The second week commences...

OK, so I promised my "loyal readers" (all 3 of them so far, if I'm counting right) that I'd try to add something to this blog each day, so in the effort to avoid making empty promises, here I go. We'll see how long I can keep it up. If I miss a day, I'll buy anyone who notices a nice bottle of Malawi Gin. Here's the catch. You have to notice it ON THE DAY that I fail to post. After that, tough luck. Hmmm... perhaps I've missed the mark on my career choice. This could be an excellent marketing tool to build readership! Too bad I'm doing this for free... but I digress (already!-- a record... even for me!)

So, today began rather uneventfully, with me requesting to take a photo of Deliwe (my fabulous housekeeper/cook) as she was cooking some fried potatoes for breakfast. She was a bit concerned, as she was in her "morning clothes." It turns out that she likes to change clothes from morning to afternoon. I guess these clothes were not very presentable, but they looked just fine to me, as when I took the picture, I was in a pair of boxer-type pajama shorts and a t-shirt. I later took another picture of her in her more suitable clothes. I'll let you, the reader, be the judge. Does either outfit look shabby at all? Clearly this young woman takes much more pride in her appearance than I. Perhaps I should re-evaluate (note my outfit in later photo... I'm guessing Daliwe wouldn't be caught dead in it...)

After breakfast, Daliwe cleaned up, changed clothes, and left me all alone. Luckily, my trusty dog (for now still nameless, but I'm workin on it) was laying out in the backyard, so I went to greet him, as I usually do. He seemed somewhat happy to see me. It's usually hard to tell how he feels, as he's overall pretty lethargic-- he's really got the dog's life... good by many dogs' standards, as they all run free, but hard in the sense that it appears they have to fight to survive. Every night, I hear what sounds like a dog party, complete with barking, howling, and running around the 'hood. However, the party quickly turns into a brawl, with some dogs growling, while others are yelping. My doggie has come around with some apparent war wounds. The other day, it was a small sore on his leg, which he allowed me to clean with some of that "Purell" stuff (incidentally, I never use the stuff-- I think that's why I never get sick... too much sanitation causes a weak immune system, I always say...and yes, I do pick things up off the floor and eat them from time to time... even here. So far, so good...I'll keep ya posted.). I then put some Neosporin with pain relief on it. A woman walked by my house as I was doing this, and I swear she was thinking, "What is up with these white people, anyway?" So, this morning, my dog's ears were looking pretty chewed up as well. They've always been a bit like that along the outside edges, but today there was some blood, so I tried to do the same thing (with the Purell and Neosporin), but after the Purell on the right ear, he wanted no more of that, rubbed his ears into the dirt and took off. I guess he's been taking the Jennifer course on staying healthy. Just rub it in some dirt, that'll take care of it. More on my doggie later.

So, after being rejected by my dog, I decided to take a quick shower and head out onto the trails once more to see what adventures awaited me. Amazingly, my walk today was even more eventful than yesterday. I'd heard from my best Malawian friend Mr. Banda that there was a small market in the area where I bumped into him yesterday, so I decided to check it out. On my way, I saw a couple of cute small children (ya, they're everywhere, and they're all cute!). So, I decided to stop and talk to them. Their mother was also outside, and came over for a quick chat. Of course, it didn't take long before I asked them if I could take their picture. As usual, they enthusiastically agreed. Then, as soon as the camera came out, it happened. Little by little, children started appearing from every corner of the wilderness. I have no idea where they were or how they saw us, but they just appeared. Needless to say, I became the hapless victim of their cute little faces, and took several pictures of them, as they tried to outdo themselves with goofy poses. They followed me for awhile, and posed for every shot, as I tried to take a picture of the mother at her small fruit/vegetable stand (incidentally, many women here start their own small businesses this way, and often do quite well, even in remote areas), and later as I took pictures at the local mosque I visited yesterday. In fact, I saw those kids again at the end of my walk a few hours later. They really are everywhere, and certainly know how/where to find me.

As I just mentioned, my little walk ended several hours later. How, you ask? Well, this is Malawi, and I think this is how it works, at least for me. You see, I just thought I'd explore a bit more of the area around where I live, so I found this rather empty path, and followed it down toward some houses, and eventually was spotted by a few kids who came out to say hello. After a bit of chatting in English and (very little) Chichewa, I ask for a picture. Of course, they agree, and then want me to take several pictures. As we're standing there, a couple of older boys (about 13 or 14 years old) wander towards us, and start asking me more questions about myself, of course, very curious about what I'm doing in their little village. They then ask where I'm headed, so I point down one of the trails. "Oh, don't go that way," says one kid. "Why not?" I ask. "There's nothing there. This way's much better." Again, I ask, "Why?" "Because the river is this way," "Oh, which river?" I ask, "The Domasi River." "I didn't know there was a river here. Can you show me?" Of course, they all agree to take me to the river, and from there, I am officially captive to about 5 young boys, ranging in age from about 7 to about 13 years. Of course, as we're walking along, we pick up a few more kids along the way who are also curious about this strange white woman walking around with all these local kids. And that's how it happens. At least in Malawi. At least for me.

