Notes for Wednesday

Trying to write this post from lakeside here at senga bay ... The kids and I spent the night away at a place called Whistlers and were able to take a day and hang lakeside . It's 9 am here and I'm watching Jude and Frances beat the hell out of each other on the lake .we are the only people at this place which is not at all what i expected .. We ve had the pool to ourselves , the braai to ourselves and . This place is beautful and rugged and vast and many things that are really wonderful ... But I think the kids are ready to go home .. It's good we will be able to take a big trip next week and get their minds off of it and appreciate this place for a little longer . On the drive yesterday Kate told me she was ready to leave but knows she ll miss it ... I think they all feel that way . That's it for now .. We could stay another night here , but the kids are torn on what to do .. Hope all is well back home .

Gotta see video!!!

Last night was ABC's talent show.. And while the acts were very impressive, there was one that stood out.. Kate's basketball team performed their version of the "get your head in the game" from everyone's favorite movie "High School Musical"... Check it out below... Kate starts out in the bottom right corner of the video #9 on her maroon jersey, #1 in your hearts..

I was pied in the face by Jude at the conclusion of the event.. They basically put some melted ice cream in a metal pan for Jude to plant on my face... Jude put it to my face and the melted ice cream just ran right down my shirt and into my lap.

Michelle arrived safely yesterday from a successful trip to Cape Town.. We reaped the rewards as she bought the kids some 1st world items, me some belgian ales and a great book...  Not much else to report.. We have a couple get togethers this weekend and I will probably hit the pool with the kids after school today.. Life is rough.

By the time everyone back home wakes up we will be officially on spring break.  Listening to "The Band " to celebrate. Hope all is well back home..

*** side note, I got up early to check out live college basketball, UK was up by 40 I think so I made some coffee...

swimming officially over, 2 more days til break.

"And next we have Jude Eckerle, who was a joy to coach and has the personality of a 35 year old man." That was the highlight of the evening as we celebrated the conclusion of a successful swim season. I don't know if Kate will admit it, but me making her swim might have been the best thing that happened this school year. She was able to socialize with lots of kids from the school, stay active and find out she actually is pretty damn good swimmer. I told them all last night how proud I was of them for the way they have handled this year.. 

Kate is in total mourning right now as her favorite band (One Direction) is losing one of their top members... She woke up this morning in tears and woke up everyone else in the house with the sad news... I tried to console her by telling her about how devastated I was when KISS broke up when I was a kid.. When they lost Ace Frehley, things just got all out of whack. It happens... Good bands break up.. Not sure if it was a great parenting moment, but I tried. 

Last night was a wonderful evening of awards, food and kids being kids.. It was a lot of fun.. The banquet was held at the school pavilion , which is basically a giant thatched roof covering.. The beautiful thing about having events here is just about everything is outside.. As they were giving out the awards, I looked out and the sun was setting in the distance ... It never really gets old.... 

Michelle heads back to Lilongwe today and back to reality.. I think she enjoyed her time in Cape Town and picked up a few 1st world items for us.. She deserved a day of hot yoga, and beach lounging..  She thinks she did well enough to pass the board exam.. Is that something you want to hear from you physician?

All is good here otherwise.. Looking forward to break. Below are photos of the kids with their friends, their coaches and a photo of the morning commute ... fog rising in the morning.. Hope all is well back home. 

Notes for Wednesday

Remember how I told you how efficient car care was here in Malawi?? Well, I was wrong .. After two  and a half days of waiting, my oil change/ new battery work is finished... It was done well and they called several times extending the pickup time, but it took a little longer than what they had told me.. Which is about par for the course here in southern Africa.. I have now been trained to be patient and wait... so it really wasn't a big deal. I remember some advice that was given to me when I arrived here in August.. "However long it takes to get something done at home, multiply that by 4 and you'll have Malawi time." this is absolutely correct.

