weekend is upon us.

Weekend started with a swim meet.. The meet started at 2pm friday after school and we were out of there at 6. Came home, ready to relax, get a shower, etc... find out, no water, no power. Fortunately, The power came on after a short time so we could cook, but the water was out all day.. This morning it came back on around 6am.. You know it comes on due to the strange noises the home makes. It always makes me a little nervous, like it is going to flood

.

Back to the swim meet... Our kids have really done well this year and seem to have improved considerably.. So much so that Kate is considering swimming in high school. Yesterday at the meet, she had to square off against an apparent rival of hers..  For every race, they were the only ones competing... so she either came in first or second for each race.. I think they split the events.. Kate had an impressive 50m backstroke, and almost pulled off 100IM .. I think she is quietly happy with her development as a swimmer.. 

Back to the water problem.. while we were able to cook, we were unable to wash our dishes.. which is a huge problem here. It's as if the ants know there's no water and come out in droves within minutes of putting a plate down in the sink.. There was a colony to clean up this morning when the water finally turned on..  

Weather has turned sunny this morning, following a very cloudy friday..

Got caught in a huge rain storm on Thursday and had to wait it out in a giant space filled with fellow expats and Malawians alike. One of the guys standing next to me has just arrived to work at our school  and had his 6 month old with him. Some of the Malawian women became very concerned for the child and told my colleague that his baby looked very cold..  He seemed puzzled and just said.. "he's fine." That was not good enough for the women concerned about the temperature of the baby... she insisted he looked cold.. So, he tells them.. "Ill hold him"... "Thank you so much" replied one of the women... and walked away.. 

Michelle at the hospital all weekend which means dad grills out tonight and if the weather holds up, we'll head to the pool. Tomorrow night, the super bowl will be broadcasted at a local pub and 1:30 am.. thinking of going to enjoy the spectacle... I'll chalk up the Monday at work. 

Below is a photo of Maura with her friends at the swim meet..the other photo is of a gentleman who sells charcoal.. they ride their bikes around trying to sell these giant stacked bags of charcoal.. each bag sells for about 5$... This photo was taken AFTER he sold me a bag and put it in my truck..Most people here use the charcoal for cooking, but it is harder to come by during the rainy season.. The charcoal is awesome.. Every time I buy it I always feel a little guilty as deforestation is a big problem here... 

Ok , that's it for today. Hope everyone is ok back home.

power outages, fruit bats and grocery baggers that could be models.

Sorry, there isn't much to report today as we have had no power at school and at home. It's been pretty sporadic recently and we were hit with a huge rain storm yesterday afternoon. I was in a meeting and the kids were caught at the swimming pool waiting for me.. 

I did have a surreal experience the other night that I think will now be a weekly happening.. I have joined a billiards league. I am on the American team.. this past tuesday we played the south africans and were obliterated.. The cool thing was we played at this guy's house that was absolutely amazing and completely over the top.. I'll have to get pictures next time we play there as the home was amazing.. The beautiful thing about living in a place like this is that you can keep your house wide open all the time.. so the pool tables(2 of them) were located in a giant tiled, open space that led out to the back yard and pool area.. It was cool. 

We have been here long enough to start taking for granted all of the amazing things that we see everyday.. such as the array of birds in our yard, and the daily sights and sounds of our neighborhood. It is the new norm..  I am constantly amazed by the natural beauty of the people here.. Michelle and I comment on it alot... "We'll walk out of a grocery store and say..  the was the most beautiful cashier I've ever seen and the dude bagging our groceries should be a model".. Maybe its due to the fact that you walk around this place and realize how white and pasty you look all the time... Maybe its because there's no Larosa's or Skyline here... I'm not sure but I can tell you that Malawians are a very attractive bunch. 

A big weekend on the way.. We have a swim meet this coming  friday afternoon directly after school and Kate goes on a road trip to Kamuzu Academy for a sport day on Saturday.. She leaves on the bus at 530 am and will be gone all day.. She'll play in a soccer match (on a soccer pitch is what they say here), a volleyball game and then will swim in a multi school swim "gala" in the afternoon.. This will cause Kate to experience physical activity overload.  Michelle works all weekend so the kids and I will have to be creative.. Hoping for nice weather..

