filling forms

We are heading off to Zambia next week on a crazy road trip adventure, crazy because of the enormous distances we plan to drive, with 2 kids. Anyway we need an awful lot of paperwork to cross the border, including yellow fever certificates, car insurance (for Zambia as well as Malawi) and an export licence. I went to acquire the latter this morning.

 

The directions to the correct office were to go through Limbe, go round the roundabout at the end and ask for directions at the Petroda petrol station! It worked perfectly and I found the right office where we had a conversation about who owned the car (it’s in the doc’s name) and who would be driving it, the implication being that the doc was the owner and driver so should have gone to do the paperwork! The policeman wasn’t too sexist and eventually agreed to do it in the doc’s name as I had his passport number, if I wanted the paperwork in my name I would need a letter of authorisation from my husband! We then went to check the engine no. on the car and then I went (as is usual to another office) to pay the bill and then back to the original office to collect my paperwork.

 

I am certainly not missing the bustle of the shops and the busy-ness of organising food that I usually find myself embroiled in at this time of year. There’s things to organise ready for leaving the house with lodgers, sorting out staff and heading off on a road trip but it’s very different to Christmas at home. I do miss the opportunities at this time of year for catching up socially, reading newsletters and cards and seeing all the family in one mammoth journey.

getting ready for Christmas

Christmas here is quite low key, there’s less hype and less preparation. It will be our first Christmas in Africa and we intend to do it in style.

There’s quite a lot of our traditions that just don’t translate. Most Malawians know of Father Christmas/Santa but not the whole presents in the sock thing on Christmas eve and most house don’t have chimneys! The personalised video message from Santa to the kids (set up by sister in law via a website) was just baffling! I tried to explain what mincemeat is and the fact that we only eat at Christmas, we’re going to make some this weekend. Our pile of presents feels excessive here, but is much smaller than in previous years, we’ve only had 3 Christmas cards and I sent a handful back to the UK.

Today I introduced a load of ex-pats to the very Anglican Christingle, with somewhat limited supplies – birthday cake candles as the only other option was really big practical ones; apples instead of oranges (none to be found in Blantyre this week, although a few days ago there were loads); paper red stripe because the lady in Shoprite refused to sell me the nice ribbon as they couldn’t find the price and some odd sweets and chopped up marshmallows. Our group of mums and kids enjoyed making the Christingle and hearing about the symbolism which encourages us to look forward to seeing the story completed with Christ’s death and resurrection.

flying

After cockroaches and really enormous hairy spiders my least favourite insects are flying termites. They only appear this time of year, during the rain,s and they launch themselves at the lights, their wings make the most disgusting flappering noise then they drop their wings and crawl off to be termites – yuk! It really is bad time of year for insects although the geckos love it! We’ve not seen many chongolongos yet; they’re cool and curl up when the kids poke them!

africa for beginners

I thought that I might begin my novel about life in Malawi thus ...

 

They say that living in Malawi is “Africa for Beginners” because life here, for a white person, is easier than it is elsewhere in Africa. As my first experience of Africa I am not so sure that life here is easy but it is where my experience of Africa began so maybe it is for beginners.

 

it's raining

The rainy season is amazing. We saw it all last year but you forget just what it’s like. It’s almost worth going through the hot season just to have the rains (please note I said almost).

 

Last Wed we drove to one of the tea estates and just as we pulled onto the tarmac road it began to rain. More timid drivers might have pulled over but we plunged on. There was so much water in such a short space of time; cars were stuck in the middle of the road, overwhelmed by the water and this was on the main road. We held our breath every time we came to a dip in the road as we forged through the floods. The wipers were going full time, my passenger was valiantly wiping the inside of the windscreen with a spare pair of pants (belonging to one of the kids not hers). Getting out of the car you resign yourself to getting wet as umbrellas are pointless when the rain is that heavy. There are amazing electric storms going on at the same time, with thunder and spectacular lightening. The noise is so loud we can’t hold a phone conversation or watch DVDs as it’s too loud. The kids are quite happy sleeping through it (we can’t hear them crying anyway!) and we do sleep but I often wake as the storm quietens down.

 

After the rain the temperature drops, everything looks green and clean and within a few hours the puddles have dried up as if the rains hadn’t come.

visitors

We have been enjoying having more visitors, with a compulsory relaxing trip to the lake and then on safari.

 

Having visitors always makes me look at what seems normal differently. Our visitors have to get used to have people working in the house and things like the poverty that we maybe don’t always see anymore because it’s so much part of life here. I do enjoy showing the beautiful scenery and the amazing wildlife, only an hours drive from Blantyre we saw elephants, hippo, impala, nyala, warthogs and loads of birds. Including these vultures – they look very menacing and hang out in big groups, the hoodies of the bird world maybe?

hot

It’s getting hotter and hotter and we are still waiting for rain. This beautiful lizard is often on our tree but usually makes a run for it when I get the camera.

sour milk

As a friend pointed out recently, most of the time we just get on with the little inconveniences but sometimes it really gets to you. Like starting the day with gone off milk on your cereal. It’s seems to be particularly bad at this time of year and it’s so annoying, then I get paranoid and wonder if I’m being too fussy!

 

Still no proper rain, we all hope and pray that it’s on the way but until then we go swimming most afternoons.

tennis and tea

I had hoped to have a nice photo of one of our friends playing tennis in the Malawi Open Tennis Tournament, we turned up on Fri morning but his opponent didn’t show up, then it rained and his match got moved to Limbe sports club, about 20 minutes away so we didn’t see him play.

 

I am making some progress with my tennis and this week felt confident enough to go along to social tennis. There were 6 of us and we played doubles by hiring a couple of ball boys (with racquets) to make up the numbers. I still find playing tennis with ball boys a little weird, especially now that I realise that they are mostly much better players than I will ever be! After about an hour and a half I felt like I was going to collapse with heat exhaustion and explained to my 70 year old opponent that I was going to sit down and have a sugary drink, she look astonished and found someone else to finish the match in my place! Tea was provided after the match.

hot and hotter

Today is slightly cooler but the heat is really building up. It gets hotter and hotter and then a bit more and then the rains come. We have had a few “warm up” showers which is the prelude to proper rains.

