Updates

One month in, halfway through this summer in Malawi. These past four weeks have gone by quickly. Work has been good; will be traveling a bit in the next few weeks; should be exciting! =D

Lots of thoughts floating in my head, but few of them written down. So I'll just dump some notes here and perhaps write them out further at some later point in time.

Re: Learning about Malawi
- People are super friendly here! And generally happy. Formal greetings, especially to people older than you. Lots of head-nodding and smiling and thank-yous.
- Staring is commonplace and socially acceptable. There is no sense of privacy or personal space -- not in the hospital wards, not in the villages.
- Azungos ("white people") are good entertainment, especially in villages. And a surprisingly large group of people is included in the "white people" category... People of German, Italian, Chinese, and Indian heritage are all lumped together as "white people". Haha a Pakistani friend here was asked if his older Luxembourgish friend was his father. They were both very amused (and bemused).
- Animals are not pets here. They serve a purpose -- dogs to guard, cows and goats and chickens for milk/meat/food. Cows can also be wrestled! Fun fun.
- Dogs can be vicious. Even the nice dogs that sit outside the house where I live with the other international hospital volunteers/guests. Bobby and Timmy were very bad and killed a baby goat yesterday =(
- Clean air. Despite the fact that (1) waste management here = throwing on the ground or incineration and (2) cooking can be super-smoky, the air here is super duper clean and fresh. Beautiful open skies, no smog.
- So blessed to have electricity (and generators for the very frequent times that power is out) and running water (even though it's cold) and clean ant-and-other-insect-free beds.
- HUGE AVOCADOS. amazingly good. Pits are about the same size as at home, but the avocado is 2 or 3 times larger. derrrrrricious. And lots of onions and tomatoes and baby bananas.

Re: Learning about myself
- I don't have much experience with drunk people. Twice now I have been walking in town and been approached by a drunk (one man, one woman... both not young) and didn't realize that they were drunk. According to my friend Crystal, children laughing at the old lady who is following Crystal and me around is perhaps a good sign that maybe the old lady is a little tipsy.
- I like exploring. It sometimes leads to me getting a little lost, but that's okay! As long as I'm not lost too much... or find my way back to a familiar place within an hour. =D Like on Sunday when Crystal and I were exploring the villages behind the trading center at Namitete (a larger trading center than the one by the hospital, which is called Namitondo). Glad there are at least a few people who know English.
- Malaria prophylaxis (Malarone) gives me very vivid dreams.
- I REALLY like sitting in the back of the hospital pick-up truck. And riding bike taxis. So much fun!!
- Reading a lot. Lots of early-morning alone-time, good for thinking and reading and meditating on Scripture. Finished Tozer's The Pursuit of God today. An oldie but a goodie. Really really really good. And not long. Fit very well with the chapters I was studying in Romans today (6-7). Prayer for full surrender to Christ -- that he becomes more, and I become less. So easy to make an idol of myself, or of busyness, or any good thing that distracts me from full satisfaction in Christ alone.

Food-from-scratch log in Zitha House (where all the hospital guests/volunteers from out-of-country stay -- we rotate cooking, so each group of one or two or three cooks about once a week):
- buttermilk pancakes with bananas
- oatmeal cookies
- thai curry
- roast cabbage and root vegetables and chicken
- chili and coleslaw
- cong you bing and stir-fry and basmati rice
- nsima, relish, beef, fried egg
- garlic bread and pasta
- guacamole on toasted scone bread
- brussel spouts and crostini and barley soup and mushroom risotto
- lots of peanut butter, jam, oatmeal, bread, granola bars
It's been exciting to cook with limited food supplies and small stove/oven/counter space. Gotta use lots of imagination! Fun fun fun.

Today's sunset was pretty, too!

And time for bed! Going on a day trip tomorrow -- visiting another hospital, renewing visa to stay in-country for another month, printing out a sample patient register to go along with our database project, visiting Lake Malawi. Goodnight!