Madonna comes to town!!

It's all over town and in any major newspaper... But , "the Material Girl" has hit Malawi and is staying in town. She is here on a humanitarian visit and if you didn't already know, she has adopted one or two children from Malawi.. Apparently she was stripped of her VIP status by the old president, but her status has been reinstated by the new president, who if you did not know, was a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis.

She has visited two hospitals and an orphanage.. She visited Michelle's hospital on Thursday, but Michelle was at lunch! Bummer. The other bad news was that Madonna committed to help build a pediatric ICU clinic or something but at the other hospital in Blantyre.. not here.. Of course we will  not see this come to fruition but it is needed badly here.

madonna showing malawians some moves  To my left is the newspaper article about her trip here... if you're interested in those sort of things..

The rest of us here in town enjoyed the sweltering heat and headed to the pool. Yesterday we went to our club and watched soccer and english rugby while the kids swam and hung out with friends.. We skipped the Ball last night as the kids really didn't want us to leave.. We took it as a sign that a family night was in order so we called it a family night, played cards, had a sing along and watched a movie.. Needless to say, it was needed and was a good time.. There's not much to do here and the kids are forced to have alot of time together.. I think with Michelle's schedule at work and us a large group of peers here for Thanksgiving, etc.. we needed to take a night off.

Time crawls during the weekend here and we've had a nice one so far.. We also went out to lunch with the kids here to a great little restaurant called "Lark" and enjoyed a hip little place that offered wonderful food.. I had a smoked salmon and cream cheese on rye sandwich.... The town is empty on sundays as everyone treats it as a day of rest. Grocery stores are only open from 10 am - 1 pm.. We hit the shops up early, grabbed what was left of fruit and vegetables .. I caused a long delay at the check out counter using my Visa card.. It didn't work the first two times , but the third is the charm!!. It takes forever because the have to put everything in manually which can take a very long time.  Photo below is of a woman carrying her child.. she was in front of us in line at the grocery store.. All women carry their children like this using a cloth wrapped around their waste.. Most of the time, they'll have something on top of their head as well... or on the back of a bicycle..

Nothing else to report.. kids are with Michelle right now.. she is taking a tennis lesson and the kids are swimming..  Happy sunday at home.. miss everyone.

waiting in line.. 

holiday season begins here....

Last night was a festive evening.. we pulled a late nighter here and I'm really glad we did. We took the kids and a blanket to a place called "Four Seasons" .. this is sort of like a high end shopping area with a restaurant, bar, cafe, a few shops and a garden area in the middle. There they had carolers and christmas music for a few hours... People came in droves, brought picnics and drinks and enjoyed the evening.  The kids met up with alot of their friends from school and really had a great time. There was a gentlemen walking around coaching people to sing along as well as a group of children who sang a few songs. The highlight of the night was when 4 Malawian gardeners came up to sing a song... really beautiful. This ended about 830 and kids in tow we headed to some a friends' house who lived nearby to finish off the evening. They are great people and we enjoyed talking and munching on real tortilla chips and Newman's Own salsa.. They are government employees and have access to all the comforts of home.. Kids had a Wii tennis tournament with their daughters and all was right with the world.. Plus, they are great people we really enjoy hanging out with.

Yesterday at school was international day.. Kids were dressed head to toe in either traditional outfits from their home countries or in tshirts and shorts (most americans)... Maura sported her Aroldis Chapman jersey.. I was pretty fond of that.  There was a parade, a talent show , a large picnic where you could taste various foods from each country... Below is a photo of Kate and her classmates funning a French Cafe as a fund raiser..   The highlight of the day was the Malawian dance routine... It was a mix of students, teachers, gardeners, housekeepers from campus.. It was a beautiful dance and as Maura so eloquently put it... "I've never seen the housekeepers so happy"... There is a wonderful sense of joy when watching a Malawian dance... and their singing is absolutely beautiful.. it was much better than watching some of the young american male teachers do a dance routine to "As Long As you Love me" by the Backstreet Boys... That is guts for a bunch of white guys to get in front of a gym full of Africans and try to dance.. IT was worth a laugh... See video below of some of the Malawian dance..



Today is hot... unbelievably hot.. We are headed to lunch then to the pool, watch some rugby .. then off to St. Andrew's Ball where I will get to sport my Malawian bow tie!!!...

Happy Saturday folks!

Thanksgiving was a hit… we planned on about 7 adults and 8 kids and it turned out to be about 30 people.. We had a lot of people who had no where to go for Thanksgiving so we had them over to our house. It was a really nice way to spend the holiday when away from home. Michelle did an unbelievable job getting everything prepared and I made the mashed potatoes and bought ice.. 

We were like the Island of Misfit Toys.. Everyone was displace but was really cool to come together for an evening.. Who knew you could pulled off a classic Thanksgiving meal in the middle of Africa? 

Kids were exhausted today going to school, but it was an easy day.. International day was just a big celebration of the different cultures/ countries that are represented at the school. There was  a parade, talent show and picnic that consisted on cuisine from every different country.. 

Kate had to run a French cafe’ for her French class and was required to do it in French the whole morning.. kind of cool. I’ll send pictures of the parade, etc in the next few days.. 