 

You can tell the temperature from the noise level, when it’s really hot there is almost complete inactivity, even the dog lies still. At night when there’s a breeze there is much more noise but on a hot still night, total silence. Apart from unhappy, hot children! We have put a fan in the kids room to try and keep them cool, this helps but I am dreading the night that we have a power cut at bedtime!

expensive morning

After a luxurious weekend I was looking forward to a frugal week, this was not to be. I started with the bill for the washing machine repair, 14,000 MK (£56) this was after the doc spent many hours fixing it. Then off to get chicken food, 5,000 MK (£20) and a shop at the supermarket 8,000 MK (£32) then pay bill for the little car’s service 41,000 MK (£164) fortunately we weren’t charged for the call outs for the other car (continuing mouse damage). I have also invested in rat poison & traps but we can only use these in the garage because of the dog and children. I then topped off the morning with a haircut, this was to correct the slightly weird cut that a different hairdresser gave me 2 weeks ago!

 

 

perfect day

Photos to follow but Sat was a beautiful day. I spent Fri night with other grown-ups listening to some cool music at the Lake of Stars Festival, the beach setting was perfect, warm with a gentle breeze. On Sat we had a cruise on the lake watched the fish eagles and swam and snorkelled from the boat, a lazy lunch was followed by more festival activity with the kids this time. They played in the sand and water and took a passing interest in the music and they really enjoyed the Burundi drummers who played their drums on their heads! We chanced across a guy called Ron Nkomba and loved his gentle sound.

more hot

What else do you do on a hot day?

 

Today is the end of a really hard week. Yesterday was particularly bad but feeling better today and ready for the long weekend (tomorrow is a bank holiday for Mother’s Day) and we’re off to the “Lake of Stars Festival”.

hot

It’s really hot, everyone keeps reminding me that October is the hottest month and it’s definitely the month of sick bugs.

 

Yesterday we lazed by a friend’s pool while sipping Pimms and watching the kids play. Today it was back to real life, we were up in the night to our eldest being sick, followed by a frustrating morning for me including: a long wait at the bank to find that our money has not come through from the UK, the pharmacist didn’t have our anti-malarial drugs and then the car wouldn’t start. Oh and we still have no washing machine!

 

It turns out that the car was suffering from the soaring temperatures too and had overheated, the lack of water in the cooling system didn’t help the matter! A kindly mechanic from a friend’s company diagnosed the problem and I felt very silly especially as the car was full of a bag of wet nappies, the nappy bucket, a carrier bag of cash and two hot children!

mon feeling

Even after 3 weeks back we have not got the hang of Monday mornings. We never quite get out of the house on time and happy, if we rush we have unhappy small people! My morning (without kids) was totally unproductive partly because I had just started doing some work when a friend called to say that there was diesel at one of the petrol stations I rushed down but they had run out by the time I got there. Another 2 queues and I got diesel this evening.

 

Driving around town the in the dusk is different, it smells different and it’s quieter. I quite like being out and about at that time and the satisfaction of getting a full tank is great!!

and in the car

Yes really!

 

The mice are ok, but I am finding the transition this time more difficult. It’s hot, there’s loads to organise the kids are cranky and I feel the culture shock again, so many things feel weird, like I don’t really get the culture here or there.

a mouse

Where? In my washing machine!

 

We had been warned that the washing machine was broken so on Mon the doc spent the afternoon taking it apart and uncovered a mouse’s nest. Unfortunately the mice had sampled a large range of pipes and wires, which explained why the machine wouldn’t spin or empty! We have a part on the way from the UK but until then it’s hand washing.

Long Journey

I’m not sure that journeys are ever uneventful and we have begun to expect some delays when travelling to or through Africa but I still find myself surprised when our plans don’t go the way I expected. Our flights back to Malawi were straightforward, the doc did a lot of child entertaining (with help from Peppa Pig and an ipad) and I was quite relaxed. Our eldest is really suffering from travel sickness, when flying which is grim for her but she is now big enough to get it in the bag! We landed at Lilongwe (almost) on time and customs weren’t too interested in our luggage (fortunately) but our driver which we had organised through the doc’s work was very late. We loaded up and set off (an hour and half after we cleared customs) to be told that we had to go to the company’s office to get fuel, this turned out to involve a change of vehicle which meant that we had to wake up the kids who’d just fallen asleep. Inevitably they got to sleep again just before we reached the only place that we know that we can get food, so we woke them again, enjoyed our toasted sandwiches and set off again. By this point it was dark and getting late, both the doc and I nodded off to be woken to cries of “I’m going to be sick”!  We got home about 9pm to be met by our lovely housekeeper and an immaculate house.

 

throwing stones

With only a few days until we go back we are desperately ordering photos, completing tax forms and shopping! I am fed up of shopping (imagine doing a years worth of shopping in 6 weeks) and am slightly worried that I will get back to discover that we forgot a vital pair of shoes! However I am looking forward to less choice and no pressure to buy anything but food.

We have been enjoying simple things like going to the park (we have been every day for the past 2 weeks) and skimming stones at the river, things that I always took for granted in the past. This pic was taken by my (lovely) brother in law when we scrambling up rocks at Brimham a day out finished off with ice cream.

I have just heard that the temp in Blantyre is 32 degrees and there is a fuel shortage, these are two things that I dislike the most about living in Malawi and combined they can curb my social life (and sanity).

on holiday

After 2 weeks I still don't know if this is the holiday or normal life. I woke in a panic last night and couldn't remember where we were. This was followed by a couple of hours up with our youngest who had a fever. She was bouncing by bedtime today & both seem to have settled into our third venue. The doc is off working and staying near Liverpool to be handy for clinics and the fancy kit at the Trop Shop. The girls miss him at bedtime but don't really seem to notice his absence.

