The other day, I was sleeping in to 6:30 because it was a weekend, and I decided to treat myself, when I was woken up by a horrible booming sound of rocks on my tin roof that could only be those dang kids in my yard again, throwing stones at my tree to steal lemons. I let my dog out, who chased them away and cackled before I got to work on my new quilt.

You kids today and your internet references I don't understand, and your Ga Gas, and iPads- in my day, we had phones that made calls dagnabit.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND TWITTER

As some of you may know, I recently received what is quite possibly the greatest package of all time. Zach sent me a little netbook and a hard drive loaded up with TV and other media, and it has changed my routine in amazing ways. Now, instead of compulsively reading books all day when I'm not working, I read COMIC books on my computer all day when I'm not working. This, my friends, is progress. And, of course, there is the TV, oh TV, how I missed you- one of my favorite parts of having shows to watch is the way that Hector will watch it with me- or rather, she'll watch me watch TV. Last night, she laid on my chest sphinx -like, and twisted her head in that cute sideways dog way every time there was a strange noise on the show I was watching- and every time I would laugh, her eyebrows would crease in concentration, and she would look between me and the screen, alternatively twisting her head and whining a little. Dogs are cool. I had about two seasons of shows to catch up on- some observations: -30 Rock- always awesome. -The Office- over it. I'm sorry, but you all have jobs with health insurance, and get to have houses with toilets, and I'm supposed to derive humor from the fact that you get bored at your job? -Parks and Recreation- like it. Pretty much like the office, but with less complaining. -Various BBC Sci/Fi shows- nice escape for a lonesome little PCV, because hey, I may have problems with ants in my house, and on more than one occasion have woken up with a cockroach in my bed and stuff, but at least I'm not a vampire/misfit who can read minds/ghost who lives with a werewolf/or the last of the time lords. Another thing I like about the BBC is that I feel like the actors on it are good looking, but aren't too good looking. This is good for my self esteem, because even though I ran out of shampoo a month ago, I feel like I could be on TV, at least in England. -Mad Men- you would think that after living in Africa, that I'd be sick of consumerism or the ad industry, but I think that Don Draper might just be too handsome to do anything that would really make me annoyed for long. Of course, I don't spend all of my time watching TV on my wonder of a netbook (its so small!), I have also been working- though in the past five weeks, we have had school on a Monday exactly ONE TIME! The reasons for the various holidays in chronological order: Easter Monday, Labor Day, Something I can't remember, possibly a bank holiday, and last Monday, it was Kamuzu day. Any time there is a holiday over the weekend, the government closes down schools the following Monday, but doesn't announce it until the Friday before at around 2:00. I went to Catholic School, and we never had Easter Monday off- and how can you have a Labor Day if your country doesn't have unions? Or Labor, for that matter, practically every day is Labor day if 90% of your country is unemployed. The one that gets me the most, however, is Kamuzu day- the man was a genuine dictator, but he still gets a national holiday. Ah well. My women's groups are going well- the Umoza group which sells school uniforms is inching toward our goal of buying a new sewing machine! Thank you very much to anyone who bought a bag from me over Christmas, because this is how we have been able to afford to really get the business going. We just need a few more people to pay us for their school uniforms, and we can buy it. See, we have a problem, as a PCV, I am unable to be in charge of the group finances, which is fine, but that also means that the group 'sold' all of its uniforms on credit this term, even though I told them not to, but then, I only really work with the group on an advisory capacity, so what can you do? Either way, this has made me sigh like a Peanuts character on more than one occasion. If we hadn't sold the uniforms on credit, we would have bought the second sewing machine months ago, and Ama Banda would have been able to teach sewing lessons out of her house to the other group members. Instead, we've been chasing people to pay us for school uniforms their children have already been wearing for months. The other group, which I usually think of as the Wednesday group, is also really getting into its stride. A few weeks ago, I gave the group members a little loan of about 3,000Mk to start a scone* business, and they have already managed to start paying me back while maintaining the business. The group has pulled together nicely now that they have a purpose, and each member now has a little bit of money to take home to their families, but the majority of the profits are going toward making improvements to the primary school in the village. Their long term goal is to hire a teacher, and there is some talk of perhaps hiring one of my current students once he has finished with school. For a kid with such few options, this is huge. The other day, that kid and I were walking home from the group meeting. My bag was full of fresh baked scones from the group, and we ate them as we went. I asked Franzelo what the previous PCV in my area was like, and after much deliberation he came up with two statements: “He had a bicycle, and he loved vegetables.”- but he didn't just say that he 'loved' vegetables, he said he 'loooooved' vegetables. What will they say about me? She had a bicycle, and she loooooved dogs. I'll take it. Ok, I should go, the ants are back. -Melissa *a scone in Malawi is really just a bread roll, don't ask me why they call them scones

Hey guys,

Sorry I haven't written much lately, but really, to me life here is the same old same same. Here is a rundown of how my days tend to go- to me, this is boring everyday stuff, but maybe it will be interesting to the likes of you:

Most days, I wake up, set a pan of water to boil, let the dog out (or else she stands on me until I do), and then I go back to doze until the water boils. I have a hot plate in my bedroom, which makes me really spoiled. Once the water is boiling, I mix it with cool water from the tap in my backyard (another thing that makes me spoiled), and I take a bucket bath in my shower (spoiled!). While I am bathing, I have another smaller pan of water that I boil for my coffee.

After bathing, I make breakfast, usually pancakes. I mix the batter from scratch, which is actually pretty easy. I can get dressed as I fry them in my skillet, a benefit of having your hot plate in your bedroom. Finally, I eat my breakfast while reading, I drink half of the coffee at the table, and bring the rest to school so that I can be nice and caffeine buzzed when I teach. If I am running good on time, I can drink my coffee slowly and really savor my book, but usually I have to sort of bolt down my breakfast before I run across the street to the school.

At the school, I teach my classes and sit in the library making sure that the students are working. At my desk, I plan or grade, but mostly I read books. The best times are breaks when the form one students rush in for new books. The classes I teach are Life Skills for forms one and two, and English for form one. The form one students are great, they work hard and ask good questions. The form two kids are troublesome and I have to keep on my toes with them, and usually have to plan very structured lessons that bore me. With the form one kids I can get more creative.

After school, I either have meetings with my women's groups, or I go to the market. Umoza meets on Thursdays, the Kaweta group on Wednesdays, and the Science and Tech. Club meets on Mondays. Other times, I might nap. I also might make a snack before the meetings, popcorn is pretty easy to do.

On Fridays, I go to Chintheche, I check my mail and go online. After that, I buy my food for most of the week. There is a guy who sells lots of different vegetables who I like to visit because otherwise its only onions and tomatoes all week. I also have a place I like to get my flour from, a fruit guy and an ufa lady. Ufa is the flour I make Hector's food with. The man I buy my fruit from is a cheerful little old mad who greets me the same way each week: 'Hello Madam!!!!'. My ufa lady always asks about my dogs and tells her friends about me, she lets me try my tonga on her. Of course, there is also Bright, at the internet cafe, and the guy at the post office who likes to joke with me. When I get parcels, the guy at the post office might pretend I have nothing, and then bust out a pile of packages and laugh- he never tries to get bribes, good man. After shopping, I sometimes visit my carpenter, who is a good guy, and is fun to talk with. He has made all of my furniture.

On Saturdays, I do my laundry while listening to the BBC, and afterwards I tidy up my house, sweeping and mopping the whole house. This usually takes all day, so that by four, I am done, at which time, I read or sew. The little neighbor girls might come over to play at that time, which is nice, they are quiet and polite, but Hector scares them.

On Sundays, if it is hot, I'll go to the lodge. Hector usually comes too. There I read and swim until I get light headed and have to go back.

My evenings are the best time, and they are the same every day. I will read until the sun sets, and I can't see anymore, and I'll turn on the light to keep going. At around six, Zach calls, and we talk while I make dinner. I can most days fix a whole meal and eat it while we talk during his lunch break. When we are done talking, he goes back to work, and I'll read at my kitchen table with a handful of candy to cool my mouth off (I use too much spice in my dinners almost every day).

That's about it-

Beeb

Hey everyone!

Well, science camp was a success! We ran out of time, so I'm saving some of the experiments for later, but the kids LOVED it! Especially the solar cars. I was very happy that some friends were able to come and help- Vanessa took over the lecture on the electric motor, because, yeah, I don't really know much about electricity. I was able to do the demonstration, but as for taking questions... nope, couldn't do it.

Everything here is good! Sorry, I don't have much more time to write a big long post, but I love you all!

beeb

I am!

I got the go ahead for my itty bitty day camp from the boss-man, who said that we can get me a little grant when I apply for it, so that's good, now I just have to write and submit the thing. We don't need money right this moment, but I'd like to know that the group will be supplied with iron nails and insulated wire for a bit longer. The experiments and posters are all set and assembled- I just need to add color to the posters that I made, but I can get that done over the weekend. Vanessa is coming up next Tuesday to help set up and teach- and by this time next week, we will be on our way to Mzuzu so I can buy more fabric for Umoza, and she can go to some meeting.

