Hey guys,
So today is Tuesday and this is my last chance of using the internet before I head home!!! Yesterday, I stayed at the crisis nursery for the entire time without going anywhere for lunch. I was able to measure the children’s heights and weights, which I will assess tomorrow morning. We are going to have a big going-away party tomorrow at the nursery, which should be fun!!! I am going to miss the little kids, especially Jessie and Justina!! They are so adorable and full of life! Today I also went to the crisis nursery and am in town with Annie running some last minute errands. Wednesday will be spent assessing the growth percentiles of the children in the morning. Thursday will be my last mobile clinic (at least that is what I have been told) and I will pack once I am back. I leave Lilongwe at 1:15pm. I find it funny that you have to pay $30 just to leave Lilongwe!! Oh by the way, I am here over my 30 day visa so I had to go to immigration to renew my visa (thankfully I did not run into my “friend” ). I had to pay $30 to renew my visa and I will only be in the country for not even half a day! Lol oh well! Such is life!
So I will see you all soon!! Im leaving on a jet plane…
Love you all! Hope everything is great!
It's been a great adventure! Thanks for reading about my adventures!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Home Visits in Katondo
Today we (Annie, Mike, Casey, and I) headed out to the village, Katondo. We were going to do four home visits. These visits are set up by the feeding center head and are usually for families that are in need. For the most part, they tend to be families where the father has died and the mother is struggling to provide for her family. On our part, we come with supplies (sugar, salt, soap, detergent, body lotion, and I brought fruit) to give to the family. It reminded me of something my high school used to do for families during the holidays. We used to get a bunch of food together (say for thanksgiving- so green beans, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, etc) and we would put it in the a bag and ding-dong ditch the house! I know sounds strange but it was a lot of fun!
Anyway, the ride to the village was as usual a ride in itself! I feel as though I have ridden the Indiana Jones ride from Dland or gone to Mexico to build a loft house again (for those of you readers who were on that trip you know what I’m talking about!!!) Today’s trip was a bit more bumpy than normal because John was driving. He is a big burly man who is built like an ox, but is always smiling and joking like a 5 year old. He also doesn’t know his own strength at times…a pat on the back …is not a PAT! But he never means to be so rough! Lol.
When we got to the village, they wanted to show us their chicken coops, which I am noticing is a big thing to them. I went over to look into the house and a chicken jumped up to the ledge. It shocked me a bit because I jumped back and started laughing- as did everyone else. SO that was fun!
We finally went to the home visits which were quite eye-opening! The Malawian people are so hospitable. They open up a bamboo tarp for us to sit on while they are sitting in the dirt. We would sit and ask them questions about their lives and they could do the same to us. It was a very open conversation. The first few visits all four of us remained together until the last two houses.
The last visit was by far the best. Annie and I split off to do one by ourselves while Casey and Mike tackled the other. For the most part the beginning of the home visit was the same. Toward the middle though, we were asked what we did back home. When I replied that I was a student they were shocked. The translator said that they were out of school by the time they were my age. That made me think so I asked him to ask them what age they thought I was. Their response was AWESOME! They thought I was 16 and that Annie was 12. WE both had a good laugh about that! We told them our ages and that shocked them more!
It was a very humbling experience hearing about their lives and struggles. In comparison to America, their lives are filled with adversity, yet their attitudes and perspective on life is so strong and grounded in God. Their strength truly comes from God and it was amazing to witness! It made me realize how much I take for granted and what kind of fervor I should have for my relationship with God. God has truly been my source of strength while I am here and I hope that He remains so when I return home!
Focal verse: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize…” Philippians 4:13a
Anyway, the ride to the village was as usual a ride in itself! I feel as though I have ridden the Indiana Jones ride from Dland or gone to Mexico to build a loft house again (for those of you readers who were on that trip you know what I’m talking about!!!) Today’s trip was a bit more bumpy than normal because John was driving. He is a big burly man who is built like an ox, but is always smiling and joking like a 5 year old. He also doesn’t know his own strength at times…a pat on the back …is not a PAT! But he never means to be so rough! Lol.
When we got to the village, they wanted to show us their chicken coops, which I am noticing is a big thing to them. I went over to look into the house and a chicken jumped up to the ledge. It shocked me a bit because I jumped back and started laughing- as did everyone else. SO that was fun!
We finally went to the home visits which were quite eye-opening! The Malawian people are so hospitable. They open up a bamboo tarp for us to sit on while they are sitting in the dirt. We would sit and ask them questions about their lives and they could do the same to us. It was a very open conversation. The first few visits all four of us remained together until the last two houses.
The last visit was by far the best. Annie and I split off to do one by ourselves while Casey and Mike tackled the other. For the most part the beginning of the home visit was the same. Toward the middle though, we were asked what we did back home. When I replied that I was a student they were shocked. The translator said that they were out of school by the time they were my age. That made me think so I asked him to ask them what age they thought I was. Their response was AWESOME! They thought I was 16 and that Annie was 12. WE both had a good laugh about that! We told them our ages and that shocked them more!
It was a very humbling experience hearing about their lives and struggles. In comparison to America, their lives are filled with adversity, yet their attitudes and perspective on life is so strong and grounded in God. Their strength truly comes from God and it was amazing to witness! It made me realize how much I take for granted and what kind of fervor I should have for my relationship with God. God has truly been my source of strength while I am here and I hope that He remains so when I return home!
Focal verse: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize…” Philippians 4:13a
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Mobile Clinic at Chimwang’ombe
Today was a good day and a sad day. Jayme left to go back home to Texas so the bus was short one person. We will miss you Jayme!! Additionally, today was supposedly our “last” mobile clinic due to finances. I was excited because I was finally going to be able to assess BMI at this mobile clinic something that I have been trying to get done since the 2nd mobile clinic. Once we arrived at the feeding center where the clinic was going to be held, we were surprised by the amount of people that had showed. Due the amount of people, Mwawi (the clinical officer who acts as the doctor during the mobile clinic) had us just start assessing people without a proper set up. This made the first 20 minutes a bit hectic but soon we became a smooth operating system. I did vitals with a labor and delivery nurse named Sarah. But seeing how there were 300+ people and we were down 2 people on the vitals station ( Jayme went home and Joseph, a paramedic from the states, didn’t come that day), we only assessed those people who looked febrile, were elderly, or pregnant. This proved a bit problematic because the people were used the normal flow of things and when we wouldn’t do a full vital set on them they would be perplexed. I had a few of the elder women get in my face motioning that “all should get their arm squeezed” [this was done by pointing to everyone in line and then squeezing my arm and A LOT of ARM GESTURES!!] Sarah and I finally got someone to translate to them what we were doing and they were content. During the lulls of no vitals, I went over to the weight station to see if I could do some height measurements and assess BMI. Unfortunately, the tape measure that someone brought for me was too short. So I was out of luck. But I am hopeful that I have already attained enough information via the crisis nursery and basic observation to fulfill my nutritional assessment hours.