Here's a video that I may or may not have shared.. I'm having issues with video upload right now and am too lazy to sift through old posts.. One of the amazing things that happens every night above our home is the giant fruit bats that fly overhead(sometimes very low).. right at dusk you can see thousands of fruit bats fly through the night. It's quite a sight and very cool. here's a video.. Franny is on top of the truck checking it out..

Here's the kids hanging out on top of "Sylvia"

This is the far back of our yard.. Cosmas, Jospeph , Cam and Rabina have planted maize crops here and they are looking good.. Cam told me they should be finished at the end of February

Rain drenched school.. no hallways here, so going from class to class can be wet.

Contemplating whether or not to make a run for it.

Hospital work here worse than fighting Ebola, and problem with crocs

Michelle received a phone call from a colleague who is currently in isolation after working in Liberia for the past 3 months fighting the ebola epidemic.. She works with Michelle and KCH hospital here in Lilongwe and is slated to return to Lilongwe in late February.. to give you a sense of how monumental the tasks are facing those working in the hospital here, she said that fighting ebola was much easier than working in KCH.. She didn't give specifics, but just said it was easier.

We had a nice weekend, that ended in us playing some euchre with the residents from Cincinnati.. .  It's nice to have people to play euchre.. Being able to play cards is a must when living here....

Last night it stormed very hard for several hours.. the rain is not a good thing for those of us already suffering from the floods.. I think our home is starting to buckle a little bit under the severe rainfall.. I heard some dripping and saw spotting on the ceiling panels.. Waiting for them to bust.

Cosmas notified me that due to all of the rain and flooding that crocodiles are a huge concern for people living near rivers.. As the rivers have risen and moved closer to the villages, so have the crocodiles.. They are apparently killing goats and making life even more frightening than usual.. The crocs here are huge and are fearless.

It's dreary and wet this morning, but it feels nice.. Not much else to say.. some snapshots from the weekend below (besides the giant crocodile, which I took on our boat safari).....  My laundry hanging job, which I enjoy doing... The traditional skirts that are worn by the women here... The kids playing soccer at a local school yard, and more blue headed agamas hanging in our yard

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..

Notes for Friday...

Michelle and I had a nice evening out with friends.. We headed out to "quiz night" at The Living Room Bar and spent the evening testing our knowledge of 2014.. Michelle nailed a "who are these people?' section of the quiz where she had to recognize the photos of the top 10 people googled during 2014.. She got all of them in probably 20 seconds.. I was of little help to the squad but landed a few correct answers.. Our team named "the moonshiners" came in 6th out of 17 teams.. 

A nice morning here as we prepare for the weekend.. Kate is wrapping up a week full of exams.  We'll celebrate with grilling chicken burgers, homemade chips(fries) and some bottles of fanta.

Last evening the kids played a soccer match with our guard Joseph. This is becoming a daily event and I think Joseph enjoys it as much as the kids do. Joseph is usually the one asking if anyone wants to play.. 

Below the photos include..  a photo of a gentleman at Chipiku sorting through my recyclables.. this usually happens every time we go to the grocery store. Also photographed are people waiting for sliced fresh bread. As with most things in Malawi, you have to wait.. If you want your bread sliced, you got to wait.. The man in the white runs the bread through a machine to slice.. the bread is delicious here, made fresh everyday and costs about 50 cents.

Other photos are Joseph and the kids (video also below).. quiz night and the wall of the bathroom that  is wallpapered with Chibuku wrappers..  Chibuku is the sorghum(sp?) beer that is brewed throughout southern Africa. It was popular in Botswana too.. It is white, looks like wheat paste. I can't describe the flavor, except that it doesn't sit well with me.. The beer comes in cartons(think milk) and is warm.. Yes I know it sounds refreshing.. 

We may head to the forest this weekend and go back to Ntchisi.. So I may take a break tomorrow as we will hit the road.  But before we go, I'll probably take in a round of golf...  

