After another full day of teaching we had the bus come pick us up to take us to town for shopping. We always walk back so having the bus proved to be exciting. You would think 4000 children being let out of school for the day would mean a mad dash for home…not when we are here 😉 4000 kids stand outside waiting for us to leave. We all played some games and sang some songs with the children as we waited for the bus. Once the bus arrived all the children were swarming around it and waving telling us “tionanamawa” (see you tomorrow!). We a were all nervous as we pulled away because so many little ones were still close to the bus. Aaron is a great driver though so he knew how to handle it and knew that the children would move.
Arriving in town was fun for the volunteers. It’s crazy to experience all the traffic and to see all the different shops that Lilongwe now has. The plan was to have lunch so I walked the group across to a small restaurant where I knew we could get a good meal, sit outside and relax before shopping in the wood carvers market. It took longer than we all expected, but the food was good and we enjoyed just relaxing with a cold soda and chatting about the day. This is also when Mary had a chance to write the safari blog for me 😉
The group surprisingly didn’t have much shopping to do. Once we got to the market everyone did great. There are always many vendors trying to get visitors attention, but I think the team was well prepared and knew how to handle it all. It didn’t take long for everyone to get what they wanted so we were quick to head back toward the bus. Before the bus we needed to stop at the drug store to get medicine for those of us who swam in the lake (better safe than sorry as they say). We all had to weigh ourselves on the scale there and then pick up our packet of tablets. We were told to take them in about one month and on a full stomach. We made a plan to try and remind each other in a few weeks 😉
We had made plans to have dinner in town but wanted to get showers and such before so we quickly headed back to the village. Once back we had about 3 hours before we needed to leave again. Some showered some just cleaned up and everyone changed clothes. I made a quick run up to the lodge to post blogs and try to charge my iPad. Everyone packed up and off we went again. The team has started to count down the days they have left here in Malawi. I always say that the last week of every trip feels like a ball rolling down hill. The time just seems to go so quickly.
We ate dinner at a local place called Buchanons. We had a lovely meal and were treated to an acoustic band while we ate. The music was great and everyone enjoyed their fancy meal. We then all walked across to another small place grabbed a drink and walked around back where our friend Scott was practicing with his band. We sat and listened and before long it turned into a full on karaoke party. I was surprised at how brave all these teachers are! I think I was the only one who didn’t take a turn at the microphone. We danced a little all together and laughed a lot. I had to shut things down early though because everyone had to be up at 5:45 for teaching. We made it home in good time and all quickly went off to bed.
Surprisingly I was up before the sun this morning! I lit the candle in my hut, propped up my torch (flashlight) and began cleaning and organizing my “mess”. I needed to separate the dirty clothes from the really dirty clothes and fold neatly what had not been worn yet. It was also time to clean out my backpack and just generally get organized again.
I met the gang for breakfast and got them all squared away for their morning of teaching and afternoon of sports with the kids. I didn’t join the team to the school today and instead walked about a 1/4 of the way with them and then took the long road up to the lodge. Sai is with them so don’t worry I haven’t left them on their own. Sai works here in the village and walks with us each day to the school.
Today I have things to organize. I need to get things ready for our closing reception with the teachers on Friday. I also need to organize the 23 50kg bags of maize and few other small business things. Today seemed like a good day to get that all done since the morning and part of the afternoon the teachers would be busy. Hopefully they will forgive my absence 🙂
I want to add that some of the team has taken to calling me their “mom”, this not only highlights our age difference it also lets me know that they must be feeling well taken care of. The later makes me happier than the first reason, but both give me a giggle 😉 love to you all. Please know everyone is well and happy.