We finished up the day having served about 340 people. The shocking thing was we were done earlier than we ever have been in the past. But that is understandable because we didn’t do everyone’s vitals. If we had, we would have been leaving at 8pm seeing that there were only 2 of us manning that station!
Reflection: Sometimes we are thrown into situations which you are just called to action. No time to organize just go. There are also times where those moments of preparation help to make the action run more smoothly. Yet whatever the situation, it calls for perseverance and a willing heart.
We finished up the day having served about 340 people. The shocking thing was we were done earlier than we ever have been in the past. But that is understandable because we didn’t do everyone’s vitals. If we had, we would have been leaving at 8pm seeing that there were only 2 of us manning that station!
Reflection: Sometimes we are thrown into situations which you are just called to action. No time to organize just go. There are also times where those moments of preparation help to make the action run more smoothly. Yet whatever the situation, it calls for perseverance and a willing heart.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Nkhata Bay- Mayoka Village
Nkhata bay was amazing and warm, which was much needed in the comparison to Mzuzu which was cold. Nkhata bay is located by Malawi Lake which is why its warmed and more of a “vacation”. We spent one day at Mayoka village which was wonderful. It definitely was filled with Mzungus (white people/foreigners). It reminded me of a place that one would go for a honeymoon so that was a bit odd. But overall, Mayoka village was a small “resort” (I use that word tentatively) that was built on the side of a cliff. There were several little huts that could fit anywhere from 2- 4 people depending on the hut. so that was a bit odd. But overall, Mayoka village was a small “resort” (I use that word tentatively) that was built on the side of a cliff. There were several little huts that could fit anywhere from 2- 4 people depending on the hut. Due to the fact that it resides on the cliff, the stairs were quite steep at times. My favorite feature of the village was the communal shower. Yea you heard me right! The communal shower was a stone shower that allowed you to look out over the lake while you showered. When I first heard about this, I was like “wait is it several showers and you shower with strangers?”. This is not the case. There is one door which you can lock behind you. Also when you are in the shower the wall comes up high enough that its not a peep show lol! (well at least you hope…if so oh well cants do anything about it now haha). Anyway I enjoyed a shower a sunset which was beautiful to behold!
Additionally, they have this challenge that if you win you get a free night’s stay at the village. You have to paddle a canoe to a specific spot out in the lake and back. The issue is its not some American made canoe. It’s a hollowed out tree trunk which you don’t sit in you sit on top of with your feet inside the canoe. Thus, it comes down to some Malawian strategy and BALANCE! Oh..also you had to do it with another person. So I tried this with Mike. Only once we got really close to both being in the canoe and balanced but anytime paddling came into play we would wipe out. It was a lot of fun to try and beat the challenge. My competitive side came out! Lol
Our stay was nice at Nkhata bay and the next day we headed home to Lilongwe.
OH! I forgot to mention. The Mayoka village had the cutest dogs who had just had 8 puppies. So we were able to play with them! The dog parents walked with us to the bus on Tuesday morning! It was awesome! I want a dog lol!
Additionally, they have this challenge that if you win you get a free night’s stay at the village. You have to paddle a canoe to a specific spot out in the lake and back. The issue is its not some American made canoe. It’s a hollowed out tree trunk which you don’t sit in you sit on top of with your feet inside the canoe. Thus, it comes down to some Malawian strategy and BALANCE! Oh..also you had to do it with another person. So I tried this with Mike. Only once we got really close to both being in the canoe and balanced but anytime paddling came into play we would wipe out. It was a lot of fun to try and beat the challenge. My competitive side came out! Lol
Our stay was nice at Nkhata bay and the next day we headed home to Lilongwe.
OH! I forgot to mention. The Mayoka village had the cutest dogs who had just had 8 puppies. So we were able to play with them! The dog parents walked with us to the bus on Tuesday morning! It was awesome! I want a dog lol!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
The trip to the North- Mzuzu
We headed out Friday, July 9th to Mzuzu to see the other crisis nursery and to spend a vacation day at Nkhata Bay which is an hour east of Mzuzu. The bus ride was very delightful and drastically different than the last one I had been on. It was for the most part a quiet journey which I very much enjoyed. I noticed that it seems that the farther north you go the more opportunities to buy meat, whereas as you go south its more vegetables. I am not sure if this idea is true but that’s what I observed. As we got farther north, I felt as though I had been magically transported to Oregon. There were rows and rows of dark, luscious pine trees and foliage. It wasn’t until I spotted a monkey in one of the trees that I realized I still was in Africa!
Upon arrival in Mzuzu, we were greeted by Augustine who works at the crisis nursery and were taken to the Merriam medical house. It was a very nice house with comfortable beds and a nice 15 minutes walk to the nursery. Peter was our amazing cook and he was a very warm and welcoming gentleman. The next day we went to the nursery. This is where we met Mrs. Heller, who is a public health nurse back in New York. She was amazing! She and her husband, Paul, run the crisis nursery in Mzuzu. I must say they are doing a fabulous job. The nursery (which is much larger than the one in Lilongwe and has more children) is very orderly and there are set times for feeding, sleeping, and playing. The children seem happier and more content. That night, we were all invited to the Heller’s for dinner, which was amazing. I was able to talk to Mrs. Heller about the nursery and about doing nutritional assessments.
Mrs. Heller was more than willing to let me assess the children’s nutritional status and even gave me the tools to do so. She was also very helpful in talking to me about what she has noticed since her now 2 year stay in Malawi! I must say she is definitely a blessing to these babies!!! In a way, I would have loved to spend more of my stay up in Mzuzu helping her out. But at the same time, I think I have learned some amazing things in Lilongwe as well. She told us about one of the babies in detail- one (baby) which was just precious. Her name is Alesi (pronounced Alice). She was found abandoned in the village in a very bad state- having had nothing to eat for 2 weeks. She was hospitalized for some time and was very close to dying. So close that Mrs. Heller said that she couldn’t bring herself to go to the hospital because she couldn’t take going and seeing yet another baby die. Yet Alice never died. She is a healthy baby girl now and is growing daily!
