Flying the African Way...

My car broke down on my way to Lilongwe to renew my passport on the Tuesday before Christmas.  It wouldn't be that big of a deal if not for:
a. I HAD to get it done that week so I could get in time to go to Spain in 3 weeks.
b. My car died a horrible, horrible death. (though I think we are resurrecting it!)

After getting up at 5, driving for an hour, waiting on the side of the road for 4 hours, and finally get back to Mzuzu 7 hours after I had left, I was in a predicament. Though thanks to Anna Marie and Megan, I was quite entertained.

To help my mind figure out how to get to Lilongwe and be back before Christmas, but still adhering to our embassy's protocol of only being opened to Americans for Tuesdays and Thursdays, I went to our "nice" restaurant in town: A1. (Indian food).

It was during my fried chicken and chips meal that my friend Besty suggested I look into Malawi Air that flies from Mzuzu to Lilongwe.

Now, to us Americans, we think…oh, an airport? oh sure! That sounds like it will solve all my problems.

Ahem.

Let me say this: only a few months before, they finally slashed (yes, hand slashed) all the grass off the runway and opened this nonexistent airport once again.
Also, Malawi Air has a reputation for being late, changing the destination once you are on the plane, canceling trips and not telling anyone, leaving early and not telling you, and basically…just being a sketchy airline.

However, rumor was that since now they are back under new management they were better.

So, I figured, I can at least look into it.

I headed to the office to find out, and they were flying out on Thursday morning! Which means, I would be there on the right day for the embassy AND it would be about $35 cheaper than a tank of diesel. Also, our mission would have an extra car for me to drive back to Mzuzu so I can have a vehicle up here. How cool!

So, I booked my ticket and prepared for my adventure.

Now, the flight left at 7, so they said to be there by 6.
I was the first one to arrive.
Luckily, they were already there and had opened the airport, so that was good news.

But the moment I saw this place…I just thought the whole time…this is going to be an AWESOME blog! hahaha. I just couldn't get over all the "africaness" of it all.

Okay, so we get there and they are sweeping up bottle caps on the floor…Guess what? The airport doubles as a bar at night. Bhahaha! Okay, so I stand in a room about 10x10 and then three ladies line up behind this little table.

I hand them my ticket, and it takes all three to check me in. They look at my ticket, HANDWRITE out my boarding pass, and direct me to go to my "gate."

Well, of course I have to go through security first…which is a hallway about 4ft long, which a women stopping you so she can pat you down and look through your carry-ons. No X-ray machines, no metal detectors, just old-fashion detective work.
ha.

So, then she points me into the waiting area. Here it is:

Yeah…I know. The pink hallway there? That's the "security" hallway where the lady feels you up. I guess they don't have those fancy body scans everyone in America is all up in arms about.

So, from the time I got out of the car to when I sat down in the waiting area to get on the plane 3 minutes had gone by. Whew…good thing I was there an hour early.

Here is what the airport looked like:

I know…it needs a paint job eh?

Well, the door is open to the outside, and well…lookie there…there's the runway! Ha.

The crew member that puts the blocks on the tires when the plane lands was standing 15 ft from me…and he got protective earwear, but I did not. heh.

 So, finally this little plane with two big propellers lands right next to the door. It holds about 45 passengers and we start to board. I was the first one on, and I asked to clarify my seat because I couldn't quite read the handwriting…he just looked me like I was an idiot and said, "Uh, you can sit where ever you want."

oh, of course.

So, I choose my seat soooo wisely in front of a girl who kicks my chair and behind a screaming child.

Luckily, the attendant couldn't find anyone willing to sit in the emergency exit row because of what they would have to do in case of an emergency, so he came and asked me to do it. I guess I looked well-traveled.

The plane did take off quite smoothly, and it was pretty amazing to see my little town from an ariel view. It doesn't look so little when you are looking down on it. Though there were no in-flight movies, hot towels, or complimentary snacks, they did come around and offer coffee or tea on this little overhead cart looking thing.

I got the coffee and was rather amused that it was served in what looked like the top to a thermos lid. And it must have been fresh milk because it kinda of curdled on the top. Yum.

