Monday, Monday...

Hello, again! Believe it or not, I'm pretty sure this posting will be significantly shorter than the others, but I'll try not to speak too soon, as it usually ends up being a lie. Today, I had to go back to "work," though things are pretty low-key at the moment, as both institutions at which I'll be teaching are in a break period-- meaning, no classes are in session, though staff still have to be there. Those teachers out there know the drill on that. It's the same worldwide, at least in my experience.

The good part of this is that since I'm still getting settled, this down-time gives me an opportunity to settle all the settling-in matters (have I used the word "settled" enough?). Today, it started with the phone line which I want to get connected at my house. You see, here, getting a phone line installed here takes a bit more time/effort than in the U.S. First, Mr. Banda (read below if you don't know who that is) had to give me this form to fill out, and then he took it to the special telephone connection office, where someone had to write some things and give it back to him. He then gave it back to me, with the instructions to go to Zomba (20 mins. away) to the Malawi Telecom office and pay a fee for the telephone hook-up. Today was the day we got to do that, since I was set to meet up with an instructor at Chancellor College in Zomba today, anyway. Luckily, when I called Sydney, the director, he told me he'd be in a meeting until 11:30 a.m., so that gave us time to take care of the phone line in the morning.

My experience with the phone line was similar to my experience at the bank last week (Did I mention that in my first posting? It was a good 3 hours, mostly waiting). Luckily, this took closer to just one hour. Mostly, it involved giving the woman at the office the piece of paper filled out by the other people at some other telephone hook-up office in Domasi. As soon as she looked at it, she scowled as apparently the people at that other office didn't fill in the right portion of the form. The good thing is that she didn't make us go back there to get it filled out, but called that other office and read them the riot act (in a pleasant, Chichewa sort-of way). Then, another woman sat down at the desk and said hello, but that was about all. She eventually gave me a printed form which I signed, and then told me to pay the fee (about $30) at another counter, and bring back the receipt. Of course, there were other people waiting, but I didn't know at first, because people here don't generally stand in line, but instead sit in chairs lined up along a back wall until they're called. I almost skipped a woman in line not realizing this, until I heard her make a loud sigh of exasperation. Because I tend to always be concerned about respecting the people around me, I picked up on it and quickly asked her if she was waiting in line, and she said she was. This is also something that's a bit different here. People will not tell you directly when you screw up... they just make a motion, gesture, or sound, so you have to pay attention to figure it out. Luckily my years in East Asia helped me to pick up on such cues, or maybe there would've been a brawl (not bloody likely...).

So, eventually my turn came, and I paid the fee, then had to bring the receipt to the woman, who did a bit more paperwork. Then I had to buy the phone. Remember those days when we all bought phones from the phone company? Well, they're still doing that here. You can buy them elsewhere, but apparently they're not as reliable, at least according to Mr. Banda, and well, he's the man, so I took his word for it. Once I chose a phone (from 2 possible models), I was given another piece of paper by the woman, and sent to the payment line (of chairs against the wall) again. While sitting there, a nice old catholic nun walked in, and did exactly what I did the first time. She stood in line behind the person being served. At first, I thought maybe religious people enjoyed special privileges here, and even though it was my turn, I didn't dare confront her, as I wanted to respect her position. But no, as soon as the person in front of her was finished paying, the cashier told her she had to sit down, and motioned to me to come up to the window. So, I guess my earlier mistake was not so terrible, as even a local Catholic nun made the same mistake. I hope I don't go to Hell for not letting her go in front of me (though I did make a gesture to do so, so I think I'm covered...)

So, then I made the payment, went back to the same woman again with the receipt, and got my new phone. Yes, lots of steps. Again, some of my other experiences helped to prepare me for that, so I didn't get all bent out of shape like many typical Americans might (now, don't get offended... you KNOW what I'm talking about). Luckily, I didn't have to be anywhere in a hurry, anyway, and generally people are pretty laid-back here, so the stress of the rush is almost non-existent. (As a sidenote, I still may not see a phone line at my house for a good 2 weeks... I'll keep ya posted).

So, for today, that's the most interesting story I've got. Some other tidbits:

--Had my first public toilet experience... a bit better than China, a bit worse than Mexico, and thank God I remembered my little pack of Kleenex.

--Did a bit more shopping with Mr. Banda. It went a bit smoother this time, as we both had a better idea of where to go. My favorite shop now is owned by a nice Indian man who actually grew up in Domasi. He's always friendly and gives me a good price. I bought an electric teapot from him.

--Got an office space set up at both Chancellor College and Domasi College of Education. I also received some papers to grade for the course I'm taking over at Chancellor College next week. Let the games begin!

--Met a very nice man named Mark who is Malawian, but lives in the U.S., and is here on a project with Richmond University in Virginia (if I remember correctly). He's the first person I've ever met with a PhD in Physical Education. I really didn't know those existed. He did confess that he's the only Malawian who has one. I was tempted to ask whether he was the only person in the world who has one, but I'll save that question for later. In any case, he's a very friendly and interesting guy, has lived everywhere, speaks 5 languages fluently, and invited me to join an aerobics club in Zomba. I'm not big into aerobics, but I think I'm gonna try. Maybe I'll be more coordinated in Malawian aerobics, plus I'll meet a few fun people and manage to get back into decent shape, with any luck.

So, that's my day in a nutshell. Is it shorter than the other ones? It's gotta be! I'll let you do the word count. 'Mwaswela' for now! (i.e. 'Good evening'!)

***DISCLAIMER TO MY EARLIER POST PROMISING GIN: I realized that my promise to write every day requires a disclaimer stating that I will post to this site every day, internet access and physical presence permitting. On days that I cannot post due to power failures or problems with internet connectivity, I will make a statement clarifying those issues as soon as possible. In the event that I will not have access to the internet due to physical location (i.e. being away from my office/home, as I will be this coming Thursday, I will state this prior to the day on which I cannot post. In this event, I am not obligated to the FREE BOTTLE OF GIN offer previously advertised in my post on Sept. 16. Thanks for your understanding of this matter. Keep on reading, though! ;-)***