Landed!

Hey all!  Just a quick note to let you know that I have landed safe and sound and arrived in the wonder and.... wonder!  That is Chilumba!!  SOOOOO many details to follow!  All amazing though! 
PS Giant spider on my wall, and I don't even care!  :D
xoxo

The Warm Heart of Africa...

         As the days tick by, and the departure date draws nearer, my excitement level is consistently building… Especially when I start to read more about the country and reminisce about our last trip there!
        For those of you who have google-ed Malawi and know only that it is a very underdeveloped country in South Eastern Africa, here are some excerpts from the introduction to Bradt’s Travel Guide:

(Pictures are from Brit and I’s last visit!)

“Enclosed by sheer mountains and edged by seemingly endless palm-fringed sandy beaches, Lake Malawi is the most beautiful of Africa’s great lakes.”

“The people of Malawi exude a warmth friendliness that make most visitors feel instantly at home. Malawi may well be the most laid back nation on earth.”

“Malawi would lie near the top of any list of African countries I’d recommend to a nervous novice traveller.”

“Perhaps the greatest of Malawi’s attractions is a low-key charm that most visitors find thoroughly addictive. Many travellers fly into Africa barely aware that Malawi exists; by the time they return home, a high proportion have come to regard it as their favourite African country.”
(Myself included!! )

“Whether you’re content to relax at the lake or prefer actively to explore little-visited mountains, forests and game reserves, it is difficult to think of a more agreeable place for easy, unstructured travel than Malawi.”

Soooo.... What are you waiting for then?  Come visit already!! ;)

 

What am I doing again??

Ok, now its time to get down to the nitty gritty!

What on earth am I actually DOING in Malawi?
Here are some details from the job description:

   

“There is a long-established medical research project on the northern shores of Lake Malawi, near a village called Chilumba. It is an undeveloped and safe area of outstanding natural beauty. In the area there are no English speaking schools. The Scottish manager of the project has two children who are being home schooled. They are extremely socialised, with lots of friends (they are fluent Chitumbuka speakers) but need teaching in English. There are usually 4-5 young expatriates working at the medical project and many well educated and friendly young Malawians.

Job Specs:

Large garden (and great weather) for outdoor activities, lake for swimming Group teaching of girls plus their Malawian friends (about 10 children) in the afternoons – swimming, sports, art, drama, music etc.
Opportunities to do voluntary work at local schools if desired.
School room is a large room in children’s home set in a beautiful garden with lake view.
etc.


Person spec:

UK primary school teacher with experience of UK schooling
Adventurous, imaginative and energetic nature
Resourceful
Experience of travelling or living in a developing country an advantage
Those of nervous disposition need not apply (some of those bugs in Malawi are quite big!)”


(ahem...  I am ignoring that last comment for now....)

Now do you understand? How could  I have passed this opportunity up?

Beyond this info however, what it will be like, what trouble I will get into, what fun I will have etc… Your guess is as good as mine! Stay tuned!

     


 Ok, also, when I was looking for this job description document, I found old emails from some wonderful friends who encouraged me to go for this:

“Are you ****ING KIDDING ME? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???!!!!! THAT is all I have to say on this matter, and that I should probs get my flight booked to Malawi summer 2012 for an epic travel adventure to visit you and those kids who will probs be total fairies living in the jungle of Malawi. Done. Go now. On you go. :D”

“Wow. What are you doing even CONSIDERING this? The subject should probably just read: “Hey Tarrah. Its this one. Apply now.” I couldn’t have written a more appropriate job for you. In fact, I’m pretty sure you just wrote this in your sleep last night and forgot about it.”

 “THIS IS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU!!!! I think I am just as giddy, giggling, and squealing with excitement as you are right now! This sounds absolutely fabulous! I mean, yes, you'd be living in rural Malawi - but MALAWI!!!! I read the "specs" of the job and you are the exact profile they are looking for! Everything happens for a reason my dear, so I say go full force into this, and if it works out, it's for a reason!”

Thanks again team!  You are absolute gems, and I would never  have had the courage to go for this job without your excitement to drive me to it!  Hope to see you soon, Malawi side!  xoxo

Stormy Saturday!

      
Yayyeeeeee for Stormy Saturdays!   