During our stay, we also got to go to Ana’s home church. [side note: I don’t know if I have already mentioned Ana, but Ana used to work at the Mzuzu crisis nursery but as of February has relocated to Lilongwe and now works at this crisis nursery]. I had never been to a Presbyterian church before (at least not to my knowledge). It was interesting it reminded me of Catholic church to an extent with some small differences. I enjoyed the service! We did have to introduce ourselves like we had to at Assembly of God, but this time we had to go to the front of the church and introduce ourselves!!! It’s an interesting experience to be the minority and have people stare and laugh when you speak. The rest of my Sunday was spent at the nursery with the kids. We all left early Monday morning to head to Nkhata Bay for a day!
Upon arrival in Mzuzu, we were greeted by Augustine who works at the crisis nursery and were taken to the Merriam medical house. It was a very nice house with comfortable beds and a nice 15 minutes walk to the nursery. Peter was our amazing cook and he was a very warm and welcoming gentleman. The next day we went to the nursery. This is where we met Mrs. Heller, who is a public health nurse back in New York. She was amazing! She and her husband, Paul, run the crisis nursery in Mzuzu. I must say they are doing a fabulous job. The nursery (which is much larger than the one in Lilongwe and has more children) is very orderly and there are set times for feeding, sleeping, and playing. The children seem happier and more content. That night, we were all invited to the Heller’s for dinner, which was amazing. I was able to talk to Mrs. Heller about the nursery and about doing nutritional assessments.
Mrs. Heller was more than willing to let me assess the children’s nutritional status and even gave me the tools to do so. She was also very helpful in talking to me about what she has noticed since her now 2 year stay in Malawi! I must say she is definitely a blessing to these babies!!! In a way, I would have loved to spend more of my stay up in Mzuzu helping her out. But at the same time, I think I have learned some amazing things in Lilongwe as well. She told us about one of the babies in detail- one (baby) which was just precious. Her name is Alesi (pronounced Alice). She was found abandoned in the village in a very bad state- having had nothing to eat for 2 weeks. She was hospitalized for some time and was very close to dying. So close that Mrs. Heller said that she couldn’t bring herself to go to the hospital because she couldn’t take going and seeing yet another baby die. Yet Alice never died. She is a healthy baby girl now and is growing daily!
During our stay, we also got to go to Ana’s home church. [side note: I don’t know if I have already mentioned Ana, but Ana used to work at the Mzuzu crisis nursery but as of February has relocated to Lilongwe and now works at this crisis nursery]. I had never been to a Presbyterian church before (at least not to my knowledge). It was interesting it reminded me of Catholic church to an extent with some small differences. I enjoyed the service! We did have to introduce ourselves like we had to at Assembly of God, but this time we had to go to the front of the church and introduce ourselves!!! It’s an interesting experience to be the minority and have people stare and laugh when you speak. The rest of my Sunday was spent at the nursery with the kids. We all left early Monday morning to head to Nkhata Bay for a day!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The Worse Bus Ride! The end to safari day 2
This bus ride was possibly the worst bus ride I have had thus far in Africa. I think it was just the situations and the difference in people on this bus but here it goes…
Annie, Casey, Jayme, and I got on the bus in good moods ready to be back home. Jayme and I were separated from Casey and Annie early on in the bus ride. First off, the bus had no seats left so we were standing for the ride and there were a lot of people in the aisle so we were tightly squeezed into the bus. Not even 10 minutes into the bus ride, I felt something on my left foot and when I figured out what it was I was NOT a happy camper. I was getting pissed on. I looked at Jayme who was also looking confused until I mouthed what was happening. Her face showed the same annoyance. It was happening to her too just on the opposite foot. It was hard to be completely mad because we discovered it was a little girl who we are guessing just couldn’t hold it anymore and so the dad turned her toward the aisle to go. So I guess I didn’t get too mad because it was a little girl I was more annoyed at the dad than anything. Yet we are only at the beginning of the story lol. After the girl was done, the dad handed her off to someone else who happened to be behind me, which resulted in the little girl holding on to my pants for a large portion of the bus ride. Yet as I stood there, I felt something on my other foot. I look down and I see that one of the patrons is spitting seeds of a fruit on my foot. I look at him and he just shrugs. Needless to say, the cleanliness of buses here are very low! People just put trash on the floor even if someone is standing there!
The guy finally finished and there was some peace. But the next issue was the bus kept stopping and putting more people on the bus. We are already really full and they were squeezing us even more. I think they were complaining in Chichewa (native language) that we (Jayme and I) weren’t moving any farther back because the conductor of the bus climbed over the chairs and took us and shoved us as far back as he could to the back of the bus. So now Jayme and I are standing next together (which at least was a plus…it’s better to lean against someone you know rather than a stranger for 4-5 hours). We are both not in the best of moods and trying to be positive I say, “ you know I know we both don’t feel good but at least we are standing by each other and we have your iPod to help”. Just then they turned on the radio (which is always blaring) and we happened to be right under the speaker! LOL . It was hilarious how it happened right after I said that. We turned off the iPod because there was no way to hear it with the radio on. That’s where we stood for basically the entire bus ride. About an hour away from Lilongwe, Jayme was able to get a seat and I stood. By this point, I was determined to see if I could stand the entire way. There was one gentleman aboard who asked if I wanted to sit because I was trying to stretch my legs (they were asleep). About 30 minutes away, I got a seat and I sat which felt nice (so I almost did it). We arrived in Lilongwe tired and separated from our group (which had been seated in the front of the bus early on in the ride). Getting off the bus is always a challenge especially because we are white. We get bombarded by taxi drivers who literally follow you around.
Needless to say after much adversity and some crazy taxi driving, we arrived at home safe and sound with some interesting stories, as you can see! Hope you all are doing well! Miss you guys!
Annie, Casey, Jayme, and I got on the bus in good moods ready to be back home. Jayme and I were separated from Casey and Annie early on in the bus ride. First off, the bus had no seats left so we were standing for the ride and there were a lot of people in the aisle so we were tightly squeezed into the bus. Not even 10 minutes into the bus ride, I felt something on my left foot and when I figured out what it was I was NOT a happy camper. I was getting pissed on. I looked at Jayme who was also looking confused until I mouthed what was happening. Her face showed the same annoyance. It was happening to her too just on the opposite foot. It was hard to be completely mad because we discovered it was a little girl who we are guessing just couldn’t hold it anymore and so the dad turned her toward the aisle to go. So I guess I didn’t get too mad because it was a little girl I was more annoyed at the dad than anything. Yet we are only at the beginning of the story lol. After the girl was done, the dad handed her off to someone else who happened to be behind me, which resulted in the little girl holding on to my pants for a large portion of the bus ride. Yet as I stood there, I felt something on my other foot. I look down and I see that one of the patrons is spitting seeds of a fruit on my foot. I look at him and he just shrugs. Needless to say, the cleanliness of buses here are very low! People just put trash on the floor even if someone is standing there!
