our house

Or hoose as the Scots call it. Our house is enormous. There are 5 bathrooms so it’s good that I don’t have to clean them all. We have lots of space and fortunately most of the rooms have big cupboards for storage. There is a large khondi which is covered but open and leads from sitting room into the garden. The girls are enjoying the space to crawl and run where they like and the floors get cleaned regularly so they are slightly less grubby. The decor is interesting. Typically the skirting boards and doors are painted very dark and the floor is an amazing mix of blue and white and brown and white tiles and often they don’t match. The bathrooms are quite wacky too and there is a chandelier in the sitting room.

and the garden

Just so I can send another pic, of the garden this time. The garden is large with long thin terraces but they’re not too high. There are loads of fruit trees – guava, avocado and loads of mango. The gardener says that we will not be able to eat all the mangos! That sounds like a challenge. We still need to identify a suitable tree for the swing but the girls love having a dog-free garden.

miracles in Malawi

What an amazing week! Last Wed we got a phone call to say that our container had arrived in Blantyre. We didn’t get too excited as everyone is full of horror stories about how long it can take to get things through customs. But that afternoon paperwork complete we set the date for delivery as the following Mon. We couldn’t move sooner as we needed to sort staff and security for the house. Since then we have employed a housekeeper, a cook, a gardener and two security guys, they all turned up punctually this morning.

 

This morning I organised a tailor (who speaks no English) to measure up the windows, buy fabric and by the end of today he had made three lots of curtains. Our container was delivered this morning and everything unpacked. There is a lot still in boxes but tonight we will sleep in our own beds. I am very excited. For those of you not familiar with the African way this efficiency was a big surprise and we are just pleased that everything has gone so smoothly.

 

The girls are delighted to be reunited with their toys and every box we open has things that we had forgotten that we brought. Things got a bit exciting when I got back to the house with the children at 5.55pm and the power went off at 6pm. We were just about to string up the mosquito nets before the children’s bedtime at 6.30! we found a torch and some candles and managed to get things sorted. The power cut was only an hour but they do like to time them for that last hour of the kid’s day.

its arrived

I have been meaning to write a blog called waiting patiently. Because we have been waiting (not very patiently) for our container to arrive and had decided to move into our house before our stuff was due. But yesterday, we got a phone call to say that our container was in Blantyre. We didn’t get too excited as it can take weeks to go through customs but a few hours later it’s all sorted! We are very excited and hope to move into our house next week with all our things. This is perfect timing as our hosts arrive back next week and my sister comes to stay in just over two weeks. Thanks to all those who have been praying for our stuff to arrive, it really is amazing!

the grubby gang

I was warned about the dirt. But the children get so dirty here. There is a thin layer of dust everywhere and the floors are tiled so knees and socks get very grubby. Children who fall over come up black. And our youngest has decided (at last) to crawl so she is permanently grubby. (incidentally she has also decided to walk too when there is someone to hold her hands). Then there are the sandpits. Our favourite cafe known as the park cafe has a play area (there are no parks here) with a sand pit and you can see that it’s dirt rather than yellow sand. At least someone else is doing the laundry and ironing. Everything has to be ironed because there are beasties that lay eggs on the washing, then these hatch while you are wearing the clothes and they burrow under your skin (nice) so all clothes are ironed or tumble dried so that the heat can kill the insects.

posh hotel

We had a trip out today, to Zomba. This is just over an hours drive away and looks like Scotland. We could have been back home, there is a lake surrounded by pine trees and apparently the lake is full of trout! The road winds up the mountain and at the top there is an amazing hotel, where we had coffee. The hotel is luxurious and the gardens beautiful. It was tranquil and a huge contrast to the villages that we passed through on our way there.

road trip pt 2

The journey to Zomba was lovely, we had time to look at the countryside and the villages that we passed through. I love the roadside stalls, different areas specialise in different goods and they are all beautifully presented. But it is the piles of tomatoes that I like best. The tomatoes taste as good as they look. We did stop to buy some strawberries at the roadside – our first foray into roadside shopping. We knew that we were being fleeced but when you’re only talking about a couple of pounds it doesn’t seem worthwhile haggling and the poverty here is so real.

one at a time

Due to technical issues I can only put one photograph per blog so this is more caption than blog just so I can put more pictures up! This photograph was taken from the (moving) car on our way down from Zomba. We had a really peaceful journey home, with two children asleep.

