The TANK

22 days into Malawi and we have purchased a car, well more like a Tank, to navigate the streets of Lilongwe, but most importantly, to go on safari and camping trips!  Now, before I start talking about our car, let me tell you how differently priced vehicles are in this neck of the woods!   There are two kinds of vehicles on the market here: Duty- paid and duty free, just like people working here have different status: tax payers and tax exempt.  So, if a diplomat or an NGO buys a car, their status is tax exempt and they can buy a car without paying the duty.

The rest of us, unfortunately, are taxpayers and we have to either buy a car for which we have to pay the duty/taxes duties (huge percentage, almost doubling the car price) OR buy a car for which the duty was paid by a previous owner.  So, you can imagine that all that tax paying makes cars expensive…and therefore new cars are few and between, while older, well-kept models are what is being sold on a daily basis. 

Now, let’s talk about our new ride: we got a 1996 Nissan Patrol 4x4 V8 Diesel with about 250,000 kms on the counter.  It’s rather well-kept, considering its “grand old age”, and runs with a nice diesel engine sound…  It’s easily seats 8 or by squeezing on the front seat, even 9 with a removable third row bench.  Without the bench its nice sized trunk space will hold all our camping gear! 

So far, nothing out of the ordinary…. except that the wheel is on the RIGHT side of the vehicle, that the driver has to shift gears using her/his left hand, and that the indicator lever is on the right, with the windshield wiper lever on the left.  Yeah, I can see you trying to figure this out…it’s just the opposite of what all US, Canadian, European cars have… which means that we will turn on the windshield wipers more often than it rains in London!!!

The good thing about the TANK is that it’s SO big , cars will move out of its way on narrow roads, a perfect set-up for us, as we’ve just started driving on the WRONG side of the road…  I still have to think where I’m to drive the car…  Only way I know is that, as the driver, I should be closer to the middle of the road than to the edge…  Can’t wait for the weekend to go for a drive… IF we can get diesel to fill its tank up!  But that will be another story…

Love at First Sight

Our housekeeper Annie has been working in our homefor 17 years and today she experienced love at first sight!  I was observing her sweeping the floors, literally moving the dust around!  Knowing that our vacuum cleaner from Saudi was in the pantry, I pulled it out of storage, brought it to her and ask her if she wanted to use the vacuum.  She looked up and told me she had never used one.  So, I showed her how to plug it in, how to sweep the floors and then let her have a go!

Annie started giggling, giddy with happiness and utter glee.  So, as a good lady of the house, I went back to the Monopoly game we were playing and she went on with her first vacuuming!  We could hear her giggle and laugh by herself!   At one point, she saw Francisco, our gardener and called him in, to show him the vacuum.  Again, we heard laughs and giggles!  They started admiring the vacuum sucking up the dust.    Francisco stayed in, to watch her vacuum.  He even had his try with the machine.

I had never considered that some people had never used a vacuum cleaner, but seeing Annie and Francisco laughingly use it to clean the house probably was one of the best sounds I had heard!  The giggles and laughs of adults discovering a helpful technology tool!

Lilongwe Hash

There is a Hash House Harriers Group in Lilongwe and we finally were able to join them, as this Monday the meeting point was less than 10 minutes walk from our house…and walk is what you do when you don’t have a car!  It was quite different from the Riyadh Hash, that’s for sure.  No need for sponsor, no cryptic map, no circle before the run, no Allen ;-( as RA…  The people we met were rather nice and welcomed us openly.  It just was so different!  We walked along the river in fields and then along the Lilongwe Golf Course, at a rapid pace. Could hardly keep up!  The Runs take place on Monday early evening and start at one person’s house, taking the group through various areas of town.  Therefore after the run, we all gathered at one house, were served pizza and could purchase soft drinks and beer.  After some socializing, the circle was called;  returning members and visitors were recognized and had a down-down.  Two were punished, one for getting his car stuck and one for driving to the hash, when her house was 3 houses down!  Overall an interesting way to spend a Monday evening…

Starting at a new School

Mid August start of school, in winter crispness as we are in the Southern Hemisphere…  Sweaters needed in the morning as it’s pretty cool…but by the time 9:00 am comes around, we shed them willingly!   Emma has started in Year 6 in Mrs. S’s class, an American from Minnesota, the last year of the primary years and Alex is in year 4 in Mrs. D’s class, a Brit married to a Portuguese who has called Malawi home for over 20 years, after a stint in Zimbabwe. 