We have a nice weekend ahead of us.. Tonight there is an event called ‘Carols by Candlelight” at the local nursery.. Everyone comes together to welcome in the christmas season.. Since there’s no place to shop here, might as well sing instead.. Tomorrow night Michelle and I are going to the St. Andrews Ball…. As you may or may not know St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland.. Sort of like a St. Patrick’s day party for Scotland.. It is a dress up event, so I am planning to sport my bow tie I had made by a local tailor. 

Other than that, not much to say.. It was nice to celebrate the holiday with others… now to Christmas.. 

I should explain one of the photos… I am sporting a “crown” as they called it and a handmade purse.. These were gifts to Michelle from mothers at the hospital. As a token of appreciation, the mothers made Michelle gifts.. I think the crown looks pretty good on me… 

The other photos are from last night and a picture of our spacious kitchen during or after production.. 

Happy Friday everyone!

 ready for shopping

Happy Thanksgiving

After working all day long and on average about 12 hours a day since hitting the ground here September 6th, last night Michelle began cooking for about 20 people for Thanksgiving.. my contribution was cutting up a few onions, having a beer at the Chinese restaurant waiting to collect our “take away” order and doing the dishes.. 

We have received some canned pumpkin from our friend Carol , who is overseer of the Peace Corps here in Malawi… being a government employee she receives all the perks that comes with … well, a government job.. They can get just about anything.. in this case, canned pumpkin. Jude helped with the crust by the way..

We are setting up shop today in our home and hosting some doctor friends and our good friends and their kids who have never celebrated a Thanksgiving.. Their kids are pretty excited about trying turkey..  We have mashed potatoes, two types of dressing, turkey, pumpkin pie , and apple pie.. Bottled coke to accompany. 

It feels nothing like Thanksgiving here and quite honestly, it’s a little sad. I feel like a fish out of water. It’s hot, I’m working and I don’t feel bloated..  But I am thankful… and probably more than most years. Thanksgiving and the holidays makes appreciate my wonderful family, friends and makes me miss my parents as well. 

Living here you can’t help but be thankful for being from a place that has opportunity , health and freedom. Which we appreciate , but maybe take for granted. Being here makes me realize how plentiful life is back home. We miss everyone and hope your Thanksgiving is a good one. 

I can’t write too much today as I am getting ready to teach a class and then bust out of here to buy a few more things.. 

A few photos… notice the turkey.. the stamp reads “slaughtered by hand per Islamic Rites”.. you don’t get that everyday.. Has something to do with Halal standards.. 

Yesterday after school a giant storm hit the campus.. This was the scene at swim practice.. needless to say, kids got out of the pool shortly after the photo was taken

Ill post photos of our meal and party.. keep your fingers crossed that the power doesn’t go out this afternoon.. We need it today as we have no Plan B.

Happy Thanksgiving from about 9000 miles away.. We miss you all and will raise a glass this evening to toast our loved ones and our dear friends.. Hopefully the drinks will be cold, because there are only a select few stores that sell bags of ice.. I have to find one today after school ..  

I am hoping to catch Arlo Guthries “Alice’s Restaurant” sometime today.. If someone could let me know what time they play that at home, that would be greatly appreciated.  

Cheers.  

watchdog security

Received an awesome slip of paper yesterday from a company called "Watchdog Security".. they are this amazing security company that carts their workers around in full riot gear in the back of pickup trucks... They offer basic security as well as "added" security.. Yesterday we received this paper.. On it , one of the services they offer is they will "Door to Door Patrol and wake up your security guards at different times"... Only in Malawi... You can pay 50$ a month to wake up the guards you already pay...  

Michelle was on call yesterday and worked at the hospital until about 10 30 last night. Sad stories abound..  In her absence I caught up on my MASH season 2, while the kids were able to catch the American Music Awards 24 hours later... I don't miss the ridiculousness of these shows... My father would curse at the television if he witnessed the level of inappropriateness on these shows.... He would flip to another show immediately, but usually always ended up back to the thing that he found inappropriate .. As long as he vocalized his disgust, it was ok. 

We have our turkeys for Thursday, now we just hope for snow!!!  Thanksgiving isn't really celebrated here, so it's business as usual.. We plan on having several people over for dinner that night... so preparations will begin tonight..  The turkeys are normal size.. so no giant turkeys stuffed with steroids here.. Nor do we have a deep fryer.. Too bad.. I've never been a big fan of the thanksgiving holiday, but knowing I will miss out on the huge amounts of food and delicious drinks and family(in that order of course) .. We are missing home.. We are debating whether or not to take off for the lake on Saturday.. 

Many thanks to those people who have shared their well wishes and donations to the cause here and the hospital.. It's amazing, greatly appreciated and greatly needed.. We are so fortunate back home.. 

Below are a few photos.. The frog was found outside my classroom yesterday.. Many have told me it is poisonous. 

The video is of the giant fruit bats that come out above the Catholic Cathedral.. We were leaving church and were greeted with thousands of bats.. The video doesn't do the scene justice.. the bats were huge and there were plenty of them..  Not much else to report. Hope everyone is doing well back home. It's incredibly hot here... feels nothing like thanksgiving. 

Apparently a poisonous tree frog

A security company that will wake up your security Guards!!! Only in Malawi

Taking in the AMA's 24 hours later

weekend wrap up..

