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Welcome to Malawi, Education 2009-2011! You are all so clean now... wait until you get done with homestay. :)

Start of Summer

I think summer is officially starting. I wore my strapless dress I had made (of course I wore a top over it to keep modest).

I’ve finished organizing the laboratory!

Thanks to help from Ian and some of my students, it’s looking pretty sharp.

Now I’m working to get some $$ to buy sodium hydroxide to neutralize all the dangerous acids we have (think fuming hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid, etc)

We had a good bye party for Alfred who takes care of the Peace Corps transit house in Mzuzu.

It was nice to have his family over for an American meal of pasta, salad, and desserts.

… and garlic bread.

Back at site for term 3! All my friends visiting the summer hut. (Notice the curtains?)

Thanks a million for all of your packages, especially Dad and Bonnie. I’m now well supplied with hand sanitizer and Kleenex.

Beach Retreat

The lake was exactly what I needed to rejuvenate. It was nice to read, sleep, and enjoy the water. Here's a sample of pictures from the trip.

Our chalet/porch

transporting cokes

a view from the walk we went on

the lake seen from our room

sunrise over the lake. You can see the mountains of Mozambique in the distance.

Ian reading by the water

Mountains Beyond Mountains- a really good book the jives with what I want to do in life.


reading at sunset on our porch

as the sun goes down in front of our room

Holiday

It's term break again so I have 3 weeks off to gallivant around Malawi. It started on Wednesday going up to Mzuzu from my site. I left Tchwale (my home) at 8 am. Stopped by the bank in Mponela and then started hitching. I got picked up by nine from a NGO (non-government organization). They took me up to Kasungu. After they dropped me off, within 5 minutes I was picked up by a guy who works for MTL (the phone company here). He was nice but we stopped every couple of kilometers to check on the digging for fiber optic cables (MALAWI IS GETTING HIGH SPEED INERNET!!!!) Around 12 we ended up on the side of the road waiting for his friend to come. I got another ride from a guy who works for Paladin, the mining company who is drilling for uranium up north. I finally arrived in Mzuzu around 2. 350 kilometres in six hours. Price: free.

My time here in Mzuzu has been spent doing one of the following:

but not:

Luma Luma

“The last time you updated your blog was when you had Mumps, and that had to be at least a month ago”
-impatient mother

After having my case of Mumps, I returned to school to find 4 other girls sick. I had them come stay in my house, which you can see isn’t very spacious.

I am the matron of the Wildlife club so I took my students on a fieldtrip to Lilongwe Nature Sanctuary. For some of them, it was their first time to the city. I had to explain the function of traffic lights. Unfortunately we all got a little food poisoning from the beans and rice we brought along for lunch.

**wanted to add photos, but internet is so slow. next time**

I experimented with cornrows. One of my students did it for me after school one day. They only lasted 3 days because they are itchy! Hopefully I'll try again and make them last longer.

I spend all my time it seems at school, helping the students get ready for their exams. Here are a few pictures of my form 4’s working on drawing ecosystems.
I also taught my students Red Rover and Simon Says. Both were very popular.

**wanted to add photos, but internet is so slow. next time**

I got a dog! I named him Luma which means bite in Chichewa. He certainly lives up to his name. He keeps me company and hopefully will keep away the thieves. I was sick yesterday so Luma ate raw ramen and peanut butter for breakfast because I didn't want to start a fire to cook for it. Mom laughed and offered to send dog food.

It’s better in Riverside... I love second-hand clothes in Africa.
And... Termites are still eating my house.

**wanted to add photos, but internet is so slow. next time**

Two weeks till break!

Mumps Anyone?

So I might have mumps. I'm not saying it's for sure, but when your perotid gland swells up, there aren't so many options. That or it's bacterial. Or it's autoimmune. Yes, I've had my MMR immunization, and a booster. But I was the girl who got chicken pox twice, remember?

Chunky Monkey

Normal Jaw

Not so normal Jaw

Fattie!