The last 7 quick takes from Zulunkhuni

1.  Monday morning. I'm still sitting in my bed; not so much because I am too lazy to get out of it but because I lack an alternative. In our house I can sit on the bed, an uncomfortable fold up camping chair or the floor. I sit on the floor a lot, and on the bed. Never on the chair because it's old and I'm scared that the fabric won't hold me and I end up on the floor (that has already happened, we started with two of those chairs). But it's ok. One more week, and I'm sure that I will miss even this. It's a bit unreal that we have only one week left here. Next week we will move to our house with a choice of a couch, a beanbag, a table with chairs and a day bed all in the living.  And a fridge. Let's not forget the fridg. Well, I won't as that fridge is all that Sophie and Doris talk about. One more week.
 2. There are drums, music and loud singing. There is dancing, throwing of political promises and there is handing out of branded caps and shirts. Tomorrow is election day in Malawi and the last weeks have been marked by the daily arrival of campaign boats for the different parties. Not that the people here care much. When you live this remote it doesn't really matter who the president is. The general opinion here is that effects of his policies will never trickle down to our small village. But any chance for a small party is a good one so when the boats with big speakers and loud music come; you will dance, no matter which party you are dancing with. And when the party hands out free t shirts and caps, you will wear it, whether you believe   in the party or not. I met someone who was wearing a blue shirt from one of the policltial parties. 'Are you going to vote for them?' I asked. She told me that she wasn't going to vote at all because politics did not interest her. I met a man who was wearing a cap from one party and a shirt from another, I cannot believe that he is going to vote for both parties but guess that he is just enjoying his free gifts while both parties are enjoying these walking billboards. 
 3. With our move only a few days away, I could not help myself and started to pack. We don't have much, and I think that, if I worked hard, I could pack all our things in less than an hour. But to me packing is also a bit thearpeutic, a way of finding closure for the season that's ending and preparing for what's to come. While I pack I am a little shocked. All we have, and all we have used for the whole year, will probably fit in 3 suitcases and a backpack. That's not a lot of things and still, we could have brought less. I find clothes we have never worn, toiletries we have never used, books we have never read. And if we haven't touched it for more than a year, it's unlikely that we will use it in Senga Bay so I give away. Again. It's almost embarrassing how much we can give away but in the shame is a lesson to learn. We can live with less than we think. A lot less.
 4. She gets up; her eyes are only just open, she can hardly walk without falling down but despite that she stumbles with determination to her half finished puzzle. She sits down and, still obviously drowsy, finishes it. I smile and she sees me smile so she explains : " I agreed with pspps that I could only finish half of the puzzle before my nap and that I could finish it when I woke up so now I must finish it.' That's Doris, our puzzle addict. Since we got home from our trip she has been doing puzzles all day, every day, in an almost obsessive way. She surprises me though, from doing 12 piece puzzles before we left because that's all she had, to doing her new 100 piece puzzle with focus and determination. She is so different from her sister. So different and so loved.
 5. I've said it before but I married a man with holden hands and an unshakeable determination. The longer we're together, the more I am convinced that he can do just about anything he puts his mind to. Short after we moved here ants moved into our laptop and since then we have had major troubles to start it. After we came back from our trip it didn't start at all anymore and I had given up on it because finding spare parts and repairing a laptop in Malawi just seemed too much to ask. I just hoped that we could get all the data from the harddrive. But it wasn't too much to ask when your name is Hartmut. In our village someone happened to have a broken laptop of the exact same type as our broken one (there are probably only about 20 laptops in our village so that in itself was a miracle) and Hartmut disassembled both and fixed one working laptop out of two broken ones. The new one has our hard drive so nothing is lost and I can continue to carelessly forget to back up my data in other places until it breaks again (and I freak out again.).
 6. This week we had a very cool team visit the lodge. They are busy with a tour around the lake to make a tv series of 6 episodes about the nature, culture and hospitality around the lake as well as a short documentary. The weather had been dark and wet the entire week but the days they were here it was amazing so they could should lots of great footage around the lodge. I'm so excited to see the end product!
 7. It's now afternoon and I did get out of bed. We walked to the village, bought bananas and invited the three village headmen to our farewell party next weekend. We also went to the library, probably for the last time. Actually, all those things were probably for the last time and I  shouldn't overthink that because it makes me sad. So now I'll go and enjoy the time we have left here; watch what's left of the daylight disappear in the lake, hear the waves lap against the rocks, listen to the birds and see the first stars appear. Happy new week!