Thanks very much to my lovely wife for writing about her work here in Malawi.. It is hectic. I know she enjoyed it, but I think it is way more than she expected and it can pretty overwhelming at times.. I know she does a wonderful job at the hospital.. but probably not as good of a job as I would do.. if I were a doctor..

There are certain areas around town that as soon as you get out of your car, you will be approached  by various vendors wanting to sell you all kinds of fruits, vegetables, etc.. Yesterday Michelle and I did a little shopping to prepare for the week and the vending experience was extreme.. Every stop from the gas station, to the grocery store, to another grocery store, to the stop light... there were people gathered around your car waiting for you to get out of your vehicle. It can upsetting, depressing, funny , etc.. ... as we'd pull up to a spot, we 'd look at each other, prepare ourselves and say ... "you ready??" then we'd step out of the truck and kindly say no thank you..  But we did have some weak moments.. I somehow was talked into buying a laundry basket with a lid, and of course a "Desperate men of Country " Cd.. which included Dolly Parton. Not sure where she fits into the "men" aspect of the CD, nor do I really know the significance of the title. It is basically a mixed CD with Kenny Rogers, Don Williams(the two favorite here, as well as Charlie Pride and a few others..

A nice weekend was had here in Lilongwe.. Michelle had some much needed time off this weekend. We had several friends over friday night for a dinner.. Maura and Frances had a birthday party Saturday afternoon, then we headed to some our other friends home for  dinner. They have a beautiful home outside of town with plenty of space for the kids.... plus a pool.  It seems like our kids get along very well and had a nice time playing while being totally and completely bombarded by mosquitos..They cooked up some wonderful food and our kids were able to try some chicken hearts..  Matt had also heard me talking about Kentucky Bourbon one day, and was kind enough to pick up a bottle of Knob Creek on his trip back home to the UK. We had a tasting after dinner.. delicious.

 Sunday brought tennis lessons for Michelle in the morning and we hit the pool since in the afternoon as it was 90+ degrees outside.. I woke up at 6 am thinking it was about 10 in the morning as the sun was just beating through the window.  Time slows down to snails pace here during the weekend..
Missing home during this holiday week, even more so since we won't have a break on Thursday. We still plan on having a thanksgiving day meal (I have ordered 2 turkeys from a specialty shop), but we go right back to school on Friday. Friday is a big day at the school as it is dubbed "International Day".. This is a big deal and kids show off outfits, dances and foods from their home country... It is quite amazing and the food tasting should be great.. Food from Malawi, England, South Africa, Lebanon, India, Italy, Greece.... just to name a few.. There's an American food table as well, just not sure what will be available to taste.. When we lived in Botswana they had an international day and the food was amazing.. but i think the American table consisted of brownies, hot dogs and popcorn.. what a beautiful culture... We may make pigs in a blanket , skyline dip and buffalo wings just to really give everyone a taste of home.. The kids are now picking out the patriotic outfits.. so far Maura is wearing an Aroldis Chapman jersey, Kate is wearing a Louisville Cardinals t-shirt and Frances is wearing a Pancreatic Cancer walkathon tshirt, because it says Cincinnati on it..  Jude might just wear a batman shirt, since American is the home to DC comics..

With the rainy season officially started, there has been noticeable change in the amount of birds that are present in our yard.. It is amazing the amount of different types of birds you can see on a day to day basis.. Ill try to get some photos.. Ok, all for now.. Have a good start to the week. Hope all is well.

Franny in the yard

old city center

This is Michelle today, giving Andy a break from blogging. He asked me to write about work, so here goes....

My day starts at 8 am when I go into the pediatric ward at the hospital. Right now we are in the slow season, so we get about 50 admissions per day. When the rains come and malaria season starts, it can go up to 150/day. This will be around February and last for a few months.

At home, if kids are acutely ill, they go to the ER for any emergency, whether a medical illness or trauma. Here it works a bit differently. The ER is called the "Casualty" department, so it receives trauma cases, burns, broken bones, but not the medical emergencies. All sick kids, regardless of how sick, come the outpatient clinic and are then triaged and seen. So it happens that several times a day, a mother comes to the clinic with her very ill child, who is then rushed from clinic down the hall to the pediatric ward and they are resuscitated or treated on the ward. The main room where this is done is  a large open room with about 20 beds, most of which have 2-4 kids on each bed and a guardian/mom with each. The other day I looked over and saw a baby on the floor underneath the bed. It turns out it was the twin of the patient and the mom didn't have anywhere else to put the well child. Needless to say, this room, which we call the "emergency zone," isn't a popular place to be with the families, as they are constantly watching crazy stuff go down in the front of the room, its always noisy and crowded. We try to keep all the sickest kids there so that they can be monitored as well as possible.

