March 20th

March 20^th, 2014

It has been over a week since moving into my homestay house and I have to say it’s been an adventure. I really do love living with my family. We have fallen into something of a routine I guess. I wake up around 5:30am every day, about an hour after the rest of my family (from what I can guess). For those of you who know me, you know 5:30am is pushing it. In the mornings I help my amayi (mother) and siblings with chores. Usually this means helping start the fire, getting water, doing dishes from dinner the previous night, and of course my bafa (bath). Getting water from the borehole is actually one of my favorite things to do. I walk to the borehole with my amayi or sisters and try to greet all the women waiting in line. Once I’ve exhausted my Chichewa skills which takes all of about 2 seconds, the ladies continue to chat, about me I’m sure (the pointing and laughing is a good hint). My amayi will put the bucket under the pump while I get my morning workout of pumping the water as it slowly comes out of the ground. I’ll fill one small bucket 3/4 of the way, and then the other 4 times its size to the rim. The small one is of course for me. My mom or sister help me put it on my head while the ladies laugh- it’s even worse when my youngest sister plops the large bucket on her head not spilling a drop. I have yet to spill any, which I attribute to my 10 years of marching band practice. Other volunteers have had a far harder time and generally reach their home soaking wet. I am lucky enough to live pretty close to the borehole which also helps.

 My other favorite thing in the morning has become my bafa. Usually by the time I wake up the water has already been heated for me over the fire. I take my time splashing around in the buckets, knowing I will do this again at night. If my amayi had her way I’d have another at my lunch break too. Who knew I would be cleaner in Africa than at home!? I’m sure it will change once I get to my own site since I will then be the one drawing the water/starting the fire and doing everything in the mornings. One of the funniest things is the morning sweeping. I’m not talking about sweeping in the home, but outside. In the US you are expected to keep your yard trimmed and neat, here you are to “clean” the dirt around your house. There is no grass so sweeping any leaves or sticks that may have fallen during the night is very important. Sweeping has never been my favorite activity, sweeping a large yard of dirt is even worse. Around 7 we will all sit down for a quick breakfast. Sometimes just bread slices, sometimes we have mandazi which is a fried dough that tastes like non-sweetened doughnuts. We always have tea at breakfast. Again, I am looked at like the crazy person every morning because I only add ½ scoop of sugar to my tea where the rest of my family will pour in 4-5 heaping spoonful’s (including the 2 year olds). After helping clean up really fast and getting a snack from my amayi I’m off to class yelling ‘Tiowana’ to all of my siblings.

                Our training is different every day. Sometimes we stay together as a large group, and other times we are split up by our sectors. Today for example, our classes consisted of 1 ½ hours of language training, 1 ½ hours of information on diaharrea and another 1 ½ hours on malaria prevention. Lunch- where I go home to my amayi and twin sisters to eat and play games. Then back to school where I learned about food preservation from a current PCV. Finally we ended the day with a presentation from the Department of Ministries head of agriculture and irrigation in Malawi. After classes I spend a little time tossing around the Frisbee in the village’s sports field with fellow PCT’s and head home. There, I sit around and try to talk to my abombo (dad) about my classes in his broken English and my horrible Chichewa before heading outside to pretend to help with dinner (really just playing with the two year old twin girls). Sometimes I will play a game of keep away with the 11 and 13 year old sisters. This is played with a ball that is really just rags bundled together then wrapped and tied in a plastic bag. It’s fun until it’s so dark you can’t see your hand in front of your face. This apparently to them, increases the hilariousness factor. For me it just means I get hit in the face a lot with the ball… I am usually relieved when my amayi will call me away so I can take my second bafa of the day. After the bafa I will take some time to study language until dinner. Dinner is always nsima, Malawians don’t consider a meal a meal unless there is nsima apparently. Usually there is some type o leafy green that is like creamed or steamed spinach and is served with beans, chicken or beef. It always tastes fine. The nsima is actually growing on me, though I think I’m going to gain 20 lbs before these 9 weeks are up. Good thing I’m moving to the mountains soon where the bike rides will be extra exciting on twisty roads! After dinner, lately I have discovered my sisters love card games and I have been working to teach them how to shuffle which is hilarious. Finally something I know how to do that they don’t! I may not be able to cook nsima, but shuffling cards, no problem. After a couple games I head to my room to write you all letters or handwrite blog entries!