Here were a couple of views from my window.

All in all, the flight wasn't that bad.
The best part was that a usually 5 hour drive to Lilongwe took 45 mins.
Oh, that and I didn't die.

Thanks dad.

My night guard has been the topic of other posts, and once again he has crept up again to touch my heart in some special way.

Inuid Nguruwe is a tall lanky man and is very dark…and I won't lie…his appearance has frightened me a time or two when I come upon him outside in the dark. He has been a faithful, on time, protective employee for me.
Here he is and his sweet smile:



I wrote about HERE where his wife was in the hospital, and he took out a loan from me. He finally finished paying off that loan this month. When I gave him his paycheck yesterday, he said, "Mama, I need to take out another loan. I need a mattress."

You see, when he went on holiday last month, a drunk robber broke in his house and stole his mattress. (mattress in Malawi = a piece of 3in. rectangle foam)

Well, I asked him to find out how much they cost, and he agreed to do that.  While I was in town yesterday, I found a mattress store and went ahead a bought one for him so he could have it on Christmas. It cost about 4,000 Kwatcha. ($26). Remember, he makes about 6,000 kwatcha each month. I left it for him at my house to get on Christmas Eve when he came to work. I left earlier in the day to spend the night with the Laffoons.

Let's fast forward to today. I had a great Christmas Day. I saved a package from my mom full of wonderful things…Starbucks coffee, Bath & Body works items, GRITS!, and cards from my family. The one from my dad particularly touched me and made me cry. He reminisced about things he remembered about me growing up. But then he ended it with this:
"While I would like to hug you this Christmas, I would rather you hug others in HIS NAME. Our day will come."

It got me thinking…was I "hugging" others in His name this day? Was I sharing and showing others Jesus even when I wanted to be home with my family?

After breakfast and presents Christmas morning, the Laffoons and I headed out to spend the afternoon with some good friends. We had lunch and wassail and fudge and fellowship. It was so nice to spend it with friends. These ladies have come to mean so much to me. I had promised my family I would Skype at 4, so I had to leave everyone early and drive back to Mzuzu so I could be on time.

I raced home and only got to Skype for about 20 minutes because they wanted to open presents. I'll admit I was so disappointed. Even if I couldn't be there physically, I just wanted to be a fly on the wall to hear the jokes, see everyone's faces, and share in the joy of Christmas morning. I'll also admit I had a good cry when I hung up. Didn't my family understand the sacrifice I made to Skype with them? Didn't they know I left people I care about so I could call them, and now they were hanging up with me after 20 mins! I cried again, but this time because I felt sorry for myself sitting in my house all alone.

But don't worry, I quickly got over it. I remembered all the things I could be thankful for this Christmas: video skyping at all!, a family to spend Christmas with, friends and food.  I even got to share with the Muslim man across the street that I would be praying for him.

I know, I said this was going to be about my night guard…well, he's coming.

I went back to the Laffoons for dinner and finally headed back to my house. As I came out with my nightly cup of tea for Mr. Nguruwe, I said, "Christmas Muweme!" (Good Christmas!)

Well, immediately, he grabbed the cup of tea, set it down, and just said in his broken English, "Oh mama, it was so nice…I just put it down, and it fit so nice. I slept all day!"

I finally realized he was talking about the mattress. He just hugged me about three times and just keep smiling about how nice it was so have something to sleep on.

And then he said, "How much Mama for my loan?"
I thought about people like Aunt Dola Jean and April and Paula Brooks who have given me extra money…And immediately, what my dad had said came back to me…

"Nothing Adada. Merry Christmas."

He sort of stuttered in disbelief, and then he couldn't stop hugging me. He would hug me so tight, then look at me and say Thank you Mama, Thank you Mama, and then go to hugging me again. I think I counted this sequence happening about 6 times.

But then this is the part that brought tears to my eyes. He said, "Mama, you truly have Yesu Christo in heart." And he pointed to my heart. He just smiled, closed his eyes, and said, "Thank you Yesu. Thank you."

And then I knew I had hugged someone else in Jesus' name today.

Thanks dad for giving up hugs from your daughter so she could hug others halfway across the world.
And thanks for reminding me to do it.

