7 quick takes...

01 July

7 quick takes...

Feeding non existing crabs in Cape Maclear.

Doris has only one hobby these days; ducks.

It is Sunday afternoon. The girls are napping, the dishes are done, food for tonight is prepped and I have not much else to do (as long as I ignore the guest blog that I promised to write, the backlog of months of picture that need editing and a few other things that need to be sorted). Now I just hope that the girls won’t wake up anytime soon so that I can write a quick blog.
The girls wanted an educational school trip, just like all the kids who are in ‘real school’, so they got it. It always surprises me how many educational moments you can find when you open your eyes for it, how willing people are to share their knowledge when you ask them and how much I learn while I think I’m taking the girls on a learning experience. Our trip took us to Monkey Bay and Cape Maclear; two places on the Southern part of the lake. We had never been there so we were very happy to make those places our classroom for a few days. Our learning highlights were a paper making workshop where we all learned how paper is made and we got our hands dirty while learning, watching a very skilled woodcarver make some custom made presents for some people we love and a private tour through monkey bay’s harbor where we saw a dry dock, a graveyard for boats and all the different kinds of boats that are used on the lake.
We have taken the Ilala so often that some of the staff members have become our friends. You are stuck on the boat together for hours on end so it would be almost weird if that had not happened. It is helpful because as soon as one spots us as we want to get on the boat, they will help us and they always go the extra mile to make it more comfortable for us and especially for the girls. The Ilala’s home is in Monkey bay and Martin, one of the ticket sellers, had always said that we should come and visit his family if we would ever find ourselves in Monkey Bay. This was the case last week so after he gave us a tour of the harbor he took us to his house where we got cool drinks, pigeons (alive, but we left them in Monkey Bay, they will come with the boat soon.) and an introduction to his wife and his two sweet sons. I love this place where strangers become so easily friends and where the most unlikely people will invite you into their home. I hope to adopt that attitude and invite the till lady in the supermarket, the cleaner in my office and the conductor in my train for a meal, wherever I am.
Ten ladies, maybe twelve, are sitting on a mat that’s put on the sand in the big square between the houses. The afternoon sun paints a beautiful light and the ladies enjoy its warmth. There is a buzz of voices. A lady in a purple dress gets all the attention as she shares an animated and exciting story, when she is finished she is met with laughter and shrieks of joy. What follows are more stories, jokes are passed from one to the other and quiet whispers probably convey gossips and secrets. When I walk closer I am welcomed to join but when I ask what they are doing the group falls in an almost embarrassed silence. On the mat are plates with colourful beads and long strings of thin wire, some with beads in them and others still waiting to be made. I point at them and ask if they are making crafts. Then they all break out in a giggle until one of them explains. ‘It’s for our husbands.’ I must have looked puzzled because there is more laughter. ‘It’s a surprise for them. We make long strings of beads that we wear around our hips under our clothes. If your husband then undresses you *more giggling*, he gets a surprise and he knows that you have tried to make yourself beautiful for him.’
I am squashed between a big man who takes up a lot of space, someone’s luggage, my own luggage and a smaller man who is almost sitting on my lap. He is sharing that space with Doris who is also on my lap. I have a cramp in my leg but can’t really move it. The music is loud, the man on my lap could do with a shower and I am very uncomfortable but still, I am sad that this chapter is almost over. This week we will get a car and we won’t travel as much by public transport anymore. It is inconvenient, uncomfortable, at times stressful and hardly ever easy but still, we love it, and we have learned so much from it. It has helped us to get to know the real Malawi, it has taught us to be patient, humble and flexible. It has given us many stories, many jokes, many conversations and I hope that I will never feel too good or too spoiled to get back in a matola or on the back of a (motor)bike taxi to let myself be transported from A to B.
‘Now that you each have your own bed, I would like to start a new good habit. ‘ I said. I explained that I would like the girls to each make their own bed after they get up in the morning, pajamas under the pillow, sheets straight, mosquito net tied up… that kind of stuff. I showed them how to do it but did not expect much from it. Boy was I wrong. The girls’ beds are always made perfectly. Always. 24/7. Because now they refuse to sleep under the sheets because it may make their bed messy (and it is the middle of winter here, I sleep under a thick blanket because the nights are cold!). When they wake up in the middle of the night for a visit to the toilet they fuss over the fact that their sleeping bodies have pulled the sheets a bit skew and when I crawl into their bed for some good-night-snuggling I need to be careful not to disturb any straight lines or else I will get reprimanded because ‘a bed needs to be made’. I have tried, really tried hard to make them understand that that’s not the point but they seem to get more satisfaction out of a perfectly made bed than out of a comfortable one…#parentingfail
Today is an exciting day as we are getting our first guest in our new house. Everybody who has followed us for a while knows how much we love hosting and if you think we love it, you should get to know Sophie and Doris who possibly love it even more. A bed is made, food is prepared, activities are planned and we cannot wait to welcome our friend Philippa who will stay two nights on her way back from Ruarwe to London! Have a great week and let us know when we can expect you to get the same treatment ;-