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”.
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!
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!!
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.
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.
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.
