Tuesday, June 27, 2006

A Busy Day

Women Dancing
Small Business of Honey and Soap
The handover ceremony

Today I...
...took part in another Self-Help handover, this one involving a daycare/orphanage center in
the beautiful town of Nchitsi about two hours out of Lilongwe.
...got carsick.
...danced in a circle with the volunteers, sang and clapped along with them.
...stopped to soothe a small baby crying outside the orphanage and soon had all of them wailing at the top of their lungs (have had similar experiences in Japan - it's the First White Person (FWP) effect.
...was given honey and homemade soap made from palm oil.
...finally ate nsima, the Malawian national dish, complete with chicken neck (I passed on the scary looking goat meat, though)
...learned how to say "My Name Is" and "I don't speak Chichewa" in Chichewa.
...had an amiable discussion about USAID's corporate understanding of development.
...finally got ahold of someone at the Ministry of Agriculture to tell me about a meeting I'm supposed to get to this Friday (this is a major coup for me!!)
...inspected a rabbit hutch (looks good!)
...held orphaned/sick/HIV-AIDs babies at a crises nursery here in Lilongwe. Can you be in love and have a broken heart all at the same time??
And it's only 5 pm!
Love and hugs,
M.

1 comment:

emirica said...

ah, dancing, car sickness and very important meetings. you look a bit tired in the pictures, is the heat. I mis you. bosnia is kicking. still working up the courage to start interviewing. hope all is well.
love ya lots.