Whew, it’s been busy lately! The end of the school year and preparations for moving were interrupted by helping to train the new group of education volunteers. I helped plan the training, hosted 3 English teachers at my site, then spent a week with them in Dedza. In fact, I got stuck in Dedza because [...]
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After a difficult month of soul searching I’ve finally decided to stay a little longer in Malawi. I’ll be working with primary school teachers on strengthening their English instruction, in hopes that by the time the students reach secondary school (where instruction is theoretically all in English) they will actually be able to function in [...]
I wasn’t kidding when I used the word “madness” to describe typing exams. This year several schools decided to work together to create mock exams in order to prepare our kids in Forms 2 and 4 for their national exams. My sitemate and I spent three days typing about 30 tests. A few weeks later [...]
Another year older, another year wiser? That’s questionable. This year, to quote Avenue Q, I find myself “broke and unemployed and turning 33. It sucks to be me.” OK, technically, I’m a volunteer living comfortably on $200 a month and most of the time I don’t think my life sucks. But whatever, close enough. I [...]
Dear ___, In case you’ve been wondering why you haven’t heard from me lately (i.e. over a year) it’s because I moved half way across the world and you really should read the rest of this blog and get up to speed. Do it. Now. OK, now that you’re all caught up, here’s what’s been [...]
Here’s a few pictures of recent events (July-September). Sorry, nothing from my October travels yet. Plus clothes I’ve sewn, odd things I’ve purchased, and things that make me laugh.
In weddings: 4, plus 1 engagement party In funerals: 6, plus 2 memorials and 2 condolences In chiefs’ ceremonies: 2 In falls off my bike: 2 In illnesses: only 2 bad enough to keep me from my job In zitenje purchased/gifted: 22 In items sewn from zitenje by hand: 3 skirts, 1 blouse, 6 dresses, [...]
My sincerest apologies for being such a delinquent blogger. It’s not that there’s nothing to write about. Au contraire, there’s too much. Here’s what’s been going on, in brief, since my last post: Fourth of July celebration at the US Ambassador’s house Helping with PST in Dedza Lunch with the President of Malawi Finished construction [...]
Sorry for being a less-than-satisfactory blogger. There’s just not much to tell at the moment. In between terms several of us headed up to north to Mzuzu to indulge our chitenje-buying habit (Tanzanian market was actually open this time!) and to a friend’s site by the lake. We had a good time, ate well, and [...]
Yup, Term 2 has been a pretty busy time for me. I’ve already explained what my weeks are usually like. I’ve had a bit of a break from the usual gallivanting around and have been staying put. Why? Because it’s exam time again! I’m getting better at typing Chichewa exams, but it’s still not high [...]
Not that I haven’t been working before, it’s just that I’m finally doing the work that I was hired to do. It sure keeps me busy! Here’s a sample week of school:
Monday: Hop on my bike at 6:15 a.m. in order to reach school A by 7:20. Observe several classes and talk with teachers. 1:30 [...]
In no particular order, here’s my tips for incoming trainees:
-Write down email addresses and phone numbers of people back home (don’t just have them saved on your computer, you need a hard copy). During training some PCVs will offer to send messages home for you or let you use their phones to “flash” (call and hang up, [...]
So it’s been almost a year since I found out that I’d be serving in Malawi. Weird. A year ago I was stalking Peace Corps Journals and Peace Corps Wiki. Now I don’t have the time or patience to read other people’s blogs (slow internet connection, not impatience with the people or their writing). Someone [...]
Much as I hate dealing with noun classes in general, I do appreciate their alliterative qualities. “My toilet collapsed” is still a dramatic statement in English, but isn’t nearly as fun to say as “Chimbudzi changa chanagwa.” I’ll explain more in a bit.
Enquiring minds want to know, I’m sure, “What has Amy been doing lately?” [...]
1. Make sure you publicize the fact that your birthday is coming up well in advance.
2. Just happen to be in town for the weekend with a bunch of other volunteers so you can celebrate with your Peace Corps friends and pick up the packages that arrived just in time at the post office.
3. Cook [...]
Sorry, uploading takes forever, even when the pictures are resized, and that’s all the patience I have right now. Hope you enjoy the brief glimpse of my life in Malawi so far.
Ah, The Simpsons. Is there a situation in which you can’t provide an applicable quote? No, there aren’t any hippos in my life. I live smack in the middle of farm country, so I don’t see a whole lot of hippos between the stalks of maize. And for the people who know sign language, stop [...]
So naturally, I’m celebrating by being in town rather than at site. Actually, I have a meeting. So how is everything going at site? So far so good. The electricity has been out in my area for 3 weeks, so my candles and charcoal stove and being put to good use. I have a “live [...]
Sorry, I meant to post this weeks ago, but my electricity has been out and my computer was dead.
Happy holidays! I’m officially a volunteer, I’ve moved in to my house, and I’ve started teaching. Where to begin? First of all, since I’m so close to Lilongwe you can continue to use the same mailing address [...]
I attempted to write up a description of it in my journal this morning, but there really aren’t sufficient words to describe the past couple of days. Thursday was dominated by our complete inability to cook spaghetti over 4 different types of fires (charcoal, paraffin, camping stove, and wood). Christmas day was an extravaganza of [...]
So I had a beautful post all written up and ready to post, but then I forgot to put it on my flash drive. Guess you’ll just have to wait until next time. The brief version is I’m settling it at site and things are going pretty well so far. No chicken issues. I’m off [...]
I wrote up the last two posts earlier when I had my laptop. This one is being written is being written in the Peace Corps office in Lilongwe, where there’s a long line for the computer, so I’m going to keep this short. My site is about an hour outside of Lilongwe, so coming in [...]