Umoza is going just fine- and the other women's group, the one that meets on Wednesdays is also just fine. They have started turning a profit on home made peanut brittle which they store in my house at night when it rains. Yeah, guess who their #1 customer is...

Also, as of yesterday, all but one of the puppies are GONE! This is a good thing. One puppy is cute, five puppies are a pain in the ass.

so that's about it in the world of Melissa. The world is puddle wonderful and green, things are good.

beeb

Hey all! So after a weekend at the beach to celebrate a friend's birthday, I'm back and really getting into preparing for next week's break when (drumroll please...) I am going to have a day camp for the Sci/Tech club! What?! Yeah, it is a week long break, and yes, I am going to spend it fiddling around with science experiments with my students. Don't judge.

Most of the experiments I'll be presenting/ letting kids mess with come courtesy of Kitty and her amazing science kits! My favorite was definitely the kit that showed you how to make little things like a battery operated motor out of wire and paper clips, or another one which used the concept of electromagnets to create a telegraph machine. The solar cars are also awesome, I kept looking outside in hopes that the sun would come out so I could test them. Hope and pray for sun next week!

This is how the camp will go- I have 5 main topics: sound, flight, electricity, magnets, and solar. The magnet activity will be next to the electricity activity so I can save time with the electromagnets. Each subject has about 5 activities to go with it, so the camp will either need to happen over the course of 2 days, or I'll need help (I have friends who are maybe coming though, keep your fingers crossed). Either way, I'm excited! I feel like Esther.

SUCCESS!

Ok, ok, maybe this is a little premature, since we've only had our first meeting, but I will say that I for one had a good time teaching the little lecture I put together on flight. I told the students the basics of airplane flight, showed them some books that they could borrow for more reference, and then we took some of the balsa wood airplanes that I got in a package (thanks kitty!), and we threw them around, trying to see which model would go the farthest, and why. The kids loved it when one of the planes did loops. Then, we went back to the library and the kids made their own airplanes out of some index cards I'd found. It was a fun little lesson to start with. I think that next week we are going to work on simple machines (screws, wedges, levers, maybe even, gasp, a pulley)- I've got my carpenter working on making some simple shapes out of scraps for us, and he is even making me a peg board so that I can better demonstrate the principles. Today, a form 1 who isn't even taller than me yet borrowed a book about airplanes that I'd pulled and put on display under the 'technology club' poster. I'd say thats progress.

melissa

I have an ant problem. There is really not much to be done about it, I keep all of my food in ant-proof containers, and the dogs make sure that there isn't a bit of food on the floor, but the ants seem to be ok with eating anything- dead insects, book glue, my backpack (why, I don't know, but they always seem to be on it). Sigh. Some day, I'll have nice things, and a house that isn't infested with things I only used to see on the discovery channel... someday.

Things here are good, as you know, the rainy season is my favorite, so I am generally happy. I also have a pretty exciting stack of books sitting in my bedroom waiting for me to take them to the beach down the road. Yup, its a good life alright.

In my most recent packages, I received some science type kits and a bunch of science books, which has inspired the staff to start a science and technology club. Now, I am no science teacher, but I think I'll manage. I think it would be cool to get the kids to make contraptions, sort of like what we used to do with tinker toys when I was growing up, and hopefully I can give small lectures about physics and simple tools. I have an idea in mind that we'll all make crazy contraptions a la Rube Goldberg that will solve all of our problems. This is, of course, not going to happen, but a girl can dream, right? Hopefully my local carpenter can help us by providing scraps of wood and things for a low cost, anyone who would like to send tinker toys or gears and stuff in their next packages will be very popular with the kiddies, I'm sure.

Otherwise, no new news!

Love,

Melissa

Before I start in on my planned blog entry that I penned in my off period while I was sitting in the library, let me just thank Kitty R., who is a rockstar, and sent me 4 packages which all arrived today- my postmaster pretended at first that only one was coming, that joker. They are now strapped to my bike- I am waiting to open them until I get home :D

We are in the middle of the rainy season here, so the entire countryside is green. This is my favorite time of year here, I have decided. There is a pass North of Mzuzu along the M1 which goes up the mountains and along an escarpment. The last time I traveled North to visit my friend who lives on the other side of the mountains, it was dry and yellow, and you could see scorch marks on the hills from brush fires, and the trees were sad low twisted things. Now though, when you travel through the mountains, everything is misty and green, it is the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time.

This time last year, I remember being in the back of a pickup truck with some friends on our way to some training or another, and we went through the mountains from Salima to Lilongwe. I think what I liked most about that trip was the way the clouds touched their surrounding hills, because we don't have anything like that where I'm from.

My goal this term is to stay in the North and avoid the capitol as much as possible, unless Peace Corps demands that I go, or if, no sorry, WHEN Esther comes back. Last term I went six times: once in September for a rabies shot, then in October for the GRE (and an unfortunate bout of Malaria at the same time, in case you were wondering, even though I was on an IV drip 12 hours before I sat for the test, my scores weren't too shabby)- then I went again for Thanksgiving and to fly out to America, then of course I was there again when I returned from America, and finally I had MST in January, which meant that I was through Lilongwe both on my way to and from Dedza. I. Hate. Lilongwe. I have been away from the stupid place for about a month now, and I'm still annoyed by it- I can never meet with anyone from the office unless I am missing school, since office hours are only on the weekdays, and in order to get home in one day, I have to leave at 5:30. No thank you. So I'm boycotting the city- a bridge went out to the South of me, barring my way to the capitol, good riddance.

I'd rather stay here along the lake shore up in the North, and when I do travel, I'll try to stay as close to home as possible. I think that in the future, I'll remember my time in the Peace Corps as me sitting in the back of a truck going along the lakeshort, or though the mountains to Mzuzu, my hair tucked into a hat to save it from the wind as I pass by terraced fields on steep hillsides, then past banana trees, and finally through the rubber tree plantation, where the rows of trees all seem to lean to the South. It is a good life here in Northern Malawi, I promise.

I wrote a long, awesome blog post, and forgot it at my house. Now in the internet cafe, they have had the same song on repeat for an hour straight.

5 minutes left on my time, I'm definitely going crazy.

When I was in America, I sometimes felt like when I was talking to people, it was difficult to explain what my life is like here in Malawi- I think the term ‘ships passing in the night’ applies here- no matter how hard I tried, I don’t think I was able to get my point across, and it isn’t that my friends and family didn’t try to understand my stories, it’s just that the way people live here is so different, that without any point of reference it is impossible for us to understand each other. I guess the thing that bugged me the most about it was that I seem to get credit for living in a place for 2 years where people live their entire lives. People live here, raise their children here, fall in love, have dreams, tell jokes and have spats with neighbors. It isn’t always a happy sunshine type life, but what is?

A lot of people have the idea that Peace Corps volunteers are brave, but really, that’s not bravery, it’s something else maybe, but whatever it was that compelled me to choose to come here needs another name. Bravery is when you face something that is bigger than yourself, and you know that you can lose, but you do it anyway.

Right now, my Uncle Kenny is very sick. I found out about this when he wrote me a letter about his golf game, which has been slipping. Two and a half typed pages later, he nonchalantly mentioned that perhaps the reason behind this is because of his Chemo treatments. Here’s the thing about Uncle Kenny, he doesn’t let himself get depressed, or maybe it isn’t even something he has to block out- maybe that’s just how he’s wired. I can just imagine him talking to the doctor about his treatment plan, and mentally taking notes about how he’ll have to change his tee time. That’s just the kind of guy he is. In his own words:

“But hey, this is the Dude. I have been knocked down. Used to get knocked down playing football in high school all the time. So what do you do when you get knocked down? What do you mean what do you do? You get up off your butt and get back after it. That’s what I am doing… My handicap has gone up from a 6 to a 9 but what the heck. The upside is that I don’t have to give Uncle Tommy as many strokes as last year. See, look for the upside.”

I often get homesick, but this is different, in a time like this, single days mean more, and I wish I could be home so that I could be with my family, but I know that if I could talk on the phone right now with Uncle Kenny, he’d tell me to stay here in Malawi, and make good on my promise to my community, and that he’ll be up and golfing in no time. I hope so.

Maybe someday I’ll have to find out if I’m brave, but not if I’m lucky. I love you Uncle Kenny. Get better.

Beeb.

sidenote: Uncle Kenny totally looks like Colonel Alistair MacDonell of Glengarry

Those of you who know me know that I worry- I worry a lot. Well, I'm happy to say that all of my worried about coming home were baseless. My student took great care of my house *AND* kept a detailed record of all the household expenses so there would be no problems when it came to paying him- I'm proud of the kid. My house is still standing (albeit crawling with ants- oh rainy season, how I missed you).

