eclectic report

learned over drinks last night that Halloween does not exist on this continent. my South African friend even stooped so low as to ask if it was this month or next...crushed.

late for work yesterday. just ambling along when a warm soft sticky thing latched onto my hand. figured that my brain had finally succombed to the heat (it got up to 102 about an hour later) and was fried to a point of crispy insanity. but then i looked down... there was a tiny black hand attached to a tiny black little boy who looked up at me with heart-melting brown eyes. a few paces behind was a chitenji clad girl laughing and apologizing for her son's boldness. so hand in hand, little Gift, his mom, and i walked to school.
also, saw two more condoms in the street, bringing the total count up to 5.

arachnophobia no more

i was never actually afraid of spiders but if i were, i'd either be cured or in shock by now. screenless windows make for manditory interaction with my 6-8legged friends. some daily encounters:

most mornings i wake up to a cockroach or two rummaging around in the garbage.

last weekish, i woke up nose to nose with a giant (approx. 2 inch diameter) black spider on the other side of my mosquito net.

there are giant ants everywhere that make these raised burrows that look like dirt versions of the veins in arnold schwarzenegger's arms. and the ants are strong like arnold too, apparently when they bite they dont let go...

last night a 7inch long praying mantis flew in my window. he sat on my bedroom light and ate the bugs swarming around it with his weird little arms. i should have been grateful. but like a giant cowardly idiot, i was absolutely terrified. it was worse than when the customs officers with AK47s came knocking on my door at 4am and demanded to see my passport...anyway, the green monster stayed a few hours until i turned out the light to go to sleep and everytime i went into the bedroom he rose up, assumed praying position and slowly turned his head to stare at me, amazingly aware of his environment, or dare i say.. intelligent?

mosquitos suck

 swarmy, smarmy, sucking, sucky, wiged harbingers of death. k, i'm being obnoxious and over dramatic, but still, they suck.  i think ive developed an impassioned hatred.

 they managed to get inside my net last night. yep, they breached the bunker and infested my sleep. i spent an agitated night listening to them buzz mockingly in my ear and fruitlessly attempting to smash them mid-flight. then there was the excruciating dilemma of whether to barricade myself under the covers and sweat to death or remain at a comfortable temperature at point-blank range.

I am now covered in giant pink welts, just waiting for the malaria to kick in. thank you mother nature

Misty Mountain Hop

 

Mulanje Massif   the tallest mountain in Malawi, lies about 45 minutes -on a good day- south of Blantyre, surrounded by tea plantations, free standing, looming over farm plains, visible for miles.  I started off from the Likhubula Forest trailhead at 7am last Sunday. Robert, my guide, warned me that on the way up the path was 'steep steep'. So in the 36 degree celsius heat (October is apparently the hottest month here)  we panted up the slope past tiger-striped rock faces, black monkeys (they're actually gray, but whatever), and low-lying cloud banks trapped in the folds between the peaks. Super cool factiod: during his travels through Africa, Tolkien climbed Mulanje and it was there that he was inspiried to write the Lord of the Rings. Four hours later we reached Chambe Plateau and, (it honestly could't have been possible for the place to be any more Middle-earthly) watched the most maginifcent thunderstorm roll in. Robert calls thunder tremors, so I was paraniod about earthquakes for a few minutes before we figured out the word discrepancy. Took a different route down. .  through the rainforest. along the waterfall.
 


 Local myths warned of the ancestral spirits that inhabit the mountain. In order to be granted safe passage up to their dwelling place, one must first seek approval by praying and placing a small offering of maize flour at their feet at the base of the mountain. I didnt have any maize flour. Instead, left a little mound of cane sugar in the path, hoping the spirits might appreciate a little variety.

Seven years ago a Dutch girl a little older than me attempted to climb the mountain without a guide and was never seen again. No remains. People say the spirits kidnapped her. I think she got lost, since there are no trail markings whatsoever. Drank the water. Got...sick... then died of dehydration. Then again, she could have been bitten by a black mamba. Theres a pack of hyenas that live on the top of the mountain and descend every night to steal chickens from villagers, so they can account for no body ever being found.

 I like my theory better. The spirits seemed kind enough to me.

rain thunder blackout

Longest blackout yet- two and a half hours in and I'm hiding out under the mosquito net armed with book, journal, headlamp and homebrewed iced-tea. The candles scattered around the room have been burning for so long they've been reduced to little stubs with streams of hot magma-wax flowing to the tile floor.

before it was too dark, I spent a while sitting on the windowsill watching thunderheads gob together around Soche peak. Then suddenly, RAIN. So thick it was like looking through a grey veil- or mosquito net- so i climbed back inside.