Happy Friday everyone

Sweet escape

The stores were open, there was diesel at the gas station, I found me fish, the greens, etc.. The ATM machine was full of cash and our power stayed on all night.. SO I was able to destroy fresh fish, but managed to bake a decent cake for Michelle's birthday. I have a tendency to ruin birthdays, anniversaries, etc..    I'll start an argument or something stupid not realizing the significance of the day and usually send the day down the drain.. Not this year.. I did get a bit down about ruining a good meal, but Michelle told me to suck it up, since it was her day.. She is soooo self centered.

Honestly last night was a great escape from here... We didn't do much except stay up way too late and watching a great movie . If you have a chance watch the movie "Boyhood".. We enjoyed it thoroughly and Michelle was in tears( which is the sign of a good movie)...  But it was an escape.. the movie took us home, and for Michelle 2.5 hours of not thinking about work..

We realized yesterday (not a revelation) what we miss most.
We miss our friends and are so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people.. So thank you to everyone who sent along the birthday wishes to Michelle.. It was awesome.. I've never spent so much time waiting for things to download... Thank you.

I am in the process of making a video to highlight our daily goings on around here... I will highlight the shops we visit, people we encounter, etc.. so be on the lookout... With the internet the way it is here, it should be available for viewing around May..

Ok, not much to report, just very thankful for our friends and family back home..

Photos of the day are a painting on a wall at a local national park..  As we've been told many, many time.. humans are the reason for everything wrong with the world..  This is the opinion here in Malawi as well..

Also is a photo of a market on the outskirts of town .I purchased a few grass woven rugs from this place.

Tonight we are heading out with friends to a local pub to participate in a quiz night. theme is "Year in Review"..  I'm not sure how I will be any help with answering questions.. if it were 80's pop culture and baseball, I might be of some assistance...  I'll let you know how it goes..

Weather here is beautiful. Hope all is well back home and thanks again.. Everyone made our day.

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Behind every great woman is a great man.... just thought it was important to say that.. I totally believe it too.

But today we will celebrate the birth of a great woman.. Today marks Michelle's 23rd Birthday.. It's amazing to think what she's accomplished in 23 years.. 5 kids, successful physician... a wonderful husband.. But, there it is. 23 amazing years .

 She would hate if I went on and on and on about her. So Ill stop here.

  We are planning to bake a cake, grill some chambo(local fish) and toast Michelle this evening...  Let's just hope the power stays on so I can bake the cake, the rain stays away so we can grill, and that the grocery store actually has fish, butter, and greens.. Also, let's hope the ATM has money and that the Visa machine at Shoprite is working today..

Come to think of it.. I'll need diesel for the truck to go to these shops.. Let's hope there is diesel at the gas station...

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Hope all is well back home

drive to school

Absolutely gorgeous morning here.. Sunny, 70's and breezy.. Not much to report as I fell asleep last evening right after reading the kids 2 pages of their book.. I was asked to read a chapter , but couldn't make it..

I have really taken a liking to reading about some WWII history.. Not exactly sure why, but it's been great reading.. Michelle told me I had to read "Unbroken" (highly recommend), which led to "Bedford Boys", which led to "the Greatest Generation", which has currently led to "The Longest Day"...  I think a little of my father is coming out .. He loved that stuff.

I thought I would post a few videos, pics from this morning.  I love the way the school day starts here.. Wide open, kids playing, kids congregating and being social. I know my children love the school here, primarily for that reason.. It doesn't feel like they are inside all day long..
So for your viewing pleasure here are some videos...  of our drive to school, jude with some classmates playing soccer, and something else.. I can't remember.. Also posted is a photo from a local bar I went to the other night to watch football.. They had a Notre Dame pennant on the wall. Go figure..  they also had pinups of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue covers, michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson..

All for now, Michelle is on call this evening, so Chicken casserole is on the books for dinner this evening..  Enjoy the videos..

Just before morning bell

Drive to school

Soccer before school 

smell of cut grass

As I write this,  the sound of a lawnmower is filling my classroom. One of the gardeners is cutting grass just outside my classroom. I rarely see a lawnmower here .... The smell is great and makes me think of spring.