My dog is still alive, though a bit worse for wear, she had her pups when I was gone and is skinny as a rail at the moment because all of her energy is going towards making milk for her babies- also, apparently she was bit by a snake on her leg one day after they were born while she was going out to feed them at whatever strange place she gave birth to them. The wound is not infected or anything, but it is pretty gnarly- I don't want to gross anyone out *cough cough, Mom, cough* but she was bit on the part of her leg below what I learned in Coach T's class was her heel, and I can see her tendons. She has let me clean it and bandage it though, so hopefully it will heal. You know, I'm actually pretty happy my student was watching my house while she had her pups, because he knew what to do- he followed her out to the hidey hole she gave birth in, brought the pups back to my house, and then he even put ant poison outside of the storage room they are in, because I guess ants can swarm newborn puppies and kill them. Hector, for her part, seems to have grown up a lot- I'm a little sad my bouncy dog is gone, but I guess she's just concerned with eating and nursing, I think she's a good mom, as far as dogs are concerned. Her puppies are nice and fat, there are four boys and one girl, which in Malawi, is ideal, since people prefer male dogs. My head teacher already asked for one (he recently had a break in too).

Otherwise things are getting back to normal. I had a huge pile of exams to grade when I got to work today, but the grading is going quickly, I think that the change in weather is making it easier since it is much cooler now. One of my kids defined the word 'library' as 'the place where books are stolen'- I think he meant to say 'stored', but it made me laugh all the same.

Shout out to Megan & Thom, who sent me a package ages ago that I didn't get until just now, the summer sausage inside was an amazing choice. Also, I got an outstanding package from Alice who blew me away by sending an entire bag of Oreos. I cried a little. Berrios, I used the book you got me today in my Form 1 class, so Yewu, and last but not least- I finally, after many trials and tribulations, received my package from Gracie. I haven't opened it yet since I still have to bike back home after this, but I will proudly wear the world map coat to my training next week, and all of my Peace Corps friends will be jealous.

Love you all!

beeb

Hey everyone!

I am officially back in Malawi! *cheering & clapping*

My flights weren't so bad, and though I wasn't able to drag myself out of the Amsterdam airport to walk around the city- I did have a hell of a nap in their aptly named 'cozy lounge'. I know that my trip back to Chintheche is going to be hot and uncomfortable, but at least the end is in sight- tomorrow evening, I will (hopefully) be reunited with my beloved Hector, and I'll be able to start getting back to a normal type life... kind of.

Thank You so much to everyone who visited me while I was in the US- and triple that if you fed me. I'm going to miss you all, but my trip was good I think, because it helped me remember what I'm doing here in Malawi.

As for tonight, New Years Eve, I am in the city of Lilongwe, but I think I'm going to end up crashing. I see a pillow in my immediate future.

Alright, love to all :)

Melissa

Ok, so, backstory.

Both of my brothers, Matt and Chris, live in China now, teaching. About 2 months ago, my big brother Matt got married to a Chinese woman who, according to him, is too good to him. They like to talk on Skype with my dad. Alright, so now, here is a conversation they had the other day:

[9:05:11 AM] Matthew Small: dad

[9:05:14 AM] Matthew Small: can you read this

[9:05:50 AM] Christopher Michael Small: Hey Dad

[9:05:58 AM] Matthew Small: lol

[9:06:10 AM] Mike Small: Hello Chris.

[9:06:25 AM] Matthew Small: chris, your situation is comical to me.

[9:06:31 AM] Matthew Small: should I tell dad

[9:07:59 AM] Christopher Michael Small: Hello Dad

[9:08:02 AM] Christopher Michael Small: probably not

[9:08:41 AM] Mike Small: Do you still have a job?

[9:09:02 AM] Christopher Michael Small: Yeah

[9:09:11 AM] Christopher Michael Small: it's nothing like that

[9:09:29 AM] Mike Small: Do you still have a place to live?

[9:09:41 AM] Christopher Michael Small: yeah

[9:09:58 AM] Matthew Small: I suspect that there is somewhere he could crash if he wanted too

[9:10:44 AM] Christopher Michael Small: So pretty much your first impulse was to phone Dad on this Matt?

[9:11:13 AM] Mike Small: Does this involve the police?

[9:11:20 AM] Christopher Michael Small: no

[9:11:25 AM] Christopher Michael Small: some dude is hitting on me

[9:11:46 AM] Matthew Small: you little tease

[9:11:52 AM] Matthew Small: I ment my house

[9:12:09 AM] Matthew Small: but yea,

[9:12:12 AM] Matthew Small: there's that

[9:12:22 AM] Mike Small: Is he Chinese?

[9:12:29 AM] Christopher Michael Small: yeah

[9:12:59 AM] Matthew Small: dad wanted to come by the way

[9:14:22 AM] Mike Small: Did we need to warn you about Chinese men- if so here it is, "please do not get married to a chinese man."

[9:15:21 AM] Matthew Small: Donna says they're good providers

[9:15:38 AM] Matthew Small: although they don't make much

[9:15:58 AM] Matthew Small: but he would you like a queen, kid-o

[9:16:11 AM] Christopher Michael Small: treat me like a queen

[9:16:20 AM] Christopher Michael Small: Bah, I make more money than him

[9:16:35 AM] Matthew Small: yea, probably

[9:16:44 AM] Matthew Small: lol

[9:16:56 AM] Mike Small: Can he cook?

[9:17:26 AM] Matthew Small: true enough

[9:17:35 AM] Matthew Small: he might expect you to do that

[9:17:37 AM] Christopher Michael Small: I don't know, maybe

[9:18:00 AM] Christopher Michael Small: Why, are you writing up a list of pros and cons now?

[9:18:43 AM] Matthew Small: So wait, you have know dad and I for like over two decades

[9:18:55 AM] Matthew Small: and you're still gunna ask that question

[9:19:09 AM] Mike Small: No I am sticking with my original warnings.

[9:19:26 AM] Christopher Michael Small: ok

[9:20:02 AM] Matthew Small: I dunno. I'm pretty hjappy with my chinese spouse

[9:20:35 AM] Matthew Small: you know, I haven't had to do my own laundry since I got here.

[9:21:46 AM] Mike Small: It is hard to believe that she has seen your underwear and is still with you.

[9:24:24 AM] Christopher Michael Small: ok, I think i'm going to sleep soon

[9:24:30 AM] Matthew Small: and yet..here we are. Also, standards in developing countries are different

[9:24:53 AM] Christopher Michael Small: indeed

[9:26:10 AM] Mike Small: Ok. Chris go to sleep. Maybe the three os us can talk tomorrow.

[9:26:25 AM] Christopher Michael Small: ok, cool

[9:26:28 AM] Christopher Michael Small: cya

[9:27:06 AM] Matthew Small: yea, see ya, bro

[9:27:08 AM] Mike Small: Good night Chriss- Goodnight Matt.

[9:27:34 AM] Matthew Small: wait, I'm not leaving

[9:29:29 AM] Matthew Small: so how are things at home

[9:32:04 AM] Matthew Small: alright. talk if your still there. if not, cya later I guess

The Blue Line is 'Klingon'- the Red Line is 'Chitonga'

I have been in Michigan for a few days now, and there are a few things I've noticed. The first thing I realized is that I'm normal- yup, that's right, I am absolutely normal. That is to say, in Michigan I'm normal. It is normal to wear shirts about the mitten state, be rowdy on the weekends, and tell impossibly long stories, you just have to be in Michigan.

Let me give you an example. Yesterday, I made the trek to East Lansing with Carrie and Zach to see some friends. When we arrived at Carrie's house, the dogs attacked us (of course), and Carrie's mom fed us breakfast- as each of her family members walked downstairs, I noticed that every single one of them was wearing a Michigan State University shirt or sweat shirt. Even Carrie's brother's girlfriend was wearing an MSU shirt- so there we were, 7 adults with spartan pride. Earlier in the week I went to the mall and saw more than one store selling novelty T-shirts about the mitten state- so there! It isn't just me!

Then we went to East Lansing where we were rowdy. Carrie's little brother- alias 'army of one Bob' showed up at Woody's pretty inappropriate. First he offered to taze us, because apparently it is the secret of the energizer bunny's power- who knew? Next, he pulled out his own bottle of whiskey and a bottle of soda and made his own drink, sometime later, he asked me how it felt to lose both of my brothers to the communists. It was pretty amazing, apparently when I went to the bathroom, he tried to get my friends to help him 'take melissa and her brothers down', because I guess we don't love 'mericuh enough.

The weather here has been dangerous, Carrie and I spun out on the highway on our way home, so we got a ride from one of Carrie's brother's girlfriends, who had a car with newer tires. Because of the weather, I'm staying at Carrie's tonight and going home tomorrow. We just had some turkey with her two brothers, both of their girlfriends and her parents, it is nice to be able to borrow someone elses' brothers for a while since mine are in China.

So I'm happy to be home for a bit, but don't worry about me, I'm definately missing Africa too.

beeb

Answer: this is what I want for Christmas.

http://michiganawesome.myshopify.com/collections/t-shirts

I'll be home WEDNESDAY!

I can't believe I've been in Malawi long enough to have had two Thanksgivings here, but there you are!