Disclaimer: I’m fine. I really am having a great time here. Please don’t worry about me. Read the following in the spirit in which it was meant and feel a little sorry, but ultimately laugh about it. I do.
Everyone has their horror stories about life in Malawi. Other trainees in my group have had experiences [...]
Here it is, a nice lengthy description of how things have been going here in Malawi, as promised! Current PCVs and staff welcomed us warmly at the airport, and then we were off to Dedza for a week of orientation at the Malawi College of Forestry. Then we went to our homestay villages for 6 [...]
We’re in Lilongwe for the day opening bank accounts, eating pizza, and other such fun things. I’ve got a few minutes here at the Peace Corps office, so I thought I’d write a bit here. We’re in our 5th week of homestay and we’ll say goodbye to our host families next week, which will be [...]
First of all, thanks to everyone for all your generous support and sending me off to Malawi with so much love. I’m killing the hours until we leave the hotel in Philly (2:30 a.m. checkout!) and thought I’d share what I had for my last supper in the U.S.
In an evening of great indecision (you [...]
So I’m pretty excited about actually being in Malawi. I’m thoroughly loathing the trip there, however. Just in case anyone was curious, from Honolulu to Lilongwe, via Philadelphia (with ground transport to New York) and Johannesburg, it’s 28.5 hours in the air. This doesn’t include layovers or bus time, just actual flight time. TWENTY-EIGHT AND [...]
Yikes, I still have so much to do between now and the 23rd! I’ve gotten some interesting responses to the last post, mostly involving threats to send me Jesus Loves You pads, or worse. While I would be highly entertained, there are some things that are higher on my priority list if you feel so [...]
In an effort to stay in touch with everybody back home, here’s all the ways you can contact me in Malawi: this blog, email, Facebook, cell phone/skype, snail mail, or come visit me in person! For the first couple of months I’ll be in training and the only option will be snail mail. No blog [...]
OK, my Malawi for Teachers page isn’t very exciting yet, just a handful of links, but one of these days it will be a treasure trove of resources! Basically, I’ve had several teachers express an interest in keeping in touch while I’m in Malawi and incorporating things into their curriculum. Eventually I hope it will [...]
This has been consuming my life for the last 5 weeks. 61 kids, 41 songs, 3 instructors, 6 weeks of rehearsal. Crazy, right? There have been moments when we seriously doubted the wisdom of putting together such an ambitious musical revue, but it’s going to be a great show! Lots of great songs, laughs, tears, [...]
Ah, the joys of hanging out with college friends you haven’t seen in years! My apologies to Washingtonians for the lack of pictures with you guys. It’s not that you aren’t beautiful and photogenic and picture-worthy, it’s just that I’m terrible about taking pictures in places I’ve considered home. It just doesn’t occur to me [...]
a trip to Washington and Alaska, PAPA, and Malawi. It’s been almost 3 years I since made the rounds and visited my college friends, so this seemed like a good time to do it. Woo hoo! I’m pretty excited about it! In the meantime, the huge, daunting task I’m facing is compiling and editing the [...]
Here’s a basic timeline of my PC saga so far:
January 2008: Submitted application.
March 2008: Nominated.
August 2008: Finally cleared medically (legal and dental clearance happened months earlier) when the blood tests showed that the iron supplements were working and I wasn’t anemic anymore (who knew?).
September 2008: For one glorious minute I was invited to serve in [...]
Got home tonight and found a big fat packet in the mail from the Peace Corps and it says I’ve been invited to serve in….Malawi! For the geographically impaired, that’s in southern Africa. I’ll put a map later on. Here’s the extremely short version: I’ll be a teacher trainer, leaving for training in late September. [...]
I’ve reactivated my Peace Corps application and talked with the powers that be, and I think they’ve made a decision about when and where I’ll go. I got an email saying my status had been updated, and when I logged in on the PC website, lo and behold it said I had been invited, the [...]
Things have actually happened since I last posted anything. On December 28th my grandpa passed away after 6 months of hospice care at home. The next few weeks were a blur of cleaning, meeting, eating (this is what our family does really well any time we get together), and preparing for his funeral. I started [...]
I know, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything new on this page–it’s all been in the MO Updates. So what have I been up to since Miss Saigon closed? Subbing a lot, reading extensively, and spending more time at the theatre! I’ve teched a couple of events at Paliku (and gotten paid!) and auditioned [...]
I’ve created a couple new pages for this site. One is devoted to pictures I’ve taken of Cecil around the world. The other is devoted to keeping everyone up to date on mom’s cancer fight. Look to the right and click on “Cecil pics” or “MO updates” to check them out.
At the moment I’m working [...]
A month after my medical clearance came through, the Peace Corps contacted me with a potential placement, which I got to be excited about for about 1 minute. They said I’d be leaving in November and I replied that I’d have to talk to my family before I decided because my mom was recently diagnosed [...]
Sorry about that. There really isn’t a good excuse for not keeping up with this blog. It’s not like I’ve been incredibly busy or anything. Quite the opposite since PAPA wrapped up. It was a lot of work and long hours, but Mulan Jr. was a huge success! We put on a great show and [...]
It’s the sixth week of PAPA and we’re in the final stages of rehearsals. We’re fine tuning with the kids, the costumes and sets are almost done, and we’ve got an army of parent volunteers helping out. It’s going to be a great show! And probably my last show for a couple of years. Wow, [...]
We’ve finished two weeks of rehearsals with the kids and I have to say they’re looking and sounding pretty good so far! Fifteen of our kids will be performing at the Children’s Literature Conference at UH Manoa on Saturday afternoon, June 28th. Swing by the Campus Center ballroom between 1:15 and 2:30 to check us [...]
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