11-11-11
I am only writing because it’s November 11, 2011 and I wanted something
dated with 11-11-11. End of journal
entry.
November 13, 2011
I can’t believe my luck! A few great
hitches home from Lilongwe and some excellent networking opportunities! I met a man who works in my district with an
organization that funds water and sanitation projects, It just so happens that I am working on
getting pit litrines in a nearby village that suffers greatly from poor
sanitation. They are an extremely
committed community, they just lack funds.
Instead of writing a grant, I can connect them with this NGO that will
help as long as they meet specific criteria.
We chatted for a long time about project ideas and even stopped in to
visit the man’s brother in Salima for a few minutes. Both men were well-educated and kind – I felt
so welcome (in a non-creepy way, imagine that?!).
Overall an excellent interaction.
And it got better from there! I met
an older woman in the back of a matola who only spoke Chitonga – yes we chatted
full-on Tonga even after being out of Tonga Land for two weeks! She was witty and fun and lives very close
by. I really enjoyed our interaction and
I promised to visit her.
I also met one of my Form 1 students in the matola and he told me that the
whole class missed me – I was so flattered!
I do enjoy my students.
November 15, 2011
Let’s recap the past two weeks. Halloween was spent with the Tongas on the
beach (where else?!) with cold beers (thanks to an ice machine in Robert’s vil)
and cliff jumps (off a giant rock in Lake Malawi – I did my signature belly
flop contest – no one competed against me, as usual, so I am still the
champ). Yes, this is what TongaLand is
all about.
Then I was Lilongwe-bound for the 50th Anniversary of Peace
Corps (and also USAID, conveniently enough).
It was lovely visiting the ambassador’s house again (haven’t been there
since Swearing-in) and meeting the new ambassador – a lovely woman, truly.
Game Count soon followed an I was finally the furthest south that I have
ever been in Malawi. We spent the
weekend at Liwonde National Park – waking up early to do transect walks to
count the large game in the park in order to monitor population growth. We were teamed up with guides who had rifles
(for the occasional rhino attack or maybe to scare off poachers in the
distance) and who showed us the animals who lived in the preserve. Mary (my partner in crime) and I were
together – which is always a good time.
Unfortunately I forgot two important things 1) my calculator (kidding,
there weren’t that many animals) and 2) closed-toed shoes (really, Kathi? Going
to a national park with only flip flops?) Well at least I packed underwear this
time, which is more than I can say about two weeks at IST.
Anyway, it was great fun being with wonderful people I rarely get the
opportunity to visit with and we saw many animals – mostly at a distance – and
even fought some monkeys who stole our food all weekend – not cool. The best part? Receiving a donation of 8 chickens and (drum
roll, please) I killed one! Andrew gave
us a tutorial on how to kill a chicken and there I was, dull knife in hand,
chicken upside down in the other. I did
it. Killed it. Not that I want to go around killing things,
but I am pleased to add this to my list of survival skills. Needless to say, dinner was delicious. Andrew made a tasty sauce and grilled those
bad boys – oh so good!
After Liwonde, I got to visit Mary’s swanky trailer in Balaka – aka Little
Italy. The children even say “Ciao”
there, instead of the typical “Muli bwanji?” It was such a treat to eat french
toast topped with gelato – oh Mary’s trailer is so fun!
Then we moved on to ANAMED training with the talented and amazing Nelson
Moyo! It was a brilliant week of
detoxing – eating healthy foods, drinking herbal teas (ginger, lemongrass,
artemesia, hibiscus) and learning how to treat certain ailments with plants
(creating ointments, tinctures, teas and oils).
Incredible! If every hospital had
an herbal garden, they would never run out of medicine. We received some plants to start our own
gardens and I cannot wait to get started.
This is something I am truly passionate about and my excitement grew
after this week.
November 22, 2011
My students are brilliant. I don’t
know what about them makes me so happy, but they just do. Everyday that I teach feels like a good
day. They inspire me somehow. Sure we have our struggles, but they are also
very endearing. They are respectful and
courteous and I think we get along pretty well.
We’ll see how long this lasts, though.
I have heard horror stories from other teachers in Malawi. Gotta stay strong and not be too fun (it’s
hard to stifle awesome). Honestly
though, I feel like the teacher from Billy Madison – the one who is so happy
and delusional, she rubbed paste on her face.
I mean, there I am, clapping for my students when they answer a question
correctly, dance it out when things get boring, stretch it out when students
are sleeping…I don’t know. I just feel good about this.
November 24, 2011
Happy Than4ksgiving!
I decided to spend Turkey Day in Dwambazi.
I needed some free time to just re-focus on why I am here. As much as I enjoy my Peace Corps friends, I
also need my space. I find it difficult
to socialize all the time – I really enjoy my quiet moments alone – I’m use to
it.
I spent some much needed time with my neighbors and I baked mango cakes
(different varieties – I don’t know what I’m doing), gardened (started the
medicinal garden in my backyard – looking good!) and caught up on some grading
a reading.
All was not completely well. My
computer fried. I am hoping to salvage
the hard drive – all my photos and videos of Malawi on there, as well as a few
grants-in-progress and VSV projects.
Trying to stay calm, but I am highly irritated.
November 27, 2011
Happy 9 Months in Malawi! 1/3 of the way through my service – can you believe it?
The best way to de-stress? Cleaning
the house – there is just something about it that is so calming to me. It kind of freaks me out, actually.
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