A Date??

I have to go to the Hotel up the street to get internet, so that is where I was last night from about 7:00-9:30.

I was sitting in the lounge, and there was another party sitting across from me, laughing, eating, etc. We were both there for a long time.

I wanted to order some food, so I headed to the reception desk. On my way, one of the men asked "How are you?" I answered polietly, and continued on my way. One thing about Malawians, they are ALL about their greetings. It's rude not to greet people.

So, on my way back to my seat, this man stops me again. This time he asks me all kinds of questions like "Why are you here?" "How long have you been here?" "What organization are you with?" This isn't strange. In fact, I answer these same questions almost everyday! People are curious why white people would come here. So, I answer and then he informs me that he is a Member of Parliment (our government) and the Minister of Labor.

I realize I'm talking to a big wig, and he is part of the "rich" here in Malawi. I head back over to my seat, but he follows me over there.

"Here's my business card. I would like one of yours!"
"Oh sorry sir, I don't have one."
"Well then, give me your phone number instead."

Okay, this isn't like it is in the States. Cell phones here are kinda a big deal, so everyone exchanges numbers all the time. I was a little leary, but I didn't know how to polietly refuse. So, I gave it to him. He proceeded to call my phone right then to make sure I gave him the right one.

I was a little bewildered by the whole thing. Then, the group decided to leave. And he comes back over to my chair and says,
"So I will be in Mzuzu until Friday, why do we go get drinks tomorrow night?"

So I say the first thing that comes to my mind... "Um, well as Baptist we aren't allowed to do that actually."
I meant, GO ON DATES.

He thought, GO GET DRINKS.

"Oh, that's right, they are strict. Well then, we can go for lunch on Thursday then. I will call you."

I was speechless!! This 40ish year old guy, a member of PARLIMENT, just asked ME out on a DATE!

He left, and I was a little shaken up. It was really dark and I was alone. I even made sure I wasn't follwed home!

So, this morning, the first thing we did....

We went and got a new cell phone number. :)

African Church...

Today, we decided to attend Mzuzu Baptist. However, they do have a English service at 8:00 am, but since we are trying to learn Tumbuka, we decided to go to the 9:00 Tumbuka service.

So...we arrive at 9:15, and it hasn't started yet. Okay...that's pretty typical. The benches are wooden that have slits in the seats, so its not that comfortable, and the back of the bench starts about mid-shoulder blades.

Finally about 10 mins later, "Sunday School" begins. There are currently 10 of us in the room. Obviously, I have no idea what's going on. Sunday school lasts till 10:05ish...

Then the flood gates open and probably about 150 pour into the church. Men on one side, women on the other.

We sing a song to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne" I only hope that the words weren't the same.

A quartet of boys sing this beautiful song with beautiful harmony...Lisa leans over and informs me that the song was about "You pregnant girl, you should have waited until you were married to get pregnant." ha.

More choirs singing.

One little kid runs up to the offering plate to make change.

Another hymn and some annoucements...well, alot of annoucements.

The whole church makes us stand up and sings a welcome song to us as first time vistors. Then, we have to introduce ourselves and they all clap for us. They asked Lisa, the mom, to pray and she prays in Chichewa. They were so impressed, some people clapped after she finished praying.

Another baby crawls towards us Mzungus (White people) looks up at us, and immediately starts wailing because he was scared of us. This interrupted the whole service because people were laughing.

Another quartet sang; but this time it was about the Bible.

Then, we sang these two songs that the whole church was singing so loudly, in such perfect harmony, with dancing, that it gave me chill bumps the whole time we sang. I was blown away!

Sermon starts at 11:15.

And finally, at about 12:05ish, church was over.

9:00-12:00....on those wooden benches....whew!

I'm a Mzuzuian. :)

I am borrowing internet from my family, so I can't really give a good update, but I just wanted to let everyone know we have arrived to Mzuzu safely.

Picture living up in the mountins in a quaint little North Carolina town! I was just in awe when I drove through the city of what beautiful scenery there was. We have 3 stoplights (or Robots as the Africans call them) and 2 roundabouts. (European Vacation anyone??)

I would like to ask you to pray for me though. I have not been doing so well living on my own. A lot of anxiety that is taking a toll on my body and my emotional well-being.

Today, after a lot of crying and praying, I have had my first good day that was almost anxiety free! I went out into the city and explored the market and our grocery store, Tutlas.

My family is wonderful and I will give you a better update on my daily life as soon as internet becomes more available!

Much love,
Lauren

They've Arrived!