On the actual day of Thanksgiving, I was in Mzuzu, aka, the greatest place in Malawi (or maybe second only to Nkhata Bay), we killed a turkey- Gerard from the zoo wanted to do it by an injection of vodka. That is exactly something he would do.

The next day, Friday, I headed down to Lilongwe, beer, dancing, food, a good time was had by all- then of course, the actual celebration at the Ambassador's house was even more fun- and then that night when we went dancing was a fun EXPLOSION! Ugh, seriously, friends in 'Merica, you'll have to show me an extra good time if you want to try to compete.

So yup, that's that, I'm super excited to go home and see everyone, but I do have a good life here too.

Love love

beeb

Hey guys!

So yes, I'm excited to go to narnia, I mean America, but I can't help but be a little nervous about traveling alone- I'm sure things will be fine, as one of my friends pointed out, I've been living in Africa for more than a year. Still.

I'm also a little sad that I won't be able to show any pictures of Malawi, since my camera charger and computer were both stolen- my camera is about 5 years old, but hopefully I can get a new camera charger when I'm home (or maybe a new camera...?)

That's about it, I'm getting excited to see you all, and the Umoza group is currently at work sewing napkins and place mats for me to sell when I get home- the fabrics here are really something, so hopefully we'll have buyers. I also hope to bring some carvings and stuff home, fingers crossed.

See you in a few weeks!

Today is going to be a good day.

I am currently in Chintheche on the hunt for a catfish. There are catfish in Malawi, and I am going to fry one with some friends tonight. I cooked a ton of food too to surprise them with once they get here so it should be a good time- you can't go wrong with cookies.

Also!! I just got 3 huge packages in the mail today- one from cousin Gracie and 2 from the Rothwells. I haven't opened them yet because I'm worried about carting them home, but I'm sure they're amazing, I can't wait!.

So that's about it, all in all, a promising day as it is only 10:00.

Today in the library there was a huge pile of books on the floor when I walked in- Mr. Simkonda and Mr. Msumba were on the floor, spider crouched, sorting through them. When I asked them 'what's all this then', they told me that the books had been donated from a school in Livingstonia that recently upgraded from being a secondary school to a University. I didn't know schools could do that.

Anyway, I started to help them sort, and I came across a book from the early 1950's called 'America in 1,000 pictures', which was just a bunch of pictures sorted by state (all 48 of 'em). I stood for about 20 minutes just looking at the cheezy 1950's pictures.

I'm going home for a visit in December though :)

Two things that are a little sad about my visit though- I won't have any pictures to show since my computer was stolen, and Chris won't be there. The pictures, well, you guys can just deal with that (and I can't put them on the internet from here, so there was no way to back them up, so please, no guilt)- but Chris' being in China- that's rough. I was planning on just doing everything with him when I got back, and soaking up his absurdity and wisdom. Plus, I don't know how I'll react to being in a country where I can wear anything and eat actual food- a place where internet and phone calls are free? Where do I go? What do I do? I wanted Chris to be there, because he would probably go with me to Meijer at 2am and not judge- and afterward, he'd fully support my desire to go into a McDonalds and ask them to make me a flurry with a pie (a plan I've been thinking of for a while). Because of this lack of little brother, I'll need other people to rally and visit, yes yes? Please come see me in Grand Rapids, I miss you all- I have made no travel plans yet, just come see me.

Take care! I'll see you all in a month!

To begin, a shout out to Christi and Kitty who both sent awesome packages around early September- thanks guys! I am going to enjoy my coffee and beef jerky, maybe at the same time, who knows, I'm crazy.

Also, to all my friends living in DC, I am seriously jealous that you get to got to the Rally to Restore Sanity. Wish I could go- even though when people try to explain the current American political scene to me over the phone, I get confused and get a headache.

Finally, congratulations to Chris, who is leaving for China soon. For those of you who don't know, my older brother Matt now lives in China with his new wife (yay!), and my little brother Chris is also going to go there to teach, and maybe also to find a wife- that remains to be seen. So, for anyone who was born between the years 1984-1988, get ready for my mom to empty-nest all over you, because she isn't going to have any kids in America soon. Just kidding mom, don't get mad.

My week has been ok, it's getting really hot, but the library seems to always be a good 10-20 degrees cooler than the outside, so I've been in there a lot, as usual. The acting ambassador is slated to visit my school this upcoming week on Thursday, which should be cool- I'm a little nervous about it actually, my head teacher wanted to have a big party for her, which wouldn't be good, because she just wants to see a normal school day, and I've also had some conversations with people who seem to think that maybe she'll come and build us a laboratory, which she isn't going to do, since the woman isn't Oprah, and that isn't the point of the visit. Plus, I've been working for the past year to try to get the idea across that nobody is going to just build us anything, and that we have to use the resources we have. We had a library that was being eaten by termites, and a bunch of computers in boxes under a thick layer of dust when I came here- and if you'd asked anyone back then what we most needed, they'd have said computers or more books- come to find out we actually had some nice books and passable computers, we just needed to use them. Now we're working on renovating one of our old classrooms to use as a laboratory, so we're cleaning old lab equipment and using locally available resources to build storage and work places. I think that this is actually better than just having someone give us a lab, personally, but it is like pulling teeth to get anything done. Have you ever read that book 'if you give a mouse a cookie'?, I'm pretty sure the guy who wrote that worked in a developing school somewhere.

I guess that's the problem, isn't it? What the community wants isn't what the donor wants to give, and both could be completely different from what the community really needs. I think it is all very sticky- people have the best of intentions when they come out here, but who knows if their projects are going to work? I think that I want to study education and international development in grad school- maybe I'll end up at American University like the rest of Peace Corps. That would be nice, maybe then I could make it to the next Stewart/Colbert rally- September 2012? Anyone?

Hey all!

So yesterday I felt head-achey and sleepy, so I stayed around Mufasas and rested- then today, I went to the medical unit for my check up and was declared cured! Whoot! No more parasites attacking my red blood cells!

So, as you may know, I have been preparing to take the GRE. I got a few test books and went to town on them for about two months, and then this week I went to Lilongwe to take the test. I had some things to get done at the Peace Corps office, so I went down two days before the test to get my work done and get into a GRE state of mind.

The night before I left I felt kind of sick, I puked up the banana I ate for lunch, skipped dinner, and spent the night in an uncomfortable sweaty-sleepy-shaky state. That morning I felt better, if a little sluggish from lack of sleep, so I threw myself on a bus for the 7 hour trip to Lilongwe. The bus trip sucked, of course, and someone next to me ralphed into her chitenge, which was uncomfortable since you can't exactly get off of a bus here in Malawi once you are on it- this is also the reason why I don't drink water when I travel here. By the time I got to the Peace Corps office, I was tired, thirsty and generally ratty looking, but I had a doctor's appointment for my mid term physical, so I went in to see the medical staff.

It took them about two seconds to diagnose me with Malaria.

Now, I'm a good little volunteer, I take my anti-malarials, but sometimes I forget, especially on the weekends, so I must have forgotten to take my meds last Saturday and Sunday, which is when the filthy little vampire bug must have gotten me. I guess though that when you take your meds that the symptoms aren't as bad, so it makes sense that I just thought I had food poisioning.

The worst day was yesterday, when I couldn't keep anything down, and they hooked me up to an IV drip all day, and my temperture spiked to something around 110. That sucked. The doctor let me use his computer to see if I could cancel or re-schedule my test if I had a doctor's note. Nope. All cancelations must be made at least three days in advance, well, three days ago I felt ducky. He was shocked- 'So what, you aren't allowed to get sick? welcome to America'

So what about the test? Well, I took it this morning at the testing center at the embassy, it was a paper based test, and the examiner had some serious time keeping issues (he cut us off early on the first verbal section, dick), but I did it. Now I need to go sleep.

Hey all! Sorry to anyone who has been trying to phone and hasn't been able to get through, my new phone SUCKS. I don't know what else to say but keep trying.

I am still studying for the GRE- I feel like I am going to do ok- apparently the hardest part for most people is the verbal section, but due to my extreme nerdiness I have never had a problem with words, so I'm not stressing on it- I'm worried about the Math section. Math, my lifelong nemesis- my Achilles heel, my Everest... you get the picture. I'm at the point in my studying now where I am just deciding which questions to just skip.

Life in Chintheche is nice- Hector is delightful, as always, though I'm worried that she is becoming a woman now, if you get my drift, and I'm looking for a solution to the possible puppy problem. This is why most Peace Corps volunteers get boy dogs, but she showed up at my doorstep shivering from the rain in the arms of one of my students, how could I say no?

The form 1 students are learning to use the library! I have started to poll students about which books they do and don't like- it turns out that they would like more books about sports, history, science, and animals. They tend to like folktales and other types of stories, but little kids books aren't as popular. Their reading levels are still developing, so things that are too difficult aren't really great, but anything with lots of illustrations and easy to follow readings are great.

Finally, anyone who has sent me a package since my break-in, they haven't arrived quite yet, but since I just got my birthday packages sent in early September, I'm sure they're coming. I did, however, get a letter from my Uncle Kenny, aka 'The Dude', about his golf game that was sent September 20. As always, it was a classic.

