Chakudya! [Food!]

Thank you for all the lovely and encouraging emails you've all sent. Having reread my Malawi emails, I have to admit I'm a little embarrassed by my previous outbursts and silly rants. I hope none of you think that I'm a big baby!

Anyway, I'm slowly getting used to Malawi. I realized that I like Zomba (little sleepy town that it is) better than Blantyre. Sandy (my roommate) and I went down on Saturday afternoon to Blantyre via a minibus (picture a van with 5 rows of seats which, according to the law, can only seat 3 people per row at a time). The minibuses aren't exactly in tip-top condition but, well, it works. My other roommate, Marie, was on a minibus that picked up a guy with 4 live chickens! Oh, Malawi.

Blantyre is about 50km south of Zomba and is the commercial city of Malawi. I was expecting something like Kuala Lumpur (hahaha, ok, too much). More like Sentul in Malaysia or hmm, I can't think of a comparable town in the States. Think of .. hmm, I don't know. It's kinda dirty, there's maybe four major streets and there are shops along those streets but they're sorta rundown. I didn't take any pics of Blantyre because I was told that snatch thieves are pretty common. Foreigner with a big backpack whipping out her camera? Prime target.

By the way, I got asked by two different people if I was Japanese. Huh? One was a Malawian lady (who was very cute and taught me the word for cat in Chichewa – it's paga – and I told her I knew the word for lion in Chichewa – it's kango). The other person claimed he was from Japan but I thought it was odd that he thought I was from his native country when err, I clearly do not look Japanese.

So what did I do in Blantyre? I ate. A lot. Amazing meals and dessert. Give me a break, I was homesick! So Saturday night we went to this Indian restaurant called Bombay Palace and met up with an Indian couple (the wife is doing her MPH at Columbia and her husband came to do some orphanage work but he's a lawyer in NYC). They're leaving at the end of the week, though. Then Sandy's friend, Victor, who is finishing up his internship with the Millennium Cities was there as well. He is doing his MIA at SIPA at Columbia and is leaving on Tuesday for Spain before heading back to NYC. I actually felt like I was back in the States and the whole ambiance of the restaurant was very modern.

Then Sandy and I went back to Doogle's (a backpackers lodge) that was about 700 Kwachas a night for a dorm room (140 Kwachas = 1 USD) and passed out. The next morning we met some other people over breakfast and one of them is a British bloke (Hywel and he specifically said his name rhymes with towel so that's how I remember him) who is coming into Zomba this week to screen films in schools for the kids. Sandy and I then headed out to meet a friend of hers who lives in Blantyre. He's actually a widow who is from Karala but has been living in Africa since 1997. He was extremely nice and fed us good Indian food (his helper – a Malawian – made chapatti from scratch and yes, I snapped a pic). After we hung out with him, we then went to meet Victor and his friends at an Italian restaurant in the town. Because Sandy and I had lunch, we settled for dessert and we were not disappointed! Chocolate cake and crepes with ice cream!

Victor's friends were other students working with various NGOs in the town. One of them, Kathryn, used to live in SF and we immediately bonded over our love for the city and how much we missed the Bay area. She's also staying until September so we decided that we will be traveling buddies for the next few months. The other two girls are Binu (from Calgary) who works with Hygiene for Villagers (or something like that) and Rita (from Georgia) who's doing her summer MPH internship (Emory) with Water for People,

So yes, that was my weekend. I splurged on food but at the same time, it sort of lessened the craving for comfort and home because I realized that I'm here in Malawi for 5 months and I should get used to it and stop whining. And most importantly, I'm here for a reason and it's to help make a difference in people's lives, no matter how small. I guess previously I was frustrated with lack of communication and the fact that at work, I was not getting anything done due to various factors (I'll talk about it later, when I have a better idea why). But I have come to understand that the way that things work for me in the US does not necessarily translate to how it'll work out here in Malawi. (Wow, déjà vu Pre-Practicum seminar discussions).

Anyway, I'm feeling much better and am more optimistic about my stint here. Meeting like-minded people definitely helps and I have somewhat adjusted to the time. I still can't really send/receive international texts but it's okay. I've gotten calls from loved ones and that has made a world of a difference!

On that note, I guess I'll sign off for now. I've been typing this for the past hour and it's way past my bedtime. By the way, I am in the office before 8am because the UNDP jeep comes by at 7.30 sharp. No sleeping in!

Moni! [Hello!]

Ok, I think I can finally write everyone a proper email of what it's been like in Malawi. I don't know how interesting you'd find it and there's a high probability that it'd be repetitive but just bear with me lah.

I'll skip the whole journey from Blantyre to Zomba cause that was just 50 minutes of bumpy road and horrible attempts to learn Chichewa. Oh, but I do have to describe the airport to you! It was like, hmm, it's an international airport but it looked like it was something from the 60s with wooden podiums (for customs), a wooden man-made structure for immigration, and rusty carts. There was one baggage belt thing but it worked so that was fine. I was worried I wouldn't get my luggage in one piece but there's hope for them third world people yet! (Ok, so not right of me to say that but those who know me best know I'm kidding).

I like the girls I'm living with -- they're all really sweet. Marie is a junior at Duke and she's a super neat freak just like me! We got psyched over a broom when shopping at the store yesterday and have chosen a weekend to blast music and clean up the house. Hehe. Eleanor is going to be senior at UNC and she's doing this semester at sea course in the fall where she's stopping in Brazil, Namibia, Cape Town, Malaysia (!!!), Vietnam, and Costa Rica then back home. How cool is that? I've already given her tips on food to eat in Malaysia and where to go so she's all set. The other roommate is Sandy and she just graduated from Columbia (SIPA and Business School) and is finishing up her marketing project on portable LED lanterns here in the village. She's quite busy but tonight we were all home at the same time and cooked dinner (boiled potatoes, kale, rice and beans, and had some form of choc frosting with muffin aka "cupcake" for dessert. I think we're planning to head into Blantyre tomorrow and hopefully meet up with some other Columbia kids in town.

Oh crap. I gotta run. We only have one ethernet connection and someone needs it asap. So I'll write more over the weekend!