Rain this early is strange. It's really only supposed to start in November. And there's no fertilizer yet- it hasn't arrived at the farm supply stores. For the Malawian subsistence-farming-majority who need to plant immediately on the first drop of rain, a lack of fertilizer can mean imminent famine. Not sure if its the fuel shortange hindering transport (cars were already lining up for blocks to get a few over priced litres, and now Bingu has halted further fuel offloading to petrol stations...)   or the lack of aid money forcing the nearly bankrupt government to begin rationing the fertilizer subsidy out of the budget or both.

whatever it is, this early rain has turned from a sharp patter to a dull roar. turning off the lamp to lie and listen


http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/malawi-farm-subsidy-programme-shrinks/

Condoms!

was walking down the road just now and to my delight i found 3 empty condom wrappers floating in a puddle!

i'm generally not a fan of litering, but considering around 13% of the adult population is infected with HIV and  the average life expectancy is 51 years, i think i'll get over it .

so to whomever tossed those little metallic packages out their car window in the middle of last night's monsoon.. way to go!

the daily grind

starting to get settled in. starting to get used to my day-to-day life. but i'm also starting to forget that my day to day life is slightly different from the average. so here is a little piece of my life- my walk to work- in pictures.. thanks marsh for the idea.



out the gate and onto the street.. its 7:15am






 


the corner where i always lose cell phone reception..
some of you know what i'm talking about...






 



this girl is so amazing!she stands on a rock every day
and waits for me to come around the corner
and then starts shouting 'hello!!!' and waving.
 i usually buy roasted groundnuts (peanuts) from her mom





crossed the street and headed up the hill





ladies who always sell me breakfast..
 fried banana and cornflour 'donuts'



corner before the petrol station, lady waiting for a minibus







yet another hill to climb...




some little girls on the way to school




the ground beneath my feet..




still walking down the road... if it was sunny, i'd be sweaty by now




looking down the hill to the city center. before i cross
the street





 


man and goat outside the office wall




Finally! Time : 7:50am







skypey skype???

if your bothering to reading this, you might as well skype me too... skype name = georgiafaith

Circumnavigation

After 3 days at a conference center in Lilongwe for field staff training, yesterday morning I was itching to stretch my legs. So, I woke up far earlier than any reasonable human being should, disinfected enough water to fill my nalgene, slurped down a hot beverage made with equal parts instant coffee and brown cane sugar  and set off. Where? No Idea -but I decided that my mission for the day was to climb a tree.

( Readers note-  Blantyre is great because its sprawled over a bunch of foothills in a ring of small mountains, so you cant really get that lost since all you have to do is look up at the nearest mountian and you can figure out where you are. Its an astoundingly use useful feature for a country where urban planning does not exist)

            3 hours later, having walked through town to Chichiri- the location of the only bookstore with besides the Born-Again-Christian’s Guide to Life-  followed a run-down railroad track to Ndirande because I wanted to see where where it went, ran into three village bank clients and one loan officer, each demanding what the hell I was doing, I found myself at Wenela bus depot. I was hoping to catch a bus to Chikwawa and tromp around in the sugar cane fields, but it had just left and since there is no actual minibus schedule (they only leave when they are completely full) there was no telling when the next one would leave or if I could get back later. Damn.

Feeling slightly deflated, I stumbled around a corner.. and into an oasis:  Doogles Bar and Lodge- a shady courtyard bar with a swimming pool and a lazy yellow lab….  mmm yep, time for a drink.

     Over my Hunter's Hard Cider, I discovered that Doogles is a local South African hangout spot and I met a mister Jounnik Nicolau, and crazy Greek-South African guy who runs a Turkish coffee shop in town. Go figure.

            Eventually, I left and made my way back through town to Mandela House, an old colonial tobacco estate with an amazing art gallery and garden cafe, where I climbed a huge mango tree overlooking Blantyre market and ate miniature bananas and chocolate toffee. Mission Accomplished.

The old man is snoring....

The rainy season has officially begun!

in the office and about 30 seconds ago there was a huge slap as all at once the first drops hit the tin roof.  now its downpouring

dry red dirt replaced instantly by mud. . i'd call it a burnt sienna in crayon-speak. . its already gushing through the street trenches, and the air smells absolutely incredible

ahhh it just got even louder!