So, this lovely group of boys takes me down to the river, where we see some kids swimming, splashing, and making a bunch of noise. Again, I take out my camera (of course!). Then, of course, you can guess what happens. Almost EVERY kid in the river starts to show off for the camera. Eventually, they all come out of the river to pose for a closer shot, and fight tooth and nail to see the resulting picture. When they start to push and shove each other, my "teacher" instinct kicks in, "No pushing!" I say, forgetting that many of them either can't understand my English, or can't be bothered to pay attention, as they're just too excited about the mere prospect of seeing their image on the small digital screen. All in all, they're pretty civil for a big group of wet kids. Ironically, the group that met me earlier on the trail (especially the older boys) begin to act as my bodyguards, urging the crowd to step back, and let me move on. The "leader" of the group turns out to be rather bossy with me, saying "let's move, let's move." I wasn't sure at first how to take this, but realize it's likely just a combination of age, language barrier, and culture gap, and agree to follow.

This boy (unfortunately his name escapes me, as I'm still struggling with the pronunciation of Chichewa names) insists that I go across the river to see his house and meet his family. So, of course I agree, and my little entourage of boys follows in tow. After crossing the bridge, we come to the house, which is built right along a drainage ditch. Yes, that's right. An actual drainage which had been dug back in the early 1960's to divert water to a fish hatchery up-river (as I would soon find out from the boy's father Lloyd ). So, this proves that such drainages have been developed in Malawi. The mystery is why more of them do not exist, as they are not difficult nor expensive to engineer, and could do a great deal to bring this very lush, abundant nation out of extreme poverty (as my pictures of banana trees, sugar cane, papayas, and huge bamboo groves growing naturally can attest). I do plan to delve further into this issue in the future.

Back to my story. So, the first person we come across is Lloyd (that's right, Lloyd), the patriarch of the family. To my pleasant surprise, Lloyd is propped on a rock in the middle of the drainage stream, washing a pair of pants. The possible environmental impact aside (let's face it-- we're doing WAY much more damage in the U.S. than we can possibly imagine here), it was so nice to see a man doing this type of work. I can barely get my boyfriend to run the washer on a weekend, never mind sitting in a river and scrubbing his own jeans on a rock. This is a truly enlightened man, who certainly dispelled many of my prior assumptions about men in Africa based on things I'd read and/or heard in the past. In fact, Lloyd told me later that he is teaching all of his children (three boys and one daughter) that it is important to help around the house. He assured me that all of them know how to cook, clean, and do all household chores. What a concept. Do any U.S. kids do that anymore? Just an assumption, but it seems "household chores" are no longer what they used to be where I come from.

Of course, the young man encouraged me to take pictures of his family in front of the house, then escorted me to their very large garden across the small drainage stream. Wow, what a garden! It was a borderline plantation by my standards. They had everything from tomatoes, to beans, to corn, to bananas, to sugarcane, to papayas, all irrigated via the small diversion stream. It was something else. This small example shows what a little water diversion can do. Imagine the impact this would have across the nation. I'd like to spearhead such a project myself. (Jason, and/or Missy, if you're reading this, perhaps you know of a good contact in New Mexico I could consult? That place is King when it comes to river-diversion irrigation).

So, after the tour of the amazing garden, Lloyd offered to escort me to the Domasi Fish Hatchery just down the road apiece (Heather, that's for you... still with me?), where we observed amazing bird life above all else. There were Blue Herons, Pink-bellied Pelicans, these hammer-head looking birds (with a similar name, I believe), and these white birds that looked like Egrets, though I think they also have a different name here. Of course, the directors of the hatchery loath the presence of the birds, as they're drawn there by the easy fishing... so a bit of a conflict of interest, clearly. However, the place seems to be doing well, and is part of a worldwide effort -- the World Fish Council, I believe, is the funding body. You know the old expression... "Give a man fish, he'll eat for a day, but teach him to fish, and he'll never go hungry." (Did I get it right? I'm lousy at quotes-- much more fun to make up my own.) They operate on this basic belief, and it seems to be going quite well, as they've enabled several local farmers to start their own fish ponds, raising and selling their own fish.

So, after a bit of walking with Lloyd back through the Malawi Institute of Education (which is where he works-- more on that another day), I headed home, tired, thirsty and very hungry, but very pleased and satisfied with how my day turned out. Oh, and the good news. My doggie came back. He actually followed me from the house across the street, where I was buying phone cards to add credit to my cellphone. Good dog. He got his lacto-ovo fix, and curled up under the amazing tree with the purple blossoms (God, I'm bloody awful with names, as I can't remember the name of that tree either!!). Well, I've gotta save something for future posts, so that should be it for now. Hope you're still with Me 'n Malawi! (or was it Malawi 'n Me? ;-)