6 Months In

As with the majority of New Years resolutions, my “Write On My Blog More” resolution kind of died about two weeks in. “Saving Money, “Eating Better” and “Moving More”, are still around – not vibrantly alive, but alive nonetheless. And as to Julian’s query of “Yo, where’s your Blog at?”, I respond with another super-post to fill in the blanks from the last three weeks!

In terms of work, things got off to a slow start in January. I had been hoping to dive right in after getting back from holidays, but as I have learned by now, things move at a slower pace here. I don’t say this to complain, but rather just as an observation that I think many others have made as well – we in the West are much too concerned about time: saving time, losing time, finding time - there is never enough time, and that it why we are always in a hurry. Malawians on the other hand have a differing view. Time is more fluid – there is always enough time, you can make the time you need, why are you rushing, Anna? This is not a negative thing, rather, I think that we may have it wrong. Everybody has heard of ‘African Time’ and the term is often used in a jokingly negative context – is it so bad though? Maybe we all just need to slow down. The waitress we had at lunch yesterday will never get a stress headache, or die of a heart attack. Admittedly, ‘African Time’ has been frustrating, especially at work, but then I have to ask my self: “why are you rushing, Anna?” Just so I don’t generalize too much about Malawians, I must mention my CEO who has everyone sign in when they arrive in the morning, and if you are later than 7:45 (yes, work starts at 7:30am) they you have to sign the ‘Why I am Late’ sign-in book.

I am potentially concerned about getting things done because I am only here a limited amount of time (see? There you go: “a limited amount of time” – it is so ingrained!) and I want to feel like I have accomplished something. Monique at CCA assures me that I have been quite productive, but I still feel like I spend many a day trying to keep busy. I have been successful in developing HIV/AIDS policies for both MUSCCO and a generic policy for the SACCOs to adopt, and the same for Gender. That’s something anyway, and something concrete, which is kind of nice. We have actually set some dates for HIV/AIDS Awareness trainings and some Gender trainings as well. These will be happening in March, which is later than I would have expected, but there’s enough time...

With a full 6 months in Malawi under my belt, and now a little less than 3 more to go before I am done work, I’m starting to get itching to see what other possibilities are out there in the “Post-Internship” world. Broad options include getting another job overseas or getting a job in Toronto or elsewhere in Canada. My fear is that I will be just one more Intern-Returnee hitting the pavement in Toronto, or working as an over qualified cashier, and that it will take forever to find something else in my field. And apparently, with this marvellous economic situation that we are in, jobs are fairly scarce to begin with. If you are reading this and happen to know of something available in Gender/Girls Empowerment/AIDS, let me know... Best to start the job search early!

Outside of the office, things in Malawi are fab. I feel like I am always busy with this or that and seeing friends. Football, Aerobics, dinners out, Wednesday night at the Shack... and there is always some party on Saturday night, or weekend at the Lake that requires my attention  I like being busy and social, and in a small city, with a relatively large expat population, there is always something going on. Tonight however, I am secretly hoping that no one calls me so I can stay home and eat popcorn and watch many, many episodes of Desperate Housewives... I remember that before I left home, I was having a bit of a mini- freak out: What am I doing? What if I don’t like my job? What if I don’t make any friends? Mom was to the rescue, of course, with the wise words of: “Anna, you’ve made friends everywhere you’ve ever been. Why would this be any different?” So true, Mom. I am honestly proud of myself that I can move somewhere where I don’t know a soul, and end up with a solid group of friends.

I’m not too sure what I expected when I came to Malawi, but there seems to be much more of a divide between the Expats and the Malawians than I thought there would be. Maybe it is Lilongwe? Maybe it is me? I don’t have many Malawian friends at all, save people from work, and expats hang out at expat places where the few well-to-do Malawians hang out. I feel like people in Development should be bridging the divide though between the expats and the locals, but the sad but true reality is that you really do always end up hanging out with people like you, and where you feel comfortable. Then it seems kind of silly just to go and hang out at a bottle shop in Bwandilo, just so you feel like you are more ‘with the people’.
These are just rambling thoughts, pay no heed...

In pure expat fashion, tomorrow night there is a big party. The theme? 80’s Prom Night. I’m heading to the used clothing market tomorrow to see what might turn up, and to give the Malawians just one more reason to shake their heads and say: “Crazy Mzungus...”