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  Blantyre, Malawi
Friday, October 10, 2008

I've been keeping very busy lately.  Last weekend, I went to a wedding with Ireen and there were a few other ladies from Open Arms there as well.  We only went to the reception, but it is entirely different that what we're used to in the states.  The bride and groom sit at the front of the rooms and there are other people (I guess from the wedding party) standing up there too, and a man on the mic yelling things out like crazy.  All of the guests are in rows of foling chairs facing toward the front. They had a DJ that played really loud up-beat music and during each song, the guests would have to dance their way down the isle and throw money at the people in the front.  We did this several times.  Then when it is time to give the gifts, we dance down the isle one by one and kneel in front of the bride and groom to present them with their gifts.  It was really interesting to say the least!!  Ireen wrapped my gift for me before I could get to it, and did so with 3 different kinds of tape (clear, black and white) and wrapped it aaalllllllll around the gift.  It was so embarrassing when it came time to walk down the isle with it! 

Tomorrow, I'm taking Ireen to climb Mount Mulanje.  It'll be a 2 day hike and I hear it is really, really difficult.  Me and Claire took a mini bus to Limbe market the other day to buy clothes and I bought a backpack for 3 dollars.  It's all used clothes, but I for 5 shirts and a pair of pants for the equivilant of $5.  Next weekend, I am going to Martha's house to meet her family. I already met 2 of her kids at the wedding, but she's got 3 others that I need to meet.

Yesterday, I went with the Matron to bring Sarah Banda home.  Her grandmother has taken her.  It was a really long ride in the car.  It was an hour on the highway and then another hour on a long, bumpy, dirt road.  The village was in the middle of nowhere and it consisted of about 3 houses, some goat houses, and some mud storage huts for the Maize.  The house was completely empty inside, aside from a wooden table.  No electricity and no water.  There were water pumps quite a ways away that they need to walk to.  I took pictures of the other children in the village and then showed them to the kids on my camera.  They really liked that. 

Claire, the other volunteer here, is an amazing singer from England.   She's got a CD out and I've listened to a few of her songs and they are really nice.  She is teaching the ladies a song to sing at the opening of Open Arms 2 on the 31st.  It's really fun to watch the lessons!  The ladies are singing a total of 7 songs which Ireen wrote.  Ireen is the lead singer and she's surprisingly good!!  This weekend, Claire is at the Lake of Stars which is a huge music festival that lasts for 3 days.  She is singing a few songs in it which is pretty exciting. 

Rosie has been interesting...Everyone that works here says she is a very difficult child because she doesn't like anyone.  I got her to play with me twice so far and she had a lot of fun, but she is the most moody, tempremental child I have ever seen.  All she does is lays on the ground while everyone else plays and if someone picks her up, she cries.  If they put her down, she cries.   If you get to close, she'll hit you and push you away.  I don't know about her....I still love her more than anything, but she is definitely a piece of work! 

I'm still drinking the tap water and I haven't gotten sick.  It's saving me a lot of money and it doesn't taste bad to me anymore.  Claire has been cooking dinner for the last 3 nights and it's been really good. She makes these concoctions that she's never done before, but they turn out to be really tastey!

I am the only volunteer today, so I need to get back to the children.  I'll try to write some time next week and let you know how the mountain climbing goes!

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