I stayed up too late last night to take in a live NFL playoff game.. Went to Champions Bar and Grill last night at 10:15 to watch Seattle v. Green Bay.  Surrounded by mostly Americans, it was a nice taste of home.. 

Sundays are still tough here.. We have had so much family time over the past several months, we are all going to need a vacation from each other.. Yesterday we drove around town to try and find a place to have brunch.. After driving to 2 restaurants( and finding out they were closed for some reason) we landed at a local hotel.. The brunch took a very, very , very, very long time.. While waiting for my coffee, my mind started to wander back home to any restaurant where you can get your food in less that an hour. I couldn't stop thinking of TGIF's for some reason..  It didn’t help much that I slowly found myself covered with flies and smelling the stench of a dead animal that must have been somewhere in our vicinity.. Our service was great , but the order was totally and completely lost in translation.. how the order was screwed up doesn’t really matter… Let’s just say that I was the only one who received what they ordered..It wasn’t anything major, just all wrong.. which I think added another layer of somberness to our already somber morning.. Another wonderful dining experience here in Malawi.. 

In the evening we had some friends over for dinner, and Joseph our guard, pulled a Radar O'Reilly... it was amazing.. If you've seen MASH, Radar usually once an episode says.. "Choppers" and in a few seconds, the sound of incoming helicopters fills the air.. no one else can sense or hear the oncoming "choppers", but Radar can... So yesterday we were all casually standing around the braai stand enjoy a beverage and watching the chicken burn over hot coals, when Joseph comes around the corner carrying the kids' toys, soccer ball, etc...  He says to us, "the rain is coming"... we look at each other , look at the sky and kind of shrug it off.  All of a sudden you can hear this giant wall of water approaching from the west.. In about 2 minutes, the rain hit our yard and we scattered inside.. I appreciate a man who is so in tune with his surroundings. 

 I went golfing yesterday…. and the caddy who was walking with me asked me where I was from… He has been a caddy for 15 years.. His name was Charles…  I told him I was from America and he said.. “you know, you people from America are kind people. You are giving , respectful and friendly.. those people from Europe are hard people. they take things too seriously, they don’t smile and are hard… Life is not hard, life is easy.. why do they make it so hard??“ He then asked why Americans were so friendly … I told him it was to cover up our ignorance..

It's interesting that in a place like this, where poverty, disease, flooding, drought, sickness seem to be a daily part of existence,  a caddy of 15 years who has 3 children and probably makes less than 60$ a month finds life to be easy..

Living here will change your perspective and makes you question if your reality/your perspective is the one that’s messed up.. 

 In the end, I think this place is nuts.. or maybe we’re nuts.. I’m not sure yet..  I do know that this place sometimes feels so different from home,  no connection between the two. That we live in two totally different places , two totally different worlds that in no way are alike.. except I can still watch football and eat chicken wings.. so i got that going for me.. which is nice.

Monday brings sunshine.. but there’s a chance of a cyclone storm hitting us this week.. That’s the talk of the town right now.. One extreme to another.. 

flooding worse, makes world news

Not much to say today.. sun was around for most of the afternoon, but when evening hit, the rains came again.. 

power has been out most of the day and all night.. The severity of the flooding here has made cnn news, and the forecast does not bode well for areas already affected. We are fine, Lilongwe seems to be ok, but most of the country is in a state of disaster..  

The biggest problem we faced was whether or not to go out to eat since we had no power to cook... We went out, then watched the kids have a dance party in candlelight, then play charades.. Fell asleep on the couch several times and then went to bed around 11.  Today, it is too wet to do anything, so I'll assume playing cards, reading and more card playing will be on the agenda. 

Hope all is well back home.. If the power stays on, I hope to go to a local sports bar and watch some NFL playoffs.. around 10pm..

Here's the link to the CNN article. Happy Sunday everyone. 

CNN Story about Malawi flooding

Notes for Friday.