The guy finally finished and there was some peace. But the next issue was the bus kept stopping and putting more people on the bus. We are already really full and they were squeezing us even more. I think they were complaining in Chichewa (native language) that we (Jayme and I) weren’t moving any farther back because the conductor of the bus climbed over the chairs and took us and shoved us as far back as he could to the back of the bus. So now Jayme and I are standing next together (which at least was a plus…it’s better to lean against someone you know rather than a stranger for 4-5 hours). We are both not in the best of moods and trying to be positive I say, “ you know I know we both don’t feel good but at least we are standing by each other and we have your iPod to help”. Just then they turned on the radio (which is always blaring) and we happened to be right under the speaker! LOL . It was hilarious how it happened right after I said that. We turned off the iPod because there was no way to hear it with the radio on. That’s where we stood for basically the entire bus ride. About an hour away from Lilongwe, Jayme was able to get a seat and I stood. By this point, I was determined to see if I could stand the entire way. There was one gentleman aboard who asked if I wanted to sit because I was trying to stretch my legs (they were asleep). About 30 minutes away, I got a seat and I sat which felt nice (so I almost did it). We arrived in Lilongwe tired and separated from our group (which had been seated in the front of the bus early on in the ride). Getting off the bus is always a challenge especially because we are white. We get bombarded by taxi drivers who literally follow you around.
Needless to say after much adversity and some crazy taxi driving, we arrived at home safe and sound with some interesting stories, as you can see! Hope you all are doing well! Miss you guys!
Safari Day 2
I woke up refreshed. Probably the best sleep I have had so far on my adventure in Africa. The day started nicely (early yes but still good). Breakfast was at 7am and our boat safari (last safari) started at 7:45am. At first, we weren’t seeing anything new on the boat safari. Yet the guide was very knowledgeable about the wildlife and shared folk stories with us. For instance, the reason the hippo opens his mouth wide is because God made the hippo to be a land animal but the hippo pleaded that the hot sun was too much for its delicate skin. Thus the hippo asked to be able to live in the water too. The Lord said, “But you are such a large animal and you will eat all my fish!” The hippo replied I will not eat your fish but rather eat plants and whenever you want proof that I have not eaten your fish, I shall open my mouth up showing you that there are no fish. With that the Lord made the hippo both a land and water creature. The real reason hippos open their mouths as they do is as a defense mechanism or when they feel threatened (he didn’t mention anything like the wiggling of the ears like they tell you at Disneyland…..mmmm I miss Dland)
Toward the end of the safari, we finally saw some amazing things. We came across a HUGE crocodile which was just sunbathing. After some time gazing at this huge reptile, we moved on to the end of our tour when I saw some elephants to my left. We got really close and could kind of see them. We went back to where the crocodile was to see if we could see them on the other side of the lagoon. Unfortunately not! Yet once we returned to where we initially saw them, they were closer to the lake bed and I got some amazing pictures and videos! Let’s just say I have a ton of Elephant pictures and I hope at least one turns out to be great! It was so amazing to be that close to these majestic animals. They are so peaceful and strong; yet can become very powerful and threatening too. They were amazing to watch. We thought the fun was had as we finished the tour when we came upon a male elephant directly on the beach area! Needless to say, we had an amazing time and got to see a good assortment of animals. Unfortunately no big cats! I would love to see them! But they aren’t really in Malawi! Another trip to Africa then sometime in my lifetime to see BIG CATS!
As we left paradise, which it definitely was in a way (it was joked that we were at a therapy camp because it was so serene), the boat ride was very reflective for me. I sat absorbing the beauty that was surrounding me and drank in the moment! I love the sky and I love the water. All I have to say is both were magnificent! The sky was brilliant and blue with great billowing clouds of white. The water was tranquil and as smooth as glass even though we were cutting through it with our boat. It was so clear that when you looked at the water you saw a pristine view of the sky. If my words are failing me and you are not able to picture this, I did capture a shot that I hope to be able to show you at some point! The boat operator was nice enough to drop us off closer to the bus station and we got on our bus back to Lilongwe. I wish this was where the story ended, but it is not!
DID YOU KNOW?? The hippo lives to 35-40years and grows to its size and stops. They live in families which are very seclusive!
Toward the end of the safari, we finally saw some amazing things. We came across a HUGE crocodile which was just sunbathing. After some time gazing at this huge reptile, we moved on to the end of our tour when I saw some elephants to my left. We got really close and could kind of see them. We went back to where the crocodile was to see if we could see them on the other side of the lagoon. Unfortunately not! Yet once we returned to where we initially saw them, they were closer to the lake bed and I got some amazing pictures and videos! Let’s just say I have a ton of Elephant pictures and I hope at least one turns out to be great! It was so amazing to be that close to these majestic animals. They are so peaceful and strong; yet can become very powerful and threatening too. They were amazing to watch. We thought the fun was had as we finished the tour when we came upon a male elephant directly on the beach area! Needless to say, we had an amazing time and got to see a good assortment of animals. Unfortunately no big cats! I would love to see them! But they aren’t really in Malawi! Another trip to Africa then sometime in my lifetime to see BIG CATS!
As we left paradise, which it definitely was in a way (it was joked that we were at a therapy camp because it was so serene), the boat ride was very reflective for me. I sat absorbing the beauty that was surrounding me and drank in the moment! I love the sky and I love the water. All I have to say is both were magnificent! The sky was brilliant and blue with great billowing clouds of white. The water was tranquil and as smooth as glass even though we were cutting through it with our boat. It was so clear that when you looked at the water you saw a pristine view of the sky. If my words are failing me and you are not able to picture this, I did capture a shot that I hope to be able to show you at some point! The boat operator was nice enough to drop us off closer to the bus station and we got on our bus back to Lilongwe. I wish this was where the story ended, but it is not!
DID YOU KNOW?? The hippo lives to 35-40years and grows to its size and stops. They live in families which are very seclusive!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Muvuu Lodge and Safari!