We have an epic tour planned and are enjoying seeing lots of family and friends; it's hard not to imagine that people measure relationships in the quality or quantity of time. We are also trying to have some time doing normal stuff like going to the park and doing cutting and sticking.

strange

It’s very strange being “home”. I’m not sure any of us know where home is or which country is the norm. Being abroad still feels like an interim to normal life but this feels like a holiday. There are lots of things that are different, some are positive, some just weird. It’s lovely to be able to use tap water to brush our teeth and not have to sleep under nets, I love the clean public toilets with running water, soap and towels and the rubbish bins on the streets. But I find myself keeping a closer eye on the children when we’re out. There are some things I hadn’t realised that I’d missed, like the speed of the internet and organised activities for kids.

waiting

I am sat at the doc's desk waiting to go on my away day for the museum project. We were meant to leave at 8am but not surprisingly we won't be leaving on time, there are quite a bit of politics about this but here I am waiting. I'm not too surprised and the waiting doesn't annoy me the way it would have done 1 year ago!

I do still find it rude that the attitude here is that it's OK to be late "the sun is still shining" but I am much more relaxed about it and it's always easier to wait graciously when I'm not having to entertain children!! I would be happier if the coffee lady would come soon ... (a man has just this minute appeared with the coffee, there is nothing to complain about!).

HD

It’s hard not to worry about them. Our eldest seems to be particularly unsettled, she was ill a couple of weeks ago and I think that was a combination of tiredness and missing her friend. The last few weeks she has been having more afternoon naps than she would usually and is often ready to go to bed well before the youngest.

 

She has had a few disturbed nights sleep and again looks exhausted, but won’t necessarily have an afternoon sleep. Most of our friends have left Blantyre so it’s very quiet and a bit dull, and all the talk of going to England must be confusing when you’re only 3. I am sure if I wasn’t worrying about what all this travelling is doing to the kids I’d be worrying about something else …  

people

The doc has been having some staff issues this week. His registrar started work last week and yesterday asked for a rise and when the doc explained that there was limited funds she resigned and took a job in the district (government posts include a housing allowance which makes them more lucrative). It’s taken a year to get the reg appointed and now she has left! The same day he spotted one of our night guards working a full-time day job. When we discussed it he explained that he has always had a day job (as does one of our other guards) because he needs the two incomes to support the 8 people who depend on him. What would you do?

 

We know that the night guards often kip during their shift but by having two of them we hope that one will be awake; but I’m not sure that I can employ someone knowing that he’s not able to get a proper nights sleep. I also had a dilemma when my squash coach (who plays for the national team but earns a living coaching) asked for a loan so that he could pay this months rent. We pay for our lessons in advance so he already owes us quite a few lessons and I know that the situation will be the same next month, but how do I respond?

 

I have been deeply challenged by a book called “When Helping Hurts: How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor and yourself” it talks about poverty in terms of relationships as well as creation and material possessions and gives a good perspective on aid to majority countries. I am now trying to apply some of the principles to dealing with the guys who work for us; they’re not poor (they all have jobs) but financially life is hard for them and at the end of the month I am fairly sure that none of them has any money left. The book encourages us to look at the long term view and reminds us not to be paternalistic in our attitude or giving…. Hhmm

no nannys

Regular readers will remember that I once said that we would never have a dog or a nanny. The dog arrived months ago and as I write rampaging around my garden are 3 nannies, our housekeeper (Dorcas) and 6 children!! I am embracing the benefits of life here and letting the kids get on with it. It still feels odd and I do find myself making tea for all the nannies!

 

I am actually borrowing a friend’s nanny for a day next week as I have a meeting in a museum 3 hours drive away so we are having a team night away.

cute

This our youngest taking part in her nursery end of term play!! She was the youngest participant and looked this serious the whole way through. Notes to those threatening me with cruelty: I didn’t even know what role she had before we saw the play.

at the top

I have had a weekend off from kids and climbed Mulanje. This is the highest mountain in this part of Africa so am feeling quite chuffed and very stiff! It was an amazing experience, we did it in style, with porters carrying our kit (including a bottle of wine) and reached the mountain hut at about 4pm on Saturday and enjoyed a gentle stroll to admire the sunset and the full moon.

On Sunday we set off to meet what's known as the jungle route down. This was an incredibly steep descent with quite a bit of scrambling but it was using different muscles to the uphill of Sat! I read Samuel 22 v 31-37 yesterday and understood the last verse "you broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn over" many times on the way down the path suddenly narrowed and we were grateful to get to the bottom unscathed!

living today

Our eldest began the day by asking if we were going to England today. I think that she is still processing saying goodbye to her friend, it is especially hard because most of her friends have already left for the UK and we keep talking about when we go. I am going to make a conscious effort for us all to enjoy today and the next few weeks "before we go".

I expect that most of us live life planning what will happen next instead of living today. Malawians take this to the other extreme, we find that our staff don't like to plan for next month or next year, they're just trying to get through this week. Our cook regularly runs out of staple ingredients or I find that we've had no cleaning stuff for a few weeks because they don't tell me until after it has run out.

road trip

The photos were taken on our way to Nayla Park a lovely wildlife reserve only an hours drive away. However the story is about our road trip to Lilongwe: everyone says that it’s 3 hours drive (4 tops) from Blantyre to Lilongwe, we’ve never found this to be true. Our first experience was when we arrived in Malawi and the journey took all day because the driver didn’t have all his paperwork, got stopped for speeding as well as a regular stop by the police! This time the journey there was quick and uneventful, we met the friends who were leaving for the UK and after a night in Lilongwe set off home about 10.30am. We thought that we’d found a short-cut out of the city, which proved to be wrong and was a route that we’d used before and it’s really slow, we were driving two cars back so there wasn’t time for any nifty map reading. I had the easy drive listening to BBC world service whereas the doc had the air/con and the kids! Driving long distance in Malawi is quite tedious as the roads are reasonably good so you get a good speed up then you get stuck behind a slow lorry or reach another village and have to slow down and then there’s the speed traps. We both got caught at a speed trap one behind the other and pulled over. I was trying to impress the cop with my Chichewa and southern African driving licence in the hope that he might be lenient but he explained that we would both be paying the fine. I went to check the video footage (essential as it’s quite common to be accused and find that you weren’t caught) but there we were both speeding. I came back to the doc to find him deep in conversation with the policeman about his medical problems and a long conversation later our fine was reduced from 10,000 MK to 2. I’m still not sure what the doc agreed to but was relieved at the lower charge as we didn’t have enough cash to pay the fine and buy lunch!

uk

We are counting down the days until we fly to the UK (in Aug); the doc has 3 weeks work in Liverpool so we are able to come for 5 weeks. Preparations are underway: there is a long list of things to buy (a year’s worth of clothes & shoes), the docs samples are about to sent, I have been booking in with the relatives (fitting round busy schedules & trying not to do the 2,000 miles driving we did last time), organising staff and bills here as well as leaving things ready for some doctors who will be living in our house. The doc’s samples take a few weeks to get to the UK, they travel in luxurious dry ice via South Africa and London before arriving in the lab in Liverpool where the doc will do some fancy tests.

