It’s hard to believe that the end of November is fast approaching. I’m coming up to the 4 month mark in my internship and have actually decided to extend my contract for another 3 months. My initial 6 month contract ended at the end of January, so now with the extension, I will be working until the end of April, and be home in June. I like my job, but its not exactly what I want to be doing, however I realize that this is just ‘step one’ so I’m taking the opportunity while I’m here to meet as many people as I can and see what other possibilities are out there. Extending my contract means that I’ll be around long enough, hopefully, to see some of the implementation of the policies we have been working on at work, and play a bit of a role in the new HIV/AIDS mainstreaming project (fingers crossed). An extra three months in Malawi means I have 9 months under my belt, rather than 6, and I have more time here to see what other options I have (read: get someone to give me a job). The last thing I want is to be yet another jobless intern-returnee, so I’m hoping to have something lined up for my life post-internship. More than anything, I just like being here, so its also just good way of staying a bit longer.
I’ve moved flats, and am now temporarily roommates with my friend Francesca. Kanthu and I got word that we needed to move out of our place by December 1, as the flat is actually owned by an organization who has an expat coming to Malawi and they will be needing the place. I realized after to talking to friends about rooms for rent that I was getting a ridiculously good deal on rent by living in a flat in Area 11, rather than renting a room in a full house and having to pay for such extra trivial things as walls and guards. Area 11 is actually really safe, nice, and cheap and moving to Francesca’s meant that the actual move was easy as she lives just round the corner. You don’t get a huge garden and swimming pool like you might in some of the other expat-y areas, but we have an avocado tree outside the door, so that is good enough for the moment. (un)Luckily, Francesca is moving to Washington in mid-December, and I’ll be able to take over her room. I’ll be living with Rusty, a quirky middle-aged South African lady and it should be really good as the place is much ‘homier’ than my previous flat. Rusty has a very cool “Afro-Boho” sense of style which I love about the place as well. She is currently on holiday until the middle of December, so I decided to move in a bit earlier to be roomies with Francesca for a few weeks. It’s great as we just stand in the kitchen, drink tea, chat and eat whatever happens be in the fridge, straight out of the container.
The last few weekends have been quite busy. Believe it or not, a few weekends ago, I was part of an International African Football tournament. Yes, that’s right. Anna and competitive team sports. I’ve been playing football on Tuesdays with the Lilongwe Womens Football Club, which is really just a bunch of expat women who play for “the fun and the fitness”, and we were invited through some connection to play against a team in Mozambique, in a town called Metangula, just on the other side of the Lake. It was a very LONG bus ride for a very SHORT game, but the atmosphere was something else as I think the whole town turned up to watch us play. We lost, of course, but only 2 -0, so we didn’t get killed, but after the game the entire crowd stormed the field (which was really just a patch of ground at the airport – which was really just a strip of dirt and a building) and circled around us cheering. Quite the scene – big enough in fact to get a TV crew, National Mozambique Radio, and the mayor all out for the evening. It is election time in Mozambique, and any cause for a crowd is also cause for a FRELIMO political rally!
Anna the football star
Me being interviewed for National Mozambique Radio
I was lucky enough last weekend to be invited to my friend Leigh’s parent’s cottage in Monkey Bay. Leigh is South African and works for GTZ (Germany’s version of CIDA) and whose parent’s happen to live in Lilongwe as well. The weekend was fabulous. The cottage (and by cottage I mean Beach House with veranda, swimming pool and lawn down to the beach with palm trees and baobabs...) was gorgeous and we had a great time sipping drinks, having a Braai (BBQ, for the non-South Africans), going swimming and just generally lazing about. We drove to Cape Maclear on the Saturday afternoon and hired a boat to take us out to an island where we had picnic and went snorkelling. I knew Malawi was famous for its fish, and the millions of kind of Cichlids, but I wasn’t prepared for the sheer volume of fish in the water, or for the bright colours! Will, if you are reading this, I felt like I was swimming through the aquarium you used to have. Amazing. We also got to watch the boat guys feed the fish eagles. We bought fish from two boys in a dugout canoe and watched as the driver threw the fish in to the water. These huge eagles would then soar down majestically from the treetops and swipe the fish right out of the water in one fell swoop. Mike, remember the Okavango?
The Cottage
Swimming with the fishies.
Oh yeah, I also got a wicked tan last weekend. I hear it is snowing in Canada??
So, all in all, I’m doing well. I feel a bit less guilty for not posting for ages now that I’ve crammed everything in to one Super Post.
Until next time...
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