Today, I finally met the Laffoons.
They couldn't be a more precious family!
I think we are headed to Mzuzu on Tuesday.
HOLY COW!

and remember when I was a rockstar??
Well, I went back to the same school and got to get some video of the kids.

Here's some pictures of them dancing around me...

They were gathered for the ending of school for their holiday. This was just one small picture of over 700 kids seated there for the closing ceremony.

One month down...

I have officially been a resident of Africa for a month now. Its crazy to think that I've been gone that long. It really doesn't feel like it.

Good news is that the family I'm working with will be in Malawi on the 25th! We are moving to Mzuzu the first week of March! I haven't seen my house yet but the one thing that everyone says about it is, "wow! that house is huge!" :) (I have also heard there may be monkeys in the back yard!)

I have moved into a guesthouse to give living by myself a go. They thought it would be good to getting me used to living in Mzuzu. So, this is officially my first night living alone. Surprisingly, I'm doing pretty well.

Here's some numbers to break down my past month in Malawi:

100 - number of pumpkin leaves I have peeled as I sat in the dirt with village women.

62 -  the number of glass bottle Cokes I have drank since arriving on the continent. :)

45 - number of orphans I have already fallen in love with and want to adopt.

16 - number of movies I've watch since I've arrived in Malawi...(this doesn't include TV series shows)

5 - number of times the power went out one day.

4 - number of times I have eaten a meal with my hands eating Nsima (think playdough)

3 - number of times I've almost hit another car, bicyclist, or pedestrian.

2 - the number of shirts already ruined from perpetual sweating in the armpit area.


1 - number of indecent proposals I've received. This one promised he "would find me a Valentine that night. wink, wink." gross!

night.

Today, I was a rockstar...

Today, Kym and I went out to a village school that Kym worked in her very first few months here in Malawi. The school is growing and now has over 700 students from Standard 1-8. The kids absolutely freak out whenver they see us "Mzungu" drive up. They scream, yell, run after us, try to shake our hand, give us high fives, and just mob us.

Well, we were just visiting the staff yesterday because we promised we would.  The director invited us to have lunch with his family, so I was really looking forward to that.  Let me set the scene...

We arrive at 10:15...kids mob us and they take us into a 4 by 3 office with six of us, 2 bookcases, a desks, and about 500 books. HA! (talk about hot and crowded!) So we make small talk with the teachers, have lots of awkward silence, they feed us "biscuits" (cookies) and Fanta, we have some more awkward silence, more small talk...

So, while we are waiting for lunch, Kym and I decided to go to Standard 8 classroom and teach them a really silly song. So, we go and have fun with the kids, and then, as we are headed back to the office, alot of the younger kids start being let out of their classes...

And here's where it got crazy.

Kym and I started out just high fiving the younger kids. Just being silly. There was probably 15 of them.

Then...the other classes started letting out. So, more kids started coming.  As of right now, there are about 100 kids surronding me.  The kids start singing a Malawian song (that I obviously don't know the words to) and I am encased in this tiny circle literally surrounded on all sides by children.

Well, since I don't know the words, I do only what I know to do...I DANCE!

THE KIDS WENT CRAZY! I look up, and there are over 500 kids in a circle around me jumping, laughing, and singing.

Whatever dance move I did, the kids would just scream and go crazy!!
The dust was flying up, the kids were pushing in, and I really felt like I was on stage at a rock concert.

It was AWESOME!

So, I finally start getting out of breath, so I say goodbye, and then a riot ensues.
A teacher starts yelling, "Make a path for her!"
So the kids start parting so I can walk through.

Then, pushing to get closer starts again, and we have huge mobs of kids, falling, pushing me almost to the point of my falling down...until I was finally pulled back up into the office.

It was pandemonium. :)

And of course, I didn't have my camera.....

What would you see on the back of a bicycle?

Okay, as you know, cars aren't the only form of transportation here. Bicycles are also a big way that people get around the city. So here is my top 5 things you will see on the back of a bicycle that people are carrying around with them...

5. lawnmowers. Yes...you will actually see push mowers tied to the back of bicycles. They are most likely gardeners for "expats" (anyone here who isn't Malawian).

4. live chickens. Sometimes you'll see a basket of baby chicks, and other times its some big live chickens on their way...to become a pet I'm sure.

3. live goats: also on their way to becoming pets...heh.

2. market buys: Meaning whatever food or goodie they bought at the market that day.

1. Logs. You will see piles of logs that are twice as tall as the person riding the bicycle! They are piled and have supports that curve up above the head of the rider! Its crazy!

A funny side note: I went to CFC (like KFC african style) and they had a sign for ice cream flavors on the wall. One of them was "wall nut". haha!