 

We’re looking forward to chocolate, catching up with friends and family, not sleeping under mosi nets and long evenings (playing croquet on the lawn). Living here is an amazing experience and there are some aspects of life that are great but if we could move back to the UK tomorrow I would.

No blog

No blog, that's what happens when you have visitors. We're really
enjoying our guests but everyday life gets put on hold. The doc was
reluctant to go to work and the errands seemed endless. It's been
amazing spending time with friends that know us well and continuing
conversations that we began years ago; I still find it hard having
only new friends.

Our current guests include two kids under 3 so they have proved that
it's very possible to travel to Malawi with kids! Watch this space for
a guest blog from one of our visitors.

going public

Life here is very public. In the ex-pat community everyone knows everyone else and we all know what you did last week and who came to dinner. But all of life here is very public, an accident is a source of entertainment, life happens out on the streets, women breastfeed on the footpath, people urinate by the side of the road a mzungu at the market is a matter for loud discussion.

 

Even church here is more communal and public than we are used to. Giving testimony partway through the service is encouraged, speaking in tongues is normal and the sermon is often sidelined so that we can pray for one another. We’re still getting used to this and I know the doc misses a good bible exposition.

netball

Netball would be my sport of choice, it’s one of the few sports where I look the part – tall! I have played a couple of times with other mzungus but I was hoping to play with a Malawian team as it is a national passion and the national team are 4^th in the world. I have at last found someone who plays and she invited me along to training. The first meeting training had been cancelled but no-one had told her, the next was great and I managed not to embarrass myself, producing some good passes and reasonable defence. It was very strange playing a familiar game in the twilight, surrounded by black players who were all shouting in a foreign language (my Chichewa is going to have to improve!). I was invited to play in a match on Saturday, we had a full team but our opponents had been tempted away to watch the World Cup, however after about an hour enough plays were coerced into playing and we had a match. It was great to be playing netball at last and I enjoyed the exercise but it’s frustrating not to be part of the discussions about footwork or fouls! I can tell roughly what is being discussed from the gestures but am unable to join in the loud negotiations!

busy days

I wrote this blog in my head yesterday, about everyday life and then we had one of those nights – intruders, random phone calls and unsettled kids – aegghh! Followed by an early morning text to say a friend’s child is ill so my complicated arrangements for collecting children from nursery have all fallen apart – argghh!

 

Anyway for those of you who are still interested, a busy day looks a bit like this: early morning squash lesson, ladies bible study group (with cake), lunch at home, quick trip to local market to buy an extra bed (it fitted nicely on the roof of the car and was half the price of a bed in Blantyre market), baby group at a friend’s house (more cake), tea for the kids, Chichewa lesson, out to dinner with the doc’s supervisors (1 over from the UK) bed late! The rest of the week looks a bit the same: squeezing exercise into the start or end of the day when the doc is about; trying to do errands and managing staff and then having  people for dinner or out to dinner and some activities for the kids in between. Doesn’t really sound much different to life at home.

Reflections

I have been looking back through my blog. It's interesting to see what I was writing about 1 year ago as we got ready to move. I am certainly more relaxed than I was then, my time is filled with different things and my worries are much the same. We miss friends and family, I worry about the children's health and I am constantly filling in forms and paying bills and checking that we have enough cash as well as moving money from the UK. So many of my perceptions about life here were wrong. I still know that this is the right place for us to be and my role is to support the doc in his work and look after our kids but it's hard knowing that there is no easy solution for the problems here.

paziquantil jelly

I spent Saturday making lurid coloured jelly in order to get the drug paziquantil down the kids. One of the downsides of spending time at the lake is that if you swim in the lake or indeed shower in the water near the lake you are at risk of bilharzia from a parasite called shistosomes that lives in snails. In order to prevent this most people take the appropriate drugs every 6 months as getting tested is quite difficult here. The problem is that the drugs are enormous, they are like horse pills and for someone like myself (medium weight) the dose is 4 tablets. The kids have to have about 1 tablet each. The best way is to have the dose in 2 halves 4 hours apart. Anyway there were lots of suggestions from friends about how to get the kids to take the drugs, crushing them is not a good idea as they taste bitter. One friend suggested making jelly which kids usually swallow and mixing the drugs in, however when I made the jelly the drugs dissolved and made the jelly taste foul. So the doc offered the kids the tablet broken up on a spoon with syrup followed by a swig of orange Fanta – no problem!! We have been battling for months to get our youngest to take pills, by mixing them up in food and after all that she just took it swallowed it and had some Fanta.

winter in Africa

It’s now officially winter here in Malawi. The Rains are over although we still get the odd shower, it’s very much cooler although every so often we get a hot day and at night we need a duvet (bliss!).

 

I am sure that the doc told me that we’d get less germs here as we have outdoors lifestyle, however we all have heavy colds and I spent the weekend feeling rubbish. It gets dark very quickly and is pitch black by 5.30pm which feels a tad early especially as power cuts follow darkness; most of our cuts are due to “power shedding” so they happen at peak times, like when you want to cook dinner and put the lights on!

ants

The first photo shows the family looking closely at the many ants crawling across the path …..

