7 quick takes...
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| The beautiful gardens of Lilongwe.. |
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| But Senga Bay isn't bad either... |
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| ❤️ |
- The leaves are rustling around me. There is a chill in the air so I shift a bit to the left, away from the shadow from the big old mahogany tree. My body is grateful as it soaks up that midmorning sun to warm up a bit. The girls don't need it. They are running around. Up the slide, down the slide. On the swing, up the treehouse, a minute on the tractor. Next to me is a bag with snacks, water and something for me to read. I'll need it because we won't leave this place for a long time. The girls don't need me so I have time to write my blog. Every now and then they call: 'Look what I'm doing! Look how I go! Do you see me?'. Yes I see you, and seeing you makes my heart happy. Happy that you are mine, happy that we get to spend this Monday morning together, happy that we are here.
- This fabulous deserted playground (all the other kids are in school I guess) is in a nursery. It makes me feel like we're back home in Cape Town where we spent many mornings in nurseries and park play grounds. The moms would spread out the picnic blankets and open the boxes with snacks that the kids would graze from. Cucumber and carrots, cut to sticks and dipped in hummus, all bran muffins, pretzels and rice crackers. Grapes and raisins. Healthy, because it's Cape Town. The kids would play and we would chat until we had to run because of nap time and older kids that needed to be fetched from school. Today is the first time since we moved to Malawi that I'm in a place like that; some sort of halfway between the world that I call home now and the world that used to be home. Isn't it interesting that I never missed those mornings in the park more than I miss them today? Wouldn't it be great if all those friends would be hiding behind the trees and jump out and say 'surprise!' and spread out their picnic blankets and open their snack boxes and the kids would eat and play and we would chat till time ran out?
- You've probably already noticed that we're not at home. We are spending a few days in Lilongwe as Hartmut had to be here anyway for work and the girls and I decided to join him for the fun of it. We will buy luxuries that we cannot buy at home (things like chocolate, cheese and butter), eat nice food and enjoy other city delights like playgrounds, open air concerts and the fact that we can walk around in our white skin without being called 'mzungu' all the time. It's amazing.
- The puddle under the fridge gets bigger. Again. The solar lamps are drained. Again. Power supply has been pathetic lately and in the past week we had several days without electricity. When we lived in Ruarwe it was no big deal because our lives were not build around having electricity but here it's annoying to say the least.
- I sounded confident when Hartmut asked if I remembered where I had left his button but I was lucky that it was there where I thought it would be. Well, it wasn't actually there where I was looking for it but close enough. Maybe it had fallen out of the pocket where I last remembered seeing it, maybe it had been on the shelf all along. Weeks ago a button broke off Hartmut's shorts and weeks ago he asked me to fix it. I had said yes but not done it because I'm a terrible procrastinator. But when Hartmut said that he would do it himself I had no choice but to look for the button because if there was no button, he would not be able to do it and I would have to admit that my procrastinator tendencies had once again lead to less than great outcomes. I was lucky this time that I found it and while I was at it I quickly fixed the shorts. Moral of the story? Don't be like me, don't procrastinate.
- If there is one thing that makes me emotional without fail it's beautiful voices singing together. (Actually that's not true,many things make me emotional.) The choir in our church can sing beautifully and when they practised while we walked by I just had to sit down and listen while the girls played. I'll upload a little video so that you can listen too.
- It's time to wrap up. The girls are done playing and ask if we can make a craft. Fortunately I brought some supplies so we will find pretty leaves, cut them in half and draw the missing side. We'll learn about the anatomy of a plant and practise symmetry at the same time. The opportunities are endless when the world is your classroom. Enjoy your week.