As I write this Michelle is in the midst of taking her boards so hope test is going well.. yesterday her plan was to "walk".. and I think that is what she did.. Apparently she hiked to the top of Table Mountain , went shopping, etc.. She said after about an hour of feeling very strange that there were shops, restaurants, etc... she felt right back at home..  I hope she got something very nice for me. It's been very difficult to talk/ text, etc...

Apparently , there was an article in the Fort Thomas Matters online paper (is there a hard copy somewhere??) and it featured an article written by a good friend/ colleague of mine... Chuck Keller did a piece in the paper and asked for my help.. So feel free to check it out when you get a chance.. here's the link

IT"S NOT WHAT WE HAVE


Sunny and beautiful here today... We have an end of the year swim banquet to attend this evening , then only 2 days left until break.. Tomorrow there is a talent show here at school in the evening and as a fundraiser they have asked the kids to vote for which teacher they'd like to see get pied in the face... each student can cast a vote and puts money into a box with the teacher's name on it... Apparently my box is overflowing... So I may be getting pied tomorrow night..

Hope all is well back home...

Below is a few photos... One is of the parking lot of the auto shop, while the others are taken from Michelle's hospital. One is the lunch line , laundry day at the hospital and a staple lunch that michelle eats some days at the hospital... Ntsima, rice, greens, sauce and a coke.. Want to know how they make Nsima here?? Check out the video below..

Auto mechanic... My truck is in the back with the roof rack. 

Laundry at hospital

Lunch

Classic Malawian meal.. Nsima, greens, beans, rice and tomato sauce.. and of course a coke. 

Michelle roughing it in Cape Town, thank you Bruns Family!!!!!!

Got a message from Michelle that she was headed to hot yoga this morning.. in Cape Town...  Without going in to much detail, Cape Town is the most beautiful place I have ever been to in my life.  It is as most people here say.. "Africa easy" as it doesn't really feel like Africa at all.. They have hot yoga classes and as Michelle told me last night, restaurants that have guys in them playing Leonard Cohen songs...  I'm sure it's a nice taste of home and Michelle needs a break from this place. I'm glad she is there without me.. really I am.  To show how unjealous I am here's a few photos of the time we spent there back when we lived in Botswana.. I was only there for a part of the time in Cape Town, but the place is such a great mix of things.. It is truly unbelievable...

The kids and I are doing fine in Michelle's absence. I received a note from the post office yesterday that there was a package waiting for me at the post office.. This is an adventure in and of itself as the post office is strategically placed directly behind the wood carver's market... So as soon as you step out of your car, there are guys in your face asking you if you want buy cloth, wood carvings, pot, you name it.. They'll sell you anything.. I also realized that whatever Goodwill cannot sell, they ship to 3rd world countries.. I kind of knew that, but this reinforces the notion that our unwanted items come here to live a second/ third/ fourth life.. That explains why I've seen Bengals tshirts, Pokey Reese jerseys and enough OSU tshirts to clothe Columbus.. 

Anyway,, when you go to the post office you must have the official package slip as well as your passport..  I walked into the post office and was greeted by two women who were sharing a bowl of rice and greens... They asked me in Chichewa to join them... Then they continued speaking in Chichewa to me.. There were two gentleman behind me taping a large box together laughing hysterically , so I figured I was being toyed with, so I just asked for the package... 

You never know if things will come intact, and the woman who went to retrieve the box couldn't lift it so she just kept kicking it across the floor.. They gave me a receipt in between bites of their rice and smiled kindly as they gave me the box.. As I'm walking out, I can hear all of them laughing, probably at my expense.. I wish I knew Chichewa. 

The Bruns family sent us a wonderful package of all the things we don't can't get here.. Needless to say, most of it is already gone... Last night , we busted open a box of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies and shared them with the visiting residents from Cincy Children's Hospital..  I am munching on pistachios now, so thank you again!! 

Lately the women on the side of the road have been selling boiled peanuts and I usually get two bags worth to eat during the work day... cost is about .75 cents.  