 

.. the next picture shows my dad removing ants from his socks. Word of advice, don’t stop to look as they swarm up your legs and get everywhere – yes we did have ants in our pants!

bugs

Not for the squeamish amongst you. we first spotted a beautiful green, red and blue wing from this splendid creature and then we found the rest of him. Our eldest thought he might be tasty!

visitors

There are lots of goodbyes living in a community like this, and we also have to keep saying goodbye to friends and family when we visit home or they come here. We have just said goodbye after our longest visit (yet) they had become part of everyday life here, part of the children’s daily routine. We had time to take a road trip and travel north exploring the country as we went and because we have lots of help in the house we had time to linger over coffee and meals. During the many power cuts and journeys we had time to talk as there’s not much else to do. It’s been great seeing the children make their own relationships with their grandparents and I hope that these will pick up where they left off when we next visit home.

home from hols

We were home a few days after our big trip and then off on safari just for 1 night. It was a fantastic trip and we saw lots of animals, the girls know the place well so feel comfortable and we all know what to expect. Sipping G&T as the sun set over the river I was reminded that this is a beautiful country.

 

We came home to news that a friend’s baby was very ill in hospital, the doc went off to see our housekeeper’s sister who had suspected malaria and we had no power until 8pm and then no water, very frustrating when all I wanted was to wash the nappies and have a bath! I think it’s these contrasts that make life here challenging, we go from luxurious safari to the very real problems of those we know and work with.

 

And then there’s the little frustrations that take up so much time – mice in the chicken feed, ill dog, no spare light bulbs, all the milk in the freezer during a power cut, no lights for the evening (it gets dark about 5.30pm).

rain ...

… rainforest and rain! I’m not sure where to begin (the beginning would be logical but less interesting) we have just returned from an 11 day trip travelling a long way north and exploring lots of Malawi. We had a fantastic time and stayed in some beautiful places, having grandparents with us was a bonus! These pictures were taken in Ntchisi Rainforest, this was probably our favourite spot: the lodge was lovely, food was really good and it was cool and we didn’t have to sleep under nets – bliss! Our journey north was defined by the lake, you always know where it is although you don’t often see it from the road, so on arriving at our destination we would follow windy dirt tracks until we came out on the lakeshore.  

 

We didn’t have any rain on holiday but returned to Blantyre to find it wet and misty. So this week has been back to nursery, work, my new exhibition project and the joys of household management.

hospitals

After a lovely weekend away (girls only) our youngest was obviously not feeling very well and had a terrible nights sleep so I took her temp and realised that we would have to go for a malaria test. Although we take weekly anti-malarials we always go for a test if anyone has a fever. The one yesterday was the fifth since Christmas so I should be used to them but usually the doc takes responsibility for taking the kids for the test and I go along to dole out raisins and cuddles. The doc was on his way back from (a boys) weekend climbing big mountains so I was on my own. The queue seemed unusually long and all the children waiting looked really ill, the cries of them and the children on the wards are heartbreaking and I found I wanted to cry, there were just so many of them and so few staff. We all pay for the test, an amount that for us is small but I imagine that if  we earned less we might not have the tests done so quickly or often which means that the children are often very ill when they arrive at the hospital. Malaria is a big problem in children, most adults living in a malarial area have some immunity to the disease as they have probably contracted it and survived.

 

Our youngest is fine, the test was negative and she is bouncing around this morning.

 

 

driving

I am now a fully fledged Malawian driver. After two days spent queuing in Jan I got a paper SADAC (Southern African driving licence), fortunately I didn’t have to take a driving test, just show my British licence and fill in many forms; after 3 months and a few more queues I now have a plastic card complete with photo and fingerprint!

 

I think that I have honed my Malawian driving skills, I find myself slipping through red traffic lights, overtaking learner drivers, skilfully avoiding the pot-holes, thinking nothing of switching to 4WD when the going gets tough. However I do know how to use a roundabout, I don’t honk (except when we arrive at someone’s gate) and I am careful about overtaking. I haven’t been stopped for speeding (more common now as the police have a few more speed guns and it’s the end of the month) and I don’t consume lots of alcohol before getting behind the wheel. Pedestrians and cyclists are a big hazard as there is no space at the edge of the road for them and the roads are getting narrower as the edge wears away. The state of the roads is a whole nother blog itself …

 

 

ku'nyumba

.. meaning home. This amazing house, purchased by my sis, came in our container and the Easter hols seemed a good time to get it out. The girls have enjoyed decorating it and making it home.

hard life

It’s a hard life having a day off to see giraffe. It was very hot (over 30 degrees) whereas here in Blantyre temps have dropped to 17 degrees and we are all wearing trousers and jumpers.

noblog

Sorry to all you regulars, the lack of blog was due to a few things: buying a car took most of my time last week (we eventually got it on Tues at 5pm) then we had some exciting visitors arrive and we have now had no internet for 5 days. I am sat in the doc's office stealing his internet. Being able to communicate with the outside world is crucial to my sanity. Apparently the problem with the internet is due to a company putting up a radio tower that blocks our signal and we will need someone to come and wiggle our receiver.

We bought a Rav4, which my friend Kate, tells me are known as mistress cars because when Toyota first brought them to Malawi rich businessmen bought them for their mistresses! Appropriately it's black. I paid for it on Friday but only took possession of it on Tuesday and finally insured it on Wed, which is probably about normal

Our visitors had a few days in Jo'burg so they left the UK before the volcano erupted which meant that they arrived on time with a large supply of shoes and chocolate.

squash

The doc has been making the most of my sprained ankle and taking my squash lessons as well as his own, however that has come to an abrupt end. The teacher didn’t turn up for yesterday’s lesson and later in the day I discovered that he was in prison (for beating up someone who allegedly tried to rob him)! Life here is never dull or straightforward.

rollercoasting

Not sure what to call this one. Life here on the surface is easy, we have lots of help around the house, the doc’s work is good, we’ve made some great friends and the weather is warm and sunny but I find some aspects harder. I spent the weekend ill and found that everything became more difficult and it’s at times like this that I wonder how we will manage 3 years out here. And sometimes the contrasts make life too hard. Hearing of people who die far too young or horrific road accidents or our staff who don’t have enough money to get transport home to a funeral or when my friend drove a lady to hospital because there had been complications with a birth. And then we spend more than one of our guards earns in a year on a holiday ….

