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 …