Love to all,

beeb

Hey all!

Things here have been normal, though I have been spending all of my free time studying nonstop for the GRE. Suprisingly, since there isn't anything else to do here, I don't actually mind- but this time next week, I'll be done done done, and I won't have to worry about it anymore, I can just get back to my normal schedule of... wait, what is it I do again?

So, I'll be in Lilongwe at the end of this week to take the test on Saturday. I'm nervous about the logistics of it all (getting to LLW, lodging, etc), but I'm sure it'll all work out.

Here's to me getting 700s, right?

Hello friends, family, well wishers and enemies. It is hot as hell. I know that it will get hotter, but as for right now, it is difficult to get any work done, luckily the library is cooler than the rest of the school, so I have a coolish place to retreat to.

I had an awesome weekend, it was basically exactly what you would imagine a weekend in the Peace Corps would be like: a bunch of people sitting around on someone's porch chatting and drinking homemade wine, sitting around on the beach, singing songs while someone plays guitar- we are such dirty hippies.

Life is good- I got two birthday packages, one from Carrie and one from the Rothwells, both were AMAZING, and Carrie, I read all of the books you sent in three days.

That's about it,

Beep

Hey all!

This week was relatively uneventful- I had some form 2 girls over for tea on Tuesday, which was nice, they had a lot of questions, and are excited to do some dramas for the Form 1 Life Skills class. I'm hoping that their little group will help give them confidence that will influence the Form 1 girls.

The Form 1s had their first week, it was really sweet how shy they were, I wonder how long it will last. My plan for my first two weeks with them was to orient them on the library and get them reading in their spare time, it caught a snag when I walked into the library to find that once again it was being used to store broken and useless lab equipment. I had to explain to the deputy head teacher (vice principal, basically) that our school is too small to use any space for storage, and if anything is in storage, it isn't being used, so we either have to get rid of it or fix it up and organize ourselves and that the library is not a closet. In the end we shifted some of the lab equipment into the middle of the room, but the rest is still blocking our fiction section.

I also went to the police station to try to get a copy of my police report, which was useless, because they never filed one, and said I didn't want one to be filed. I couldn't help it, I ended up yelling at the police officer in charge of my case- I forgot what his title is, but it must be synonymous for 'lazy guy who does nothing', because that's exactly what he is. Ugh. He said that I needed to specifically ask to file a report, and that I hadn't done so, to which I replied that: yes, I had asked, and that even if I hadn't spoken the exact magic words to get him to do his job, he should have explained the procedures to me. He laughed at this idea, as if everyone in Malawi knows how to file a police report (they don't, I asked), and said that I should have just known or 'asked my friends'. Around here is when I lost it and yelled at him.

I don't know what's wrong with me, but after my break in, everything seems to bug me. Kids chasing me, drunks hounding me telling me that I am a 'foreign shit', disobedient students who hack up my bushes in my yard even though I told them not to. Other volunteers agree that they feel the same way right about now too though, so maybe its that I'm at my one year slump, or that it is the beginning of hot season. I don't really know why.

Anyway, I'm going to my friend Meg's for the weekend to cool off. Hopefully I'll feel better after the weekend is over.

Woke up in a tent, it was freezing outside. Dragged (drug?) myself into the zoo, drank a cup of coffee. Zombie walked with other pcvs to the 'chipatti lady' in the market (pi, did I take you there?) stumbled around Mzuzu in jeans and sunglasses. Climbed into the internet cafe.

I. Love. Mzuzu.

Hey all!

I'm currently at my favorite place in all of Malawi, well, top five at least, Mzuzu. Unfortunately, I forgot my phone at home, damn, so don't worry if you can't get me until Sunday night.

As for today, I'm going to go to the market to replace the shoes and jeans that were stolen to get me through until all of your lovely packages come in. I'm happy to say that I'm feeling much better.

Love to all!

Beeb

This week has been emotional, and so I wasn't really fair when I wrote last Monday. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about Malawi, or especially my community. Yeah, it sucks when half of your belongings (the useful half, mind you) gets stolen, but I was never directly threatened or harmed, and my dog was unmolested. Maybe amongst the burgled, I can be considered a winner? My neighbors have been awesome, the night I discovered the break in happened, one family let me use their phone to call Peace Corps, and another even brought over a pile of papayas and dinner for Hector (usipa and nsima- alias minnows and starch patties). The Peace Corps community has also been really helpful, I have had two friends call me at great expense (phone time here is expensive), and the office has helped me out a lot too. Hector, our safety and security officer, and my dog's namesake, even called the police station to yell at officers. Oh Hector.

So how am I? I've been better, but my mom has been mobilizing friends and family over in America to help send over replacements for things I lost and, more importantly, give me phone calls so I can catch up on gossip, and have someone to cry to. My cousin Gracie and I talked for an hour, running her a bill of about $250 before she called the phone company to sort it out. That's some cousin love right there, but I advise skype or phone cards- I don't have skype, but you can use it to call me on my cell phone, my number for the time being is (011265991334472) until I recover my old number, I'll let you all know when it changes back.

This week I've been down, so I've just been reading a lot. It took me a while to clean my house (or leave it for that matter), so on Tuesday when my APCD (associate Peace Corps Director) came over when I was expecting him on Wednesday, I was surprised. I just opened my door in my pajamaed glory and was like 'oh hi- um, usually I don't leave garbage all over the place- and normally I shower... and wear professional clothes... and brush my hair'. He was cool about it though, and he brought me goldfish crackers and oreos. We went to the police station, where one of the cops was named 'major'- which made me think of Catch 22, and made me laugh, which was the first sign that my sense of humor was coming back. I don't have much faith that my stuff will come back, but who knows?

I'm getting back to my old routine though, today I sorted papers in the library (and yes mom, I apologized to Mr. Simkonda). I'm just going to relax this weekend, and then get back to things on Monday.

So for any Peace Corps Malawi recruits out there reading Peace Corps Journals- please don't worry, you probably won't have a break in, but if you do, it's still worth it.

****Well-Wishers' Wish List****

-macaroni and cheese (the kind with the powder- you can even just send the powder to save space)

-coffee

-chocolate

-oreos

-books

-jeans (last I checked I was a size 6 in Gap, but you know how sizes go- if it is stretchy, go with the 6, if not, the 8)

-a yesterdog shirt

-any MSU shirts

-Sunglasses

-shoes (size 7.5 or 7 depending on the fit- and some cheaper tennis shoes would be cool- flip flops are already here)

-shampoo, soap, deodorant (yup, they stole that too)

-summer sausage and beef jerkey

-protein bars (why you gotta steal a girl's protein bars?!)

-velveeta cheese (doesn't need refrigeration, so what if it isn't technically 'food')

-a towel (yup. stolen)

-stuff you think will make me smile

-a letter from you (the best part of any package!)

My address is still:

Melissa Small

Box 44

Chintheche, Malawi

Central Africa

So remember when I had a break in a few months ago and they took my buckets? This makes that look really, really stupid. Thieves came into my house this weekend while I was at a trade fair at my site mate's house and they took everything of use or value. Laptop- gone, phone charger- gone, towels, donated markers for the school, things my women's group sewed that I was going to sell, sewing kits, half of all my clothes, all of my shoes, food, gone gone gone. They took every bag, backpack and satchel, they even took my pillow case (probably to shove more stuff into).

The list is really long, but it is at the police station at the moment.

The worst part is that my phone fell out of my bag on my way to the trade fair, and so I can't even get phone calls from home, or text any of my friends here about it to get a little support- and they took all my money, so I am having trouble buying food. I get paid again in October, but how can I get to Mzuzu to get that money out? My friend let me borrow his old phone to get a new sim card for to use until I can afford my own- but that was before I knew all my money was gone, so I don't know how I'll afford a new sim card.

I'm lonesome, I don't want to go home, but this sucks.

According to Wikipedia, there are about 170,000 speakers of Chitonga, as far as I know, there is no translation of the Bible into Chitonga, and I have yet to see as much as a pamphlet written in it.

However, both Hamlet and the Bible have been translated into Klingon. Though there are few fluent speakers, there is a Klingon language institute.

something to think about.

So, I've been hanging around Lilongwe for a while now... I'm getting frustrated. I got my last shot today, so tomorrow I'll be able to get my med hold money meaning I can get out of here the day after tomorrow. Eesh. I'm tired of the city- today some guys were harassing me on the street, making kissing noises and being generally degrading- I didn't even think about it, I just hit one of them and told them all to eff off.

******Warning, I am about to describe something gross, if you are squeamish, don't read on********

I saw the doctor about a thorn in my foot too, I stepped on a thorn a few weeks ago and my feet were never quite clean enough to tell if I got it out or not, but I could feel it was still sore. After a few days of intense scrubbing at Mufasa's Lodge (where the showers are amazing, Piotr can attest), I noticed the heel of my foot where it was sore was kinda discolored, so I decided to show the doctor.

