Worth noting: I’ve now been awake for 56 of
the last 57 hours! Somehow I’m still functioning and actually marginally awake.
I’m not sure how human I’ll be tomorrow…
I have so much to say about today. After I
wrote my last post, I met up with 2 girls from my class in the Nairobi airport,
which was nice because I had some company and I was able to have someone watch
my stuff so I didn’t have to carry it at all times.
After writing that, I gave up and went to
sleep. That was pretty glorious. Somehow, after only 11 hours of sleep, I feel
great! So I’m writing this on Sunday (Mother’s Day…didn’t get to talk to my
Mom. Hi Mom, love you!), and I just decided to write about up until now instead
of just writing about yesterday.
Anyway, we got into Lilongwe around 1 and
were met by a bunch of the people from our class. It took some time to exchange
money, go to the washroom, and buy SIM cards (I didn’t do that – who needs contact
with the outside world, anyway?!), but eventually we were off! Our bus driver
said it would take about 4 hours to get to Mzuzu, so we asked him to stop about
halfway for snacks. We pulled off into a town and stopped at a grocery store. I
got an apple, which is only noteworthy because I’m not supposed to eat the
fruit here unless I can peel it (according to my travel doctor). But the apples
looked so yummy and the bananas only came in bunches, so I decided to risk it.
I’m kinda of the opinion that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and an
apple isn’t gonna kill me. The fact that I feel 100% fine now confirms my
assertion. I may continue to eat apples…
We had a bit of an adventure after that
because we all needed to go to the washroom. We went to a gas station, but it
only had one stall, so it took awhile for all of us to go. I guess it’s worth
mentioning that there are 18 of us, 16 girls and 2 guys. Though right now we’re
still at 17 because Mary missed a connecting flight and won’t get into Lilongwe
until today. Paul (our prof) says Mary will be taking public transit here, and
we’re all hoping that she’s open to adventure, because that will probably be a
new experience.
Back on the bus, I was ASTOUNDED by the
natural beauty of this country. The terrain is mostly flat, and then there are
really massive hills every so often. Mostly, though, there are so many shades
of green! There’s so much variety! Unfortunately, it’s difficult to capture the
beauty in photographs. There was also a gorgeous sunset, which turned into a
very dark night with phenomenal stars. There are so few cities her, and most
people don’t have electricity outside of the cities, so there’s no light
pollution at all. I spent a lot of the bus ride looking at the stars. I’m 100%
not doing this justice, because it’s very challenging to describe something
that is so awe-inspiring. I don’t have words for that. I need better and more
words.
In total, the bus took 6-7 hours, but we
all kept pretty upbeat on the trip. At one point, some of the girls needed to
go to the washroom, but the bus driver said there wasn’t anywhere to stop, so
we pulled over and they ran into the forest. Writing about it, it doesn't seem
that funny or adventurous, but it was pretty great at the time.
In the end, Paul wasn’t able to find a
place for all of us to stay, so I’m in a beautiful place (which I’m campaigning
to name “The Oasis”) with 11 of the other girls. We are each in 1-2 person
rooms that have a bathroom attached (except for Marlo, whose bathroom is across
the hall from her room), and then we have a large living room with couches and
tables, and an outside sitting area with wicker patio furniture (this is where
I’m currently sitting, enjoying the breeze). We also have a couple of women who
make us food and do our dishes, which is unexpected and really nice (I
originally had a lot of trouble with the implications of them taking care of
us, but I decided to focus on the positive – we get to be lazy). Overall, the
accommodations are miles above my expectations. The only minor thing is that
today we don’t have electricity, which meant that my shower this morning was
really cold. But it’s beautiful, clean, and completely ours, which is so nice.
It’s possible that we may not have electricity during the day every day. That
would make sense – for light, you open the windows, and for temperature, we
don’t need heat or cool because the weather is phenomenal. The hot water is the
only main negative, and really that just means that we need to shower during
electricity hours. I’m really looking forward to a warm shower! The cold shower
today was bearable but far from enjoyable.