The very sick children tend to have one of a few stories. Malaria is a big player. Among other things, malaria can cause very severe anemia requiring an emergent transfusion as well as seizures and altered mental status. My own kids probably have a hemoglobin (red blood cell) level around 13 or so. The average healthy kid here is probably at around 8-10, and malaria can take it down to 3 or 4. For these kids, securing a rapid blood transfusion is critical, so we spend a lot of time chasing down blood at the blood bank. They can also have seizures, and this is where access to care becomes an issue. There is no EMS service, so you have to get yourself to the nearest health facility in whatever way possible. That usually involves tying your baby on your back and walking. Unfortunately some of the kids don't make it, and that is always a really sad event, especially if the child looks healthy. We have plenty of kids who have illnesses that can't be cured, but when you lose a child who was probably playing the day before, it seems to hit a little closer to home. It brings to the forefront all of the other determinants of health outside of the things which happen in the hospital.

As sad as it is sometimes, things have really improved here since I first came in 2011. Despite the challenges of working in this setting, doing some simple things well makes a big difference, and that is being done here more often then not. It is really a lot of fun to work with the medical students, clinicians and nurses. The chaos is wonderful for developing a zen approach to life - getting flustered is completely counterproductive and culturally is not well received, so it's best to try and find some humor in things and stay calm. I'm working on it.

I guess I should use this opportunity to appeal for help as well. We rely quite a bit on donations for equipment and supplies. If anyone is compelled to donate, I can assure you that your money will go directly to buying needed supplies. Two things come to mind. A big ticket item is an oxygen concentrator - this machine condenses oxygen from room air and frees us from the need to drag oxygen cylinders around and from me having the call the oxygen delivery guy if I find we're out of cylinders going into a call night or weekend. We can also use the machine to provide CPAP, which is a higher level of respiratory support and has been hugely helpful since it was introduced here a few years ago, truly lifesaving. We have several of these machines already but we would love to get at least 4-6 more. We have a supplier for these concentrators and the cost is about $1500 USD. For smaller donations, we have a small machine that checks hemoglobin levels. This helps us to be more accurate in our assessment of whether a kids needs a transfusion and use the blood judiciously. The machine requires plastic cartridges to check each kid which are fairly expensive - about $40 for a container of 50. We always love to buy extras of these and they are extremely handy and can be lifesaving.

Anyway, this is the nature of working here that after telling a sad story, there is an "ask" that comes shortly after. I figured I'd better do it now in case Andy doesn't give me another opportunity on the blog. Otherwise, all is well and we are enjoying our time here, but miss everyone at home a lot. We aren't wanting for much (except hot yoga) and the kids are doing great, so I don't think we can ask of much more. We'll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner Thursday for some friends, so we'll let you know what a Malawian turkey tastes like. Enjoy the holiday this week!!

Glorious Rain!!!

Yesterday at about 3:30 (just when swimming practice was about to begin), the skies opened up on Lilongwe and we received the first rain since I've been here.. It was a steady hard rain that lasted through the evening.. It was wonderful , but we quickly realized that with the rain comes more mosquitoes.... Taken precautions.  The rain was fantastic and continued the cool trend we've had the last few days...

Right as we sat down for dinner, the electricity for most of the city went out.. We had a romantic candlelight dinner and spent most of the night in the dark.. I fell asleep listening to the sound of rain and frogs in our yard going to town.. It was a sound I haven't heard for a long, long time.

Not much to report... Planning to have some friends over for a braai this evening... and nothing else. Look forward to the end of the work day..

Here's the sound the rain. The recording doesn't quite capture the amount of croaking taking place in our yard.. I would video taped it, but it was pitch black anyway..

power out! dinner by candlelight

thankful for good health... and healthcare

Nice to be away from American politics.... Don't get much of the rhetoric that is being thrown around from both sides and it is kind of refreshing.. We missed all the TV ads, signs in the yards and phone calls.. Be thankful for a solid healthcare system... regardless of what side of the aisle you are on.

Michelle has been (as mentioned before) up to her knees in things here and it will get worse as we move into the next few months.. Things at her hospital seem to be an absolute mess... She is gone alot, but she does an amazing job of balancing it out.. She has told me repeatedly that when things go right, she loves the work... I'm not sure how often that happens here... But when they do, it is great.. Her research project has officially started.. You'll have to ask her about what exactly she is researching as it is above my head..

Many of the main doctors in her department are leaving in the next few weeks as well.. Which leaves her and a few other Peace Corps doctors alone to run the main pediatric unit in the country.... With the rainy season comes malaria.. many students at the school are already getting it (don't worry, we are all on the good stuff, malarone).. Ebola is not really a concern... it is very far away from us and most people of that region have no reason to travel to this part of the continent.. If it becomes a problem in Jo'burg South Africa, then I think it will be a concern.. they do take your temperature when you get off the airplane here..

 It should be a trying and challenging few months coming up.. Michelle is usually at the hospital from about 7am - 6 or 630 pm.... Takes a call shift once a week(overnight) and has been on call one weekend out of the month as well(which usually means she is at the hospital from friday-sunday with periodic breaks)...  She was on the phone last night at 12:30 and went to the hospital to take care of seriously hurt patient that was trying to get med vac'd out of the country... I've married a damn good person.

All for now, 2nd grade coming in and we are working on very serious business ourselves... drawing patterned turtles.. I'm changing lives as well..  to lighten up today's post, here's a photo of some mystery meat(???) for sale at the grocery store. I didn't buy it.  other photo is the banana men that walk up and down our street.... awesome bananas.... I think they are carrying bananas... could be a mystery fruit.. anyway, they are usually carrying bananas..