I showed him the callus on my foot where I knew where the thorn was, and though he said that it wasn't a good place to go cutting into people, after about ten seconds of deliberating, told me to get up on the table. Our doctor Erfan loves to cut people, he just can't resist. Honestly, it didn't hurt so much because the bottoms of my feet are really tough now, like hobbit feet, and my foot was just scarring around the thorn, but Erfan sounded a little too excited when he discovered pus. He dug around for about ten minutes and eventually removed the thorn tip (it was little), and now I have a hole in my foot. I was excited to show my friends, I won't lie. My friend Sol also had Erfan dig a splinter out of his foot after me, and was a little dissappointed that I stole his thunder.

Volunteers are weird.

Yesterday, I woke up in a bed, ate cereal and toast with jam. I went to the Peace Corps offices and talked to my boss who, after verifying it was indeed my birthday, gave me a few kwacha for lunch (yippie!). We bought meat and cheese and fried up some burgers, which I ate with fries and beer. I stood out on the balcony of Mufasas and talked with my friends. Later, the electricity went out, so my birthday cake was still gooey and amazing. Finally, I went to sleep because I was exhausted. I woke up this morning, drank a coffee, watched some Batman, took a shower, and am now in the Peace Corps offices reading birthday messages- Bridget made me a video of everyone singing me Happy Birthday, which made me feel really cool and scifi, like I was a space explorer or something. Then, just now, I found an MSU t-shirt in the 'I don't want box'.

Best. Day. Ever.

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes everyone, it was a wonderful birthday. Who knew getting rabies shots would lead to this?

So for my birthday, I got scratched by a cat, so now I'm in Lilongwe for a series of rabies shots. It happens. The bus ride down here was pretty awful- I was standing the entire time (8hours) and it was crowded, there were points where I just hated everyone, but I made it.

Weird things happen on busses here- chickens running around, a girl puked on me once, just, you know, weird stuff, but yesterday I had the strangest thing happen to me- I was paying for my ticket, and I guess a hair of mine was drifting around, heading to the floor, because, you know, hairs detatch sometimes, it happens, and the conductor picks it up off the floor and looks at it, and examines it with a woman sitting nearby like 'hey, do you know what this is? It's probably hers', and then they try to give it back to me, and I'm not having it, and then they start shoving it at me like, 'no, it's yours, take it', and I just kind of lose my cool, and just go off Ricky Ricardo style, speaking in rapid English that I know they can't follow- because what the hell? Then they laughed at me.

And that happened to me.

Now I'm in Lilongwe for a few days while they give me my set of rabies shots, I probably don't have anything to worry about, but it's better to be safe. I guess I don't mind, because now I get to spend my birthday with other volunteers who are passing through Lilongwe or are on med hold too. 24, I need to start thinking of a good quarter life crisis (because moving to Africa isn't enough)

beep

I have lived in Malawi for a little over 11 months, and the most frustrating part of it all is the feeling I have that nobody understands what I’m saying. My Chitonga is decent, I can speak more than I believed I’d be able to, and if people stick to a few predefined subjects, I can understand conversations that I hear. Of course, the easiest way to ensure that conversations stay within the realm of my understanding is to actively participate in them; safe subjects include: my dog, eating, cooking, things my dog eats and or kills, things people cook for my dog to eat, sewing, buying food, walking places, traveling to the capitol city or Mzuzu, washing my clothes, nodding emphatically, telling children to stop yelling at me/following me/asking me for money, saying I don’t understand, telling people I don’t speak Chichewa, telling people that if it is indeed Chitonga that they’re speaking, to please slow down because I’m learning. That’s about all I have, but I have become resourceful with mixing and matching things from these categories.

A sample conversation with a neighbor:

Timoneni Ama (hello lady)

Yeawo, Mwe Uli? (Thank you, how are you)

Nde umampha, mwe uli? (I’m fine, and you are?)

Nde umampha. Hector mwe uli? (Fine. Hector is how?)

Ehhh! Hector wa suzgo! (Ah, Hector is trouble!)

Eh? Wa suzgo? (Hector is trouble?)

Ehh! (Yes.)

Eh! Chifukwa uli Hector wa suzgo? (What is the reason why she is trouble?)

Hector wabya nyoli! (Hector killed a chicken)

Anyacki wa sewe? (Maybe she is playing?)

Panyaki, panyaki cha (Maybe, maybe not)

Ndi paseni nsima (I will give her Nsima)

Ehh! Hector watanja vykula ya Malawi kuluska ku vykula ya Ameraca (Hector likes Malawian food more than American food)

Hey! Hector wa galu ya mzungu cha! (Ah, she is not a white person dog)

Et! Asani, wa buya causwae (Also, she killed a rat.)

Et? (?)

Et! (!)

Causwae wamkulu? (A big rat?)

Et! Wamkulu! (Yeah! A big one!)

Et! Hector ya’umampha (Ah! Hector is good!)

Et! Vyo, ndi luta ku numba (Yes! Ok, now I am going to my house)

My dog’s hunting and eating habits are about as complex as my conversations can get which, hey, is more than I can say about my French speaking skills, which is a language I have studied for a good six years.

I get frustrated when I try to say something outside of my range. I have a second women’s group that I have become involved with over this summer, it is a great group, but none of the women can speak any English, so I either need my counterpart to translate for me, or I need to muddle through with gestures and my small amount of Tonga. We get by.

Sometimes I want to express something new to someone I meet on the street, some agogo (grandmother) or maybe a little kid and I just can’t. It is sad, because I just want to be understood, and I want to understand other people, and we don’t have the same vocabulary.

It even happens when I talk to other Americans, or friends from back home- somehow I forget not to use my Malawian/Peace Corps slang, resulting in exchanges like this:

“Piotr, can you watch my Khutundu? I need to go to the chim, and I don’t like the looks of these iwe.”

“What is Khutundu?”

“You know, all of your ujeni”

But it isn’t just the weird words that get in the way, even in completely straightforward conversations; I get the feeling that I’m not saying what I mean to say. I don’t feel like I’ve changed all that much, but maybe I have, and that’s the reason why it is so hard to be understood. I long ago realized not to refer to my house here as ‘home’, because people think I’m talking about America. I’d say something like ‘I’m going home tomorrow’ on my blog, and I’d get concerned e-mails and phone calls asking me why I was quitting the Peace Corps. More than a few times I’ve told a story that I find funny, and the person on the other end of the line just responds with ‘oh my god’.

The thing I find strangest is when people say that what I’m doing is somehow noble or admirable- it makes me uncomfortable, because I feel that something people say is noble should be harder than this. If it weren’t for the fact that I miss my friends and family, I could easily live in my little house here for much longer than two years and be happy. My place is starting to get comfortable, I like my job, I’m within walking distance of the beach, and I have a lot of time to read and sew. If I had a refrigerator, a toilet, and internet access here, it’d be perfect. It also feels strange when people say stuff like that to me because I feel mostly positive about my life here, and I think that lots of people could do this. It’s hard to explain, and I don’t think that I’m doing a good job, but I wouldn’t describe my life here as ‘noble’. What about our public school teachers in America? Their jobs are harder than mine is here, aren’t they noble?

Like I said, I don’t think I’m doing a good job explaining myself, and that’s the main reason why I don’t think I’ll extend my term of service here after my time is up next year. A lot of people extend their service into a 3rd year, and though I like my job and my life here, I miss being in a place where I can be understood.

Does that make sense?

beeb

I have lived in Malawi for a little over 11 months, and the most frustrating part of it all is the feeling I have that nobody understands what I’m saying. My Chitonga is decent, I can speak more than I believed I’d be able to, and if people stick to a few predefined subjects, I can understand conversations that I hear. Of course, the easiest way to ensure that conversations stay within the realm of my understanding is to actively participate in them; safe subjects include: my dog, eating, cooking, things my dog eats and or kills, things people cook for my dog to eat, sewing, buying food, walking places, traveling to the capitol city or Mzuzu, washing my clothes, nodding emphatically, telling children to stop yelling at me/following me/asking me for money, saying I don’t understand, telling people I don’t speak Chichewa, telling people that if it is indeed Chitonga that they’re speaking, to please slow down because I’m learning. That’s about all I have, but I have become resourceful with mixing and matching things from these categories.

A sample conversation with a neighbor:

Timoneni Ama (hello lady)

Yeawo, Mwe Uli? (Thank you, how are you)

Nde umampha, mwe uli? (I’m fine, and you are?)

Nde umampha. Hector mwe uli? (Fine. Hector is how?)

Ehhh! Hector wa suzgo! (Ah, Hector is trouble!)

Eh? Wa suzgo? (Hector is trouble?)

Ehh! (Yes.)

Eh! Chifukwa uli Hector wa suzgo? (What is the reason why she is trouble?)

Hector wabya nyoli! (Hector killed a chicken)

Anyacki wa sewe? (Maybe she is playing?)

Panyaki, panyaki cha (Maybe, maybe not)

Ndi paseni nsima (I will give her Nsima)

Ehh! Hector watanja vykula ya Malawi kuluska ku vykula ya Ameraca (Hector likes Malawian food more than American food)

Hey! Hector wa galu ya mzungu cha! (Ah, she is not a white person dog)

Et! Asani, wa buya causwae (Also, she killed a rat.)