That's about it.. I'll take the kids out to eat tonight as Michelle will probably be sipping on a wonderful South African wine, celebrating the conclusion of taking her board exams.. Please send good thoughts Michelle's way as she has to pass this exam or she has to pay another 2000$ to take it again..  

Other photos below are the wood carvers market, and Jude and Joseph playing their daily soccer match before dinner.. Turns out , Jude is undefeated against an full grown African man.. who plays soccer like nobody's business.. That's sweet of Joseph to let Jude win, but he should keep him honest every once in a while.. 

Market in front of post office

Final score- Jude 10- Joseph 7

YESSSS!!!!

Michelle off to Cape Town, the joys of the Malawi Airport and the joys of having your car break down.

As I write this, Michelle is finishing work and heading out to the airport to catch a flight to Cape Town. And as Michelle gets to spend a few days taking her boards (medical test of some sort) and seeing a little of the most beautiful city I've been to in my life, me and the kids get to hang out together in ..... Lilongwe.. It just doesn't have the same ring... We are all looking forward to spring break.. We really, really need some time off....

Not much else to say, so Ill just highlight a few things.. Air travel in Malawi (or at least my experience) is really great.. the airport is so small, you can arrive about 30 minutes before takeoff, get through security and board the plane... And usually, they plane takes off exactly the time it was scheduled..

When you go out to pick up someone from the airport, you can take go up on the 2nd floor and have a drink while watching the planes land..

This morning our battery died in our truck so I had a local company come out and give us a jump. They came in 20 minutes, jumped the truck and escorted me to the shop. When we arrived, the mechanics looked it over, told me it would be ready this afternoon and drove me back home.. If all goes well, I will get the truck back today, and it will be spotless as it is customary to clean it top to bottom...
Some things here are very, very efficient .. planes, airports and car repairs.

With Michelle gone, chances are i'll treat the kids to a few dinners out.

For Monday, i've attached a few videos.. One is of some baboons on the deck just outside of the bedroom Kate and Frances slept in during our most recent trip to the beach..

The other is the lake front and a giant storm brewing... Looking forward to going back to the lake.
Hope all is well back home.. check out the videos.

R.i.p Indy and another successful South African braai

A wonderful weekend weather wise , but Friday brought some sadness . After school the kids and I came home to find our puppy , Indy , in the side yard really struggling.  It had been going on for a week and he had a wheeze / cough since we got him . No one realized the severity of his illness until this past week . Anyway , he looked awful and we took him into the vet . I kind of knew what the verdict would be but we hoped for the best . Turns out the best was to put the poor thing out of its misery and put it to sleep . The kids were distraught and had a rough 24 hours . Nothing that a few empty promises and some ice cream can't fix . Honestly ,

It was pretty sad .

The vet (an American) said it was probably distemper and the dog would have only had a 20% chance of survival back home . That made the kids feel better . Yesterday we hung out at the pool and in the evening had out South African Friends over for a braai of boerwurst  , steak and chicken .

It was a great time and the really felt like family . This was filled with looking for golf balls in snake infested holes since I can't keep my drives in the fairway . Michelle came to pick me up , got pulled over bull the cops and was fined 10000kwa for something . I've never seen Michelle this upset here. The cops told her she needed a receipt for the payment and that she had to give the officer a ride to the police station to fill out paper work .. Michelle told them she didn't want a receipt and they should just take our cash .. They disagreed, the cop was about to get into the truck and Michelle said "no , just take the money . I am not obligated to give you a ride and I don't need a receipt ". That's just unheard of here as you need a receipt for everything . They finally let their guard down and now have plenty of money for a good lunch . Not much else going on .. Weather is perfect so we ll head to the pool and hang there for the afternoon . Michelle is getting ready to head to Cape Town tomorrow .. I'm a little jealous . Cheers to everyone back home. We miss our friends and family . Photos are the kids at the pool just about to jump , the other photo is the sky the other night . It was amazing . I've never seen anything like it . This is the sky opposite the sunset . Then below is our friends . Great people