First Days in Malawi...

I have been in Malawi for 4 days now, and have spent my time getting acquainted with my new city, new job and new friends. It is hard to know how to describe this place, perhaps that it why this first post from Malawi has been 4 days in coming!

I arrived on Sunday afternoon after a marathon of flights, happily broken up though by a nice visit in Covent Garden with dear friends Jo and Charlie whom I know from my South African days. I even had a day room in London, which was nice, not only because it was in a hotel that I would never be able to afford at regular rates, but because I could have a shower and a nap! Sleep always evades me on these overnight flights, although Tyler was nice enough to let me sprawl all over his space, which helped at little :) After another overnight flight to Nairobi, and a flight touching down in Lusaka, I arrived in Lilongwe. When you approach the Lilongwe from the air, there doesn't appear to me much of a city at all! It looks like what you picture Africa to look like - dry grass, with scrubby trees and small huts and houses dotting the landscape. The airport itself is a small little building with tropical plants, with one door leading leading in from the runway, one lady working at the customs line, and one luggage carousel. To my amazement, my bags actually made it. I had my doubts, when I checked them in three days before in Ottawa, but there they were! Kudos to Air Canada and Kenyan Airways! Time for a big breath to calm my nerves, and as I walked out into the arrivals area, there was a man with a sign reading "WELCOME TO MUSCCO HANNAH". That was good enough for me :)

Henry, the driver is a man of few words and didn't say much on the drive into the city, but I was busy looking out the window and taking it all in. I'm in Africa again! Watching people walking down the dusty, red side of the road, carrying things and seeing all the small huts off in the distance made me smile. Ah, Africa. He dropped me off at the Area Three Guest House where I stayed for the first two nights of my stay. It was really nice and very clean, and my room had a big double bed, TV, bathtub and shower. This was exactly what I needed after my long plane journey. It was a bit pricey - Canadian standards pricey - so I'm now staying at a hostel until I get something more permanent set up, but it was what I needed for the first few days! The men working there were super nice, if not a bit too nice - I feel like they were waiting on me hand and foot! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit worried and a little freaked out when I got here - there are just a lot of uncertainties of moving to Africa. I had a little moment where I wondered what the heck I had just done, and whether or not I would like the job, make any friends or be lonely for my whole time here, but it passes, as it always does and things are definitely looking good. For those of you who know Ryan's Cultural Adaptation Curve, I tend to start on a downswing, but its swiftly up from there!

I think that I'm going to like it here in Lilongwe - the city seems friendly (compared to many places I've been, the hassle factor is pretty low) and the job seems like it is going to be really good (more on the job and MUSCCO later. I think it deserves its own post!) I'm worried that I might be getting a false sense of what Malawi is like though. Lilongwe is the capital, and even though it is small, you can find anything you need at the Shoprite ( its like any small town grocery store back home), and the expat/well-to-do Malawian population is big enough that there are enough restaurants and shops to keep you busy. I know that the rest of the country and the majority of the people in it, do not live this type of lifestyle so I'm looking forward to getting out of the city and into the heart of the warm heart of Africa.