Our 45-minute boat ride was great, a bit cold, but good. On the way, we saw hippos and elephants-nothing too extensive really but still very cool. The guide was really nice to. He slowed down anytime we saw something so we could take video and pictures. Upon arrival to the quaint area, we were warmly greeted by the staff and given a briefing of our stay of one day. Lunch was waiting and ready for us, followed by a 3:30pm tea time and a 4pm land safari. The lunch was very delicious orange chicken with about 3 side dishes. We followed the guide to our rooms where we spotted a monkey on the fence. Our rooms were so nice! The beds were SOO comfortable and the bathroom was complete with waterfall-like shower and bathtub to the side. After a short rest, we headed to tea (we finished our lunch at about 2:30pm) at 3:30pm. They had coffee at tea time! Tea time was amazing and a bit humorous. The staff ushered us to our seats even though we were thinking to just go get tea. Once we were seated, they explained that we could now go get our tea. We got up and got our choice beverage and when we returned there was sliced pound cake on our table. It was like the guy waiting on us had a guy on standby with the pound cake. It was great!
Following tea was our first safari- the land safari. During the introduction and safety precaution speech, we were asked what animals we wanted to see. I spoke up saying Elephants, which was met with the following reply, “Elephants are not guaranteed.” Five minutes into the safari, I looked to the right and saw elephants. We circled around and I was able to get some pictures. My camera died shortly after and we had at least 3 hours more on safari. Annie was nice enough to let me take some pictures with her camera which was nice. We saw an amazing sunset which words and pictures do no justice to. It truly was a vision of God’s majesty. The lake was clear as glass reflecting the splendor of the sky. The sun was setting behind a big billowing cloud causing beams of light to pierce through in pinks and golds. The mountains below were hues of purples that blended beautifully into the dark and light pinks and oranges in the sky. It was breathtaking.
On the safari, we saw water bucks, bush bucks, warthogs (kept me thinking of Pumba!), impalas, hippos, and some other birds and mammals. Additionally, I got a great site of the Milky Way above me. The stars were absolutely stunning. Once we returned to the camp, dinner was waiting for us- starting with pumpkin soup, followed by beef medallions, veggies, and mashed potatoes, and ending with a custard fruit crumble. We all headed back to the room to take showers! They were AMAZING! So HOT and we didn’t have to wait 30 minutes for the water to get warm like at Teethsavers! We were going to go to the entertainment area to watch the world cup game, yet I wanted to truly enjoy my bed and room seeing that we were only going to be there for a day. The other girls agreed and we were all enjoying our rooms and beds when there was a surprise visit outside. Jayme looked out the window due to a noise and saw two elephants. We all crowded around the window to watch a small family of elephants that were outside our room. They had destroyed the fence and were just eating. We were only 10 feet away from HUGE elephants with the strength to crush branches. It was just a great surprise. I was so glad that I opted to stay inside rather than watch the game. In addition to this great surprise, I finished Jane Eyre, which made for a happy ending to a very good day!!
DID YOU KNOW??? That an elephant lives up to 65-70years and is continually growing
Following tea was our first safari- the land safari. During the introduction and safety precaution speech, we were asked what animals we wanted to see. I spoke up saying Elephants, which was met with the following reply, “Elephants are not guaranteed.” Five minutes into the safari, I looked to the right and saw elephants. We circled around and I was able to get some pictures. My camera died shortly after and we had at least 3 hours more on safari. Annie was nice enough to let me take some pictures with her camera which was nice. We saw an amazing sunset which words and pictures do no justice to. It truly was a vision of God’s majesty. The lake was clear as glass reflecting the splendor of the sky. The sun was setting behind a big billowing cloud causing beams of light to pierce through in pinks and golds. The mountains below were hues of purples that blended beautifully into the dark and light pinks and oranges in the sky. It was breathtaking.
On the safari, we saw water bucks, bush bucks, warthogs (kept me thinking of Pumba!), impalas, hippos, and some other birds and mammals. Additionally, I got a great site of the Milky Way above me. The stars were absolutely stunning. Once we returned to the camp, dinner was waiting for us- starting with pumpkin soup, followed by beef medallions, veggies, and mashed potatoes, and ending with a custard fruit crumble. We all headed back to the room to take showers! They were AMAZING! So HOT and we didn’t have to wait 30 minutes for the water to get warm like at Teethsavers! We were going to go to the entertainment area to watch the world cup game, yet I wanted to truly enjoy my bed and room seeing that we were only going to be there for a day. The other girls agreed and we were all enjoying our rooms and beds when there was a surprise visit outside. Jayme looked out the window due to a noise and saw two elephants. We all crowded around the window to watch a small family of elephants that were outside our room. They had destroyed the fence and were just eating. We were only 10 feet away from HUGE elephants with the strength to crush branches. It was just a great surprise. I was so glad that I opted to stay inside rather than watch the game. In addition to this great surprise, I finished Jane Eyre, which made for a happy ending to a very good day!!
DID YOU KNOW??? That an elephant lives up to 65-70years and is continually growing
Safari Attempt 2
Another early morning- this one more successful than the last. We got on a minibus early and got to the bus station earlier. However, we were still standing in the bus. I really wonder when people get to the bus station to get a seat! So there we were standing in the bus and heading out. We got to the border check and guess who was there?! Yep, you guessed it! The same officer. I got off the bus and he was like, “Oh Jenna!” as he was checking my passport, he added,” how long are you in Malawi?”. I answered, “ 3 more weeks”. I was trying to keep it brief and very little encouragement on my part. I noticed the policeman looking at me strangely so I gave him a smile. The officer went in and suspected the bus. I had not noticed that there was another officer that entered after him, but as this new officer left, he approached me and said sincerely, “I do apologize”. I didn’t understand it at first because he had a sweatshirt over his uniform. But when the annoying officer left the bus, the new guy glanced at him then me and I understood. I really appreciated this because I felt that he saw that his colleague was acting unprofessional.
We finally all got on the bus and our journey commenced. Standing in the bus wasn’t too bad in reality. I leaned against a seat and read Jane Eyre for most the way. People got on and people got off (both made for a challenge! When people get off, the aisle standers do not get off the bus they solely make room for the person and luggage to come through.) As the 4-5 hours drive continued, more people got off and we ended up all having a seat (not together). In the end, I would say that it is better to stand that to sit, especially if you are in the aisle seat. I sat in the aisle seat. Everything was fine initially until we got some more patrons on the bus. Two bigger women were standing by me- so I had a hip in the shoulder and a hip in front of me so there was nowhere to move. I was sitting by 2 mothers with their kids. The one directly by me kept laying her child’s head on my arm, which generally wouldn’t bother me. However this kid’s head was not only heavy but HOT! So you take into consideration the fact that on my left I can’t move at all and on my right I can’t move either because I have some kid’s head on my arm and my shoulder is pinned by the mother- this makes for a bit perturbed passenger. I understand that this is a situation that you just “make due”, yet the woman whose hip was in my left shoulder she had about 2 person’s worth of space behind her!
