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?

cultural exchange

After almost 4 weeks in the UK it feels very strange to be back. The country is much greener than when we left but there has not been enough rain for the crops and the last week has been very hot. Our eldest is delighted to be back, she was ill for a week while we were in the UK and the heat doesn’t seem to bother her. Our youngest put on weight in the UK, wasn’t ill and slept really well, however back in Malawi she is sleeping badly and is not feeling well this morning! I enjoyed the cold and certainly had more energy and as we hadn’t been away very long everything felt familiar. The whole Christmas thing took me a bit by surprise as there was no hype here and I’d forgotten what a busy time of year it is.

 

Anyway after a month of living out of bags I think that we were ready to come back. The house was immaculate when we returned and a roast dinner waiting for us as well as baking and fresh bread!

 

travels

Well it would have been unlikely to be an uneventful journey. On the way to the UK we got stuck in Nairobi airport for 13 hours on the way back it was the lack of time at the airports that was the problem. Our flight was late leaving Glasgow because of snow and like most of the passengers we had very little time before our connection to Nairobi. We were meeting my sister in law at Amsterdam to travel the rest of the journey together so we were keen not t miss the flight. The stewardess thought that we would make the flight but only if we ran, Amsterdam airport is very long and the distance between the gates should take 20 mins to walk. We got off the plane grabbed the pushchair, with two bags each and a car seat ran across the airport. We made it, in fact we got there before some of other fellow passengers! The next flight was just long and although the kids slept they didn’t do it at the same time and we all arrived very tired. At Nairobi we had very little time before we were boarded again for a short flight with an hour stopover in Lusaka before making it to Lilongwe.

 

Not being able to face a long drive back to Blantyre we stopped the night and enjoyed a luxurious stay (with a/c) and a swim.

welcome home

No electricity, no water and no sleep! We are back to normal life. We arrived back in Blantyre on Wed after most of the day on the road from Lilongwe, the kids travelled much better in the car this time and the only excitement was the doc being stopped for speeding! He was only doing a few miles over the limit, and we had been warned that the Malawi police have invested in some more speed cameras.

 

We travelled back with the doc’s sister who is staying with us a for a few weeks and her first day here was good introduction to life here. The night got off to a bad start with our youngest very unhappy and too hot. We were then woken at 3.30am by lots of noise to find that two of our outside taps had been stolen. The security company turned up and checked that all was secure and we spent a while working out how to turn off the water that was flowing out of the pipes! One of the guards came to find us at 4.30am to tell us that the thief had been caught trying to steal our neighbour’s  taps, good news although we would have preferred to hear that later in the morning! We started the next morning with no water while we bought some new taps (total cost £12). We then had a real water cut during the day and a couple of power cuts too.

 

Despite all this is it is lovely to be home. The staff were genuinely pleased to see us back (although I think they enjoyed an easy few weeks) and we are looking forward to catching up with our friends.  

culture shock

After a few weeks back in the UK I am still waiting for the culture shock of returning. Some things felt a bit strange and I am certainly enjoying chocolate, wine, cheese and the lack of creepy crawlies. Our first week went very smoothly and it felt like we hadn't been away, Malawi felt like a dream, a nice dream but slightly unreal. We have just completed a week with our eldest being sick most days, which has reminded me that I worried about them just as much here as in Africa.

bit cold

After a long silence I can now admit that we are back in the UK. It was a bit of a last minute decision, we changed plans and we had hoped to surprise some friends. The latter plan was scuppered due to my mother! It is great to be cold, we have been enjoying not being hot and catching up with family and friends.

We had planned to come back just for 2 weeks but various things persuaded us to change our flights and come back for almost a month. The journey was long, we expected a 7 hour wait at Nairobi airport which was extended to 13 because the runway lights stopped working. Most flights were cancelled so we were very relieved to hear that the flight was going. Our youngest was still awake when we boarded at 5am and only slept on the plane when she was lying upside down on me! Our eldest slept all night in the pushchair and then on the plane. -6.5 degrees was a bit cold after 35 degrees but the kids enjoyed the snow.

black tie in the tropics

We celebrated St Andrews day here in Blantyre with a ceilidh held by the Caledonian Society. Unfortunately the doc left his kilt in England, although the sporran seems to be here in Malawi! We had a great dinner, which included haggis lots of wine and a bottle of whiskey per table! The ceilidh itself was great fun although I think some were a little surprised by the doc’s fast dancing! He managed not to injure anyone and I don’t think he stepped on my toes. Going out in formal dress felt strange, we spend most of the time here dressed very casually, wearing as little as convention allows. Our housekeeper, Dorcas babysat for us and was excited to see us dressed up, I did feel like the ugly sisters, leaving Cinderella - our tickets cost almost as much as her monthly salary. In our defence the money raised from the evening will go to the paediatric wards of the hospital. There were almost 200 people there many of whom we knew and it really shows the range of jobs which bring people to Blantyre – local NGOs, sugar, tobacco, tea, haulage and medics as well as charities. There was quite a bit of discussion about the political situation here, the lack of diesel is not making a big impact yet but the shortage has been going on for a month now and it is symptomatic of bigger issues.