Sun has returned, but the temps are reasonable.. nice day here in Malawi..

?????

NOTE- I thought I publish this post a week of so ago, but it told me it was only draft... so I've taken the liberty to re-load it... if for some reason you've already read it.. I apologize.. I've updated it though, so there's some new stuff at the end... Sorry if I'm being redundant. 

Power went out again last night for a significant period of time.. I've always enjoyed the power outages in the evening because it forces you to lose all connection to the world...  It's sad that I need a power outage to make this happen , but it is what it is.. Michelle and I had just put the kids to bed and then everything went black.. We lit some candles, sat on the back porch, were attacked by ants that have invaded our porch furniture and enjoyed the night..

I know this is probably stating the obvious , but being here is a giant roller coaster ride.. It is difficult to find an equilibrium. You are constantly being pulled in one direction or another and trying to make sense of it.. One minute, you are wishing to be back home, enjoying life, job, kids, food, etc....normalcy..  Everything drives you crazy.. You wonder why you decided to put your family through this ordeal and want to drive 20 minutes out to the airport and go home... The next minute, you are driving through town, 185 degree heat, surrounded by this place and people and culture that are totally different from home, and you soak it up... thinking... This is fantastic!!! There is alot to learn from the people here and you need to put it into perspective.. You realize that you may never get another chance to do something like this, that your children are seeing parts of the  world and interacting with people they'll never get a chance to do at home, and they are enjoying it.. and probably riding the same roller coaster that you are.

We pulled up to school Monday and when I put the truck in park, I looked at everyone and said.. "another week in Malawi.....you guys ready?"  They all jumped out of the truck, said yes and we began to talk about things we look forward to doing when we get back home.. I realized mid sentence that this is probably not the way to start a monday 8000 miles from home with no relief in sight... so I stopped and said.. "we need to do our best to soak up our time here in Africa.... there are things here you can never see or do back home... like eat mice on a stick, or pee freely anywhere you choose.. " The kids agreed, gave me a few pecks on the cheek and we went on our way.. Life is good...

I agreed to buy a handmade basket from a gentleman named Harold. He sits in the parking lot of Chipiku everyday and tries to sell baskets/ bags, etc made out of grass.. The first time we met, he tried to sell me a floor ma t..  I have been told when people give you a price, since you are a mzungu(white person), they double it.. you have to barter them down and try to meet halfway.. He gave me a price of about 5000KWA for a floor mat and I said 2500KWA.. I realized as soon as I said it, I totally offended him.. He laughed and said... You must be joking.. I bought the mat for 4000KWA (10$) and have made a "friend for life".. Yesterday he called me at least 8 times to tell me he had my basket ready.. At first this was very annoying and I told him I would come if I could ...  He called again right around 330, I had just got home with the kids and agreed to meet him at the grocery store.. He handed me the basket, I gave him the rest of the money I owed and he thanked me . He then told me he needed money for transport each day to keep his business going.. Plus, his son was in the private hospital (not the one Michelle works at, because, as Harold stated.. they had no medicine )... He takes a bus into town each day carrying all his baskets from Salima, which is about an hour by bus..  The basket cost about 14$.. at pottery barn it would be at least 80$.. its beautiful.

One last note , a little food for thought..   Michelle's hospital did not have water yesterday... no water at the hospital... none... and it was at least 90 degrees outside.
Right before the power went out last night, Michelle received an email from Cincy Childrens stating that they would be without hot water from 8pm- midnite... It would not be hot, only "luke warm"..

Updated notes
Kate's soccer season came to a close yesterday... I think they were 0-6-1.. Not a great season, but hey.. they didn't lose  every game either.. Kate said she felt like crying when it was over.. She told me as she felt like crying , she wondered if she had ever cried before after a soccer game.. and then she replied... "Oh yeah.. last year when I played my last game at St. Thomas before you carted me off to Africa"...  that was a tear jerker.  I honestly think she is loving her time here...very similar to how Jacob enjoyed his time in Botswana..  She is doing well and has  totally fit in (as I am writing this she just walked past my classroom eat a cinnamon roll surrounded by classmates.. She kind of stands out around here).  I'm sure there will be tears of joy and sadness when we get on the plane back home in June.

Little kids taught me BS card game last night ... i can't believe I've never played that before.. Michelle is knee deep in muck at work and is very, very busy.. With malaria season around the corner, I think it will only get worse..

Yesterday I went home to gather sweatshirts for the kids so they could wear them after swim practice.. When I went home, I was greeted by Cam and Rabina's son William.. He gave me a big smile , handshake , and called me "white man".. As I was gathering up the clothes for the kids, I could hear him talking to his dad in the backyard... Cam was watering the plants.. it was a sweet moment.. one I remember when we had children aged 2... 2 year old chatting away.. dad occupied with the work at hand, but offering an ear to listen.. for the first time in a long time, I missed having little ones.. but that moment passed pretty quickly and I snapped out of it.. But I thought it was nice to see that these things happen in Malawi, just like they do at home..

Here's an audio clip on William talking.. sorry for the poor quality, but Cam was watering plants..
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Cold day today.. it is incredible.. cloud filled and breezy..I'm wearing a sweatshirt. a little spit of rain here and there, but nothing post worthy.. when the lightning and thunder strike.. I'll be sure to post.. Last year, lightning struck one of the buildings on campus and destroyed the roof.. They are still repairing.. everything here is extreme.. Happy hump day.

