Day 3

Thursday June 16:

Well, today has been amazing from beginning to end.   We woke up at the normal 7:30 am time and went down to the restaurant for breakfast.  I had a tomato and peppers omelet and a small croissant with their delicious home-made honey.  We then all piled into our “home-away-from-home” bus, and headed towards the schools.  We stopped at all three schools, the one that Tech is teaching at, the one that NC A&T is teaching at, and the one that Radford is teaching at so we could get an idea of where everyone would be.  The first stop was at Radford’s school, called Malemia, and this was definitely the poorest of all three schools.  As we pulled up, our faces dropped and we were all in awe.  The children swarmed the bus, just as I had seen pictures of, and we all got off and played with them.  We then followed them into their classrooms where they sung the ABC’s for us, and several traditional Malawian teaching songs.  The students were then called for lunch, their one and only meal of the day, where they stood in line and had porridge poured into their cups.  If they didn’t have cups, they didn’t get any.  It was the most heart-breaking, yet heart-warming thing because all of the kids were still so happy and so excited for this one, small meal.  The children who didn’t have cups were offered food from their friends, and the older students almost always gave away their lunch to the younger ones.  Katie even saw two sisters pour their porridge into one cup and put it in their bag to save for dinner later for their family. 

After an hour at that school, we headed to Domasi Government, the school we will be teaching at! I honestly don’t think I have ever been so excited, nervous and overwhelmed with joy in my entire life.  We pulled up and went into all the classrooms again, standard 1-6 grade.  The rooms were completely bare, on wooden dirt floors, and the children all sat piled in on the floor.  Right before we left, Katie and I went into the 6^th grade classroom because we heard singing.  Honestly, it was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.  Part of the class was singing “Hallelujah” and the other half of the class was singing “Jesus walks in the light.”  Katie and I both held back tears, and my body was completely numb.  How could children that have absolutely nothing still be so happy, secure and faithful? It was extremely emotional.  We were then assigned our classes before we left, and Katie and I will be working with a new teacher helping to teach standard 5!  We didn’t care who we got assigned, and even though standard 1-3 children are the cutest, they know almost zero English.  Katie and I will be helping children who know the basic English vocabulary, so our teaching will be of vital importance to increase their knowledge.

After another hour, we then headed to the last school that NC A&T will be teaching at, the Demonstration Government school.  The school was way more advanced than the first two, and each classroom was equipped with lesson plans, desks and school supplies.  Because this school is slightly more advanced, A&T students will be working with them on using technology, sewing and raising chicken farms.  The children in all three schools were beautiful, and I now understand how truly impossible it is going to be to leave them, especially once I get so close to my 5^th graders!

Overall, today I finally realized how much of a difference me being here will make; one person can make a difference, and together we are changing these children’s futures.  I am going now to do another money exchange, but the Internet is getting fixed so I will be updating again soon. Peace, love, Malawi. 

Day 2 Continued..

This morning we woke up at 7:45 am, packed up our rooms and loaded our luggage to head to Zomba! I got bread at breakfast and made a PB, J and banana sandwich for the long ride.  Everyone was extremely hungover so it was quite a funny site this morning.   Before we left, Peter brought “Q” to the lodge where he sold his poetry books and took pictures with us.  He said this was his first book signing and it really made me tear up. You could tell he was so excited and hopeful and he had the biggest smile on his face while signing the books.  We then rode about 2.5 hours to Dedza which was the most beautiful place I have seen thusfar!  It was a small restaurant and pottery place, surrounded by mountains, clear skies and beautiful flowers everywhere.  We finally got to order food besides chicken, so we enjoyed grilled cheeses and pizza and then headed back to the bus for the continued six hour drive to Annie’s Lodge in Zomba.  After stopping in a market, and being stopped twice by officials, we finally arrived at the Lodge at 7:30 pm and were all very pleasantly surprised. 

