Monday, November 16th - Mchinji, Malawi

Well, it was a long hot night and I was awake often tossing and turning and trying to get cool, but I did manage to get some sleep.  I was definitely asleep when my alarm went off at 6 a.m.  In fact I hit the snooze button twice in an attempt to get a bit more sleep.

Water is a problem here in general so last night we had none except for what is kept in the big buckets in each bathroom.  This morning I thought we still didn't have any because I could get nothing from my bathroom sink sockets.  I decided to try the shower just in case though and it did indeed have water.  It was squirting in all directions, especially at the sink and toilet, but there was a bit going straight down.  I actually shut it off again until it was just a slow single drip and that's what I ended up showering in.  It worked fine and the rest of the room stayed drier.  The bathroom is a unique one.  As you enter there are two steps down into a lower area for the shower and then a step up to the toilet area.  The sink is between the two.  There are no shower curtains and since the water from the shower seems to go in any direction, everything gets wet.  You quickly learn to keep your toilet paper and anything else you don't want to get wet up high on the window sill.  I'm not complaining though.  It was just nice to get a shower of any kind.

We had breakfast in the dining room and everyone just gets the same thing - one fried egg (hard and cold), two pieces of dry bread, french fries and coleslaw.  The last we can't eat because we don't know if it was washed thoroughly in bottled water.  The chips are not normal for breakfast.  The other two are okay but pretty boring.  I had tea as well and we brought some mangos with us so they were the best part of the meal.

After breakfast we were off to Mchinji Secondary School.  We met briefly with one teacher who was greeting us and holding down the fort until the head master returned from trying to sort out water problems at the school.  Then we met with a dozen teachers out under a beautiful shade tree with a lovely breeze to keep us cool.  At one point there was a very strong wind gust that sent everything flying, especially the dust.     Other than that the temperature was lovely.

The session, especially at the start, was pretty quiet with not much participation by the teachers but eventually some of them did start to speak up - especially when Aaron shares his story about how much he spends on airtime, which seems to be a very common and big expense.  They always need it and always buy it when they are running out but they never stop to think about how much in total they are spending.  We likened it to having a cappuccino or two each day and how much that costs per month or year.  Once they understand his story they seem to understand a bit more about what we are trying to tell them re budgeting and saving money (or not).

After our presentation we went back to the hotel.  I luckily got to switch rooms so I now have an air conditioner.  Now I just have to hope that the electricity stays on long enough for me to enjoy it.  We went for lunch at the hotel restaurant where we will eat most of our meals.  The choices are limited.  We had chicken and rice and vegetables last night.  For lunch we had beef and vegetables and rice.  Tonight might be chicken again unless they come to another alternative.  And the vegetables that go with them are definitely not my favourites.  Pumpkin leaves are big here, served osrt of like spinach but with other things aded in like onion and tomatoes and peanut butter.  Lynn loves it but it's just not working for me.  

After lunch I spent most of the afternoon in my room.  As expected the power was out but the room didn't feel too hot at the start.  After a while it seemed quite hot.  Then we had a rain shower/storm and everything cooled off nicely but remained quite humid.  You would have thought it was a real torrential downpour given the noise but the tin roofs definitely amplify the sound.  That is not to say that it wasn't raining hard because it really was.  And Im sure every farmer in the area was cheering and hoping that planting would begin soon.

We had dinner at the hotel - chicken and rice for me - and then I had another quiet evening blogging and resting.  The air was certainly cooler after the rain and it felt like a totally different day.  The security guard at the hotel was running around in rain gear that looked really hot and heavy but to the locals this is very cool weather.  To us it is quite comfortable and I was still sitting around in a sleeveless top until I headed to my room for the night.

The power was off and on throughout dinner and the generator was working some times and not others.  Carrying a flashlight everywhere you go is certainly a good idea.  They have trenches all around the place so you really have to watch where you are walking to ensue you don't fall into an unexpected hole.  Yesterday they seemed strange to us but now, after an afternoon and evening of rain that was often quite heavy, we understand their purpose.  The parking lot and area around the rooms is totally dry right now, which was quite unexpected after so much rain.  The drainage system certainly works well and does its job.  We should stay dry if more rains do arrive.