Catching up

Adam wanted me to update, too:) I am more of a cataloguer than he is. In fact, his current bookmark is an old To Do list of mine.

My birthday wasn't terribly exciting. We were in the car for a lot of the day, which is never too fun for me. I got birthday cards from my mom and dad and both grandmas (thanks for the money!). We did get to stay in a nice hotel and take a hot shower, so that was nice :) I think I have had four hot showers since arriving in Africa!

We still do not know exactly where we are going to live or volunteer, but there are concrete options. There are a couple of bike shops in Lilongwe, so we can easily buy bikes (which we will sell back in September) if cycling is the best form of transportation. Luzu, the Malawian who has been driving our group around these past two weeks, offered to get the bikes for us, since he informed Adam that there is a price for white people and a price for black people. This only makes sense--one can always make more money off of tourists! Sunday night we ate in the home of Fletcher and Clara, who have 16 orphans living with them. In addition to those kids, one of their own children is a cyclist and one is studying in Norway. Their oldest child died three weeks ago from kidney disease. I got to sit by Clara during dinner, and when she mentioned this, she simply said, "The health care is not good in Malawi." Later Adam commented on how depressing that is--to know that better health care is available in other parts of the world, yet not accessible to your own family.

So in addition to feeding over 20 people who normally move throughout their household, Fletcher and Clara hosted 12 of us! The first course was soup--mmmm, beef stew. I was sitting on one end of the living room, and Don said, "Rachel, it looks like you are the closest. Do you want to start?" So I grabbed a bowl and took a ladle full of the soup...and ended up with the bone. Ugh. I took a couple more spoonfuls, and Adam agreed to take only one and switch with me. That was a blessing, only having to eat a bit of beef soup! The rest of the meal was amazing, but I got caught again, this time by Fletcher. I went through the line first, took all sorts of veggies, when Fletcher said, "Have a piece of chicken!" I had to fess up--I told him I don't eat "much meat" (and my family members are thinking "HA!"). My meal was comprised of rice, nsima (the staple here, made from maize flour), cole slaw, potatoes, peas, cauliflower, and bananas. When I finished the food on my plate, Clara leaned over and said, "There is plenty of food left!" Dutifully, I got up and filled my plate again. Oh, the dangers of eating in a person's home!

It was lovely, though, especially when the children came out and sang several songs. The last was a version of "Father Abraham," and it was hilarious! The words are:
Sing a melody in my heart,
Sing a melody in my heart,
Sing a melody in my heart,
To the king of kings!

And the different motions are: thumbs up, knees bent, chest out, head bent, tongue out, turn around.

Imagine sixteen kids standing in two rows, their tongues out, hopping in circles:)

Monday we visited a piggery (which sounds like a Mother Goose term, doesn't it?) where a village woman has been given a grant, raises the pigs and sells them, then donates the money to orphans in the village. That was a bit disturbing to some of the people in our group for various reasons. I already felt a bit queasy, so the grunting and squealing made me want to vomit (my mother coming out in me!) and I did not stay in the pen too long. Next we went to visit a Home Based Care patient and her children. They are HIV+ and taking ARVs. The patient spoke great English and was very personable. It is strange visiting people like this. One member of our group put her finger on it--it feels a bit voyeuristic, going to visit, and basically look at, sick people. We went back into town and ate lunch, which also ended up being interesting. A Malawian woman sat down in the unoccupied chair at the end of our table. After a bit, her food came and she started eating. We were all waiting for our food (we opted for pizza, needed a bit of home:) and each wondering if the group was going to get stuck with her bill. Adam surmised (to me) that maybe it was simply culturally acceptable to sit with strangers. Yet our cynicism was correct; she asked if we would pay for her lunch. That was hard. We obviously were not going to say no. And the meal came up to about $2. We could all afford to buy this woman's meal--or the same meal for ten more people--and we are instructed to feed the hungry. I guess it just feels off, weird, to be duped into paying for someone's meal. Yet if we are supposed to take care of the poor, should she have needed a meal in the first place? I am still trying to figure it out. In the afternoon, I got to go to Open Arms, which is like the Crisis Nursery that we visited last week. It was such a happy environment, kids everywhere, wanting to be played with and held. The children we played with were as old as two years. It was a lot of fun interacting with them. Near the time that we left, one of the caregivers started chanting something, and these one-and-a-half and two-year-old children started picking up the toys and putting them away! I marveled at this--it took Shea and I fifteen minutes to help the Climbers clean our room! That brings us up to now. As I type, we are driving from Blantyre, which is the biggest city in Malawi, to Lilongwe, the capital.

I typed that earlier today. Upon arriving in Lilongwe, we drove to Luzu's house. He and his wife sell chickens and eggs, so they have hundreds of chickens! It was neat to meet his younger daughter and some of his extended family.

We are at Wendel's right now, which is the hotel where most of our group is staying. Adam, Stephanie, and I opted for a hostel (so we are paying something like $5 a night there). The rest of the group is leaving on Thursday, but Don and Mary and Stephanie are all staying longer.