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!

Slow.

I think that "slow" is the theme of Africa.

Everything is slow here. The internet, getting things accomplished, trying to learn the language, the speed limit...all slow.

My biggest frustration so far is probably the internet. I was such an internet-aholic in the states. Its how I keep in touch with friends and family! But here, it makes it really difficult to do that. I'm getting over it though. Another fact of life I just have to accept.

This week, Kym and I are going out into the villages where others have worked before to check and see how the church is doing. Monday, we went out to your typical "mud hut" village, but with no translator. We sat on the ground with some of the women, helped them with their corn, peeling pumpkin leaves, and just smiled and laughed through our language barrier. It was probably some of the most fun I've had since I've been here.

I also got to go out and visit a orphanage compound/school/dormitory. Kym's friend, Annie, is the headmaster for all the children and schools. She is from Colorado and took a year off teaching in the states to come and do this.

She took us out into the village and we played with kids and just talked with people.
I'm going to describe what I saw:

Rolling green hills far as the eye could see.
Mud huts with thatch roofs scattered throughout the landscape.
I was holding a the sweetest little girl in my arms as I looked out over the view.
Two women were carrying buckets of water on their heads as they made their way to their homes.
In the distance, you could hear a group of people singing in perfect harmony an African song.
And to top it all off, the sun was setting beautifully behind it all.

Yeah...tears came to my eyes...

I live in Africa.
sigh.

I am here!

I arrived in Malawi on Friday afternoon. Looking out the plane window and seeing this gorgeous green, rolling hills, land was so breathtaking.  I know I keep saying this, but it is so beautiful here. As I got off the plane, there were probably about 10 missionaries there to greet me. Hugs and smiles, and "We've been praying for you for a long time..." was so exciting to hear.

I am staying with another single missionary girl here. She has another friend staying with her for a just a week or so, so we have plenty of company in the house. It was instant connection with all of us. It seems everyone "white" that I meet here used to be a teacher in the states, or they are a teacher here at a school! Everyday has been exploring the city: grocery store options, clinic options, how to go to the ATM, where are the restaurants, etc. It has really been a lot of fun. We just hang out with different missionaries at their house for dinner each night, so I am meeting a lot of amazing people.

The weather here is pretty much like Charleston weather. Humid and a little on the hot side in the early mornings and day...then rainstorms in the afternoon...then back to sunny. Obviously, there is no air conditioning, so the house stays around 78 degrees. It feels normal though. :)

The cost of living here is so high! No wonder that people here are so poor. It cost almost 2 days wage to buy a bunch of bananas! It is even very high for a white missionaries salary. I am learning that I will have to be a better "budgeter" than I was in the states.

I think I will be in Lilongwe (the capital city) for a couple of weeks. I am still waiting on my family to get here. Which also means I have not been to the city I will acutally live in yet...nor my house. I just keep hearing from everyone though "It is even more beautiful up in Mzuzu! The people just get nicer! Your house is the biggest!" The only "bad" thing I've heard is that it rains all day, every day during the rainy season, so my things will grow mildew - no stopping it.

I can only say that I am very thankful to the Lord for the people he has placed me with and the country he has placed me in. I am just so grateful. I can not tell you how amazing it is to finally live here. I can not WAIT until family and friends from back home can come visit!

I'll leave you with some Switchfoot lyrics that really say what I want to say...

"I've got these memories always inside of me,
But I can't go back, back to how it was.
I believe you now, I've come too far, no I can't go back,
Back to how it was.

Created for a place I've never known....

This is home,
Now I'm finally where I belong.
Yeah, this is home,
I've been searching for a place of my own,
Now I've found it..
Yeah...this is home..."

p.s. I'm goign to try to figure out how to upload pictures...right now..it won't even upload one...

Hold on a little longer...

Well, my original fly-out date was Jan. 10th...however, I found out yesterday morning that due to some mixups I never had tickets to begin with!

So, after all is said and done, I finally am flying out January 13th! This gives me a great time to go back and say goodbye to some people I didn't think I was going to be able to.

Please keep me in your prayers as I pack and say goodbye to friends and family. Thanks friends!