 

Our eldest and I have been admiring the beautiful displays of lush and colourful plants on the roundabouts but how can we justify money spent on these, just metres from the appalling conditions in the hospital? Life here is so up and down and we live an easy life alongside lives of hardship.

buying a car

It sounds so easy … trust me it’s not. We started a few weeks ago when we set off to meet a man about a car, we had to stop on the way to drop the kids with friends, get a puncture mended and then waited for an hour but the car didn’t show up. Our contact was very apologetic and we left it for a few days. Another lead was followed up last week and we arranged for a viewing I picked up the Doc from work and we set off. No car and no man, he turned up eventually and took us to see the car, which didn’t start! A mechanic friend knew all about this particular car and warned us not to buy it so we went to see another car today, it needs some work but the price allowed for that so we agreed to buy it. But we’ve found another car which is newer and needs less work so we’re going for that one. But hey we may still find another one!

gin

And on the subject of gin … our youngest is explaining here that the 2 G&Ts in front of her are not in fact her drinks!

hols

Bit behind with the blog as we’ve been loafing about by the lake. We went with two other couples (who don’t have kids) to a beautiful lodge where the meals are provided and they lay on  a boat cruise in the morning (to see the fish eagles & do some snorkelling) and an evening trip to swim and drink gin while the sun sets. And yes some proved that it’s possible to sip gin and swim at the same time!

sprained

Having managed life so far with no major injuries (unlike my siblings) I have sprained my ankle this week. There’s no exciting tale to go with it (despite the doc putting out rumours to the contrary) I missed a very large step in the dark after a lovely evening swim and my foot proceeded to swell up in an alarming way. A surgeon friend had a poke and prescribed a hand-me down (from UK hospitals) air cast which looks like a giant ski boot with no toes. It feels excessive for a sprain except that it allows me to walk although the advice is to rest with it raised – easy with 2 small kids! Thankfully it’s my left foot and our car is an automatic so I can still drive, otherwise I would be feeling even worse. I am surprised by how painful it is and do not like sitting with my feet up.

 

Do keep commenting dear readers, it’s good to hear from you! I am still trying to identify the anonymous “member” who leaves messages, although I suspect it might be a relative!

big girls

Here are my two girls who are looking so grown up.

 

We’re all getting very excited about a visit from Granny and Grandad. Our eldest was telling her friend that mummy was very excited about Granny coming to stay. They are coming for 6 weeks, and it’s there first visit to Africa so we feel a bit of pressure to make sure that they enjoy their time here. I’m also wondering what they will make of our life here, there are some things that we are much more relaxed about and things that we would never do in the UK that we find acceptable here. I am sure that they will enjoy being outdoors most of the time and we have found some beautiful spots to take them.

calm

If I was a grumpy hippo yesterday, today I feel calm and at peace, like these hippos. It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep can do.

 

grumpy

This hippo looks pretty grumpy, our guide told us his skin looks a bit burned.

I feel very grumpy, we’ve had 2 weeks of disturbed sleep and neither the doc or I are coping very well. Mostly it’s our youngest who keeps us awake she is back on Larium as a change of drugs didn’t seem to make a difference but now I’m not so sure and it’s difficult to know if it’s behavioural or drug induced or just bad sleep! We all find sleep more disturbed here, the temperature changes a lot in the night, we all drink lots of water so get up to the loo and there can be loud music and intruders too! The last straw this morning was when we had our eldest in our bed in the hopes that she might sleep despite her younger sibling crying, we were going in to the youngest every 10 mins to reassure her and trying to encourage her to go back to sleep when one of the guards knocked on our bedroom window to tell us that the children were crying!

power

We have spent a weekend with very little power. Normally power cuts are twice a week, at about 6/6.30 pm just as it goes dark, if you live near someone important then you are less affected by this load shedding. It is getting dark earlier and the cuts seem to go on for longer and we are getting regular cuts at lunchtime and then like this weekend all day. Of course we can manage without power but it’s a bit frustrating as the ironing pile is enormous (everything has to be ironed to kill the putsi fly) and washing has to be done by hand, we can’t use the internet or make phone calls and the food that can be cooked on a camping stove is limited!

 

The power company Escom have had to change the slogan on their vehicles and literature – they were told that it was incorrect to say “power everyday, all day” so the vehicles now say “striving for power everyday, all day”!

less rain

The rainy season has officially ended, so this will be the last pics of splashing in puddles for a while. Having said that we did get a heavy downpour yesterday which was unexpected as usually once the rains finish it’s only occasional showers. The weather is gorgeous, warm enough not to have to worry about jumpers but cool enough to enjoy being outside, the garden is looking lush and colourful.

working girl

So how does a museum curator find a job in Malawi? Help put together a grant application for an interactive display about clinical research and medicine in Malawi. We have just heard that our application was successful so I should have about 20 days work over the next year helping do some audience research to put the exhibition together.

 

I am also having fun getting involved with the Society of Malawi and offering some advice for the management of the archives. As part of this I joined a trip on Saturday to the National Archives of Malawi in Zomba. The staff were incredibly helpful and patiently answered our questions and let us have a look at some of the material and books, including the oldest book in their collection. The book is dated 1685, although I it looks like it is a later reprint of a book written in the 17^th century in French about Africa this picture shows “dragons”.

sausages

Sausages for tea which reminded me that I had a photograph of a sausage tree. We don’t eat a lot of pork as all the good butchers are halal but I have found a pork butcher (out of town) so pork is back on the menu, the butcher talked me into buying a 2.5Kg pork neck joint which he tells me to put in water to roast! Anyway sausage trees, the fruits are enormous and can weigh upto 10Kg and it’s a bad idea to sit or camp under the tree (in case the fruit drops on your head). Apparently the fruit is edible but not widely eaten.

days like this

It’s days like this that make me wonder if I’m cut out for living in Africa. A late night after a lovely dinner followed by a toddler awake and screaming from 3am, a busy morning followed by other toddler getting a high temp, so another visit to the malaria alert centre (all tests negative) and the prospect of a night of taking temp and calculating doses of painkillers. Apart from the malaria test not much different to life in the UK except that I worry that I’m exposing my children to extra risks, oh and it doesn’t help that the rains have ceased and the temperature has soared.