Kids taking in the soccer match on top of Sylvia

Last Soccer Match

Handmade basket.. 10$ here, 80$-100$ at pottery barn

cool morning

Even though I woke up several times sweating profusely, the morning brought a much cooler start to the day.. The sky is cloud covered and the town and school campus have a much different look to them. People seemed to have a little more bounce in their step during their commute to work.

We have totally and completely fallen into a routine here in Lilongwe...  5:30 wakeup(5;45 for the kids) breakfast, Kate listens to a few One Direction songs while prepping her  hair.. I usually shoot off a couple texts to Jacob or others back home, we make breakfast for the kids (eggs and toast most of the mornings) and out the door at 6:45... as soon as I turn the ignition on Sylvia(on purple rimmed truck) Kate blasts One Direction through the car.. It's enough to make a man crazy..   We hit the same road through the neighborhood, seeing the same characters... One of my favorite things to see is the dads riding their kids to school on their bikes.. sometimes the kids are two deep on the back of the bike... There's a Muslim school near our home, so there always a group of kids walking that have beautiful headdresses on as well.. Most kids will be walking themselves to school, dressed in their school's uniform...  On the commute, you'll see alot of the same kids on the side of the road trying to hitch a ride home( i think the heat of the day has finally gotten to them)..  Hitching is common and socially acceptable..

We have ordered a Thanksgiving day turkey and from a local specialty shop for next week. Unfortunately Malawi doesn't really recognize Thanksgiving so our celebration will have to wait.
Other than that,  our kids are doing great.. Kate has her last soccer game here at ABC today after school, then on to swimming and eventually basketball later in the year.. They do offer Netball as well for girls, but I'm not sure if Kate will be getting into that..

All for now folks.. Happy Tuesday... Be thankful for the cold weather.. at least it gets the blood moving.. the heat here is exhausting and makes you only want to sleep.

Countdown begins

We are 4 weeks away from Christmas Break here.. and about 5 weeks away from our son coming to visit.. looking forward to some time off.. I couldn't remember if I have shared with everyone where we plan to stay for a few days of our off time, but we 've booked several nights at Ngala Lodge on the Chinteche Coast Ngala beach lodge ... check it out..

Here's a video of the place too... really looking forward to getting away for a few days with the family .. As it seems to be getting colder and colder at home, it just keeps getting warmer and warmer.. We may spend Christmas here, not really sure yet.. It depends on Michelle's schedule and whether or not she'll be able to get some time off..  Ill leave you with this video, but you should check out the place... Hope all is well back home.. Got the Monday blues here.."I'm just Working for the weekend"... as the great songwriter Loverboy so eloquently said in the song with the same title..  Enjoy the video

Bus Trip

Made the trek to Blantyre this weekend with the younger group of the swim team. Me, Frances, Jude and Maura went on a 6 hour bus ride packed with students, parents and teachers in a non-air conditioned bus through the Malawian countryside... The heat was relentless and we were all dripping in sweat. We made our destination without a hitch, except for the fact that we were pulled over by police 4 times, had to pay various tickets for various different things, and made a stop at an oasis of a rest area.. The rest area was stocked with the best beer selection in Malawi (what else would you want on a pit stop? ).. they had various south african brews, Mozambiquan brews, Namibian brews and the Malawian staples.. Aside from that they had bottled soft drinks, cold chocolate bars and beef knuckles or something (see photo below) that locals were eating by the plate full.. It had proper running water and thatched roof areas where you could sit and enjoy your beers before hitting the road again..

The kids were great and the scenery was beautiful.. Large massive hills and small villages dotted the landscape. When we arrived at out destination, the kids were immediately put into swim mode and had a great showing at the "All Relay Gala".. The kids swam great, and the gala was run very efficiently in a time of about 2 hours... They played songs to accompany each swim which included 80's hits of Hall and Oates (there you go Scottie!), michael Jackson and a deep cut from the Beastie Boys... what else would you expect!..  We placed 3rd in the gala and lost to Phoenix Academy and Sir Harry Johnson School (no joke there ).

After the gala we retreated to Annie's Lodge,  kids showered, I turned on my AIR CONDITIONING!!!  and proceeded to freeze out the place.. It was incredible... I slept with a long sleeve shirt..  We hit KFC in the middle of the city and the kids loved it.. Tasted just like home, except there were no green beans on the menu (they were replaced by Nsima balls).. I patriotically ordered up the "Kentucky Meal" and we mowed down about 10 pieces of chicken in 10 minutes... What was interesting about the dining experience was how the kids completely stuffed themselves and then some of them threw up, then continued to eat.. I couldn't believe it! "are you ok?" "Yeah , I'm fine, just ate too much".... and then goes back to the table to eat more.. It was as if these african children , somehow were brainwashed into eating like Americans upon entering the wonderful world of fried chicken... Alot of them got so jacked up on sugar from the sodas and shakes and salt, they didn't know whether to sit or stand... We all got on the bus , which was an experience in itself due to many children begging for leftovers, money, etc... you can't escape and it always catches me off guard.. I had a box of 3 pieces of chicken , and was going to give it away, but remembered a time when we visited Lesotho and gave away a pizza to three boys... as soon as I handed over the box, 8 more children came from nowhere to try and get their hands on some food.. I didn't want to cause a scene so I opted to just keep it.. It is very sad.

