In Case I had Forgotten...

Had one of those “Moments When You Recall Your Precise Location on the Planet”…

I just received the following message from my friend J.:

“There’s a hippo at my lake! No effing lie! Everyone’s talking about it!”

The funny bit is, my first reaction was to go, “Who sent this? Siobhan? Karin?”

Then it dawned on me….

“Oh no wait… I live in Malawi… This is my neighbor….”
Bah hahahahahah

(PS. Please say a little prayer for the poor lost and lonely hippo who has strayed so far from home… :( )

Sunday Bliss

(March 4, 2012)

A snapshot of day-to-day bliss:

It was impossible to hide my exhilaration. The joy showed all over my face as we whizzed down the path home from Uliwa this Sunday morning.

A cool breeze in our faces, blue above, the green of the maize fields streaming past on each side, vibrant from the rains that have finally arrived.

Dragonflies, butterflies and birdies share my airspace, challenging me to a race, as does the tiny boy on the big bicycle beside us.

Bags heavy with the spoils of a successful shop (onions, icing sugar and Halaal noodles - yum!!), we push our bicycles up the last stretch of hill, then skip down to the beach and dive, clothes and all, into the clear blue of the lake. 

Floating on my back, staring up at the sky (having confirmed yesterday with T. that there have been no crocs in Chilumba in her living memory…), I couldn’t help giggling once again - surely this is not real life?

My Malawian Name

Since arriving in Malawi I have been hearing rumours that my name in Chitumbuka, ‘Tala’, means ‘road’ or ‘path’.

This obviously made me immensely happy!!

I enquired about this at my last lesson, and it actually does mean road, but more specifically, the new tarmac road to town!

So, not only does it mean ‘road’ (albeit a less whimsical type of road than I might wish…), but ironically it means ‘Tarmac!’

Hahahahaha

(get it? Tarrah Macdonald?…. Hahahaha! Terrible… I know… but it did make me giggle!)

Imagine

Pally and I bopped to this song as we descended Livingstonia Mountain last weekend, and somehow the words were magnified 100 fold by the sky, the lake, the mountains, and the stretch of land below us, with all its inhabitants.

"Imagine yourself… not feeling any pain
Not feeling any … suffering, but
Feeling good, and feeling free in your mind.
Imagine yourself…. Floating in the air
With your arms out like an eagle,
And you’re flying around
And everywhere you see there are people
And the people are smiling
And everyone is having a good time
And people are loving one another
Sharing with one another
Imagine a world
Where there’s only peace
Where there’s no anger
Where there’s no hate
Where there’s no war
Imagine a world that is full of nothing but love
And full of nothing but joy.
This world is something that we need!
Imagine!”

-What a Wonderful World (Club Mix)
Annual 2009

Now dance your face off to the sounnnnnnd! :)

NikNaks

NikNaks have landed in the Uliwa PTC.


Fellow Rhodents… you know what that means for me…
The end of any healthy snacking plan! Hehe!

I just had my first cheesy Nik Nak since 2008, and from the moment it touched my lips I was hooked once again on that artificial goodness…

Helllllpppppp meeeeee!!!!! :P

Imaginary Walls: Solid as Any Bricks

Race. Class.
Colour. Money.
Call it what you will.Dress it up or dress it down. It is there.
But is it really?
Should it be?
Are we so different?

     As I wander along the lakeshore I gaze at the storm clouds gathering on the horizon, lean into the wind, and let the sound of crashing waves fill my ears.
    I am reminded of a childhood filled with gazing at the ocean, feeling the harsh wind on my skin, tasting salt spray on my lips, and waiting for Daddy to come home, across the powerful, unforgiving water.
    A simple childhood - growing our own veg, fishing, hunting, building our home, running wild amongst the trees and the brush - and, in my opinion, all the better for it.
    I pass a group of fishermen, women and children, on the beach, preparing the nets for a day’s fishing.
    They stare as I pass, some smile, some greet me: “Hey Muzungu! Wuli Makora?!”    And I have the uncomfortable feeling of being a spectacle to some, a source of resentment to others. Apart, certainly.
Muzungu.
White.
    But also, aside from the colour of my skin, associated with so much else. Money. Privilege.
And therefore, apart.
Close enough to see the colour of each other’s eyes, but somehow miles apart.

But are we?
Really?
Are we so different, that girl and I?
You, who gazed at me with that hard, judgemental stare as I took a morning walk?Beyond colour, money, and opportunity, on some deeper level, are we not more similar than this divided world allows us to perceive?
Or are those factors important enough to cement that brick wall in place?
Colour. Money. Privilege.
Do those differences rend irrelevant any similarity, familiarity, that could exist between us?

Please don’t gaze at me in resentment, wonder, or envy. Please don’t become my friend or my enemy because of what my pale skin represents.
By all means, choose to love or hate me, but please judge the person that I am.
And in turn, I shall try to do the same.