 

The doc’s research is storming ahead with 25 patients recruited already (he’s aiming for 200) although the bad news is that the other haematologist is leaving in June and won’t be replaced until September so for a few months there’ll only be 1 haematologist in the country.

hot excercise

So how do you exercise in a hot country? Until this month I have found even walking with a pushchair too strenuous in the heat but I either need to stop eating cake or start exerting myself. The rains have been keeping the temperature down so last week I tried an aerobics class led by an energetic Dutch lady, whose English is excellent, although she has a great turn of phrase - while we were lying on our tummies she told us to make ourselves like a horseshoe. I find the commentary from a non-English accent restful and a slight distraction from the pain.

 

This mornings activity was a squash lesson with the doc, taught by the current Malawi squash champion, all for the grand sum of £2 plus court hire. He was lovely and had some really helpful suggestions, he seemed to enjoy playing as much as we did, I had forgotten just how addictive squash is although it is going to hurt tomorrow. I suppose the question is who will hurt more, me or the doc. Fortunately tomorrow is a bank holiday, it’s Martyrs Day when we remember those who died in the 1959 uprising.

chicken chat

We have been talking a lot about chickens this week. We (well our gardener) is building a chicken run and house so that we can have about 10 chickens for eggs. The doc has been reading too much Hugh (Fearnley-Whittenstall) and would also like some broilers that we can fatten up for the pot.

 

We tried eating a “local chicken” this week, I wouldn’t recommend them although our eldest does now understand about where chicken comes from and has a handful of feathers as a memento! Fortunately neither of them saw our gardener chasing (what I assume to be) a headless chicken around the garage. The vendor who came to the gate allowed us to choose a chicken and once we had selected he put the rejected ones (still live) back into the basket beak first through a small opening, I’m not sure what Hugh would say about that.

getting along without me

I am sure that this is not unique to living abroad but I am beginning to see that my children can get along very well without me. Our youngest has just started nursery and is enjoying it and our eldest has told me that she would rather stay at home (with the staff) than go shopping with me! It’s very nice that I can leave them but until now they didn’t want to be apart from me.

 

I am starting to plan my few hours a week that are child-free, I have got involved with an archive here and hope to be able to do some work looking at their collections and we are still waiting to hear about two grant applications that would lead to some (paid) work doing exhibition stuff and an oral history project. The few hours currently gets used up having a Chichewa lesson, running errands and paying bills; the latter takes longer because we have to pay most of our bills in person, of course in the UK these would be direct debit. It’s not just the time taken to go to the right office but also the queues and then waiting while the teller counts the cash and provides a receipt.

FW: the doc

The doc is a happy man. He is now able to be a real haematologist, his kit has arrived from the UK, he has done bone marrows and some slides and he has appointed a research nurse. Some of the clinics are up and running, the plan is to have seven clinical sessions per week which is going to keep him very busy. We are still waiting to hear about the recruitment of another doctor to the project and lots of things move very slowly -including the nurse, apparently the doc tells her which ward they are going to and meets her there because she walks so slowly!

 

no novelty

Now that we have been here 6 months there are some aspects of life that have definitely lost their novelty. Last week I went on two trips with Jonas our gardener to buy supplies for building a chicken house and run; the first was to buy poles at one of the stalls at the side of the road. When we pulled up alongside the huge pile of tree trunks the car was immediately surrounded by men, all shouting. Jonas took charge and gradually the group dispersed until we were left with the owner and a couple of guys who helped saw the trunks and tie them to the roof of the car. I am learning Chichewa but it is frustratingly slow and I am not sure that I shall ever know enough to tell everything that is being said. Our second trip was on Sat, the doc had offered to go but he was still asleep at 8 am so I agreed to go. This experience was slightly more civilised we greeted the men in the sales office, discussed our requirements and waited a long time for the planks to be sawn up. I am getting used to the waiting, the extra cost just because I am white and the extra money for anyone who has helped. Actually the last bit I mind less as it feels like an easy way to help someone; the guy who helped us at the sawmill had a flip-flop on one foot and a very ancient trainer on the other, I was surprisingly disturbed by this.

long way

Some days you just feel a long way from home. Other days life here runs smoothly and the sun shines and the UK feels a long way away.

 

A new family have just arrived and I have had a long conversation with a friend who is getting ready to move on, the comings and goings here mean that we are always conscious of the finite length of our stay. Maybe it’s different for those who are purposefully out here but for a hanger-on like me our adventure sometimes feels like an interlude to the rest of my life.

 

umbrellas

I had an exciting traipse around Limbe last week. Limbe is the place to go for shopping, it’s busy and chaotic but cheap! After spending a lot of money on material for clothes, mosquito nets and sheets I went to buy umbrellas, you really can’t have enough umbrellas in the rainy season. For 800 MK (about £4) I bought 3 umbrellas. Then we went to buy mops it was a long walk to the market and then despite my best haggling I paid more than I would have done if one of the staff had gone to Blantyre!

you win some

So it was a bad day on Fri but good days Sat and Sun. Fri began with a trip to the dairy for cream and cheese to find they had none, then got home to no internet so unable to search for alternative ice cream recipes (for dinner party that evening). Children woke up grumpy and afternoon naps were perfunctory so the grumpiness continued. The afternoon improved after some sanity at lunchtime and we got the kids to bed and began to prepare for dinner when the power went off (for an hour and half) the steamed pudding bubbled away on the camping stove and the rest had to wait until power resumed. We had a lovely evening followed by a dreadful night when we were up much of the night with our youngest – it might have been teeth ….