Woke up this morning and was scratching up and down my leg.. I was getting bitten by something so pulled up the covers to find thousands and thousands of ants have invaded the bed.. They were all over me, in the crevices of my toes, etc.. Ahhhh ... Africa!  Nothing can really escape an ant invasion.. I did the dishes yesterday and in minutes the clean dishes that were drying on the side of the sink were covered in ants.. We have fruits flies, mosquitos, beetles, lizards, snails, spiders and other unidentifiable insects that invade our home every day.. You get used to it, and sometimes just have to laugh.. For now, I only buy bananas to make bread..If they sit around too long (over 2 days) the flies that invade are tough to get rid of. 

I try to not ask Michelle specific questions about work... being non-medical, the stories are too sad and depressing.. and most times, very hard to understand.. Yesterday I posted a photo from Michelle's hospital.. She was on call the other night and when she left at around 730 , there were 27 children still waiting for blood transfusions, with no blood in the blood bank.. And for our medical friends, each child had a hemoglobin level under 5.. Which I suspect is unheard of.. Malaria season has begun, and with the rains being so severe and causing many areas to be considered disaster zones, things are looking rough... 

On a positive note, Fridays are nice here at school because I get to have  Jude, Frances and Maura in class.. They are without a doubt 3 out of my 4 favorite students.  

Not much else to report.. 

I can tell you that alot of double solitaire is being played at our house and I've learned that my daughter Frances is a complete cheater.. She tells me she's learned how to shuffle and can do it by herself... She stacks the deck, orders the cards to her advantage and completely and totally denies it.. She's trouble. 

Below is a 10 second clip of a walk down a street in Lilongwe , the girls walking to their classroom on campus.. They've been here for 5+ months and are doing wonderful.. Also below is a beautiful photo of my favorite truck in the world.. my purple rimmed Pajero... we've named it Sylvia. 

Sylvia in front of a giant baobab(thanks Rebecca)

Kate and Maura

tiny bags of oil and always impressed..

Yesterday morning, Joseph asked me to borrow a small amount of oil to make some ntsima for himself. He usually cooks over the fire that they have set up on the side of the yard for themselves.. We bought them a Mbaula to use, which he uses every now and then, but he doesn't like to use the charcoal that I have bought for everyone to share.. I try to tell him its ok, but I think he doesn't want to impose.. He takes his job very seriously and makes "the security" top priority.. 

I made the mistake of giving out our home address to a gentleman named Ronard (not Ronald). Ronard is our grass man.. Not that kind of grass, but makes baskets, bags, etc out of grass.. Anyway, I have purchased some things from Ronard and he wanted to deliver them.. The one day, he had a seizure in our from yard, I had to call michelle for help, etc... Well, he kept coming back wanting me to buy more things from him.. Big mistake... Joseph had to tell him to not come back, told him we would call the police , etc... Ronard, (who I'm told is either crazy or drunk) takes his shirt off in front of the whole neighborhood and wants to fight Joseph...  I think Joseph was a bit angry with me for giving out my address..  I saw Ronard at the grocery store parking lot(where he does most of his wheeling and dealing ) and told not to come back to our house.. I told him my allegiance was with Joseph. He told me "that man Joseph is a bad man".. I told him I disagreed and I believe we have seen the last of Ronard.. Hopefully.. 

Around town, they sell tiny bags the size of a finger that are full of oil.. I'm now realizing that they are probably for workers like Joseph who need a little bit of oil to fix their lunch .. Totally foreign to us back in the US... 

Below are some photos.. one is of a woman carrying cassava on her head.. Every woman here is able to carry loads and loads of items on their head.. I'm alway blown away.. 

The other photo was taken by Michelle. This is the normal routine here . I am not a medical person, but Michelle has told me that due to lack of machines to supply proper oxygen to children, the parents are asked to do it in this manner.. (I hope that is correct).. Regardless , the fact that parents have to administer medical care to their child in the hospital is pretty amazing.. Michelle said that sometimes the child's condition is dependent on the oxygen, and if administered improperly, the mother can feel responsible for the outcome.. Be thankful for what we have

 at home.

Not much else to say.. Slow weekend ahead of us.. The kids are walking zombies and Kate is sore as all get out due to the fact that the swim coaches have been working them pretty hard.. A month off of physical activity can cause problems..  Happy Friday folks. 

