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.

more paradise

We have just had an amazing weekend away with friends. We stayed at a beautiful lodge called Fisherman’s Rest about 30 minutes drive from Blantyre. There were 14 children and a similar number of adults staying in two lodges and some tents on stilts. The views were stunning and the weekend was so relaxing; the children played or swam and we spent quality time with lots of friends. It was lovely to escape from the city despite the lack of diesel and spend time chilling out. The last few weeks there has been talk from some ex-pats about moving on as life here becomes more difficult but it was good to get things in perspective and appreciate the beautiful country where we live.

me

For those of you who complain about the lack of pics of me (maybe it was just my mum who said that)!

The Rains

The Rains are here. They began last week and it’s very exciting. It gets really hot and then suddenly there’s a rumble and then a few spots and then it rains. It’s hard to describe but it rains really, really hard and just when you think it can’t get heavier it does! The downpour doesn’t usually last long and is often in the afternoon and once it’s finished we go and jump in the puddles, although they dry up very quickly. The garden is looking even greener and we might have some grass soon. I thought that I was doing quite well as far as bugs were concerned but I didn’t realise that there is a whole extra set of creepy crawlies that appear in the rains. The bongologos (meaning lots of legs) are enormous centipedes, I saw one about 20 cm long and really fat but I am told they get bigger. The flying ants are not so cool, they swarm just as we are putting kids to bed and then by the time the kids are asleep the ants are termites (or is the other way around) and their wings are everywhere! There are obviously more mosquitoes; we had one in our bed net a few nights ago and in desperation (we were sleeping badly anyway) got up at 1am, sprayed the net and watched an episode of “Sex and the City” and returned to bed 20 minutes later! The crawling ants have been driving us mad, one crumb and within minutes there are 100s of ants. We can’t leave dirty plates on the side in the kitchen because it would be covered in ants. And cockroaches, I don’t think that I have seen them before, but they are really nasty. Apparently you shouldn’t squash them with your foot as that releases all the eggs onto your shoe! One more top tip for this time of year, don’t wear white t-shirts in case you get caught in the rain!!

coming and going

We are about to say goodbye to a family that we have got to know really well in a short space of time. They have four children of similar ages to ours so a playdate with them is always good value! They have come to the end of their two years here and head back to the UK next week. The photo shows their eldest with us at a fancy dress party last week. It’s the nature of the community here that people come and go but because it’s such a small community maybe we feel it more.