the South Africans probably think we are totally incompetent... But they are a great group of guys to hang out with.. They enjoy a cold beer, talking sports and remind me of home.. It's fun... think St. Thomas Summer Festival or a fish fry.. except you're at the US Marine house in Lilongwe, Malawi , and there's no fish or a big six wheel..
And they came with great stories... One of them that stood out was about an employee of one of the guys was bitten by a black mamba.. They killed the snake, drove his employee around to all of the local hospitals to try and find some anti venom, but no luck.. Then, as a last resort, he called the U.S. Embassy.. Turns out, the US embassy is only one of two places that stocks snake bite anti- venom.. the other is the British Embassy.. They administered the drugs to his employer and he turned out to be ok.. Does it seems strange/ sad/ typical that we are the only place in the country that has anti venom?? Another man told a story about how they have found all kinds of deadly snakes around his lake house.. Mambas(green and black), puff adders and spitting cobras... He doesn't know how to get rid of them.... this stuff is here and its real... I'm just glad we haven't encountered any of it.. (but we are headed to the lake this weekend.. at least I'll know who to call)
The Marine house was a palatial estate occupied by 6 young soldiers... When they weren't playing pool, they sat on the couches playing MADDEN Football on the Playstation... oh yeah, and they had a 80" curved television which was the envy of all the SA pool players.. You couldn't take your eyes off of the thing... It was huge.
I wanted to get a few photos of the place, but was afraid that I couldn't take photos of a Marine compound... I did take a quick one of the bar (which is fully stocked) and had really great old Marine posters pinned up on the wall.
Today is a big day at school.... The kids don't share Valentines, but as a fund raiser for the senior class, students can buy a rose for the equivalent of 50 cents and give it to someone special.. Jude has decided to buy one for his teacher( He's a bit of a schmoozer).. should be some roses floating around campus in the next few days... Ok, gotta go.. Nursery school kids banging on my door.. in a few minutes half of them will be asking to go take a "wee"... fun times..
Hope all is well at home... Photos below are a window in the village of Gisepo, the marine bar, and Foxy with a treat... apparently the guards give Foxy a few small sardine like fish and wrap it in paper to play with... African version of a dog treat..