After we all came in and got really excited
about our Oasis (even if we don’t call it that…yet, I’ve decided that what’s
I’m going to call it here), Paul arrived. We were all pretty hungry by that
point, since it was a bit after 8PM, and we’d had only snacks since we left the
airport. He told us there was a woman who would make us food at the place the
others are staying, but that he only had 4 spaces in his car so he’d need to
take trips. We were all pretty hungry, so we said, “No, we’ll ride in the back
of the truck!” So 8 of us hopped into the pick-up. Driving on the road to our
lodge (which is riddled with potholes) in the back of the truck was an
adventure! It involved a lot of laughter. In the end, Paul decided that we
would overload the kitchen at the other place if we all went there, so we went
to an Indian/ Malawian restaurant instead. A bunch of us decided to share a
bunch of plates, which was a really good choice – I got to try 6 different
dishes and they were all amazing! Most of us also had beer or cider. Everything
is so cheap here! My chicken korma, naan, and cider cost me the equivalent of
about $7 Canadian, and the food was amazing.
The trip back to The Oasis was another
adventure in the back of the truck, especially since Paul intentionally steered
into the potholes to make us laugh. As we were travelling back, we drove by a
couple dogs, who started barking and chasing us. It was probably a bit
unrealistic, but we thought they were going to jump into the back of the car,
so we got a little freaked out. It resulted in a bunch more laughter, though!
This morning all we’ve done is had food and
went for a walk. It’s so incredibly beautiful here.
So far I really like everyone in the class.
Our group of 12 get along really well and we already feel like a little family.
It might help that our fridge is fully stocked with beer…Anyway, it makes me
happy because it means I’ll have support when I hear the news about med school.
I’ve been writing this post while sitting
around and chatting with everyone, so I’m sure the writing isn’t stellar, but I
don’t want to spend my time making it better.
Added on later:
Today was incredibly chill. After I wrote
the above part, a bunch of us sat around, talking and doing readings. Most of
our time today was occupied by our BBQ. The women who work here (one’s nickname
is Felda, I think…I really need to learn their names) made all this food and we
all just hung out. Thomas and James, 2 of Paul’s friends, were here, too. There
was a lot of beer consumed today, though not by me…I had about 1/4 of a beer
and remembered why I don’t drink beer – it tastes gross! BUT last night, we
were all amazed that Paul could open a beer with another beer, so today James
tried to teach a bunch of us how to do it. Only Marlo was able to get it, and
she had it mastered by the end of today. Both Akkila and I managed to open one
with a water bottle, though! My goal is to master this odd (and very useless
considering my dislike of beer) skill by the end of my time here. I feel like
it’s a neat party trick.
Something that’s very interesting is that
it gets so dark here very soon after sunset. The sun went down at about 5:45,
and by 6:30 it was pitch black. The reason why it’s odd is because my sleep is
pretty regulated by the sun, so I started getting tired at 6:30. I suppose that
could also be because I’m still sleep-deprived. Now it’s about 8:30, and
Natalee (my roommate) and I have already been discussing the possibility of
sleep. I’m a bit unsure about what time we’ll pass out, since the Oasis is
pretty echo-y (missing internet as I write this means I can’t look up how to
spell that right), and the other girls are chatting, which could keep us up.
Hopefully not…I could use the sleep, especially since we’re getting picked up
for class tomorrow at 8:45. Originally, Paul trolled us, and managed to make us
all believe that we needed to find our own way to the university on Monday by
10. He was pretty committed to the joke and managed to carry it on for about a
day. Then tonight he told us to be ready for our bus at 8:45. That Paul.
I’m really looking forward to starting
class tomorrow! It’ll also be nice to get out and actually see Mzuzu; we’re a
bit secluded here. We’re in a rural area on the edge of Mzuzu, so we can’t
really walk into the city on a whim.
If any of you stuck that out and read the
whole thing, I’m impressed.
-Jen
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