Our new school is on a sprawling campus, including trees, lots of grass, a full size football pitch with tracks all around, a netball field, tennis courts, two pools, a fill size gym with stage and classroom buildings all over, as we start in Reception, the equivalent of Pre-K or KG1 and go to year 13, the equivalent of Grade 12.  The admin and some teachers also live on campus.  This is truly a school community! 

And with a whole bunch of teachers living within walking distance of the school, it’s quite convenient.  We’re barely 5 minutes walk from the school gate…  great thing right now, as we still don’t have a car!

The school is an IB school, with PYP and DP already authorized and currently implementing the MYP, making the transition from the British Curriculum to the IB.  We are starting along a new director whose vision is establishing and confirming a school identity and striving to implement the highest standards in education.  I think I can live with that and work along just fine! 

We had a full week induction/training/classroom readiness time… before welcoming the students on Monday, August 15^th, unfortunately for only 2 days as calls for protests forced us to close the school for 2 days in its first week.  Better be safe than risking students’, staff and parents’ safety and setting ourselves as an unnecessary target!  So, We had school Monday and Tuesday, school is closed Wednesday and Thursday and we are reopening on Friday!  Kind of a strange way to start the year, but we are dealing with it!

Grocery Shopping

If someone had told me that I would almost cry after my first grocery shopping trip, I would have laughed in their face…but it actually happened.  We knew that there were going to be limitations to what we could purchase in stores here….but not because of prices!!!  We fully expected not to be able to find some staples.  That turned out untrue, as Lilongwe now has several grocery stores, stocked with just about everything you may need on a regular basis.  The problem comes with the prices of some of these items!  Mayonnaise and mustard are close to $10.00 a pot, EVOO runs at $20.00 a bottle, and I’m not even talking top shelf olive oil!  A box of Corn Flakes is about $10.00 too…  Needless to say, we are definitely going to change our eating habits, focusing more on unprocessed food and fresh fruits and vegetables.  There are a few good articles though:  a fresh loaf of bread is less than $1.00 and homegrown fruits and veggies are readily available on the corner of just about every street.  The variety is not as great as the grocery store, but the prices are less and we help the local economy directly!  I can see some good coming out of this…a  forced diet!

Dedza Pottery Studio

On our first Sunday, the school had organized a trip for new teachers to the Dedza pottery studio and a nice hike in the countryside.  We were picked up from the house bright and early and left Lilongwe behind and going deep inland. Malawi is a very poor country and we got to see that first hand during our 80 minute drive to Dedza.  Every few miles along the road we were traveling, we could see groups of mud houses, with straw roofs and no apparent electricity or running water.  Groups of women were seemingly working and/or gathering things.  Children were running around while the men were sitting together.  Just what you would imagine an African village to look like!  Many people were seen walking between the villages, some carrying heavy loads on their heads, while others were riding their beat-up bicycles, loaded with fire woods.

We arrived to the small town of Dedza and started our hike up the big hill/mountain overlooking the village.  The views were beautiful from up there!  Loads of trees, vegetation, new smells and singing birds…What a change from our desert hike in the Arabian desert!  We were almost on the border between Malawi and Mozambique and could see the mountains on the other side, in Mozambique.  Actually, in some places, the road acts as a border, with one side Malawi and the other Mozambique. 

After the hike, we enjoyed a nice buffet of a variety of cuisines (think American Crème of Mushroom soup, Italian Pizza, Greek Mousaka with an Indian curry twist, French chicken roulades and Cheesecake) Quite a feast, I may say!

Finally, we went to the Pottery studio and were able to admire some gorgeous handmade pottery, ranging from plates, cups, serving pieces and water and milk pitchers.  The temptation was high to stock up with those beautiful pieces, but we did not get anything this time, but hope to next time we visit this beautiful place.

First Black-Out

We’ve been here for 3 days and, as I am typing this, are experiencing our first power cut, starting around 6:40 PM, after sundown.  Alex was chillaxing, watching the movie Rango on the laptop, Worth was reading “The Long Way Down” by Ewan McGregor and I was taking a relaxing bath.  Emma has already made little friends and is at her first sleepover!

With no warning, the whole house was thrown in the dark.  Immediately, Worth told Alex not to move, found the emergency candles, set in wine bottles and the matches. Within seconds, we had candlelight.  Alex kept on watching his movie on the laptop, Worth had resumed his reading and I was able to finish my relaxing bath by candlelight ;)

PS: Power is already back on, the cut lasted at most 30 minutes!  Nothing compared to some of the DEMCO cuts we’ve had in Copper Mill before!!

