T.I.A. is kind of the motto here. Sleeping in a mosquito
net? TIA. Frogs in the hut? TIA. No shoes? TIA. No one keeps track of time?
TIA. The smell of burning trash? TIA. Amazing sunsets? TIA. I could go on and
on, but I think you get the picture.
[Let me preface by saying the pictures for today will be
limited. In the cities, the locals believe that if a picture is taken of them
not only is their face captured, but their soul is taken as well. Thus, NO
PICTURES IN TOWN.]
Our first full day in Africa; we toured Malawi today. I had
an idea of what today would look like, but boy was I in for some surprises. As
the buses dropped us off at a small market, we were already bombarded by the
locals along with any and all things they could sell us. It was a little
hectic, but nothing I hadn’t seen before. After walking through this market we
reach a bridge. A bridge made of sticks wobbling what felt like miles above the
Lilongwe River…at this point I’m terrified, yet I pay my 20 kwacha (which is
less than 10 cents) and cross the bridge.
I stole this picture off google to give you a bit of an
idea..
At the end of the bridge the real chaos begins. I cannot
even begin to describe the market we stepped into. Thousands of people. Thousands
of clothes, chickens, fish, fabric, hair, beans, you name it. The winding
corners and uneven grounds reminded me of something out of slumdog millionaire.
As we walk through town, I hear a mush of words and comments
being made towards us in Chichewa (their language), but one word is pretty
consistent “azungu” – or white person. It’s funny because there is no bad
connotation to this word here..I could never yell black person in America
without being deemed racist. But here in Malawi, they call it like it is. And
it’s kind of hilarious.
Next, we make our way to a fabric area.. I bought two
“wraps” today. A wrap is used in the villages – kind of as an apron. It’s a 2
meter piece of fabric you wrap around your skirt to shield it from dirty
babies..BUT at the same time you can use these to tie babies to your back!!!!
Oh and this is about sums up how we felt about the chaos. [the aftermath of our experience..]
On our way back to campus, we got to attend a Malawian
wedding! We took part in the kwacha dance…similar to the dollar dance we have
at American weddings, but WAY more fun. Tradition is to toss kwacha (the
malawian currency) at the bride and groom as you dance with them in front of
all the guests. This is directed by the “master of the ceremony” who invites up
different groups of people to hit the dance floor. My team and I were called up
as a group…it was so fun to dance with the bride and groom and all of the
friends [students of African Bible College] we had already made. PLUS! They were
impressed by our dancing. It was so much fun.
And the sun goes down on another glorious African day.
The beautiful campus