Thankfully within a few stops, seats opened up and Casey, Annie, and I were sitting together peacefully. We finally arrived at our stop thanks to the nice guy who had been on the bus with us the entire time. We arrived at Liwonde and found the sign for the Hippo View lodge, which is where we caught our 45 minute boat ride to Muzuu Camp Lodge and Safari! Yeah!
We finally all got on the bus and our journey commenced. Standing in the bus wasn’t too bad in reality. I leaned against a seat and read Jane Eyre for most the way. People got on and people got off (both made for a challenge! When people get off, the aisle standers do not get off the bus they solely make room for the person and luggage to come through.) As the 4-5 hours drive continued, more people got off and we ended up all having a seat (not together). In the end, I would say that it is better to stand that to sit, especially if you are in the aisle seat. I sat in the aisle seat. Everything was fine initially until we got some more patrons on the bus. Two bigger women were standing by me- so I had a hip in the shoulder and a hip in front of me so there was nowhere to move. I was sitting by 2 mothers with their kids. The one directly by me kept laying her child’s head on my arm, which generally wouldn’t bother me. However this kid’s head was not only heavy but HOT! So you take into consideration the fact that on my left I can’t move at all and on my right I can’t move either because I have some kid’s head on my arm and my shoulder is pinned by the mother- this makes for a bit perturbed passenger. I understand that this is a situation that you just “make due”, yet the woman whose hip was in my left shoulder she had about 2 person’s worth of space behind her!
Thankfully within a few stops, seats opened up and Casey, Annie, and I were sitting together peacefully. We finally arrived at our stop thanks to the nice guy who had been on the bus with us the entire time. We arrived at Liwonde and found the sign for the Hippo View lodge, which is where we caught our 45 minute boat ride to Muzuu Camp Lodge and Safari! Yeah!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Safari attempt 1
On July 5th, Casey, Jayme, Annie, and I headed off at 6:45am to meet with Daniel to start out journey south to our safari. After waiting for a while, we finally got a minibus to town. We got to the main bus station and located the bus that we needed to be on in the nick of time because we literally jumped onto it as it left the station. In Malawi, they are a firm believer of inclusion- meaning even if there are no seats they will still let people on the bus and they stand in the aisle. Needless to say, we were standing the front of the bus….well more like wedged in the front of the bus. Nevertheless we were on our bus and on to our new and exciting adventure of SAFARI….or so we thought! We were not even 5 minutes out of town when we hit a road block. We were asked to get off. At first it seemed that everyone was being asked to get off. When we couldn’t produce our passports with the stamp we received upon arrival in Malawi, we were detained. I guess in general if you ever had to be detained you would want to in Malawi because its not very harsh or trying.
We explained our story to the immigration officer (at that point we were only dealing with one, a woman) that we were traveling to safari and that we would miss our boat if we were detained. She seemed to not care much even when we added that it was already all paid for. We did not have the document that she wanted to see. She was asking us, “how do I know you are really missionaries, you have no documentation that proves it”. Yet we had her talk to our connection with the Ministry of Hope (Daniel). So there we were- sitting in a small office on a bench being detained because we had only copies of our passport and no copy of the arrival stamp. Another immigration officer (male)enters and introduces himself to everyone in the group (very usual behavior in Malawi) and starts some small talk- where we were from, why we were there, how old we were, etc. He finds out I’m the oldest and he stops. This is how the conversation went:
“You aren’t the oldest!?”
“Yes I am”
“You don’t look the oldest”
“Thanks I do get that a lot, but that doesn’t change the fact I’m the oldest”
(reader, keep in mind im frustrated already because we are detained, not being told what’s going on, are told over and over that we just need someone to bring our passports (which are in our rooms and we have the keys so no one can just bring them to us), the officers are cracking jokes to an extent at our expense..etc)….anywho
The officer leaves for a moment. There is time to just sit and reflect …then..
“Smoke?”
I look at him and he’s looking directly at me.
I reply “What?”
Him: “Smoke?”
“Excuse me?”
“Do you smoke?”
The other officer chimes in, “they are missionaries they are not allowed to smoke”
“Oh! No I do not. Why?”
“I have a smoke and I wanted to know if you’d like one”
“Oh, no thanks”
-silence- (but he’s still looking at me)
“So you are the oldest?”
“um, yep, you have my passport copy you can see that I am by the year”.
“But you don’t look it….single?”
“ehhhh..”
Casey chimes in, “we are all single”.
The officer smiles and continues to me, “ do you like African men?”
“Alright….I’m going to stop you right there!” (as I stare at the ground)
After a short period of being left alone in the office, the officers return saying there is a nice bus for us. We get into this bus (they don’t tell us where we are going again)and the male officer jumps into the bus smiling at me. Im thinking “what, no! you stay at your post I leave!” He stared at me during the trip and asked me name again. I spoke as little as I could because I still have to talk to him he is a government official and I am detained (but it was very unprofessional). He got off early when we went into town. We were taken to the immigration office where they were like “we just need to see your passports”. I explained to the gentleman that we need to get them in our rooms and it would have to be us because we have our keys to our rooms. We got back into the bus and we told them where we lived. Yet we still had to give them directions, which I am very thankful that I pay attention when I am walking because I was able to get them to our teethsaver’s house. We thought that was the end of the road by showing them our passport, but we had to take our passport back to the office. After the wrote everything down, we were good to do!
The rest of our day consisted of making lunch, going to the nursery, and getting dinner as a group out on the town. It was our first time out at night which was exciting. Annie’s friend Buse took us out in his friend’s truck and we all sat in the bed. We went to a Chinese restaurant, which was really good and had pool tables. It was a great time and tomorrow we try to get to our safari successfully! (Daniel had called the place explaining what had occurred and changed our booking to the next day so nothing was lost!)
