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/
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