Mother supplying oxygen to child at KCH

Piece of cake!!! woman with cassava on the beach 

flooding in Malawi , National holiday today and Throwback Thursday

The much needed rain a few weeks ago is now causing havoc throughout the country..Homes are being destroyed,  livestock washed away and over 60,000 people displaced... We remain unaffected by it, except for some leaking here and there.. but most of the country is now declared a state of emergency..Malawi has made the headlines and the President has declared that 15 districts of the country are in a state of emergency... see news article below

Malawi state of emergency

Many people live in makeshift homes or homes similar to these structures and I'm not sure how they would hold up in serious rain storms...

Market in Lilongwe

Here in Lilongwe , we have the day off due to John Chilembwe day... Here's a tidbit about John if you are so inclined to find out more about this holiday..
John Chilembwe
The president has (i think) decided to extend the holiday to tomorrow as well, so this means shops, etc will probably be closed for the next few days.. I love the holiday extending thing.. It happened several times in Botswana, and it must be an African thing... What a great way to boost morale in a country.. Let's just extend the holiday!! Imagine if our president decided to do this..

It is very early here and I cannot sleep due to the huge amount of bird chirping that started around 4 am.. I was up at 5 am, making banana bread and Irish soda bread... I like bread. 

Since so many hipsters have decided that Thursday is dubbed "throwback Thursday".. I've decided to grace you with 2 photos from several years back.. Here are the twins and Maura.. I've spared Jacob and Kate the embarrassment , mainly because I'll never hear the end of it from Kate... 

Headed out to golf . Hope all is well back home.

Flies, golden globes and NFL football

NFL games come on here 7 hours later than when at home. So games started about 10 pm the other day and went on through the night. A sports bar in town( Champions) plays American football live. I just found this out this weekend.. So they played the Seattle game at 3 am the other night.. And they were open to broadcast it! I think this sunday I will head out late night to watch a game..

Last night after the football game we watched the tape delay of the Golden Globes.. Michelle loves the golden globes so we stayed up until midnight taking watching people who need to have their egos stroked, well... have their egos stroked.  Would like to to check out "Boyhood" though.. If anyone knows how I can bootleg a copy of that to watch over here, please let me know..

The serious rains seems to bring out another breed of flies that I have never encountered before.. They are ruthless and will hound you night and day. They don't give up, are in your face and will attack your food as soon as it is opened..

Yesterday I hit the grocery store after school.. I had a few things on a list to pick up and thought I would make quick work of it right after school.. There was nothing in the grocery store.. 3/4 of the items I had to get the shop was totally out of it... This occurs occasionally here, and the attitude of the employees is one I could learn from .. I asked the guy at the vegetable counter if they had any carrots, celery, spinach, peppers, lettuce , cilantro , cabbage, tomatoes or cheese in the back of the store.. He said "no , but maybe it will come tomorrow. We do have some nice potatoes ." I was sold. Picked up a couple of potatoes and walked out the door.. The meat I bought was bad as well, as were the hot dogs I planned to use later in the week for Skyline coneys(thanks bob)..  You don't know the meat is bad until you open it...the expiration date says January 23 of this year.. but I don't think it matters.

Not much else to report.. I know this is riveting information but that's really all I have.. I can tell you that one of best things about my job is the fact that I get to spend this time here with my kids. I see them all the time and I really do think it has helped with the day to day here.. The move here was a huge worry but I think now everything is normal. It's a good place to be and I think when you make a move like this, in your mind you play back the earlier times and wonder what you were so worried about. The kids have totally adjusted and have done very well living in southern Africa.. They've been having lots of dreams about home though and I think the start of the second semester has triggered that. For now, that'll have to do as we continue to enjoy our time here.. They started back to swimming today and with the change in weather, the pool is cold.. Jude just so happened to "sprain his ankle right before practice".. I think he needs to enjoy swimming a little more and realize there may never be another time in his life that he can swim outside in the month of January .