The Lodge here is absolutely beautiful; completely different and legitimately 10 times the size of the Annie’s Lodge in Lilongwe.  There are 3 levels up the hill of rooms, there is a conference room, a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, and the most beautiful views of the Egyptian/ African ridge.  Once we arrived, since it was pitch black and we couldn’t walk around, we brought our luggage to our rooms, and headed to the restaurant.  The menu is almost completely American, which was a huge sigh of relief because I don’t think I can eat chicken and rice for at least another week.  I ordered macaroni Bolognese which was very good, and then me and Katie headed back to our room to unpack.  We each have our own bed and storage closet, and the “party shower” could hold at least 7 or 8 people.  We made the small coffee table into our “snack bar” with all the collection of food we brought and we used half of our closets for school supply storage. 

Completely ready to take a nice, warm shower and go to bed, we learned that our hot water was broken.  Then, while trying to access the Internet, we blew a fuse and temporarily broke our converter.   After hours of failed use with the Internet, everyone realized that we might be without Facebook and email for the next three weeks, which is kind of terrifying.  Oops. Ready to finally go to sleep, I realized that I bought the wrong batteries for my alarm clock so we had to ask the other girls to wake us up in the morning.  All in all, it has been an extremely long day but I am so happy to finally be in Zomba!

Tomorrow we will be touring all three schools in Domasi and then choosing which teacher we want to work with, and in two days we will be assigned and teaching our new classroom!  Hopefully we will have working Internet tomorrow so I can update my blog and upload the hundreds of pictures.  Peace, love, Malawi.

Day 2

Wednesday, June 15:

Last night was amazing! We all got ready in the dark which was definitely unfortunate, but it was nice being able to get somewhat dressed up and we were all so thankful that Peter had planned this for us.  We all piled into the bus at 6:30, so it was already pitch-black and nobody had any idea where we were going.  We drove for about 30 minutes and were drinking in the car before we pulled up to Kumbali, a lodge and entertainment center where Madonna stays when she comes and visits with her children!  Some of the staff had met her and there were pictures of her, but we didn’t go over to the actual lodge to see what room she stays in.  We all got drinks and watched the small little band, and then ate a buffet dinner, consisting of chicken, beans and rice. Per usual.  Afterwards, continuing to drink, we listened to a truly inspiring poetry reading by “Q”.  His two poems were both truly incredible and so moving.  He is so talented and some people were even tearing up. We all gave him a standing ovation and I know he felt so proud. 

Still continuing to drink, we then watched the tribal ceremony which was so amazing.  The men all played the drums while the women did the tribal dances.  I, after a few drinks, decided to just walk up and start dancing with them, and before we knew it we were all up there learning the dances with the women.  After another hour of the tribal dances, Peter put in an ipod and we had a dance party for the next couple of hours.  The night consisted of people passed out in the woods, Dr. Kelly shaking her groove-thing, and a few of the girls locking lips with the Canadian travelers, Ha!  We left at 12:30 am, and on the bus ride back to Annie’s Lodge we had an outburst of singing, well screaming, at the top of our lungs lyrics to random old songs.  Yes, we busted out Backstreet Boys, Jackson 5, Spice Girls, you know all the classics.  We got home at about 1 am and pretty much all went straight to bed, but it was a ridiculously fun and successful night. I love everyone here and the Radford girls and boys from UN A&T and Radford are all so much fun.  Us Tech girls are all getting super close which makes me really, and I know I will leave here with lifelong friends.

Official day 1 :)

Last night we had our first Malawian meal and it was surprisingly good! Chicken with some rice and leafy greens, and then the most delicious bananas. The bananas here are about half the size but five times sweeter than bananas at home. After dinner we all hungout in our rooms and were passed out asleep by 9:30 pm. It was a long day! This morning we woke up at about 8 am, had eggs and pineapple juice for breakfast and then headed to Freedom Gardens about 30 minutes away from Lilongwe.  I really didn’t understand what we were going into, and it wasn’t something I would seek out on my own, but it was so inspiring and greatly informative.  Freedom Gardens is the only land in Malawi that uses sustainable farming.  A lady in her 50’s owns the land with her son, Daniel, who is 24 and went to college in Africa.  Daniel now runs the land and gave us an amazing tour of the 25 acre property, which was initially sold to them from the government as a “wasteland”.   Daniel’s parents believed that they could turn things around, so they took the land and “started small”, hoping to learn through trial and error to become a successful sustainable property.  Daniel showed us the natural ways of composting, by recycling all the old branches and leaves and putting them in a 4 foot pit where everything eventually decomposes and can be crushed into soil.  By recycling vegetation like this, you not only are helping the environment and being sustainable, but you are producing richer soil for your crops.  Then we were shown techniques to make your own pesticides which do not kill the  good nutrients that soil fertilizes.  These integrated pesticide management techniques, such as “hedging” and crushing certain leaves and crops and mixing it with water, are ways to work towards sustainability.   Lastly, we learned about water harvesting with a natural irrigation system. In the middle of the property was a huge pit that collects rain and is stored during the dry season.  Because the pit is underground, the water is then immediately dispersed to the surrounding trees and plant-life.  All of the natural irrigation systems were somehow inter-connected to eachother through pipes or man-made holes.  The whole day was very inspiring for these people coming from nothing still have the determination to work towards sustainability, and are actually brilliant agricultural individuals.

