May 21st? Something like that...

I made it to Mzimba! After what seemed like the longest dirt road ever...you think I am exaggerating but this was no one lane small road, this was a dirt road, like York Road in MD or maybe one side of Poinsett in SC, minus all the cars, but made of dirt. Seriously, when a truck went by, plumes of dust or clouds of dust enveloped our car, which was a nisson pickup I think, not to mention the ones we left behind us. Driving up (north of Lilongwe) the three hours, we passed lots of small villages and lots of mountains. In Malawi its pretty flat or with only small hills and then there are big mountains, there is lots of brush, or grasses with small trees, multiple corn fields, and lots of cows. What? Cows and corn fields? No I am not talking about the Hereford Zone. Yes, there is a lot of corn and a lot of cows in Mzimba. Foster, who drove me up to Embangwane, explained that in the north, when someone wants to propose marriage, many times the husband to-be has to offer money to the wife-to-be’s family. However, if they don’t have the cash, they can give cows.... So there are many cows. But they don’t look like the ones in Hereford or the US, they have long horns. I meant to take more pictures, but we were driving kinda fast, so many of them were blurred. How much is 110 km/h in mph? Anyone? I will check. If it isn’t that fast, it seemed fast. The only time there was a posted speed limit was when we were passing through a town/village and then it was 50 k/h. I am going to have to learn the conversion rate for this and the conversion rate for temperature, too, it was 13 degrees Celsius this morning...

My welcoming to Embangwane were cries of “Uzungu!” from the children walking by the road. I expected it; in fact “uzungu” was the first word I really memorized. Uzungu = white person. However, I did not expect how LOUD they would scream it, haha. Then we went to the WR office in Em. and met the staff, who seem nice. Now, both offices I have visited in Malawi have a map of New Zealand in their office. When I asked Foster why this was, he said he didn’t know...so any guesses? Maybe because it is of similar size or shape to Malawi? I don’t know...But I like New Zealand, maybe I should go there next? Hmmm... I will find out. (turns out tearfund nz is a major donor to WR Mzimba)

So I am staying at a guest house, I forget the name, but it is not too far from the WR office. Ok, we are going to break down some expectations/misperceptions here, bear with me. #1 – when I heard you will be working out in the field, I pictured “the field,” you know (or maybe not), the middle of no where, not always running water, not always electricity...lol. ok, so maybe stupid, but whatever. Then (#2), I heard I will be staying at a guest house that is used as a retreat house for people traveling to Malawi for mission trips and such, people clean your room, always running water, and always electricity (which is true). My mind goes in the far opposite direction... very nice, like almost posh, because, hey, people coming from the US for retreats in Africa, they like tip-top conditions, right? *I am telling you this all in good humor, I am making fun of myself, too, maybe exaggerating....a little, but be nice, ok?* haha I was forgetting that usually when I have gone on retreats (as an American in America), it was not like the hotel I for some reason saw in my head. Hehe. So now I have settled into a place, with a very nice room, that is somewhere in the middle, maybe. Everything in real life is completely different than how you picture it in your head for the most part, it’s hard to see what you haven’t seen yet! This is all new to me : )
Ok, so now, here’s how to picture it. And if you don’t care, I’m just saying this is where I will be staying for the next couple months and it isn’t really important, but if you’re bored or do care...keep reading. At this point I am feeling like I am talking to myself...I will keep describing the guest house now.

I would liken it to going on a retreat and staying somewhere like River Valley Ranch for all the Marylanders and Asbury Hills for you in or around SC. But subtract the bunk beds and add mosquito nets. :) And I have my own room and bathroom.
The retreat house was built by the Presbyterians originally I think, but now as I said it is used for mission trips or retreats for “my friends” as Foster puts it, aka white people. Yes, I am pretty sure, 90%, that almost all the guests here are my white friends from the US (Virginia actually, and Presbyterian). To be fair, they are all on the same mission trip and have been here for a while and come back every year and are very nice people. At first I wasn’t sure how it would be to stay in the guest house, but I think it will be nice to talk to them and hear what they have to say, especially since they have been in the area longer than I have. The group works mostly in the hospital and schools nearby doing various projects. Many of them are experienced doctors, among them a neurologist, and a pediatrician, and engineers and such. I ate dinner and had devotions with them this evening and it was nice to be able to relax and do something other than stay in my room. I was worried about being bored after the day ends at WR, but now at least I know I will have company at dinner.

Tomorrow is my first day at World Relief in Mzimba, so I will be finding out more about what I will be doing exactly for the next few days and in the following weeks. Haha, this morning I didn’t even know who I was driving to Malawi with or when we were leaving... That kinda drove me crazy. I am learning to go with the flow and be relaxed about times and planning, or I am trying, kinda sorta...maybe. I will have to because apparently on Sunday, someone said church started 2 hours late...yeah that late and its not worth the anxiety about being on time for anything... not that that means I won’t show up for work on time, of course.

By the way, there are a lot of bugs in Africa, just saying. I would squash the ones in the corner of my room now, but more will probably just come back tomorrow so I am leaving them there for now. No worries, they are hopefully too far away from me to crawl on me (mosquito net protection) or hide in my suitcase...but ya never know. Not that there aren’t a lot of bugs in the US, but I am not in the US now, so therefore I am saying there are a lot of bugs here, where I am in Africa. And it is late (about 8:30pm), the sun has been set for about 3 hours, I think I am calling it a night. : )