B= Bicycles. A new friend of ours will be leaving for a few months pretty soon and lent us his 2 mountain bikes- HELL YEAH! It has made things so much easier, fun, and provides quite the workout as well. LOTS of people bike here.
C = Chichewa, the language of (most of) Malawi. I gots to learn it. Gots to.
D = Deet. Spray that poison right on my body- keep those mosquitos away!
E = Embassy. They are our hook up. Its so close to use and they have such nice people so willing to help us out. I might be able to go to the gym there- fingers crossed!
F = Francesco, our housemate. What a guy. A 40 year old happy trilingual mechanic who told us today that, under this roof, we are all family. (Awwwwww!)
G = Gin. Malawi “gin” is apparently not really gin, but that doesn’t keep me from taking a shot after dinner to possibly kill some of the nasties that were in my food (I learned this trick from my friend Hadley who knew someone who did this in India…). And believe me, it is that strong…
H = HIV /AIDS, the whole reason for our being here. We have already met a lot of people who do AIDS research and relief and we feel we have a good base of connections within this expansive community. Malawi’s infection rate is not as bad as South Africa’s but it still is a huge huge problem, hence our being here.
I = Internet. I thought South Africa was bad? Bah! It is even slower here. I really hate paying by megabyte. This means no YouTube for a long time, and even worse no downloading music. I mean, I COULD do it, but it would cost even more. Stupid stupid system.
J = Juma, our 90-something year old house-helper. He is so nice. I must admit it is really weird having someone always in the house, vacuuming or putting away dishes or this and that….. it is definitely something to get used to. It’s so weird to say “we have staff at our house.” But I just have to look at it as local employment, and they are surely treated well here. Its just odd to come back into my room after spending 5 minutes in the kitchen and having my bed made. Not bad, just odd.
K = Kait, the name I go by here, as it is easier for most people to say.
L = Lake as Lake Malawi is Malawi’s biggest tourist attraction and apparently THE
thing to visit while here. We haven’t been yet but hope to go soon- apparently it’s only about an hour and a half away! Our housemates have a speed oat and we’re hoping we can tag along with them one weekend.
M = It’s a tie!
Mzungu, a term used for a white person. It is also used in Tanzania, so I “got used to it” there, but I never really get used it it as so much is implied by using it (money, mostly). When I ride around on my bike with my bright yellow shirt, pink draw-string bag, and green ball cap, #1 I look like a dumbass and #2 could see why I get the scoffs and hear a condescending “mzungu” somewhere in the mini conversation I inspire. Plus, I get stares. All. The. Time.
and
Malarone. Every night, yall. Every night.
N = NGOs. There are TONS of them here in Lilongwe, especially ones dealing with HIV/AIDS.
O = Olivia, the little girl I live with, pictured in an earlier entry. WHAT A CUTIE. She makes this house so much fun and I am so glad that I will be able to see her grow. The other day I had my yoga mat all rolled up and she unrolled it and proceeded to dance on the mat, asking me in her cute little way to join her. It is now the dancing mat.
P = Peter Mawanga, the musical artist we are working with while here who is incredibly smart, talented, and driven. We have now met with him twice and are always so inspired afterward. Good vibes, good vibes. Check out his music online!
Q = Quiet, which is how we spend our evenings here. With no car we are pretty much confined to the house after dark. Since it is the rainy season, lots of nights we fall asleep (at like, 10) to the sound of rain. We’ve eaten every dinner here thus far, with the help of our amazing housemate Carmen. who either helps us cook or cooks for us. She was a nutritionist for years and if she feels we haven’t gotten enough protein she will give us some chicken korma she made…. WOW! But yes, Quiet nights at home, which I like.
R = L. and L = R in Chichewa. “Didn’t you hear about the Plesidential Erection last year?” Oh, Chichewa, you can be funny sometimes.
S = Steripen. LOVE IT. This thing looks like it belongs on a spaceship or something. “Wait, so by stirring this little magic wand that lights up in my water, I’ll be ok?” Thus far, yes. Rock on.
T = Talents of the Malawian Child, Peter Mawanga’s non-profit organization. The other day while Peter was at our place he explained more to us about this endeavor and what it is all about. I could write so much about it but basically they get kids off the street by getting them into music and making albums, and through their album proceeds they support themselves. Peter has a lot of ambitious and awesome ideas for this NPO that Finn (Andrew) and I would be so thrilled to be apart of.
Anyone want to design their website?
U = UNC Malawi Project. WORD UP to Irving Hoffman, who started this project years ago. They will definitely be good people to have on our side. Walking into their building which is by the main hospital for a meeting, I got such a sense of pride seeing Carolina Blue all over the building, as well as UNC’s logo. Google them to see what they do. V = Village of Hope, an orphanage really close to our house. Owned by a Canadian couple who have been very welcoming to us. They have done some wonderful things and we definitely see ourselves spending some time there.
W = Wisdom, which I hope to gain during my time here and what a lot of the people I’ve met definitely have, especially a lot of the…..
X = X-Pats. There is a huge eX-pat community here. The New Years party we went to was mainly ex-pats who either work for the embassy or an NGO or something of the sort. They have soccer games, walking clubs, book clubs, yoga classes….. everything! A very social bunch. Ima definitely get in on that yoga.
Y = You. This may seem unoriginal, but let me just say, though I am totally here and living in the present moment, I still think/dream of home and my friends and family. For sure. Also, YOU should come visit. Yes, YOU!
Z = Zain, one of the phone companies here in Malawi. There are 2 – Zain and TNM, which are always competing with one another. Most people have 2 phone numbers- one with each company, because its cheaper to call people in network. Its pretty bureaucratic and silly. I miss Verizon.
So, there were lots of other ties I wanted to include (like Lilongwe for L and Christianity for C) but alas I think these are the best. And this is just the beginning!
I really want to document this entire experience and am digging this blog thing, partly because if I ever lost my real journal I’d be SOL! But really, in my mind this site is meant not only for me to share but also for whoever the hell happens to read this to share. The project is all about collaboration so as I go along please feel free to send me and/or Finn any ideas/thoughts/advice you might have. Having an outside perspective can really help sometimes. And who knows, maybe we’ll give you a shout-out on the album credits...
Love ~ Kaitlin
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