FW: someone elses house

 

Some very kind friends have lent us their house (and cook and gardener) for the whole of August, while they are in the UK. They have also lent us a car. I am in the lovely position of having nothing to do. Cooking, cleaning and laundry are all done for us. All I have to do is look after children. We have managed to borrow some extra toys from another doctor family.

 

It is strange living in someone else’s house and we are getting used to having staff in the house. I am looking forward to our things arriving, and having our stuff and internet access at home. The container is due to arrive in Mozambique next week and will take another two to four weeks after that. We have found a house (with many rooms) which is in a good location although the decor is interesting! We had hoped that the re-painting was going to be in our choice of white but that would cost more and we would have to foot the bill!

 

The photo shows the lovely house we are staying in and the girls enjoying the trampoline

another pic

Due to technical difficulty (and enormous frustration) of not having internet at home the last post only had one of the promised photos, so here’s the other one. I need our container to arrive soon so that we can start living with our own stuff, move into our house and get internet!

marmite again

They do have marmite! For all those who were worried marmite and many other familiar things are easily available. At a price. Obviously anything imported is expensive, we paid £16 for a pack of nappies although I am hoping not to use too many as I have borrowed some washable ones until ours arrive. However we do have lots of eggs, courtesy of the 21 chickens at the bottom of the garden! I am not sure that we are going to be able to eat enough eggs to keep up with them. Chickens is on our list of things to get once we have our house.

 

 

road trip

We decided that rather than get on another plane we would drive to Blantyre, apparently a 3 hour journey. It took all day to organise car hire and then we ended up with a driver and paying almost double the agreed amount for fuel! Anyway, we were collected at 9 o’clock prompt and set off. After about half an hour the driver took a call on his mobile and announced that he had set off without one of the tax disks he needed. There were 5 disks stuck to the windscreen but apparently we needed another one. We turned around and then got stopped by the police in Lilongwe. There was a lot of discussion but we set off again in another direction and ended up on the Blantyre road. A few minutes later we pulled into a petrol station and got the disk. We set off again. About 12 o’clock we passed through Dedza a place I remembered from the book as being just outside Lilongwe. I asked the driver how much further it was. Another two and a half hours he replied! About an hour later we were stopped by the police for speeding. Our driver got out to negotiate the fine and we stretched our legs and made small talk with the locals who came over to chat. Our driver returned pleased that he had only paid 2/3 of the original fine and we settled down for a long drive.

life in brown paper

24^th June 2009: Our possessions are all wrapped in brown paper. The packers arrived at 8.10 this morning and look like they may have finished by lunchtime. All we do is tell them what needs to go and make endless cups of tea and coffee! After weeks of worrying and sorting and a few late nights we now have nothing to do.

 

Anyway, it’s starting to feel like an adventure. Last week was stressful but now it feels like the morning of your wedding, when you can’t do anything about what’s not done you just have to go for it. The container arrives tomorrow and that should be on its way by lunchtime (if the driver turns up on time). It will take 6 to 8 weeks to get to Malawi, the tricky bit is getting it through customs and to our house.

under the stairs

Now that we are finally here I have had time to catch my breath to think about what this move means, something that maybe I have avoided until now. A bit like the cupboard under the stairs, you don’t want to open it because you’re not sure what might fall out. Anyway, we are here for three years and it will probably fly by. There is so much to worry about here, is the water OK to drink or brush our teeth with? What about salad? Will we get bitten by mosis if we go out in the evening? Life has a different pace here. Nothing happens quickly. It can take all day to organise car hire. And just going on a 5 minute journey can turn into an adventure that takes all morning!