Hope all is well back home.. Here's a photo of a beautiful frog (maybe poisonous??) that me and a kindergartener saved from being squashed in my classroom.  Also, I found these on my computer from Kate and her friends shopping at the new Shoprite.. thought I'd embarrass her and share.Hope all is well back home.

feels like home

Today is our first day back and marks the start of the second half of our time in Malawi.. I was excited and kind of sad as we started the day.... We have had some wonderful times here so far and there are many people I will miss when we leave this place.

The rain continues and is causing havoc here in local villages and towns.. Much of the rain is destroying homes and washing away livestock, people ,etc..  Apparently 45,000 people have been displaced due to the rains... The temperature feels like a fall/ early spring day back home..

The kids at school walk from class to class with umbrellas and jackets..  Not much else to say except that our kids seemed to have gotten right back into the swing of things.. I'm watching Jude right now play on the playground with friends..

Have to go, class coming in and computer about to run out of battery .. a few photos.. students during break, and our handmade Christmas calendar.... we finally got to taking down our decorations yesterday.. Another change of time.. Life is good.

Video is rain outside my classroom

clouds

730 in the morning here and absolutely gorgeous.. Not sure what we have planned for today, but we have a braai to go to , then a night of playing cards with friends.  Having coffee and listening to 89.3 WMKV from home. Talking to Joseph this morning, as he makes a fire in the side yard to make food.. He tells me that him and Kam have been pricing rabbits in the village to replace our two that were lost at the hands of our dog.. They were really upset about the loss of the rabbits. Kam said yesterday, "the children are sad, and so I am sad".. I tried to assure him my kids were ok, but I think he really wants to get a few more rabbits.

Yesterday as we were driving around town we stumbled upon a playground called "MAT".. I pulled in the dirt parking lot and got out to survey the place.. They have just opened up and were trying to market the place.. I met a real schmoozer of a Malawian salesman name Toko... He was telling me to come and watch American football, etc and let the kids run around.. It was actually a pretty novel idea for this city.. There's nowhere for kids to play.. no parks, no nothing.. so, they've developed a mini park full of trampolines, playsets, etc.. and a room with Xbox and games to play as well.. Plus, for the parents the will have a wine bar and a "vast" selection of beer and a "vast" selection of food on the menu.. Now, this all sounds great, but the reality is ...  their selections will not be vast, and the games (such as Xbox) will not work and the playground will have equipment that doesn't work or is dangerous to play on.. Most of the playlets here are makeshift welded sets and have bits of metal sticking out.. Plus, the American Football can be found here three days after the games were actually played.. And, they are usually broadcasted at 4, 6 and 8 am...
But, if it turns out to be somewhat functional, it could be a nice place to go when bored.. I asked Toko about the hours and he said.. "during the weekend, we'll be open until there's no one who can stand anymore".... Seems kind of dangerous..  I didn't get a picture of the place, but think a PUTT PUTT facility, with a bar..

Just around the corner from the playground/ bar was a shop called Gary's.. I've read about it on local chat websites and thought about stopping in to check out what they had to sell.. I thought they were a pet/ fish store and thought maybe that would be a nice alternative to rabbits.. But, they don't sell fish, they only sell aquariums to house fish.. Ahhhh ... Makes total sense right??
 You can't go to a pet store to buy a pet.. You have to go to someplace (mostly on the street) to buy a rabbit, or dog, or cat.. This is true and I don't think I've mentioned this. As you drive through town, you 'll see guys holding rabbits or puppies or kittens up in the air for sale.... And they'll stand there all day with the same animal... The strangest thing about this place is the fact that the hospitals and healthcare for people are so dilapidated and backwards, yet there's a LSPCA center for animals with emergency facilities that is open 24 hours...

Clouds- with the rainy season upon us, the clouds you see rolling in each day are stunning.. I don't think I've ever seen such an amazing array of clouds that in all honestly, can scare the hell out of you.. But we've only really experience 2 or 3 good storms here.. But the clouds are beautiful..
Not much else to say, Michelle went to work for an hour or so to check up on things..Then we'll head out with the kids to enjoy the afternoon.. Maybe buy an aquarium or go to a playground...
Hope all is well back home..

