Mount Soche Hotel Blantyre

... seen any hippos or crocs but have spent a few nervous nights, listening to hippo's honking! The lake has been quite calm but some days we had to turn into shore becuase of the wind. I am totally exhausted and we are taking our first day off today at a lodge. Even splshed out on a room, what a luxury! Anyway will update thisproperly when I get chance.

... me. Thanks for teaching me that lesson, early! It's helped me maintain clarity and focus. The bible says that those who seek correction are crowned with wisdom. What a tool for youth! Thankfully, I had a family in Malawi who also cared to give me guidance. Their help and sound wisdom has helped keep me safe. For the external dangers, I rely on God and His angels for protection-certainly unable to face on my own. But by learning to love sound instruction, any youth can "be strong ...

... a bowl of water and then eats out of one bowl in the middle of the circle of people. They did however, give me my own plate to eat off of which was very kind of them! Tomorrow, I am going to Mulanje with one of the Americans living next door to Open Arms. He is doing a project for severely malnourished children. It is called "Project Peanut Butter" and what they do is, they go out to ...

... etc. There are no toys, there's no furnature, hardly enough food...just one big empty room with a desk in it for the teachers. One of our friends, Gena, who is a volunteer there, set up a program for the kids because when she arrived 5 weeks ago, the kids were just playing or sitting around and there was no structure at all, no activites, no learning...nothing. Now they begin their day with exercises then the national anthem, then ...

I made it back to Open Arms safely and two days earlier than expected. Karen left me and Claire on Monday morning because she had things to take care of in Blantyre. Me and claire went to Muo Mission on Monday which is an African culture and history museum. At the museum, there was a little zoo and I got to pet 2 monkies. A baboon reached his hand out of the cage and grabbed my waist and was ...

12 more days in Malawi and 17 more days in Africa! The past week or so has been VERY VERY HOT! Yesterday it was 90 degrees in my room at 8am! That is just crazy and my room is much cooler then outside. It is still 30% humidity! The internet is still to slow to add picture, but I am hoping to get into the city next week and post some. So what has happened recently............ I have been solicited to be a drug mule- very weird experience ...

I only have 21 more days in Africa! Then back in the USA. It just came to my attention that when I return it will be winter, I will have a new president (hopefully the one I voted for), and the economy will be a wreck. A lot can happen in 3 months! The internet nor the power have been working fast enough for the past few weeks to load pictures so everyone will see them when things speed up or when I get home. Most likely the latter because the ...

... she kept looking at me like "hey, I think I might know you". Her grandmother and another woman came to visit her today and she was crying soooo loud when they took her outside. I've been spending a lot of time with the older kids and they love playing with my hair. Today, they spent an hour combing it and running their fingers through it. I had a close call today...I was holding Kande (4 years old) and Ireen came in ...

... to the lodge demonstrated that. Once I arrived into Blantyre I explored the town. Blantyre is a smallish town that has a nice charming feel to it. The area I was staying in was a old colonial area which was very nice but a little bit run down. Blantyre had everything you needed in terms of banks, bars, and restaurants. The European Championship was on whilst I was in Malawi and I was staying with a load of Dutch ...

... started sucking my hand, soooo
cute! It was rather uncomfortable on the bus because I had very little
space, but that's just the way it goes out there in public transport.
Cram as many people in as possible.

One of the standard questions I'm always being asked is about the composition
of the ...