7 quick takes...
1.
Good morning on this very
special day. Special, because it marks 6 years of my motherhood journey but
also special because it’s my dad’s birthday too. We had a super busy birthday
weekend with a party, a sleep over and lots of fun so today we keep things
simple. We didn’t even do a birthday breakfast and gifts because we agreed with
Sophie that it’s better to do that tomorrow. Today Hartmut has to go to work
but tomorrow he will be home because tomorrow it’s election-day.
2.
This week, Malawi will have
‘flesh erections’ and every time somebody says that I giggle. It’s more
innocent than it sounds though; in Malawi the letters ‘r’ and ‘l’ are somewhat
interchangeable and it doesn’t really matter which one you use. That’s why many
people talk about ‘flesh erections’ when they want to talk about the ‘fresh
elections’. Election-day brings the entire country to a standstill to give
everybody time to vote. It’s an important election, the re-election after last
year’s election was declared invalid by the court. The last few weeks, hardly
anyone has been talking about corona and social distancing has moved to the
background as presidential candidates have fought a tough verbal battle in
front of a large audience. We will see… my prayer is that it will be free and
fair this time around, and that the people will feel that too so that the
country won’t be crippled by another round of violent protests like last year.
3.
The weekend was busy. The
weekend was good. We celebrated Sophie’s much anticipated birthday party and
this time around I didn’t need to plan anything. Sophie had done all that hard
work, I just needed to execute the things she couldn’t do herself. Sophie had
decided that she could have six kids for her sixth birthday (including Doris
and herself) and she invited two families from Lilongwe. The one rented the
cottage next to our house and the other family had a sleep over at our house.
We had party games, a braai and play time on the beach. We slept too little and
made up for that with naps. More of this please...
4.
Our rabbits must be among the
most adventurous rabbits in the world, although perhaps not by choice. Last
week I wrote about how one bunny had died, and we were very sad. That’s why we
decided to get the bunnies remaining siblings, who were still in Ruarwe. So
that our bunny would not be alone. It was easy, the owner could put them on the
ferry on Monday, and we would pick them up when the ferry passes our house on
Wednesday morning. Well, that was only easy in theory because we live in
Malawi. It all started well though. On Monday we got a happy voice note that
the bunnies were on their way, and in the care of one of the cooks on the boat.
A great choice, because in the kitchen are always peels and other things that
rabbits like to eat. We were getting excited but on Wednesday morning we got
the message that the boat was very delayed. Instead of early in the morning,
the boat would only pass in the evening. And later, we learned that the boat
would skip our village altogether. This meant that the rabbits traveled all
the way South to the home harbour of the ferry. No panic though, the cook who
was still taking care of them told us that he was giving them lots of cabbage. He would put them back on the boat on Friday morning so that we could pick
them up as the ferry was making its way north again. But then Friday came; and
a message that the ferry wouldn’t come because the staff was on strike. The
cook told us that he would take care of the bunnies for another week, and then
we would get them with the next round of the ferry. But he changed his mind, I
think he realised that bunnies eat a lot! On Saturday at six in the morning we
got a phone call from him to tell us that he had put them on the bus, they
would arrive in Salima a few hours later. So Hartmut and the girls drove there
to pick them up and a few hours later the girls could cuddle with these very
well travelled bunnies.
5.
Every now and then we go to
Lilongwe; for grocery shopping but also for a change of scenery and some city
delights. We love living in Senga bay but it’s a real village so going to
Lilongwe always feels like an adventure. This week Hartmut had to go for work,
and we decided to tag along. We got to hang out with friends, eat ice cream,
play in a real playground, buy strawberries and cheese and it was fantastic. Lilongwe
is a bit of a weird, stretched out city without a real heart to it, but we have
learned to appreciate it and find the good spots. I don’t know when we will go
again, we usually don’t plan too far in advance and it also depends a bit on
how the next few post-election weeks will pan out.
6.
When Covid started to spread 3
months ago, many people left Malawi in a rush and those who stayed made
preparations to survive what would come. At some places we got treated with
hostility as white people were seen as the carriers of the dreaded disease. But
as Europe went into a lock down, hospitals started to fill up and people had to
mourn their losses, it seemed like nothing happened here. The initial scare
quickly left, the distance between people got smaller again and nobody called
us ‘Covid’ and told us to go back to our country anymore. But now things seem
to change, the virus is still doing its round around the world and seems keen
to make Africa it’s last stop. The last few days cases have been going up and I
am feeling a little unsure about what is going to happen. ‘Tiwonenge’ as they
say here, ‘we shall see’. And in the meantime we will pray for grace and
mildness.
7.
As I was writing this, the
girls have been playing with the bunnies and the gifts that Sophie got.
Sometimes we got interrupted by birthday-videos and voice notes from friends
all over the world. Sophie loves it. Now we will drink tea and eat some left
over birthday cake. Happy new week!