Et? (?)

Et! (!)

Causwae wamkulu? (A big rat?)

Et! Wamkulu! (Yeah! A big one!)

Et! Hector ya’umampha (Ah! Hector is good!)

Et! Vyo, ndi luta ku numba (Yes! Ok, now I am going to my house)

My dog’s hunting and eating habits are about as complex as my conversations can get which, hey, is more than I can say about my French speaking skills, which is a language I have studied for a good six years.

I get frustrated when I try to say something outside of my range. I have a second women’s group that I have become involved with over this summer, it is a great group, but none of the women can speak any English, so I either need my counterpart to translate for me, or I need to muddle through with gestures and my small amount of Tonga. We get by.

Sometimes I want to express something new to someone I meet on the street, some agogo (grandmother) or maybe a little kid and I just can’t. It is sad, because I just want to be understood, and I want to understand other people, and we don’t have the same vocabulary.

It even happens when I talk to other Americans, or friends from back home- somehow I forget not to use my Malawian/Peace Corps slang, resulting in exchanges like this:

“Piotr, can you watch my Khutundu? I need to go to the chim, and I don’t like the looks of these iwe.”

“What is Khutundu?”

“You know, all of your ujeni”

But it isn’t just the weird words that get in the way, even in completely straightforward conversations; I get the feeling that I’m not saying what I mean to say. I don’t feel like I’ve changed all that much, but maybe I have, and that’s the reason why it is so hard to be understood. I long ago realized not to refer to my house here as ‘home’, because people think I’m talking about America. I’d say something like ‘I’m going home tomorrow’ on my blog, and I’d get concerned e-mails and phone calls asking me why I was quitting the Peace Corps. More than a few times I’ve told a story that I find funny, and the person on the other end of the line just responds with ‘oh my god’.

The thing I find strangest is when people say that what I’m doing is somehow noble or admirable- it makes me uncomfortable, because I feel that something people say is noble should be harder than this. If it weren’t for the fact that I miss my friends and family, I could easily live in my little house here for much longer than two years and be happy. My place is starting to get comfortable, I like my job, I’m within walking distance of the beach, and I have a lot of time to read and sew. If I had a refrigerator, a toilet, and internet access here, it’d be perfect. It also feels strange when people say stuff like that to me because I feel mostly positive about my life here, and I think that lots of people could do this. It’s hard to explain, and I don’t think that I’m doing a good job, but I wouldn’t describe my life here as ‘noble’. What about our public school teachers in America? Their jobs are harder than mine is here, aren’t they noble?

Like I said, I don’t think I’m doing a good job explaining myself, and that’s the main reason why I don’t think I’ll extend my term of service here after my time is up next year. A lot of people extend their service into a 3rd year, and though I like my job and my life here, I miss being in a place where I can be understood.

Does that make sense?

beeb

By popular demand, how I've used things from my packages:

-I traded pens for fruit that my women's group used to make Jam

-My markers have gone dry from my students using them so much

-The yellow beach cover up was adored by all when I visited Nkhata Bay

-Chocolate was devoured by me

-Hector promptly took her new chew bone and lost it (dumb dog)

-My neighbor's daughter tried to eat one of hector's doggie treats (no comment)

-After reading, I traded magazines with some of the artists in my village for art (thus boosting literacy rates and the beautification of my own home)

-My iwes played with everything in my home

-The Umoza women's group made a bunch of baby dresses from donated pins and needles (though our supplies are running low on needles because the tricky things get lost)

-Coffee helped me survive life

-I mixed cheese powder packs from macaroni and cheese with potatoes to make scalloped potatoes, and also with tomato sauce to make cheesy spaghetti sauce

-I rationed my M&Ms for a month (it was worth it)

-Beef jerky kept me healthy when I couldn't afford to buy eggs

-People magazines kept me company until midnight one night when I couldn't sleep from lonesomeness (what has Kate been up to since Jon left?)

-I made many many many outfits from the patterns and sewing kits sent (the most successful being a jacket I banged out last week)

-Every time we get a new book, the students fight over it in the library (and some have started wanting to read the novels!)

-Novels sent to me have kept me sane (currently reading 'The Magus' as sent by Auntie Helen- tell her we need to chat)

so there's just a little idea of how what you send gets used. As always, coffee, summer sausage, jerky, reading material, and things for the library are always wanted (as well as any other strange thing you think would make me smile)

Out

beeb

Ok guys, so here's the thing. I wasn't at Camp Sky the entire time (they were doing something called 'model school' at my site, so I had to leave early... we are all very sad that I can't be in two places at once). Also, while I was there, I was pretty busy, and didn't grab my camera often- plus, right now the internet connection I'm on is s-l-o-w, so all of this means I have very few pictures to share, but here they are:

The Camp Sky Campus

My students, smiling for once (this was attempt #4)

This week Peace Corps sent two trainees to my site to practice teaching at my school- it was nice to hang around the school, but not to have to do any of my own teaching/grading. One nice thing about it was the fact that we have two HUGE tables in my library that were perfect for cutting out sewing patterns. Normally I cut out my pieces on the floor in my house which is dirty and prone to Hector steps- and at this time of year, there is some sort of itchy dust in the air from a local plant called 'buffalo peas', which is like itching powder, and has been known to settle on my floor. All of this inspired me to go talk to my carpenter who has made me a table, futon, coffee table and shelves for my house over the past few months- honestly, I'm running out of ideas of things for him to make me, but I have a spare room that I use for storage which I decided I could use a big ping-pong sized table in for cutting patterns, and hell, even ping-pong. I am very excited for him to finish so that I can teach my iwes how to play ping-pong. I told him just to make two saw horses and a table top so that the table could be moved outside for ping-pong tournaments. I can easily knit myself a net, so now I just need to find paddles and balls... maybe in a Chinese goods shop in Mzuzu? There are all sorts of strange imports from China at those stores. If I get replaced next year, whoever gets my house next is getting hooked up.

I also had a friend who lives a few hours away visit for a bit- he had some good ideas about income generating projects for my second women's group which I'm excited to try out. The group has been interested in making different jams and jellies, and my friend's idea was to package them in little single serving containers that can be bought in Mzuzu and sell them in the market for 10 kwacha each. Our group's eventual goal is to raise funds to build a primary school to replace the mud brick structure that is currently being used. If we made a more secure primary school, we could stock it with teaching and learning materials, but as it is, without doors, windows and just a thatched roof, everything that isn't nailed down is prone to theft.

Umoza is also going well, we are making little baby dresses while we wait for the school year to start, at which time we can sell our uniforms. I am learning a lot about sewing from my ama, Margaret, and I think that the other women are too. I bought a dress from the group to give my neighbors for their baby Melissa (named after me, poor kid)- she looked so cute! I'm still trying to decide what the group should make for me to bring back home at Christmas time, and baby dresses are definitely a possibility.

That's about all for now, thanks for the packages, letters, emails and phone calls- they've made the past 11 months go by fast (can you believe its been 11 months? I can't)

beeb

hey all- I'm back at site safe and sound,and I got two packages, one from auntie Alison and one from Mary from LDO- thanks guys!

Everything is going well here at camp sky, the kids are having a lot of fun, and so am I! Last night, after dinner, we had a salsa lesson which the kids loved- the lights were out, so the whole thing was done in candle light, which was all quite dramatic. The trainees are here now, so they get to get an idea of what exactly Camp Sky is, and how to run it next year. They are a great group, I can't wait to get to know them better (and of course, come back next year to help out with camp)

My kids are all smiles! Thanks for all of the support!

beep

Hello everyone! I am here at camp sky- my kids (aliases Ken and Olivia) love it. Last night Olivia seemed kind of sad and lonesome, when we signed up for extracurriculars, she made a beeline to my 'sewing' table and was the first to sign up, which broke my heart, but she cheered up today after the first round of classes. For a lot of these kids, this is the first time they've been away from home, so you can understand why they would be a little withdrawn at first.

Hanging out in the staff room with all of my Peace Corps friends is a lot of fun, we're all really getting into our lessons, and since we have a lot of materials, we can really kick them out of the park- construction paper and markers is refreshing after all these months rationing them at site. We're teaching root words in the English classes, so I'm getting my fill of prefixes, suffixes and roots- my mind is reeling, I'm going to kick the GRE's ass.

Our camp director Elisabeth has been working like crazy to pull all of this off, I can't believe it, I could never do her job, but the results are amazing! A lot of time and effort has gone into making Sky a success, especially on the part of our wonderful donors, so if you want to help next year's kids have as much fun as the 2010 group, please donate- Camp Sky is a wonderful Peace Corps Malawi tradition, and all proceeds will continue to benefit students in future groups.

I love you all, I can't wait to come home at christmas time!

Beeb

Hello everyone, I am posting from dusty Kasungu where I am helping to prepare the camp sky campus! Thank you all for your support- and if you donated and would like a thank-you card from me and my students, just post your name and address in my comments section, and we will make you a card!

