal' again. This is a very good thing, as I'm now getting more focused on the work I need to do before departing the country next Saturday, Dec. 15 for a visit home over the holidays. Due to my sorry physical state this week, I have been unable to work on marking those research papers I assigned my Chanco students as their end-of-semester assessment. Each paper is an average of 10 pages typed, so I won't be doing much more than marking those for the next week. Hence, my postings may be a bit lacking in excitement, but I'll try to do my best at embellishing and exaggerating for the benefit of my 4-6 faithful readers.

One of my observations yesterday is something I've been meaning to write about for awhile. I had to make a quick trip into Zomba to run a couple of errands, and Sister Anastasia (remember her? My next door neighbor) needed a ride to the bank, so she came along with me. Of course, I wasn't feeling so great, so I wanted to make it a very quick trip... American style-- zoom in, zoom out... This is difficult to do in Malawi, as whenever I go anywhere (in Zomba, especially), I get stopped by groups of people (sometimes blocking the car door, ironically--the 'Celtel' girls who peddle pre-paid cell-phone cards are most skilled at this method) wanting to sell me various things, and sometimes begging for money. Usually I can handle this situation in stride, kindly telling them I'm not interested, sometimes buying something, and quietly going my way.

Yesterday, however, I just was not in the mood. After dropping the Sister at the bank, I went up to the local PTC (People's Trading Center--one of the common grocery chains here), where this occurrence is rather common. I managed to get through it without incident (i.e. no money exchanged, few words spoken), walked over to the pharmacy, stopped at the PTC on my way back, and then decided to give some biscuits to a crippled man and some children who were asking for money. I generally try to give people food when I can.

Happy to then make my escape, I headed down to Chancellor College to pick up some materials left by a student who was ill towards the end of the semester. I then went to pick up the Sister at the bank, hoping we'd then be on our way. Not so. After getting in the car, she informed me that she also needed to go to the PTC to get some meat. Though I had mentioned that I'd planned to go there while she was at the bank, she never let me know that she also needed to shop there. I think this may be a cultural difference, as I never asked her directly whether she needed to go. As soon as she told me, I made 'a face,' and said, "Oh, no... You know, every time I go there, people surround my car trying to sell me things and beg for money. Do you really need to go there?" Of course, her answer was, "Yes. They have the best meat." Actually, I think she said it more politely than that, but my state of mind yesterday influenced the way it sounded at the time.

Of course, wanting to help her out and not be so selfish in my fragile physical and mental state, I agreed to go back. Of course, once I got there, I decided to stay in the car, thinking that would discourage too many people from approaching me. Not so. The same people still came by, even though they'd just seen me a few minutes earlier. The kids asking for money, followed by the guy selling strawberries, followed by the guy selling mangoes, and the guy selling bananas. In fact, one guy came to the car 3 times, selling all three of those things (if I'm not mistaken... though I was pretty hazy yesterday, so maybe I just imagined it was the same guy...)

In the end, the Sister took a good 10-15 minutes to shop (though it felt like a lifetime), eventually emerging with 3 full bags of groceries (or was it 2? Again, haziness...sorry...). I'm not sure why she didn't tell me she was picking up more food than that. I certainly would've followed her into the store. However, once I'd committed to staying in the car, I decided I'd better stick with that commitment. Luckily, the car is well-equipped with decent air-conditioning, or I'd certainly have passed out... it was hot. Very hot. And I was hazy. But I survived, and the Sister was grateful for my help. I suppose that's all that matters.

And, I'm feeling better today. Perhaps the good kharma's returning again. One can only hope so. Tomorrow afternoon, I'm attending a 2-hour meeting here at DCE (Domasi College of Ed.) about end-of-semester grading. Ya, on Saturday. Isn't that against the law here? More on that adventure 'mawa'. Betchya can't wait, eh? Tiwonana!

Just checkin' in...

Hey, this actually may end up being my shortest post ever on this blog. I had the true Malawi hospital experience yesterday (ya, the one I really hoped NOT to have...). This time it was for me rather than someone else. Don't worry, it's not too serious... has to do with the infection I got at the lake, and really needed to see a specialist, which literally required waiting ALL DAY at the hospital. And that was a private hospital. The public hospitals are much, much worse. Luckily, I think I got the treatment I needed, but I'm on lotsa antibiotics, and some painkillers now, which are makin me a bit woozy, so not up for a long post. Let's just put it this way. It's about 5:30 p.m., and I'm thinking of going to bed by 6:00. Hopefully things will get better tomorrow. Tiwonana mawa...