It's March now.

10/3/13

(I was busy concentrating on my university accommodation when I typed this up, so apologies for lack of interesting material or emotion.)

It’s week… 28? Something like that.

I’m starting to get used to going to Nama Simba every day – to look forward to it, even. The children are challenging, but what’s life without a little challenge? It also means we are more likely to get Nama Simba nsima – as long as there’s no fish. The children love our company, asking for the ‘round and round the garden’ rhyme so often that I am officially sick of it. I get them to count to ten, spin them around, like in ballroom dancing, I tickle them to make them stop crying: it’s less mentally demanding than TST, but a bit more physically strenuous.

TST has been busy – lots of teaching. This week Juniyo came to me after school with a sheet of paper on which he had drawn out hundreds of dots so that we could play the paper game again. I like to think he hadn’t been doing this while he should have been working in class… There are a couple of new children, which always means we have more to do as they haven’t been placed in school yet.  Brian and Ben are 6 and 8 respectively – and absolute cuties. On Thursday, we went with William to buy some mosquito nets with the money my Dad raised from his sponsored run. A gift all the more poignant as Dad has been told he has knackered his joints and can’t run anymore! Well, the kids really appreciate your pain, Dad – Malaria is a serious problem in Malawi and the nets will make such a big difference.

We also got our first mail for over a month this week! Due to strikes, the mail had been delayed – we still haven’t received our monthly Project Trust newsletter for January. I always look forward to letters from my Granny, and I was able to show the kids the pictures she sent me of us on a camel over Christmas. They love seeing photos of my home or family and they’d never seen a camel before.

This time next week I will be North of Lilongwe with my parents as they are coming to visit on Friday. I can’t wait; it’s going to be great to see my family again and to see more of Malawi.

No pictures this week, coz I be borin'.

TTFN

Anecdotes

We were getting a taxi through town, (we don’t often do this, but we were out later than usual) when the taxi ran out of fuel. This is not that unusual, so the driver took a jerrycan to the local filling station, but they wouldn’t fill it for him. He then proceeded to reverse and turn around to the way we’d came. We had stopped on the dual carriage way, so we then began to coast down the wrong side of the dual carriageway towards the roundabout, with the hazards on. I truly thought this was the way I was going to die. When we ran out of downhill, the driver and some bystanders began to push us towards another filling station. Eventually we got there, got fuel, got to our final destination and, because they had been so lovely about it, asked them to pick us up 2 hours later. Not one died. This time.

I am a Malawian now.

3/3/13

This week has been busy but not particularly exciting, so I’ll try to find something to say about it.

We have decided to go to TST in the afternoons now, rather than the mornings, as there are more children about and therefore usually more for us to to. To fill this time, we have been helping out at Nama Simba more as the children usually get sent home around 1.30pm at the latest. It has been earlier this week however as, due to the maize shortage, the caregivers have only been able to supply one meal for the children, rather than two. The children are becoming more manageable as time goes on and we spend most of our time playing with them. They all love the ‘Round and round the garden, like a teddy bear’ rhyme and when we do it once the children shout ‘Ine! Ine!’ (‘Me! Me!) for a good 15 minutes, demanding their turn. Since my Chichewa has improved, I’ve been able to pass a ball around the kids. This sounds simple, but it would have been impossible 4 months ago without knowng ‘dikirani’ meaning wait, ‘ayi Iwe, apa’ meaning no you, (stand) here, ‘osamenyana’ meaning stop fighting and, of course, praise words like ‘eya, wakhoza’ and ‘zili bwino’.

At TST, we’ve been providing Maths help as usual. Juniyo struggles with writing, so I tend to get him to copy out simple Chichewa words, their English translation and draw a picture. One day he came to me looking rather dejected, which was sad to see as he usually greets me with a smile. I asked him if he wanted to do some Maths like the others (ukufuna Masamu?) but he said no and that he wanted to play a game. So I taught him a paper game, not sure what it’s called. The aim is to have won the most boxes at the end, gained by being the one to finish to box, drawing one line at a time. Anyway, he really seemed to like it, but was hindered by his desire to make the page look symmetrical. Not the most competitive kid I have ever met, but such a sweetie.

We did manage to to buy a 5 kg bag of maize flour this week, so I have been able to feed my phala addiction. As we haven’t been having lunch at TST anymore, and the lunch at Nama Simba tends to be served with this minging fish that we don’t like, we haven’t been having any nsima. I have missed it more than I had anticipated. Nothing fills you up like nsima and I’ve found that a lunch of banana on toast just doesn’t leave me satisfied. To make up for it, we cooked nsima and soya ndiwo for our dinner a couple of nights this week. It’s really tasty and filling, and we feel very Malawian for it.

I have also become quite good at balancing things on my head. The African stereotype that women carry buckets on their heads for miles and miles is bang on – it is completely sociably acceptable to cart any manner of things around on your head, even if you’ve got two empty hands and no baby on your back. The balance of the Malawian people is absolutely phenomenal; I have never seen anyone wobble or drop anything – not even very young children. I am nowhere near as good as the locals, but I give it a good go from time to time.

So, I have 2 videos for you this week! Do enjoy. The internet connection I am using is really slow, so I'll post the links here if and when they are completed.

http://youtu.be/mB1xusn-n5k

http://youtu.be/s4OwmZHjZBc

TTFN

Notable Event

This week, we went into town to shop at our favourite cash and carry, only to find it absolutely empty. We have no idea whether it has moved premises or closed down… but it makes me sad. We’ve been going there religiously for 5 months, and they had the best and cheapest pasta. RIP Sana Cash n Carry.