We explained our story to the immigration officer (at that point we were only dealing with one, a woman) that we were traveling to safari and that we would miss our boat if we were detained. She seemed to not care much even when we added that it was already all paid for. We did not have the document that she wanted to see. She was asking us, “how do I know you are really missionaries, you have no documentation that proves it”. Yet we had her talk to our connection with the Ministry of Hope (Daniel). So there we were- sitting in a small office on a bench being detained because we had only copies of our passport and no copy of the arrival stamp. Another immigration officer (male)enters and introduces himself to everyone in the group (very usual behavior in Malawi) and starts some small talk- where we were from, why we were there, how old we were, etc. He finds out I’m the oldest and he stops. This is how the conversation went:
“You aren’t the oldest!?”
“Yes I am”
“You don’t look the oldest”
“Thanks I do get that a lot, but that doesn’t change the fact I’m the oldest”
(reader, keep in mind im frustrated already because we are detained, not being told what’s going on, are told over and over that we just need someone to bring our passports (which are in our rooms and we have the keys so no one can just bring them to us), the officers are cracking jokes to an extent at our expense..etc)….anywho
The officer leaves for a moment. There is time to just sit and reflect …then..
“Smoke?”
I look at him and he’s looking directly at me.
I reply “What?”
Him: “Smoke?”
“Excuse me?”
“Do you smoke?”
The other officer chimes in, “they are missionaries they are not allowed to smoke”
“Oh! No I do not. Why?”
“I have a smoke and I wanted to know if you’d like one”
“Oh, no thanks”
-silence- (but he’s still looking at me)
“So you are the oldest?”
“um, yep, you have my passport copy you can see that I am by the year”.
“But you don’t look it….single?”
“ehhhh..”
Casey chimes in, “we are all single”.
The officer smiles and continues to me, “ do you like African men?”
“Alright….I’m going to stop you right there!” (as I stare at the ground)
After a short period of being left alone in the office, the officers return saying there is a nice bus for us. We get into this bus (they don’t tell us where we are going again)and the male officer jumps into the bus smiling at me. Im thinking “what, no! you stay at your post I leave!” He stared at me during the trip and asked me name again. I spoke as little as I could because I still have to talk to him he is a government official and I am detained (but it was very unprofessional). He got off early when we went into town. We were taken to the immigration office where they were like “we just need to see your passports”. I explained to the gentleman that we need to get them in our rooms and it would have to be us because we have our keys to our rooms. We got back into the bus and we told them where we lived. Yet we still had to give them directions, which I am very thankful that I pay attention when I am walking because I was able to get them to our teethsaver’s house. We thought that was the end of the road by showing them our passport, but we had to take our passport back to the office. After the wrote everything down, we were good to do!
The rest of our day consisted of making lunch, going to the nursery, and getting dinner as a group out on the town. It was our first time out at night which was exciting. Annie’s friend Buse took us out in his friend’s truck and we all sat in the bed. We went to a Chinese restaurant, which was really good and had pool tables. It was a great time and tomorrow we try to get to our safari successfully! (Daniel had called the place explaining what had occurred and changed our booking to the next day so nothing was lost!)
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Paper Sunday at the Assembly of God Church
We went to a traditional Malawian church service at the Assembly of God church. It was a very busy day and I was excited to see what this service would be like. It was what I thought it would be in terms of a lot of singing and dancing (which I gotta say I loved). After a long period of worship, there was an offering basket. This was followed by two different baskets, then a woman with her chitinje which she placed on the floor and people came up and threw kwacha ($$) in the air so that it fell slowly onto the chitinje (fabric used as skirt or shawl). I was like WOW that’s a lot of different offerings, then there was a group of 8 people that came up representing different church organizations for donation/tithing. Following was another woman with her chitinje. I am not kidding, there were like 15 different donation/tithing. Rather than the normal general tithe, there was a collection for each different group- youth, men’s, women’s, missionary, and the different areas in the Lilongwe. I felt like this was overkill. Also when there are new people at the service they make them introduce themselves to the congregation especially if you are white. Guess who they handed the microphone first?!!? Haha yep me. I was like “why are you coming over here with a microphone…..wait what was it you asked me to tell the congregation??”. Lol it was hilarious!! They were all really nice but as a white person you always feel very on display. Its an interesting thing to be in the minority now. Anyway, the service lasted about 3.5 hrs and it wasn’t until after church when we were heading to lunch that we found out we had attended the “paper Sunday”. Paper Sunday happens once a month which is a day that the people of the church come prepared to church to give to certain organizations in the church. The reason they throw it up in the air and let it slowly come to the ground is so that others see how much they are donating. This is done in the hopes that someone else will want to match that amount of beat it. It’s a very interesting concept to tithe for specific things.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Khwamba Village Visit
This village is the same place we went on my first mobile clinic. On the 1 ½ hour drive out, I was able to read a lot of Jane Eyre (currently the book I am reading which is AMAZING!!) and enjoy the general surroundings. We got to the village and it was all children of all ages. Our group met with the Feeding Center director to talk about how the day was going to proceed and we finished with prayer. The first thing that we did was we had lunch with the kids. Seeing that it was a special occasion that we were out there, we had goat. (ya you read that right GOAT!) We had the usual nsima (pronounced without the “n”), which is their staple food, with greens and a small portion of goat. I was a bit cautious, but it is rude to not accept or not finish food. You know it wasn’t that bad, and now I can say I have had Goat!
After lunch, the kids were separated into groups based on their age, the youngest, middle aged, and teenagers. We had three stations: a game, a craft, and my station- the health talk. I was supposed to talk on good hygiene, good nutrition, and the importance of physical activity. I wasn’t really nervous. I had Daniel by my side to translate and I think when you know they can’t understand you and see your blunders- it puts you at ease. My first group was the youngest. I talked briefly on nutrition keeping it simple and asking them questions. To give them a break, I did Simon says during my talk on physical activity, and finished with a talk on good hygiene. The next group I did basically the same thing, yet I finished too early so I had to kill time. I taught them the Macarena. I know WHY DID I TEACH THEM THAT????
OH well though, they had fun and Daniel and Danielle had fun and a good laugh! The last group I tried to change things up because I had a feeling they wouldn’t want to play Simon says, so I asked them to show me their favorite dance. This took some time, they couldn’t decide on one and then no one wanted to show it. At the close of the last session, all the kids combined in the feeding center area for a person’s testimony and Bible lesson. During this time, I went with Daniel to the van to obtain the bars of soap we had bought for the children. I sat down to listen to the talk and as I sat there I started feeling weak.