We headed back to the lodge, the kids watched a movie, more vomiting ensued and I snuggled in my cold bed with a book and nodded off around 9:30. In the morning, we headed back... this time the drive was only about 4.5 hours, as we were never pulled over..  I've attached two videos as well.. one of them is the procession at the end of the gala... the other is a village that was bustling as we drove through it on our way home.. You can hear our driver beeping constantly as a way to warn pedestrians, goats and bikers to stay clear of the road.. this beeping occurred for the majority of the drive...

When we got back into town, we went swimming at the Tamarind Club , I was able to watch the England v. South Africa rugby match with some friends , then I had to go out for a dinner with ABC administration and faculty.. Before heading to the restaurant , I stopped off for a drink with friends at a bar called Buchanans, and walked into a familiar scene... People gathering to watch sport, dressed in jerseys etc.. Except it was more rugby.. This time New Zealand vs. Scotland.. It was fun to be a part of, but it made me realize how far away we are from home, and how far away the people around us were as well.. It was a bit of mixed bag of emotions.. I felt a part of something unique and it reminded me that I should soak this up.... This is one of the reasons why we made this jump back to this part of the world.. To see, witness and be a part of something different... But it also made me wish I was home, so I could understand what the hell was going on in the game..  And it made me miss the camaraderie of friends..

Sunday morning brings heat, sun and laziness.. We are all enjoying the morning, reading, playing legos, drawing and trying to muster up the energy to go outside and enjoy the warm weather.. I can't think of anything else to do except go swimming.. It is around 10 am here, and it feels like 100 degrees outside..

All for now today.. if by some reason you cannot view the videos, will someone please let me know so I can save the settings?? they kept cutting in and out when I uploaded them so I want to make sure they are ok..

Beef ???

goofballs enjoying the ride

Maura preparing for a relay

HOME!!

Malawian Police hard at work.. writing up a ticket for us

shop on the road

Beautfiul

African sky

dirt road

Small village

"Mwadzuka Bwanji?" (rough translation, good morning, how are you?) I asked a gardener at school this morning as I passed him on my way to my class... " I am blessed , and how are you sir?".. this was a nice start to the day..... "I am blessed as well", I replied.. "Zikomo Kwambiri"( thank you very much) he stated as he went about his work...

 .... Our guard Cosmas apologized to me yesterday for taking two empty beer bottles we placed outside our entrance... We can only recycle Carlsberg beer bottles here as it is the local distributor.. anything else gets tossed over the wall..  Anyway, Cosmas started the conversation by saying to me.. "we have a problem". This always worries me when he starts a conversation with these 4 words, , but this time he wanted to inform me that he took 2 bottles without asking..  He wanted to use them for candle holders as he didn't have any light in his home..  Fortunately for Cosmas we have a surplus of beer and wine bottles, so i offered him a few more bottles to take home with him.. He was relieved and grateful to have something to put his candles in..

Michelle saw a two year old yesterday with a snake bite wound.. His leg had swelled like a balloon and there is no anti venom at the hospital.. It was a small black snake according to the friends of the two year old... Can you trust the measuring skills of friends of a two year old???
Not sure what we'll do if we get bit by a snake... The two year old was walking to the tap in the village to get water with his friends... The bite marks were on his big toe.

The photos below were taken poolside after school. This was before swim practice and Kate's friends thought it was cute that Kate and I had on the same kind of shirt..  Kate was reluctant and embarrassed by her father, so she opted out.. Kate is the only American in her class.. there are
predominantly Malawian students, 1 Indian, 1 Zambian and one from Zimbabwe. Kind of a cool mix.  Love the African sky in the background... it never ends. I usually show up to swim practice about 15 minutes early, prop myself in a lawn chair and doze off staring up into a sea of blue.. The clouds were a nice change yesterday..

This morning I was able to capture a very usual scene.. 6:45 am.. Check out the dude biking with the firewood.. This is the main drag in the city and this guy has already been out chopping wood to either sell or use.. I am always very apprehensive driving past them... I always expect the thing to fall apart.
Thursdays are good here at school.. A fairly light load and then off to pack for our bus ride to Blantyre.. We leave at 5:45 am tomorrow morning.. Jude, Maura and Frances will accompany me to Blantyre for a swim gala.. About a 5 hour drive to the southern region of the country ....KFC for dinner tomorrow night.. I'm actually looking forward to it, and will curl up with a book and enjoy the scenery.  I will be back with a post on Sunday or Monday..
Have a great weekend everyone.. Missing the cold weather back home.

Me and Kate's friends(I filled in for Kate) under African sky

Sporting U of L garb

Pharmacy near our home

morning commute

Firewood

Date night.

If I were a betting man, I would say it will  rain today... People around town are preparing the land for the rains and growing crops.. It has been an exhausting week or so with the heat... You don't feel like eating, the kids at school are exhausted by 1pm.. I'd love some air conditioning .