First Braai

In Malawi different words are used for familiar things, as we found out on our first night when we were invited at some South African colleagues’ house to our first Braai.  A Braai is just a barbecue in this neck of the woods.  Although we were beyond tired, not having slept in a real bed in over 2 days, we enjoyed the early evening, and the fresh air! 

That’s right, Malawi is in the Southern Hemisphere, and it’s the winter…  During the day it’s warm, short and t-shirt temperatures.  But the evenings definitely require sweater and long sleeves.  As far as those pesky mosquitoes, they are not too bad right now, but there are always present and as a precaution, we are all sleeping under mosquito nets, and we need to either stay in or spray with “Skeeter deterrent” in the evening.

Pele and Taliska

Last spring, when we found out where we would be staying, we got into contact with the couple then living in the house, and after deciding to purchase their washing machine, patio wicker furniture and their modem, we also accepted to keep their two dogs, two female black labs. 

The big one is Pele, looks like a big male, barking and ferocious, but only really wants to be loved and to be rubbed all over! 

The smaller one is named Taliska who at some point in her life sustained a leg injury and is now walking on three legs.  Taliska means “smaller one” in Chichewa, the language of Malawi. 

Dogs act as deterrent to intruders and, I have to admit, their barks sound mean…but it’s only an act!

We have a rather big yard all around the house and the dogs run around the house a bit, but spend most of their time baking in the sun, rolling in the dirt and waiting for food, just being dogs!  The children were looking forward to meeting their new pets, as they were pretty sad to say goodbye to our cat Gumbeaux we had to leave in Riyadh, giving her to a colleague.  Alex is especially fond of the dogs and was quick to say that Pele was his dog whereas Taliska was Emma’s. 

The first night we were here, the school bus picked us up to take us to a barbecue.  Of course, both dogs were running around the bus and barking like mad.  But, before we could even climb in the bus, Pele had already jumped in and was receiving rubs and pats!  All passengers were laughing!  Talk about a great way to meet your new colleagues!

Our new house

“Oh, you’ve got the Party House!!! “ is what we hear from the returning teachers when we tell them which house we moved into!  It looks like this place was the social glue that held the faculty together for the past several years….  We have big shoes to fill, and plan on trying to hold up to the challenge of staying the party house!  Now, I do have to say that the house is pretty cool looking inside and out.  Over the summer it was given a fresh coat of paint all over in and out, as well as some needed maintenance.  Now, we have unpacked our suitcases and are waiting for our boxes to arrive from Riyadh. 

The main house has three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms in the main house, plus a guest suite right outside the kitchen door.  The kitchen is huge and has cabinets and counters on all 4 walls (lots of storage), and we have a walk-in pantry, very reminiscent of the pantry we had in our first house in Clinton (for those who remember it).  The flooring in that part of the house is all tiled. 

Then you have the living room/den/office with parquet flooring and wooden ceilings. 

All windows are dark varnished wood and many have louvers and mosquito nets.  All windows and doors are also protected with rebar on the outside and inside.  It sounds like a lot because it is.  Although Malawi people are very peaceful for the most part, break-ins are common place, mostly for electronics..so most houses are protected in that fashion.  Plus we have a full security monitoring system!  Makes you feel safe!  Check out the keys to open all the doors and rebar doors!!!  A picture is worth a thousand words. 

Arrival at Lilongwe

After four long flights totaling about 20 hours in the air and a 10 hours layover in London (a chance to get some excellent fish and chips at a pub by Covent Garden,  a few photo ops by Big Ben, The London Eye and The House of Parliament) we arrived in Malawi around 10:00 am this Wednesday.  All our 10 checked pieces of luggage made it and only one was searched by US employees (they left their standard form informing us).  Ironically, the only bottle that leaked was in that bag…not sure if it was a coincidence or a result of the search!

Lilongwe airport is on the small side.  We went down the stairs to the tarmac where a bus took us to the terminal.  After a check for the yellow fever vaccine on our international health carnet, we were let in the country.  We then went through Malawi Custom, where we presented our passports and our temporary work permit – and received another stamp in our passport.  After a quick stop at the Duty Free (I recommend you get some alcohol, as it is much cheaper than in the stores) we collected our bags and went through the last check.  I was asked to open one bag for a quick check and we were let through.

Robertson, a driver from the school,  was there to welcome us and to drive us to the house in the big school bus… which quickly became full of our bags and bags for a returning family. 

The drive from the airport to the house took us about 40 minutes and gave us the opportunity to enjoy our first look at Malawi’s countryside and at the city of Lilongwe.