Sunday, January 25, 2015

sticking out like a sore thumb.

Michelle and I hit tennis and golf yesterday morning.. The plan was she was going to have her lesson, head to hospital to drop off a few things, then come back and get me after my 9 holes . Unfortunately there was an emergency and she needed to stick around a little longer than expected.. I decided to walk home (about a 20 minute walk). I figured, I stick out in the crowd anyway..why not take it to the next level?? So I took off, walking through a bus rank and a busy area of town filled with Malawians doing business or headed out for the day.. When you head for a walk at home, you may see a few people out leisurely taking a stroll.. Here, everyone walks and usually with purpose.. I trudged through the streets dressed up for a round of golf... collared shirt, baseball hat, golf shoes and toting a golf bag on my back.. I wished I had my camera.  Can you believe no other white guy was walking around with his golf clubs strapped to his back??
I should state that I thnk the excessive golfing is a way to keep in touch with something that feels normal. In a place where everything has a sense of strangeness, the 1.5 hours of walking on a golf course is a nice escape.. Plus, it's cheap and really convenient.

Not much else to say.. We've had a very low key weekend (just like most of them). Michelle had the weekend off and I think for her, the weekend means a chance to really enjoy being off of work and trying to check out as much as possible.. So, there's usually a discussion of .. "what are we going to do? should we go out of town? should we have a party? should we do this, that, etc?? " It's hard to relax... but, after a few hours of deliberating, the discussion usually ends with.. let's do nothing, enjoy our time and the kids..  So, we went to the pool, hung out at the house and enjoyed the day.. Of course we miss everyone at home, but you make the most of it here.. We've found several friends to hang with , and a couple came over last night for dinner and taught us a new card game, which was great.

Sunday brings the same dilemma... What to do???
 Michelle has fixed pancakes this morning for the kids... and included chocolate chips.. kids living it up..

Hope all is well back home.. miss everyone.

Photo below is the caddy I use named Roger..He's a cool dude. Yesterday he was wearing a Gary Sheffield jersey (detroit tiger era)..  I usually pay him about 5$ a round and he is really helpful with tips on my swing, etc.. He asked me the other day for an advance on his tips.. He would like to buy a 50kg bag of maize for his family , it will last a month .. He told me if I paid him in advance, the advice and caddying would be free for several weeks..