 

Despite the early start Sat was lovely, nice and cool and friends called around for coffee and stayed for lunch. Sunday we had a really good service at church, our eldest went to Sunday school solo and we heard the whole sermon and then enjoyed a late lunch with friends which lasted until children’s bedtime – perfect! For those interested in sleep (only other mothers I expect) we have had two good nights sleep so I feel human again.

social whirl

We are in the middle of a social whirl! I had baby group at ours yesterday (at very short notice) followed by a Rotary dinner (the doc was the guest speaker) then out tonight with some doctors (I’m the moral support for a friend) and then entertaining here tomorrow evening, with coffee and cake on Saturday and an invite out for Sunday oh and some extras for lunch today. So not much time left for blogging.

smoking

Last week we had an interesting day out at a tobacco farm. The estate covers 40 hectares and although there is a strong anti-smoking lobby in the west, tobacco sales continue to increase. Most of the labour force are employed part-time so that they can tend their own crops on their small holdings. We watched the leaves being harvested and then saw them in various stages of being dried out. Our eldest was delighted to spot some sheep on the farm and they are also growing macadamia nuts which are ideally suited to the Malawi climate, although difficult to buy in Malawi as most are exported! On the walk back from the drying sheds our eldest and I got separated from the rest of the family and our waterproofs and got properly soaked as the rain began in earnest. We travelled back with the heater on in the car – that’s a first!

blooming

We got wet and cold on Saturday and it was great! We have had quite a lot of rain and things are definitely cooler, friends assure us that this a more normal temperature for January compared to the heat we have been having. We have all slept really well and are less grumpy, the garden is blooming and looks beautiful. I feel full of energy – until it heats up again!

Our weekend began with a Burn’s night dinner, this was a black tie event so the doc dusted down his kilt, borrowed some football socks and we danced the night away. It was a good start to the weekend although a late night and I think some may have been regretting the tequila shots especially as we were up early on Sat to visit a tobacco farm – photos to follow.

Church on Sunday was good and I think that we have come to the end of church hopping and will settle at the “City Pentecostal Church” which is lively, with a good Sunday school and sound teaching. It’s a big church in a small building so it is going to take time to get to know people and after a 1 ½ - 2 hour service the kids are ready to head home so not much chance for chit chat!

Anyway, busy week ahead on the entertaining front – a mammoth bake for baby group and a small dinner party on Fri, just hope the power cuts are not at crucial times!

water, water

We were supervising the kids in the shower and planning a relaxing evening writing a (very overdue) newsletter when we realised that there was a water running noise that was not the shower! Water was flooding through the ceiling in the study! The doc’s diagnosis was a problem with the valve into the hot water geyser which has been proved correct. Meanwhile our youngest had pooed in the shower!

 

However there is so much to be thankful for: a kind landlord who sent the plumber round immediately; tiled floors; nothing damaged and spare water in the reserve tank. We’re quite used to the water being turned off and we do seem to have a lot of buckets for day-to-day life!

tiresome heat

The heat is making everyone tired, none of us is sleeping very well and we’re all a bit cranky. Although, the Malawians find the heat just as tiring; a doctor friend was telling me about a nurse who nodded off while talking to another doctor, one of the G4 accountants was asleep at her desk this morning and one of our guards was asleep at 9pm last night! The doc dealt with the latter in his usual non-confrontational style by telling the other guard to go and wake him up!

more safari

Just because it’s a great picture taken my sister in law who has come to the end of her holiday in Malawi. I think she’s had a good time although being burgled at home, dropping her camera and breaking her toe ensure that it was an eventful trip!

on Domwe

As promised more about Domwe: it’s an uninhabited island in the middle of Lake Malawi. As we approached by boat (we could have kyacked out but were put off by the rough water) we couldn’t see any signs of human habitation; our accommodation was in tents on wooden platforms all carefully hidden in the undergrowth. The dining area was another platform and there was a kitchen and some toilets and an outdoor shower tucked away amongst the trees. There was one other family and another couple as well as two members of staff who carried our bags, washed up and generally helped us out. The beach was beautiful and we spent two happy days on the sand in the lake and watching the fish (through our snorkels).

 

too hot

It is too hot. This is the only way to keep cool, although we are hoping for more rain. All the locals say we have not had enough rain yet and the crops will not do well unless we get more. The kids are coping well with the heat, although bedtime today was difficult but they slept quite late this morning because I think the heat just tires them out. The only thing to do is to get into the car (with the a/c on) and head for the pool or jump in what our eldest calls the “paddle in pool”. Another of my sister in law’s photos.

1 big safari

That’s the problem when you have visitors you have to take them on safari and show them the sights! We have the doc’s sister staying so we have been to Nyala Park for the day to see the giraffes and then me and the kids took her to Mvuu for a few days and then we all went to the lake and camped on an uninhabited island (more of that later).

 

Mvuu was great, we were told not to expect to see any elephants as they move away from the main camp area but we saw a herd of 30 and then had one walk past our vehicle while sipping our G&T at sundown! The weather wasn’t too bad, quite hot with some torrential rain and amazing lightening storms. The kids were great although it’s hard work controlling a feisty one year old in the back of a jeep while taking wildlife photos. She was a bit better in the boat and even had a snooze while we pottered up the Shire River.

real life

And back to real life: another intruder who is so hungry he wants to steal our taps; not enough rain for the maize to grow and one of our nursery teachers died of malaria last week.

 

from Nov

Just found this blog from Nov, which didn’t get posted ….

 

It has been interesting to see peoples’ responses to the fuel crisis. Some of us can manage day to day life without fuel, we can walk or cycle to work and socialise. Evenings are a bit more difficult as it’s really not safe out in the evening unless you’re in a car. We have been able to get some fuel this week because there was some diesel but very little petrol. We also realised that it would be easier with a jerry can because the petrol station was so busy cars couldn’t get anywhere near the pumps. So far there have been no riots, the police are often present to ensure it stays peaceful. However the chaos is unbelievable, it is not clear which queue is for diesel and which for petrol and there are people with jerry cans as well as cars, yesterday one of the main roads was closed because of the queues.

 

I was reminded of the parable about the man who kept building bigger barns to hold his ever increasing crops only to die before he filled the barn. It’s easy to feel smug as we have some fuel, we can manage in power cuts – during last night’s we got takeaway and we have a tank to provide back up water when there is a water cut but life here for most people is hard and while I think it’s OK to be prepared how far is it right to go?