I got up and felt bad. I asked Mike if he could go get my water bottle, which was met with “why cant you get it?” I replied “because I cant walk that far”. While he was gone, I started to feel as though I was going to black out and I was very nauseous. Jayme helped me to the ground and Mike came back with my water. I assumed I was just dehydrated. I was standing in a field with the sun hitting me all day talking to kids about nutrition and staying well hydrated. LOL go figure right. Anyway, I went to the van because I didn’t feel well and we soon headed home. I still felt pretty bad even though the water was helping a bit. I put my iPod in and listened to “Somewhere over the rainbow/what a wonderful world” by Israel K (great song btw..can’t for the life of me pronounce his last name though…he’s Hawaiian). This song helped. It brought me back to Palau and going around in the boat! It brought me peace.
About 10 minutes from the house, I reached the point of no return. I knew I was going to throw up! I told them but not in enough time! Needless to say, they need to hose out the van. To spare you detail, the rest of the night was horrid! I HATE…HATE HATE HATE!!! throwing up. I never want to see or eat nsima again in a very long time (I think the Goat didn’t settle very well either). Unfortunately it’s what people hear eat everyday! Also to put the icing on the cake, I was supposed to cook nsima that night with Fred for the entire house. I DID not do that! I spent my time with the porcelain Jon! It was horrible! My salvation came from Annie. She gave me this prescription drug that helps you to stop vomiting. I had nothing to vomit yet it just kept going. She gave me that and I was able to sleep soundly. Happily I can say that the next day I felt about 95% better (5% was my uncertainty of what I could eat).
Definitely an interesting day! I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed being able to teach and interact with the children.
After lunch, the kids were separated into groups based on their age, the youngest, middle aged, and teenagers. We had three stations: a game, a craft, and my station- the health talk. I was supposed to talk on good hygiene, good nutrition, and the importance of physical activity. I wasn’t really nervous. I had Daniel by my side to translate and I think when you know they can’t understand you and see your blunders- it puts you at ease. My first group was the youngest. I talked briefly on nutrition keeping it simple and asking them questions. To give them a break, I did Simon says during my talk on physical activity, and finished with a talk on good hygiene. The next group I did basically the same thing, yet I finished too early so I had to kill time. I taught them the Macarena. I know WHY DID I TEACH THEM THAT????
OH well though, they had fun and Daniel and Danielle had fun and a good laugh! The last group I tried to change things up because I had a feeling they wouldn’t want to play Simon says, so I asked them to show me their favorite dance. This took some time, they couldn’t decide on one and then no one wanted to show it. At the close of the last session, all the kids combined in the feeding center area for a person’s testimony and Bible lesson. During this time, I went with Daniel to the van to obtain the bars of soap we had bought for the children. I sat down to listen to the talk and as I sat there I started feeling weak.
I got up and felt bad. I asked Mike if he could go get my water bottle, which was met with “why cant you get it?” I replied “because I cant walk that far”. While he was gone, I started to feel as though I was going to black out and I was very nauseous. Jayme helped me to the ground and Mike came back with my water. I assumed I was just dehydrated. I was standing in a field with the sun hitting me all day talking to kids about nutrition and staying well hydrated. LOL go figure right. Anyway, I went to the van because I didn’t feel well and we soon headed home. I still felt pretty bad even though the water was helping a bit. I put my iPod in and listened to “Somewhere over the rainbow/what a wonderful world” by Israel K (great song btw..can’t for the life of me pronounce his last name though…he’s Hawaiian). This song helped. It brought me back to Palau and going around in the boat! It brought me peace.
About 10 minutes from the house, I reached the point of no return. I knew I was going to throw up! I told them but not in enough time! Needless to say, they need to hose out the van. To spare you detail, the rest of the night was horrid! I HATE…HATE HATE HATE!!! throwing up. I never want to see or eat nsima again in a very long time (I think the Goat didn’t settle very well either). Unfortunately it’s what people hear eat everyday! Also to put the icing on the cake, I was supposed to cook nsima that night with Fred for the entire house. I DID not do that! I spent my time with the porcelain Jon! It was horrible! My salvation came from Annie. She gave me this prescription drug that helps you to stop vomiting. I had nothing to vomit yet it just kept going. She gave me that and I was able to sleep soundly. Happily I can say that the next day I felt about 95% better (5% was my uncertainty of what I could eat).
Definitely an interesting day! I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed being able to teach and interact with the children.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Mobile Clinic Goes to Selengo!
This was my second mobile clinic and we traveled to the village of Selengo. Selengo is a beautiful area of rolling hills, which a rare thing in Africa. The operation ran very similarly to the first run through. We had a station for measuring weight, assessing temperature, assessing vitals, seeing the doctor, assessment at the lab, registration station, and the pharmacy. I did vitals again, which I must say I am definitely getting better, especially with the obstacles of crying babies and people moving while you are trying to obtain the blood pressure. I will say I have had my share of crying infants, which is always grand- nothing like a day of listening to the heart of an infant while they are crying full-bore. This day seemed to go a lot faster in comparison to the first clinic where the 4 of us in vitals kept looking to see where the end of the line was. I found out that while we saw 280 people(apparently) on the first clinic, we saw only 240 people this day.
After we were done with vitals, I was able to wander a bit and take pictures of the area and the kids. The kids there are definitely not shy. They LOVE cameras because they like to see what they look like. And good gracious if you don’t SHOW them their picture after taking it!!! Oh MY! All you hear is MZUNGU! MUZUNGU! Which means white person/foreigner. They want to get close to you, hold your hand, surround you, and have you take pictures. Casey and I played “duck, duck, Chicken” with them (ya apparently they do not have geese..so its not duck duck goose). Anyway, their game is not exactly the same as the game I played with my Sunday school kids. They like to continue running after you until they feel like sitting down. All I gotta say is THEY ARE FAST!! I was able to tag one and only one. I think it was mostly by chance. He decided to just keep running. Mind you I should tell you that they have this rule that if you get tagged when you were being chased that you had to sit in the middle of the circle. Also their circle is not really a circle more than it is a large mob of people. So I am sitting in the middle and get chosen, which I was unaware that you could be chosen if in the middle. So I have to jump over 3 kids just to start chasing this kid- needless to say he had a HEAD START and just was fast! So I chased him around the circle at least 8 times then stopped and started to strategize. In the end, he chose the wrong way to go and I got him. All in good fun :)
After playing with the kids, we packed up the van and started to head out. On the ride home, I found out that I was going to do a nutrition and health talk the next day on a day at the village. Thus, that was my homework for the night.
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