After our three-hour tour, we were served another home-cooked Malawian meal, but this one I was not a fan of since we saw and heard them slaughtering the chickens. Yuck. Thankfully Anna brought PB crackers so I had those which held me over.  We left Freedom Gardens around 4 pm, and this is when we experienced the highlight of our days.  As we were pulling out from the property, some of the workers children started sprinting after our bus screaming things (we think they were asking for money).  Either way, they were absolutely adorable and were keeping up with the bus for a good 5 minutes.  Anna then decided to throw two packs of fruit snacks out of the window, and the kids started going crazy!  One of the professors from UN A&T had a huge bag of “Cracker Jacks” in her bag, and followed by throwing those out the window.  The children all raced to the bag and the little boy who got to it first started screaming and held it up in the air like a trophy.  It was the most adorable and funniest thing I have ever seen, and that’s how every day will be like once we get to the schools in Zomba!

On our way home, we stopped downtown at the “black markets”. SCARY. It was literally unlike anything I have ever seen before, and I wanted to videotape it but my camera died. Party fowl. The second the bus pulled into the circle, we were bombarded by people trying to sell us things. I had experienced this in Jamaica before, but the marketers and beggars are on a completely different level.  It was humorous at first, but then it just got kind of uncomfortable.  Thankfully, the market in Zomba is not nearly as intense, but Dr. Kelly wanted us to experience it so we had somewhat of an idea of how the market works.  They did have pretty culturally unique items, so I definitely will be buying stuff at the Zomba market. Now, we are back at the lodge (the power just went out) and we are leaving for our “special party” at 6:30. We have no idea what this consists of exactly, but Peter planned it and sent out invitations to locals, exc. It is outside the premises of the lodge, and we were told to dress up and there will be a buffet dinner (nervous) but that is all we know. We are all joking that we are going to Madonna’s house, because Dr. Kelly said once we find out the place we’re going, we will have heard of it from the news.  However, for those of us who don’t watch the news, I might still have no idea where we’re going.  Either way, I will obviously be taking a lot of pictures and will upload them later tonight when/if the power comes back on. Tomorrow we head to Zomba where we can finally unpack and get settled in; I am  so excited!! Touch base later.

I made it!!

I AM IN AFRICA!!! It is 6 pm here and we landed at 3 pm and had some of the people from Annie's Lodge (Lillongwe) load our luggage and drive us to the lodge. We will be staying here for tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night, and then be heading to the other Annie's Lodge in Zomba, where we will be staying for the remaining 3 weeks. So, basically this is just a temporary home for the next two days because Lillongwe is the capital and we will get to experience Africa in a different way before we enter the poor city of Zomba. 

Apparently the lodge we are at now, run by Peter (Annie's son) is not nearly as nice as the Annie's Lodge in Zomba we will be staying at (that is run by Annie). That makes me pretty excited because this one is alot nicer than I expected, and it's only going to get better! We all feel like we are in a retreat; we're in a cozy little roundabout, with 2 or 3 people in a room and a common ground in the middle. I showered once I got to the room, and we didn't unpack because we're only here for another day. I hate living out of my suitcase, yuck.  We then did our money exchange (I'll put pictures up soon) and it was so sketchy haha! But 100 dollars in American cash is 1850 in kwatcha (African money). Craziness. Now, we are just waiting for dinner (beef stew or chicken and rice) and then honestly I'm probably going to go to sleep..although a few of the girls have been taking shots at the little bar for the past hour; I think I'd pass out from lack of sleep if I took, or smelt, a sip of a shot right now.

