Category Archives: Malawi

The End and the Beginning

And, that’s it for Peace Corps. I’m still going to be writing at this address, but when I get back from Costa Rica, I’m going to archive all my Peace Corps related stuff at a different address, redesign and re-title … Continue reading

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Changes Peace Corps Hath Wrought

Malawi has made me . . .. indecisive. I mean, I had occasional (frequent) problems making a decision before, but in Malawi you can make as many decisions as you want, and they rarely have any effect on the end … Continue reading

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15-20 September 2009: Last Days in Malawi, part III

In the afternoon, we visited my school. It was anticlimactic, as most everybody was on holiday. I felt sorry for the incoming class of first years, meant to be a class of 90 and, since they wouldn’t fit in any … Continue reading

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15-20 September 2009: Last Days in Malawi, part II

The next day, a Wednesday, we met Kris and Marla and Kristen from Nsanje for lunch at the evil christian coffee shop, a place that is owned by Irish missionary types who have books for sale that talk about how … Continue reading

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15-20 September 2009: Last Days in Malawi, part I

Kris pointed out, on our way down from Nyika, that we weren’t going to be able to push through to Lilongwe in any kind of time to make it worthwhile. I was supposed to have dinner with Agatha, and Kris … Continue reading

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11-14 September 2010: Nyika Plateau

At about this time, my journal writing became even more sporadic than usual. And, no, all these nine-month late posts did not come straight out of my pristine memory, but out of my journal, so you can see the problem. … Continue reading

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Traveling with mom to Nyika

In mom’s and my whirlwind tour of Malawi, I tried to balance seeing things that I hadn’t been able to see, and showing mom what my life was like in Malawi—well, at least as close as I could given that … Continue reading

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5-11 September 2009

When I got back, we finally had my leaving party from work. There’s a whole ritual that happens when someone gets a gift. The gift-giver or representative of the group who is giving the gift holds the gift up high … Continue reading

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Mozambique, day 1, redux; part 2

But first I had to clear Malawi immigration. The immigration guy called me in front of 4 or so other people, I think because I am white and looked confused and stupid white people are dangerous to leave wandering around … Continue reading

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Mozambique, day 1, redux; part 1

I called Debbie from the train back to Liwonde. She very graciously said I could stay and sent a co-worker just leaving work to come and pick me at the station. I was very happy that the return trip from … Continue reading

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13 August: Mozambique, Day 1

What was that I said about having enough time and just letting the trip unfold, and not stressing? Yeah, well, even though I know that to be best, after today I’m tempted to give up the whole trip. I got … Continue reading

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13 July: Kate and Wanangwa’s Wedding Reception

Wanangwa and Kate, two Zomba friends of mine, got married. It almost didn’t happen because their ankhoswe* was late and the law books say you can only get married between certain hours, and the only reason the guy marrying them … Continue reading

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27 June: Site Announcement

We weren’t there for Health ‘08’s site announcements. Health ’06 did a great event for ours, but due to scheduling problems we didn’t get to stay in Dedza long enough for the ’08 site announcements. This year, site announcement was … Continue reading

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A note on minibuses:

If there are people waiting with you on a minibus, and they seem too happy—dancing and singing enthusiastically to Lucky Dube blaring on the radio instead of looking like they’re tired of waiting but have nowhere else to go—and overly … Continue reading

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Leaving Malawi, Part II

If I said there aren’t some things I’ll be happy to leave, I’d be lying. Mostly things like stone babies and the way many men feel they own my body because I’m a woman, and being called azungu azungu all … Continue reading

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