Burglars and Break-downs

If you haven't noticed, I'm back from South Africa. It was a very uneventful trip back. I had one last great cup of coffee in the airport and the Lord got me through check-in as my bag was 2 kgs over, but I wasn't charged anything.

There was a quite handsome British boy on my flight who I met at the customs line, who also happens to be from Malawi, so that was a nice little encounter. :)

I did discover though when I returned to Lilongwe that I am not going to be allowed into Spain next month, if I don't renew my passport. As as it takes 2 weeks to for it to get it done, and I'm about 3 1/2 week from leaving, I need to get this down NOW.

Unfortunately, the embassy is only open to the public on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. So, Friday night, I made an appointment at the embassy for Tuesday planning to do the 5 hour drive back to Lilongwe and then turn around and do it again that afternoon back to Mzuzu. 10 hours driving? People have done longer.

After some new passport photos on Saturday morning, I drove back to Mzuzu and made it just in time for our Tea Ladies Christmas Party. We had food, sang Christmas carols, and the kids even put on a nativity. It was such a fun night. I left the Laffoons at 10 completely unaware of what was about to go down just 1 hour later.

The next morning, Eric called me just checking to see if my night went okay. Of course, I replied.
Well...we had thieves visit us at 11 and then again at 2.

I couldn't believe it! They poisoned the dogs around 11 so they wouldn't be able to bark. The nightguard saw them and thought that we had scared them off for good...until around 2 when they came back because the dogs were so sick they couldn't attack them anymore. They hit our nightguard on the arm pretty back, but he got one of them on the head with a brick. Eric and the guard chased them off, and they got away with nothing.  Everyone was unhurt except for the nightguard. Just shaken up and tired the next morning. The dogs did survive the night and they are fine now.

Well, needless to say, we have heightened our security. I lock myself in my room at night, no presents or valuables are out, and I have 2 guards at night now...at least until Christmas is over.

Well, now fast forward to Tuesday morning. Anna Marie and Megan decided that they would do the 10 hour drive down with me, so we got up at 5am and were on the road by 6:30. About an hour down the road, my car died. Something to do with smoke, leaking water, and a radiator? Something horrible...Finally, 5 hours later, we were towed back to Mzuzu. Hmm...no embassy visit for me...and how am I going to get my passport updated so I can go to Spain??

Just my luck! Mzuzu Airport just slashed their runway and started having small flights a couple of times a week down to Lilongwe. AND, they are flying down on Thursday morning! So, I'm getting in a tiny little airplane at 7am tomorrow morning and taking the 45 min flight down to Lilongwe. The best part? Its cheaper than a tank of diesel. Crazy, I know. I'll get one of our extra vehicles in Lilongwe and drive that back.
Whew...I can't believe it all worked out!

So today, I got to spend the day making Christmas cookies and watching movies with my friends. We had such a wonderful time!

Because My Life is Never Dull

I had the wonderful privilege to go to the Lion Park here in Joburg last Friday. It was an adventure definitely. The best part was when a lion attacked our car...

 

Yeah...apparently our windshield wipers were tasty.

Then, we got to go pet a baby lions!

Who like to play with my hair.

They are so cuddly! :)

Then it was off the giraffes. Now, I don't mean to sound snobby, but I've done this twice before, so it was kind of old news...But I haven't let the giraffe get the food out of my mouth before!

So much fun!

Then, we went to a Casino for lunch. I know that sounds awful, but actually shopping and restaurants are on the outside of the casino and you don't actually have to go in. So for those of you who were worried about my reputation as a missionary, never fear. :)

I felt like I was in an amusement park inside there. The ceiling was painted like a sky, and it was just crazy decorated like you were outside in Europe or something.

But the absolute best part of the day??

THERE WAS A STARBUCKS IN THE HOTEL!!

Iced Caramel Macchiato extra caramel please! I can't tell you how incredibly good it tasted.

And just in case you don't believe me about the lion on the car...

I know right? My life is incredibly cool.