Tomorrow we are going the "Freedom Garden" where they do organic gardening and other stuff I don't really understand. Honestly, we all just want to get to the other Annie's Lodge so we can unpack and be settled in!

The weather here was BEAUTIFUL!! It was like 75 and breezy, but rght now it's definitely getting chilly. It is so surreal that I am in Africa; I still don't think it has hit me yet, and I don't think it will hit me until I meet my students and am teaching with Katie.

Well, I will be blogging more tomorrow and uploading pictures..Ive already taken about 70 and I was on a plane for 20 hours sooo I'm a little nervous about the mass amounts of pictures that will be taken on this trip!

Thank you everyone for your prayers and high spirits; I am so excited to finally be here!!

On my way :)

After a hectic morning, I am finally all settled in..in the airplane!  The seats are all bright and lime green, each with its own pillow, blanket, eye mask and toothbrush. Sweeeeet! Check-in made me extremely anxiety-ridden, for my “carry-on” bag was too big and they made us (thanks mom and dad!) pay $70 bucks to check it. Seriously? And of course the guy spoke no English and we didn’t understand it at all; we basically just checked it because it wasn’t worth an argument and more frustration.  After waiting in line and getting our bags finally checked after almost two hours, we headed towards the gates and said our good-byes. Anna and her mom, of course, started crying which made all the other mother/ daughter duo’s get teary-eyed. Almost all of us girls were then handed notes from our moms and told to “read it once we get on the plane”.   I just read mine and had to hold back tears; all the kind words from my mom about how proud she was of me, and how she was so excited for me and knew all the kids were going to absolutely love me.  It made me even more overwhelmed with emotion of excitement, anxiety and joy.  I wish my parents could be here with me, but without them here this is truly my experience and I’ll be able to grow in myself.  This experience is going to open so many ideas, feelings and concerns in my life, and for that I am truly grateful.  I cannot wait to gain a new perspective on life and my fortunes, and have the gates to my future be revealed from this trip.

Anyways, enough with the deep philosophical talk.  So, I had my pack of candy in my carry-on, which had to be checked, so I only had 2 packs of starbursts that I had put in my backpack. I’m sitting here, waiting 30 more minutes for the plane to take-off, and I was craving some chewy’s; red and pink, obviously.  TOTAL BUMMER when I opened them and one pack was both yellow, the other pack was both orange.  Apparently they feed us like crazy on this flight, so I’m not too worried. And Anna has packed a great amount of goodies so I’m set! Between Anna and I, we have almost 10 magazines and over 30 dvd’s. I’m almost excited for the plane right, now! But not really.  We will be flying straight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for 12 hours and then another 5 hour flight to Malawi! We will be arriving at about 2:30 their time which would be about 8:30 am our time. This is so surreal!!

4 days!!

So I leave in 4 days and, needless to say, I am getting extremely overwhelmed and my anxiety is at an all-time high. I think it is finally starting to hit me the journey that I am about to embark on, and I am feeling all anxiety, excitement and anticipation. Can I get there already? My thing is, what if I forget to pack stuff? I really don't need much, but knowing me I'll pack all the wrong things. What if I get homesick, or actually sick? What if I get bad migranes (per usual) on the 26 hour flight? I just want to get there, get settled in to my room with my roommate Katie and the other 8 amazing girls going, and then get accustomed to my new living environment!!
I am starting to pack which is increasing my anxiety, but moreso, increasing my anticipation!! There is so much I want to get for my class, but I can only pack so much. I plan on buying so much more when I get there, but between me and Katie, I think our class will be pretty loaded! It's just so hard trying to plan for 100 students, especially since I have never taught before, let alone to 100 children who don't speak English. Regardless, it is all going to be so amazing and our class is going to be so spoiled. I'm determined to make sure each one of my students begin and end each day with huge smiles on their faces and huge excitement for their future. :)

 I just want to meet my children and spoil them!!