banking

After almost 3 years I have worked out the secret of a pleasant banking experience here in Malawi. Never try and do banking errands in a hurry, approach relaxed with plenty of time. Greet everyone on the way in, complete the forms (with duplicate paper) standing at the desk (not in the queue while holding bags etc, it always leads to errors); join the queue and enjoy the air conditioning and BBC news on the TV. This is also a good time to catch up on text messages. Greet the teller before handing over the slips. Keep smiling as you leave.

And the total in my cheque book agrees with what the bank says, a balanced book is very satisfying!

lonely

Our youngest and I are adapting to life with only half the family. We had a busy weekend with some challenging behaviour and drawn out bedtime as well as sleeping badly. Tonight bedtime went better thanks to the arrival of a new friend. We got a parcel from a fairy godmother, which included a new doll who has done everything with us, from lunch to watching swimming and brushing teeth and is now snuggled up in bed. The parcel was posted in March, apparently it arrived in June but we never had a receipt so it wasn’t collected, but the arrival today was perfect!

nov

This month has proved to be a bit too busy. Usually Oct is the month for bugs but this year the season is still catching up so it’s now! Colds and runny tummies abound.

 

I have just packed my daughter’s bags for a journey I’m not going on. She’s going to the UK with the doc for a hernia op. Our youngest had the same op last year here in Malawi, but the surgeon who did that one is not around. They will be gone 10 days which is going to be tough.

 

We have started selling our possessions, here in Blantyre we have a lady who has a large mailing list and will advertise any goods for sale (for a fee) so I have spent the last 48 hours fielding calls about stuff for sale. It’s amazing which items generate lots of interest and which will be slower to sell.