Michelle and I hope to hit the town tonight and drive 1/16 of a mile to a Korean restaurant called Fantasia.. No, it is not Disney themed, but it looks like a strip club on the outside... It has great reviews and people have stated its the best Korean food in Malawi.. They normally forget to mention that it is the only Korean restaurant in Malawi..

Wednesdays are busy, so I'll keep it short and sweet.. Start to prepare for our bus trip to Blantryre on Friday with the little kids... The itinerary is as follows
1. leave campus at 5:45..
2. arrive for swim meet
3. Swim
4. after meet head to dinner at .... you guessed it ... KFC!!!! I'm planning to get me one of those bowls of food where they combine all the stuff for you so your stomach doesn't have to.. I can't remember what it's called but I think you get Chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and gravy all in a bowl..

Had conference with Jude's teacher yesterday and she had nothing but great things to say.. He is dubbed the class clown and enjoys dancing sometimes.. I am constantly amazed at how well the kids have adjusted..  They have been rock solid. They're not even complaining about the heat... yet..
Gotta go.. 6th graders at the door ... Happy hump day.

Below is a blue headed tree Agama... they are popping up around town as the rainy season approaches.. I have heard they are poisonous, but that is not true.. This one was hanging outside my classroom this morning... it's about 16 inches long.. beautiful animal.. Another thing you won't see in Fort Thomas.

Blue headed agama

Great photo of Franny

Everyone feeling the heat.... Maura asleep on our bed.. kate laughing at her

weekend roundup.

Pulled out a homemade granola bar from my lunch bag this morning, broke it open and 50-100 ants scurried out of it.. still ate it though.  Pulled up to the door of our house the other night, snake scooted across the driveway.. Lizards hanging on the bathroom wall, more ants (thousands) all over the floor of the bathroom, monkeys on the side of the road and bats everywhere.. You get used to it after a few months.. Actually, the ants are the worst part... 

Lazy weekend...  We went to "Salon Mystique" to get haircuts this weekend.. Yes, "salon Mystique"... they offer pedicures, manicures, facials, different types of waxwings, hair coloring, you name it.. The name says it all.. The price is right too.. around 9$ a cut.. The kids were a little apprehensive about the outing, but I assured them the place was great.. They washed everyone's hair prior to cutting.. Jude was in heaven. 

Later in the afternoon we headed to the Tamarind Club to watch England v. Zew Zealand in rugby... Kids played in the pool, munched on "chips" (french fries) ... I really enjoy watching rugby, but it made me miss watching saturday afternoon football. People here will tell you it is real football and rougher than the American version.. I may agree with them ... Then, later in the evening,  we had several doctors over for a nice braai..

Sunday, we went to the Catholic Cathedral in town. It is called Maula Cathedral.  We haven't been yet, and it was a nice way to end the weekend.. The mass was simple, familiar and well done.. The highlight was the music. They had a man playing guitar accompanied by a tambourine player.. The singing was out of sight (as you may expect).. There is something about the way africans sing.. It comes so naturally to them... There was no sheet music , just words to each song, and the congregation was able to nail 4 part harmony... It was very moving and for some reason calmed me down and helped put things into perspective... Life here is rough.. if these people can sing with such joy , grace and appreciation for life, what the hell am I complaining about??  

During Mass, I couldn]t help but notice giant flocks of birds or something filling sky as the sun set outside... I realized after a few minutes they were giant fruit bats that were encircling the church.. There were hundreds and hundreds of these giant bats (probably 2-3 feet in diameter) ... It was something out of Indiana Jones or Hitchcock.. Apparently the enormity of the flock of bats is well known around town.. They live in the bell tower and the surrounding trees. I hope to get some video next time... it was incredible. 

 Following Mass, people were very kind to us and introduced themselves to us on the way out of the doors. We met the Polish Jesuit priest who said the service, a french family and an English family who took the time to welcome us to the church..  

Very hot today again.. Just opened up the rest of my lunch and its covered in ants.. Happy monday. 

local catedral

ad on water bottle

rugby on the big screen!

waiting for a haircut at Salon Mysitque

serious swimming

A successful swim meet yesterday.. ABC puts on a very good show with regards to their meets.. Maybe one of the most professional swim meets I've ever seen. Kids swam well and I rewarded them with some Chinese food from Noble China last night.. We have an excellent Chinese restaurant down the street from our house.. The food is excellent and the only people that eat there are Chinese (a good sign).  HIGHLIGHT of the swim meet was the celebratory dance at the end of the meet... CLICK ON LINK BELOW TITLED "GALA CELEBRATION" TO View.. I am having youtube issues and can only post links right now.. The celebration ended with everyone in the pool (including parents, teachers and coaches).. 

Michelle was on call last night, and worked straight through from 7 am- midnight.. She just left this morning to head back into the hospital..  She promises to post some information from the hospital soon.. be prepared. 

Kids and I are watching a stupid show on National Geogrpahic called "Bad dog".. Some of the highlights are dogs that sing and go nuts at the sight of windshield wipers... 

 A lazy saturday morning that is much cooler than most mornings.. The weather is perfect. Keeping it short and sweet today... Hope all is well back home. 

Cheers!

Maura waiting for her race

Kate and classmates

Jude mid dance

                                                             GALA CELEBRATION