Tolstoy's Genius

An awesome little quote sent to me by a dear friend this past St Pats, as I sat curled up on the sofa in the mountains, sipping tea and watching the lightning crackle in the distance:

“A quiet life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them. Then- rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbour. Such is my idea of happiness.”
                                                     -Tolstoy

More Snaps from Paradise

Having just finished a much needed, uplifting chat with some dear friends, I am already battling the mozzies on this fine Malawian eve, so thought I would take the opportunity to share a few more snaps of the views that I am blessed with in my daily life here in Chilumba :)

Our classroom

Our front garden and Kondi (aka The Procrastination Station... hehe)



The view from our favourite 'classroom' aka the front Kondi...  (I remember taking this picture and saying to the girls 'I wonder if it will capture how the lake is sparkling this morning... ' :)



Pie = 22/7??

Constantly learning…
Teaching here really does keep my brain young and functioning!

For example:

One day last week we were working out areas of shapes, and we came to one that involved a half circle.
Easy right? Pie x Radius squared, divided by 2.
No prob! Who has a calculator?

Ummm… clearly no one…

At this point I adamantly decided that it was then impossible to solve the problem. My students disagreed, arguing that I just had to do 22/7 x the radius squared.

Sorry what?!?!

When I got home I plugged 22/7 into my calculator, and what do you know? 22/7 = pie.

In the age of the calculator, I suppose there was never a use for this little bit of trivia to come into my maths schooling!

The result of this of course is that I must now brush up on my fraction skills, as I am now calculating areas of circles with pen and paper… blech! Hehe

Like I said, keeping my brain young and fresh… :S

My Hero

Wowwww this girl is so cool! I want to be just like her when I grow up :)

A Real Life Romantic Comedy! Sigh... :)

Ok, so there are basically 2 blogs in the world that I follow regularly/ religiously.

1.  Wild Siobhan of the Sea's blog:
             onceuponawing.blogspot.com
                                 Which I have written about previously...

2. ...and a hilarious cartoon filled blog of happiness by an ex-Rhodent. 
       Being low on internet access in my current location, I have not had a chance to check her blog in the last few months, BUT I managed to pop in today, and LOOK what I found!!!!  I was bawling/ giggling/ smiling so much my students came in to check I hadn't finally lost the plot!  (Let's be serious though, I lost it long ago....

In any case, you can check it out here!
http://indieberries.blogspot.it/2012/04/hey-world.html



Congrats Che!

As Always...



You know who you are...  (aka... All of you!)



People

The following is part of a conversation I had with B. Monday morning upon returning from Johannesburg:

B: You are lucky, to see different places. With no money, we must just stay here, in this one place.”

 Me: “yes, I am very lucky, and I have seen many places. But, you know, after all this moving about, it’s the people, not the places that attract me. A place is just… a thing. It’s the people that keep drawing me back. it’s the friends and family that are most important, wherever you are.”

 My reply came quite automatically, and without reflection (babbling away unthinkingly… as usual….), but as the words were spouting out, I could feel actually how true they were, and how well they summed up how I feel about life.

Why then, I asked myself, do I feel the pull to keep exploring and travelling?

The same answer of course!

I am drawn by the promise of new friends yet to be made, new conversations to be had, new views to discover.

Forget places and things.

People are the noun that I choose to make my world go round, the noun that has the greatest influence over the choices I make in life.

How about you?

Homecoming

     Three days later, and my belly is still sore just thinking of the non-stop laughing and fun that was my 4 nights and 3 days in Joburg! That Kia really is one of a kind! Thanks lady! You and your fam and friends made it worth every minute on that bus, and every anxious hour spent arguing with border officials! Bah hahah (more on the bus trip itself later, but suffice it to say, I am grateful to be home in one piece! :P)


And one of the most amazing parts of this journey?
Coming home.
And the realization that I have a home to come back to.


As I got closer, I wasn’t so sure, but then… Its just the small things isn’t it?

    A friendly face on the bus ride home, and familiar greetings as you walk down the star-lit path.
   “Muatandala?” “Tatandala, kwalimwe?”
   “Talla! How are you? I need your help!”
         (Translation = can I help you? Hehe :) )
   Arriving home to our dogs whimpering and wagging their tails with excitement.
   Collapsing on the kondi, covered in sweat and mozzies and spider webs, staring at the stars, and listening to the waves gently crashing on the shore (and the not-so-welcome sound of the cats screeching at me for food! Bah haaha)
   A welcome home message, a bushel of ripe bananas, fresh veg, and a cold coke in the fridge.
   The Ilala sliding past in the bay, lights twinkling.
   A friendly flat spider clinging to my mosquito net.
   A deeeeeeep, much-needed sleep under the light of the moon, and a peaceful awakening to the sunrise over the lake. :)