Things here have been good, we've been working hard cleaning out classrooms and dorms for the kids- I am looking forward to the sewing lessons that I'm doing with my friend Jamie and my Batiking class with Esther. We are also semi-planning a run through of Romeo and Juilet for the kids, because even though the play is on their syllabus, most Malawian students haven't seen it (or read it in its entirety for that matter).

The kids come tomorrow, so excited!

Also, we are still accepting funding- any surplus funds go toward next year's camp sky, which I will also send students to, so don't worry, it all goes to a good cause. The link below is still the camp sky link:

http://www.friendsofmalawi.org/grants/how_to_donate.html

Yewu Ukongwa! I'll post later this week with updates about how it is going.

Alright, you asked for them, and after 10 months, I guess I can finally put up some pictures. This is me at the beach by my house sometime in February- jealous?

Hector the pup

A meeting of the Umoza women's group

Umoza sewing!

Students working in the library.

Sometimes you get to teach students who you can tell are always thinking; only in Malawi have I ever felt bad for those kids. One of my students, Ken *, is one of those kids. Ken reminds me of a close friend back home, or at least, the fifteen year old incarnation of him. I don’t know why; maybe it is his smile, or the way he lingers over the Encyclopedias in the Library, poring over articles about foreign countries.

It takes a while to ‘crack’ a classroom, especially one where nobody speaks English, but Ken made it easy for me when I started teaching last December. I could glance over into the back corner where he sat, his head ranging about above his peers, who would inevitably be hunched over their work, weather they understood or not, and he would shoot me looks that clearly said ‘they’re lost’, or ‘speak more slowly’- and at rare times, a slow deliberate nod when they understood.

Another student who made an impact on me was Olivia*. I noticed the way she stood, I liked that she held her arms akimbo, she was one of the only girls I had met at the school who isn’t afraid to stand up straight, and with the way her ears stuck out, she reminded me of a pitcher. When I started in December her English wasn’t great, but has since improved dramatically. She comes into the library at every break, often with a question. When she arrives it is usually with a whispering posse behind her who watch as she walks up to my desk with an open book and asks a question like ‘what is in the middle of the earth?’ This sends us on a frantic search for books with pictures of volcanoes and diagrams of the earth’s crust. She was the student who sold me Hector the puppy for three dollars, and, poor girl, reminds me a lot of myself.

I take my bike into town every Friday, and pass groups of students on the way. They shout greetings at me and scatter out of my way as I go by. On one particular trip into town, Ken came to talk to me while I was buying a pumpkin from the vegetable stall. Always polite and smiling, Ken told me that he was going to visit his father in the hospital, and that his mother was already there. I didn’t realize at that time that in Malawi, people only go to the hospital to die.

The following Monday, I taught my lesson as usual, and Mondays are never good. I teach the first period of the day on Mondays, so students come to class late or tired. Most days the room is not swept on time, so I need to wait until the dust settles before I can teach. This Monday was the same as the rest, so I left annoyed. I was halfway across the yard to my desk in the Library where my mug of coffee waited when I noticed Olivia tramping down the hill behind me, her coltish limbs flailing.

“Miss,” she shouted “wait wait” I stopped to ask her what she wanted, expecting some whimsical question about lightening or the changing of the seasons. Instead she said: “Don’t yell at Ken today. Yesterday he lost both his parents, so if you see him, and his head is down, he is thinking of his parents.” Before I could respond, she turned heel and plodded back up the hill.

Ken still comes to class every day. He is polite and works hard. Olivia still asks questions, and has made her way through our best science and animal books. I enjoy teaching them, but I know that these kids have the cards stacked against them. I decided to invite both of them to Camp Sky, the annual summer camp Peace Corps volunteers in the Education sector organize. It isn’t much, but maybe the encouragement will be good for them, because I have to believe that education in Malawi can work.

Every successful Malawian that I have ever talked to about education has cited the impact of a single person or event to their success. Last week, while I was helping out with training in Dedza, I talked to one of our language trainers, Dinah, about her own experience growing up in Malawi. Her father was a teacher, and he decided to send his daughters as well as his sons to school. Her aunt advised against this, echoing the public sentiment that the girls would only go to school and become pregnant, but her father said he needed to be able to look his daughters in the eye and say he tried. Dinah went on to finish her education, and now has a job teaching Chichewa to Peace Corps trainees. She told us that with her first paycheck, she went out to buy sugar, soap and bread and brought it to her aunt and gave it all to her, saying “here, this is the pregnancy I came home from school with”. Her aunt cried, and now encourages her own granddaughters to go to school.

While I was in Dedza, I also got to meet William Khambwa, also known as ‘The Boy who Harnessed the Wind’. William’s family could not afford to send him to school, so he spent his teenage years studying on his own using books from his community library. During a drought, he decided to try to build a windmill so his family could irrigate their fields. His community thought he was crazy, but he was able to use a windmill to generate electricity for his home, which attracted international attention, landing him a scholarship and a book deal. We wanted to get William to come to Camp Sky so he could speak to the students, but he starts as a freshman at Dartmouth soon, so he couldn’t make it, and came to speak to the Peace Corps trainees instead. I wasn’t expecting him to be shy like my students, but he was. He stood in front of us, talking about his engineering in terms that were far over my head, but he did it in a way that was gracious and calm. We asked him about his plans for the future, and he talked about his plans for attaining his degree in Electrical Engineering, and his hopes to work in sustainable alternative energy fields. He runs a camp for children in his community so that they can make their own windmills, and has since sent his friends and family to school. What would have happened if not for that Library?

I suppose that’s the thing about Peace Corps, or maybe about life in general. You never know what the event will be that will be the catalyst for change, and it is selfish to demand that you see the world improve before your eyes, but you have to keep trying anyway. I think that Olivia and Ken can really do something great for Malawi someday, but life isn’t going to be easy for them. Going to this camp could really make a difference, maybe the goat dissection my friend Jenn has planned will make Olivia decide she wants to be a doctor- or maybe Alexis’ writing classes will inspire Ken to become a journalist. I don’t know what will happen, but these kids can show me if I let them.

Today Ken and Olivia came to visit me in the library to talk about what to pack for camp- they are both bright with excitement. I told Ken about William’s windmills, and loaned him my copy of The Boy who Harnessed the Wind, hopefully we will be able to visit the original windmill during the camp. The two were so happy that I didn’t want to tell them that we are in desperate need of funding for Camp Sky.

I’d love my students to have a chance to attend, if you would like to help, please follow the link below if. My students and I send a ‘Yewu Ukongwa’ to you for reading.

*Names have been changed (mainly so that ‘Mericans can pronounce them)

Damnit. I wrote an exceptional post about my students this week- really top stuff, the kind of thing that I'm sure would make people cry. Or maybe it would just make my mom cry... if you are sleep deprived, maybe you'd cry. Point is that I forgot to load the post onto my flash drive. Hopefully I can put it up tomorrow.

Maybe I can sum up: Camp Sky needs money. I have two wonderful students to send, but our funding is in jeopardy. If you can donate, please follow the link below. Tear jerker to follow tomorrow.

http://www.friendsofmalawi.org/grants/how_to_donate.html

So I'm back home in Chintheche. I was waiting for my water to boil for coffee when I was bothered by this awful grinding noise- it was my hot plate officially shitting out on me. Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm a peace corps volunteer, I don't need a hot plate, but damnit, I'm not feeling good, and I don't have a charcoal burner or a kerosene stove, and I'm on some antibiotics with questionable side affects, so the last thing I want to do is go out rousting for wood. Blargh.

I hopped on my bike and went to the town 20 minutes away, but all the shops that sell hot plates are closed, so now I'm at the internet cafe surfing my troubles away.

The President's Luncheon was really cool- the food was great. The menu listed beef, curry chicken, fish, and beans under 'main course'. We all wondered if that meant we would have to choose beef or chicken or fish or beans- luckily, this is Malawi, so we got heaping portions of each, which we devoured. There was also endless wine, champagne, beer, and Armarula (a kind of bailey's only flavored with a fruit that only grows in Southern Africa). We sat through some speeches, and Bingu called us all his children, which is too bad for him, because now we'll all be asking for packages from him every few weeks. Then he called us all out onto the dance floor where we tore it up, Bingu and his wife Callista included. I was proud of us, because we all kept it together until after we took a picture with the President. Once Bingu left though, it was all over, the dancing, oh, the dancing.

Being PCV of the week was awesome too- Esther and I were in Mpalale again, and it was great to see my host family again. Bruce, who was a puppy while I lived there, is now a full grown dog! He followed us all around the village for the entire week, and was just all around cute. I feel bad that I didn't take him back when I was a trainee, but I'm trying to convince one of the newbs to take him to site. The trainees were all so cool, we had a great time- I can't wait to work with them for the next year and a half.

I can't believe that I've been here for almost 10 months, time really goes. Sometimes it is rough being here while my friends and family are all back home, and missing out on things like the family reunion really sucks, but I'm glad to be here. I know that this is where I need to be.