       The clouds racing across the London skies, as the windows shake and shiver in their panes, means that I have nothing better to do than read, make blueberry pancakes for the sleepy heads sprawled around this flat, and… maybe… just maybe… get this blog up and running! Maybe… not committing to anything just yet!

          
      There are a few people/incidents I need to thank for finally motivating me to getting this thing started:      
         First of all, I would like to thank everyone who persistently nagged me over the holidays, giving me the extra bit of encouragement I needed to give this blogging thing a try!

       Secondly, I would like to thank Dad’s dirty old pick up truck, whose engine saw fit to sputter and die on our way to the movies one rainy night a few weeks ago, leaving us stranded on the side of the highway with no cell phones. (Why would either of us bring cell phones to a movie? Sigh…)
       As Dad braved the rain to walk to the nearest café and beg to use their telephone services, I was forced into the weather by something much less glamorous: the cup of coffee I consumed an hour previous, and my weak bladde 
      Where to relieve myself that would not be seen by cars on the highway? Into the rain I went, over the fence of the Craig Heritage Museum, and through the sopping grass in my entirely insufficient Keds sneakers.
      Eventually I chose a dark spot against the side of the building, still in sight of the highway, but shadowed enough that I hoped I would go unnoticed as I dropped my drawers and squatted in relief.
      Unfortunately, I underestimated the power of modern technology. Namely, motion detectors… and flood lights… which promptly lit up my lily white fanny for all the passing drivers to see….

      Sigh… Just another hilarious day in my life…. Which was when I realized… If this is what happens to me on a rainy night in boring Parksville, what kinds of muddles will I get myself in next week!? (yes, next week!!! :D)
         Keep posted to find out! ;)


Oooo… is that sunshine that I see poking through the clouds?? Maybe today is not the day of the blog after all! Off to the park for me!

The Mantra for January 2012 in London :)

Then and Now

One fine fall day in 2008, my dear friend Brittney and I were sprawled on the back lawn of our residence at Rhodes University.  If I recall, there were study notes laying beside us on the grass, but it is not likely they were an important feature of our afternoon.  Much more important was the Lonely Planet section on a place called Malawi.  Why had we never made time to go there during our semester on exchange? 

It took very little discussion for us to realize that it was not too late, and by day's end we had booked tickets and made a plan to take off for reading week (Studying is clearly over rated in the grand scheme of life....)

A couple of days later we were sipping a beer on the edge of a stunning lake, watching the sun set as we daydreamed about what the future might bring.

Now it would appear that the future is bringing me back to Malawi, and hopefully many magical moments to come!  I will try to update this weekly with my favorite/ most embarrassing moments, pics, quotes, whatever I feel might give you a laugh.  Enjoy!  :)

Snapshots of Summer Rain

Nov 2, 2010


     All I sought was a phrase or words to sum up those moments in time that make you pause and gaze unashamedly at whatever wonderous event destiny has sent your way.
     Those moments that reach you in your dullest moods and bring a smile to your lips, or cause an uncontrollable giggle to escape.  Those cleansing moments of awe which suddenly put our insignificant lives in perspective and remind us to smell the roses.  Moments which, surely, any person at any point in eternity could appreciate, if they were just to open their eyes to the magic around them.


      Two young sisters race, laughing hysterically, into the overgrown grass of a field, spinning and twirling and relishing the nonjudgmental friendship of siblings.
      A dog escapes through the front gate as a mass of dark clouds gather on the horizon, and neighbors laugh to see two teenage girls, dressed to the nines, chasing him down the road just as the downpour begins.
     From a reading nook on the front porch, a young woman drifts back to present after a literary journey to faraway lands, just in time to watch a passing shower come from the right, pass overhead, and depart to the left.
     Hot, sweaty rugby players, faltering under the muggy oppression of an African afternoon, step up their game as a heavy thundershower rolls in over the hill to wash away their fatigue.
     Even in the chilly gray of the Scottish Isles, two girls armed with a sparkly (if faulty), umbrella find the humor and good cheer to embark on an adventure into a storm from which all others hide.
     Moments.


     Surely I am not the only one in history to feel the freedom... the rush of joy... the sense that all is right in the world and that life is too short not to turn our face skywards and embrace the gift that nature has deemed it necessary for us to receive.



Summer Rain
Warm, refreshing, cleansing  


Jan 9, 2011
      Come what may, let me always keep my eyes open, waiting for those moments of summer rain and the sunshine that follows close behind.