We had a good trip here – the boys did great through all the flights. Total travel was about 30 hours. Our house is comfortable, though we are still getting settled in and killing a few cockroaches and many small sugar ants. The power was off on our first night and everyone was exhausted, the boys crying and upset, as was I! Our neighbors greeted us with freshly baked bread, bananas, roasted peanuts and cinnamon rolls, so we were also well fed. The first few nights were challenging to get a new sleep pattern going, but we are all getting up at about 5:30AM now with the sun, and going to bed at about 7 or 8 pm. Work starts at 7:00. We are 9 hours ahead of Oregon.
It is good now to be getting into a routine with the boys and school and cooking now that my pantry is full of beans and flour. We had our first big market day on Friday – loaded up on greens, raw peanuts, cabbage, tomatoes, onions, and beans. The boys bought mangos with their Kwacha, about 10 cents each. They are small, stringy, but delicious! If I purchase most food from the market, we can eat for a fairly reasonable price. However, anything purchased in the city is very expensive – more than in Oregon. So, I will figure it out eventually. I am baking bread a few times a week, boiling eggs for sandwiches so in case of a power outage we will have something to eat! The power was off all day yesterday, and the water also ran out. Some of these challenges are frustrating, but we are learning how to cope.
We are very grateful for our gardener and our househelper, Anga and Michael. Daily tasks take longer and are more tedious here, so having the extra hands is a life-saver. It is strange to have help, but we are also assisting these fine men by providing employment so they can support their families at home. Anga has a wife and child, and Michael is waiting to hear how he did with his examinations in hopes to attend university to become a doctor.
Today we had nsima for the first time, ground maize flour. It is very thick and has no flavor to speak of, but you eat it with ‘relish’, a dish of cooked greens and tomatoes. It is filling, and cheap, so we will be eating a lot of it! Michael and Anga cook it over a charcoal stove we just bought for them.
It is muggy and sticky some days, other day just HOT! It rained the first few days we were here and the heavy rains are due to start soon. I am wondering how badly the roof will leak as I see many wet spots already on the ceiling. Oh well, cement floors are easy to wipe up. Laundry will not dry, though I have a covered porch to hang clothes on. I brought some of my own clothespins so I was sure to have the stuff stay on the line – the crooked, twisted piece of wire that dangles haphazardly around the tin roof on the porch! Randy says he is going to string it up straighter, but, things like that are difficult to get done. No tools, no replacement wire, no nails, no hammer. We might be able to find some of these supplies in Blantyre, but it will take a whole day of searching and will cost a lot.
We drove to Mt Mulanje on Saturday with the Lutz family, all stuffed into one vehicle: 4 adults, 5 children, lunch baskets, backpacks, water bottles, 2 carseats and a few bamboo walking sticks. On a clear day we can see the mountain from Malamulo, but usually it is hazy. It was beautiful on the mountain. The maize crops are already tall at this elevation due to the water supply from the river which is irrigating the fields. We enjoyed a nice hike, the air was still, the cicadas buzzing. Sounded and felt like a movie from the Austrailian outback, or a hot day near South Lake Tahoe. Just when the kids couldn’t hike another minute, we arrived at the falls cascading down the rocks. The pool is deep – varying reports on its depth, we couldn’t touch bottom anywhere. Below the main pool there is a natural water slide and smaller pools. Some when rock hopping down the river, the rest of us stayed and played near the slide. The water was cold enough that we were shivering and the kids had blue lips. So refreshing! Who thought we could actually get cold in Malawi! Three more vehicles bearing ex-patriats also arrived as part of our group spending the day at the falls. We all brought food and had a delicious picnic lunch, complete with the sugar ants and lizards finishing up the left-overs. On the hike back, a rainstorm suddenly whipped up and drenched us with gigantic drops of rain and hail. Thunder and lightening were right on top of us, and the boys were pretty worked up about it – by the time we got back to the car, we were completely soaked. Thankfully I had packed extra clothes for the boys. Alas, none for me, but I also stayed cooler longer! Another Malawi memory. We got home and our friends decided to make pizza for dinner We were too tired, so I made pancakes. The power went out half-way through their pizza making, but the oven was pre-heated, so they half-baked the crusts, then torched the toppings with a blow-torch. Yum. This is cooking in Malawi. I am learning not to start too many things cooking at once because if the power goes out I’ve lost it all. Better to just do one thing and hope it turns out.
On Sunday we invited the orthodontic surgeon to come for lunch. Her daughter, is 9 and spent the morning playing with the boys. Nathan enjoyed having someone near his age to play card games with. Blanca is from Mexico and has been here 3 years. She filled me on the black and green mombas she saw in her yard just down the road. She said I should have Anga make me some bamboo spears to keep on the porch and in the house in case I ever spot a snake in the yard. She also went around my windows and told me I should stick papers in the cracks to be sure to keep the mosquitoes out. She’s right, there are lots of cracks. She was also very reassuring that I shouldn’t live in fear, just live and take precautions to protect my children from malaria etc., but that this will feel like home soon.
The boys are making friends. Trevor’s new buddies live next door and a walk down the road – Kaiza is 3 and Benson is 3 – three little blonde children. Nathan and Ryan are the oldest of the American kids here – but they sat outside by the road the first day and waved to everyone and by the afternoon we had a swarm of little Malawian boys playing futball in our yard. I can see the yard through the dining room window so that is nice. I am thrilled that they are making friends.
This morning a few trucks full of singing women went driving by our house. Beautiful songs and harmonies, gave me gooseflesh. Randy said they came waltzing into the hospital with small bundles of soap and flour for the patients – the ladies are from a church nearby.
Randy is enjoying his work at the hospital. He is meeting people, attending meetings, learning the ropes. He just was appointed the manager of the forest of blue gum trees here at Malamulo. The hospital sells some of the timbers to projects for the surrounding areas, but the forest needs to be managed properly for replanting, etc. Many exciting things to do. I’ll let him post more of that info next time. I get to fill everyone in on daily life!
Enough news for now. Thank you for your emails, phone calls and support.