Jude and Franny in the back seat

New Year's celebration

rain continues, bunny debacle, wrapping up the winter/summer break

Joseph called Michelle from outside our home at about 6 am this morning to tell us some bad news.. Foxy (our dog) got a hold of one  of our bunnies, killed it and cleanly buried it.. Then, around 11 am this morning, our second bunny was MIA... After searching the yard, we found the 2nd bunny, buried in the garden.. Needless to say, the kids are a little upset..  The rabbits were a really great thing to keep the kids occupied... Not sure if we should get another set.. We have obviously proven that we are horrible at tending to bunnies.. Actually, that's not true.. we just have a dog who enjoys eating them... Kam has informed me that he would like to get 2 more bunnies for the children.. so we may have reinforcements coming this weekend.

Yesterday evening Joseph told me that i was an example to him on how to teach his children respect.. He said that charity comes from the home, and even though "he doesn't remember my name, he appreciates my children always saying hello to him ".. I said I was glad that he thought that way and that he was an excellent example of kindness to my children.. We went back and forth for about 10 minutes telling each other how much we respected each other.. That is how we deal with the language barrier, instead of keeping it short and sweet, we extend the conversation, saying the same thing over and over and over..
Yesterday it rained all day. On top of that, the power went out about 4 and was off until about 9 or so.. We played cards most of the afternoon and the kids played a monster game on Monopoly with two of Cincy's resident visitors Matt and Essi..  I made my first apple pie before the power went out and it was  a hit.. The month long vacation has been a nice plus of living in Africa, but I think my kids are so bored , they might actually be excited to go back to work..

Michelle's frustrations at work continue, but she is doing well.  Cultural differences seem to be a challenge and this is something I don't really think Michelle knows what to do to solve some issues at .. It's a strange dynamic and I'm not really sure it can be solved.  But, it's friday, and Michelle has the weekend off.... which is always nice.

Not sure what we'll be up to this weekend, but I do know it will be warmer here than back in Cincinnati. We have plans to have dinner with friends this evening, then nothing.. We prepare to get back to school and finish out our second half of our time here in Malawi.  The photos below..  aspirin that obviously stops pain fast! the kids drawing on our driveway, large snails that litter our lawn, walls, trees, etc.. Franny taking in a sunset and Maura and Kate on a game drive.. Happy Friday everyone, hope all is well.

maybe next time..

Well the anniversary celebrations went off without a hitch..We went to a posh little place on the outskirts of town.. It was a very hip place, full of contemporary paintings, IKEA-esque furniture, Hendricks gin(instead of just Malawian gin) and a bunch of young Chinese men watching NBA basketball on the phones with the volume going full blast.. It was kind of surreal. The food was oak, but the company was nice. Our waitress couldn't open the wine bottle we ordered and had to get help from another server. Hard to believe Michelle and I have been married for 19 years.. 

I have been here for 5+ months and still make the horrible mistake of telling street vendors "maybe next time" when I turn them down. A gentleman at Chipiku sells handmade cards , and each time he sees me, he camps out by my car waiting for me to return after I've done my shopping .. Yesterday he said. "I saw you Sunday and you said 'Maybe next time', and today is Tuesday and also 'next time'".. Needless to say I have a new handmade card.. The other guy that gets me every time is the man who sells CD's at the gas station.. He pulls out a handful of CD's .. yesterday I bought a Lionel Richie and Phil Collins CD.... I need to learn how to properly say no. 

Kids are getting lazy really fast here and we are just going to ride this wave until Monday when school gets back in session on Monday.. Below are some random photographs... The one of the dancers was taking place at the Lilongwe Wildlife Center.. We were just about to take a walk with a guide to check out some of the animals they have.. Me and the kids were always the last ones in the group and the tour guide kept having to wait for us.. Michelle overheard him saying "there are some that are too slow.. are they white people??"  Yes, we are slow ..  The other photo was taken probably about two weeks ago when the land was totally barren and dry. Now it is becoming very lush and crops are beginning to grow.. 

Hope all is well back home. 

Lastly, I've put up a video of a sunrise here.. Nothing really like it.. Check it out!

Take out chicken from MaryLane Chicken.. USA, USA, USA!!!

traditional Malawian dancing 

waiting for rain