Life in the Bush

Here is a video that we took while we were living in the mud hut. Cara, Heather and I had a blast. :)

Toys

With Christmas coming up, presents has been on my mind lately and how to go about doing "Christmas" here. Do I give my gardener and his family presents? What is the culturally appropriate thing?

Well, that brought to my mind toys for the kids. So I started paying attention to what they have.

The ingenuity and imagination totally blew me away.

 

This is made out of bottle caps and a juice box.

This one just blows me away!

 A car! Out of bent wire! wow...

 Here is all my gardener's kids plus 2 friends.

Oh, and this was Timeo playing on a bucket and using a little straw for a whistle.

I guarantee that these kids are happier with their toys than most kids in the US are with theirs.

Kind of humbling huh?

Untitled from Lauren Reeder on Vimeo.

The Drive to Mzuzu

Okay, I made this video when I first moved to Mzuzu. It just shows you the beautiful scenery on the way to Mzuzu.

I'm currently in South Africa so I have the internet to finally upload it.
Note: this is only for the super interested in my life..aka Mom, Dana, and Julie. hahaha. Otherwise, you'll probably find it boring.

Untitled from Lauren Reeder on Vimeo.

Jeremy's Growing Up

Jeremy finally took off his training wheels!

I am so honored that I got to be a part of it. He decided during school one morning that he was going to take them off.  So, Eric came over, took them off...he jumped on and off he went! He didn't even fall!  

I was such a proud aunt!

The Lost Shall Be Found...Shoes That Is.

I have so many blogs running through my mind. Ones about toys, Jeremy, South Africa, Thanksgiving, and my lost shoe.

Which one do I start with today? Hmm...Let's go with Thanksgiving and my lost shoe. :)

The Laffoons and I went down to Lilongwe to spend Thanksgiving with our mission family. I was SO pumped to get down there and see everyone. It had been just about 4 months since I had seen most of them, and actually, there was one missionary there that I hadn't even met yet!

First off, let me start about my shoe. I own Reef flip-flops. For you out there that don't know about them, they are the best flip-flops on the planet. Arch-support, comfy straps, soft, mold to your foot...etc. And they run about $30-$35. I've had these for 4 years. I only have one pair of flip-flops here. Well, that's not quite true, but pretty much I wear these all the time.

So, as we are in the middle of no-where on our drive to Lilongwe, Jeremy has to use the bathroom. As there are no rest areas in Africa, we had to pull over on the side of the road. Jeremy was sitting in the middle, so he had to crawl over me to get out. I didn't realize until 3 hours later when we arrived at the guest house that one of my flip-flops had "left" the vehicle when Jeremy got out to use the bathroom.

Of course, I was disappointed. I couldn't replace it until next year when I went to the states. I would have to go around without them, but I would survive. A year living in Africa has taught me at least that. :)

So, back to thanksgiving...
We had lunch at our of the missionary's houses and there was 32 of there! It was so nice. There was a single guy there that had just graduated from seminary, and guess where he graduated from?? CLEMSON! and He's from Myrtle Beach! So, that was fun to talk about home with him. The food was so incredibly good. Of course, everything had to be made from scratch, so the food was AMAZING. We don't have turkey here, so we had chicken instead but I couldn't tell a difference.  hahaa. Betty made the dressing, and it was the BEST dressing I've ever tasted. There was sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, squash casserole, crescent rolls, pumpkin pie, mulberry pie, and so much more. We played horseshoes and just chatted. It was wonderful.


Well, I shopped for supplies, went to the eye doctor, hung out with a friend from when I lived in Lilongwe, and then it was time to head back to Mzuzu. We left on a Wednesday and returned on Saturday.


I was still sporting my one flip-flop. Eric, with the amazing mind he has, remember the exact spot that we stopped for Jeremy. So, we decided we were going to stop there and see if my one flip-flop was still there. I seriously doubted it was still there.  I took a picture of it...Here it is...

 

yep, Its in the middle of nowhere. Its a miracle we found the spot. Well, Eric pulls the car over, says, I believe it was these two bushes. He walked straight over to it, and lo and behold! there it was! (Michelle, that was for you!)

I couldn't believe it!! 

My shoe had lasted for 4 days on the side of the road. :)

It was my own little Thanksgiving Miracle.