Day 1 On Day 3

The last post seemed to focus on the negative. Today there is nothing negative to dwell on, only the beauty of Malawi and its people. Malawi is called the “Warm heart of Africa”. I have a taste of what that means with only 24 hours of experience.

After riding the bus from the plane to the main terminal, going through customs, gathering my luggage and exchanging my money, I was greeted my Meg. She is British. We waited for Maria, who was on the same flight as me. She is also British. She is 20 years old and she just got out of Army reserve training, but you would never know it to speak with her. She is very sweet and her accent is adorableJ

After taking care of some other business, we headed to the market to pick up Sam, the coordinator of the program. He is Malawian. I don’t know that I’ve met a nicer person. He is very quiet, but he has a gentleness and selflessness that draws you in. We purchased some house supplies and snacks for our 3 hour trip to Nkope, which I thought we were heading to immediately. Little did I know that nothing happens quickly around here.

We drove to pick up a “car part” from Sam’s mom’s house. The people of Malawi are always outside. The streets are filled with people constantly. This is not hyperbole, they are always out and about. The cars and people move together on the streets. It is the scariest thing ever. The driver’s just drive and the people have to weave in and out. I spent half the time with my eyes closed. I knew we were going to kill someone. Sam assured me that we were more likely to hit an animal, which somehow didn’t calm my nerves!

As we drove I saw huge amounts of people bartering for shoes and clothes and fruit and vegetables. Every vehicle was filled with people. Bikes loaded with bamboo rolled by. It was amazing how busy the streets were.

We pulled into Sam’s mother’s house. Sam got out and started unloading all of the luggage and groceries from our bus so that we could load the “car part”. I started helping and the next thing I knew there were 15-20 people unloading the bus. A bag of potatoes and beans had spilled in the back of the truck and a group of teenagers and kids were scurrying inside the bus to pick up every bean and potato. It was the most inspiring site. No one stood around watching. Every person chipped in. Finally it was time to load the mysterious car part that we had to unload the entire bus for. I followed Sam to his backyard where the replacement car axle was. Six of us picked the piece up and headed to the front yard.

After loading the part, everyone pitched in to stack the luggage and food back into the bus, except for the bag of potatoes and beans that Sam handed to his mother, along with a little bit of money. As we were loading up to leave, a young man brought two “tires” to the bus that were wrapped in paper. I use the quotes because, as Ralphy says, “My old man's spare tires were actually only tires in the academic sense. They were round, they had once been made of rubber.” We loaded up the bus and drove away. A few blocks up we drove into a dirt lot and stopped. Some men were sitting on the ground surrounded by wheel rims and tires. They jumped up and ran over. They did, what I have only seen the guys do at Les Schwab, only with a rock (to “jack” the car up) and baking oil and a tire iron (to put the new tires on the wheels.) Sam explained that we would probably get stopped at one of the police check points for having a low tire if we didn’t get them replaced. I wont give all of the details of the tire change, but I have never seen someone blow up a tire with a bike pump!

Instead of a jack, they drive the car up on a rock.

As we were standing and waiting for the work to be finished, people kept coming up and asking me to take a picture with them, or they were whistling from across the street, just to say hi! Almost every person I encountered greeted me in this fashion.

Sam informed me that tires last for about four months, on average. I would realize why on the drive home. Every road is dirt and has huge potholes in it.

Sam paid the men something equivalent to $5.00 and we bid them farewell. I shook hands with the man that had been blowing the tire up.

We then drove the 3.5 hours home. I do not remember most of the trip, due to the fact that I was in and out of consciousness the whole time, but I do remember stopping to use the restroom at a gas station...

Malawi is one of the most beautiful places, despite the above picture! It is beautiful, both in aesthetics and in the people that inhabit it's space. I have not met one cruel or selfish person since I arrived. Everyone is friendly, and I have never been greeted so much in my life. I will learn Chichiwa extremely fast at this rate!