7 quick takes...

I spy with my little eye a lemon! - All the following pictures are from the latest hobby in the house; picking lemons from the trees to make 'juice'.

1. We can’t talk, because it’s raining. I usually really like the comforting sound of rain against the roof. I associate it with hot cups of tea, warm blankets and good books.  But the combination of living in an A-frame (read: no walls, only roof) and Malawian rain season has given me a different association. When it rains here, it’s so loud in the house that it wakes us up in the night, and we have to significantly raise our voices in order to make ourselves understood. But right now it’s raining and the girls have books and I have a cup of tea so at least there is that.
2. I just folded the laundry. It was washed three days ago, and it took that long to (sort of) get dry. During rain season, there is so much humidity in the air that everything feels damp. I think I write about this at least once every rain season because I just can’t get used to papers that are so damp that they tear when you want to draw on them, clothes that smell musty when you put them away after washing because they never dried enough and salt that won’t grind because it has so much water in it. What I do like though, is the lush greenness around us, everything is so fresh and beautiful. I know that without rain, there would be hunger. Everything comes at a cost, I guess.
3. Doris, who has started to read books, is very eager to read as many books as possible. She is making a planning for her reading goal this week. ‘Today I will read these pages, and then I only have to read this tomorrow.’ But she complains to me that it is hard to keep track of what she has already done and what she still needs to read. ‘Why don’t you write it down?’ I suggest, and walk away. When I walk back a little later I see Doris with the book that she is reading, a black marker and a big smile. ‘I came up with a better idea, instead of writing it down on a page that I can lose, I just cross out the pages that I already read.’ She shows me a few pages where she crossed out the page numbers. My comment that that isn’t the best idea ever is met with big tears. Perhaps we should craft some bookmarks today.
4. W got a new book case. It’s the first piece of furniture that we acquired in Malawi (baskets aren’t furniture, right?) and it gives me a happiness that is disproportionally big, compared to the size of what we got. It only has three shelves, so I am not sure of you can even call it a ‘case’. Perhaps a ‘bookcaselette’? Anyway… it makes me happy for two reasons. The first one being that it was made by Hartmut. In the morning there were two planks, in the afternoon our living liked a little more mature with a well filled book case. Isn’t this man amazing? The second reason is that I just really like the vibe that a filled bookcase adds to a room. Hartmut will always tell the story of how I almost wanted to buy a certain house that was in a bad shape, but it had a gorgeous build-in book case. There is just something great about neatly lined up rows of books, ready for you to read.
5. The reason that we could fill this bookcase is not so great. I would have been able to fill half of it with what we brought back from Namibia, but I am already planning a second bookcase because this one is so full (sorry Hartmut) because we got a big box of Dutch books from friends. They are moving back to the Netherlands and books are expensive to move. I know that they did not bring these books here. When I look through the books, I see names of other children gracing the first pages. Dutch names, neatly written with glitter pens in the handwriting that’s typical for school girls. These books belonged to other expat children who have read these books, filled with stories about Dutch kids doing Dutch things, while being in a country that is so different. Once we leave Malawi, we will probably give these books again to another Dutch family with children younger than ours. It’s the nature of expat life. People come, and people go. But when you find friends where the connection is bigger than just because you happen to be in the same country at the same time, it's hard.
6. ‘Did you write about the ducks yet?’ Sophie asked. I say that I didn’t. ‘What am I supposed to write about them?’ I ask. ‘Write that we love our ducks, and that we catch them all the time so that we can cuddle with them. People will like to read that, because ducks are cute.’
7. Doris is asking if we can ‘do school’. The rain has stopped, and we can have conversations again, so it is doable. On our damp paper that will tear anyway. What are you doing today? Tearing paper? Crying tears that will wet your damp laundry even more because it’s so frustrating? (I have never done that, but if rain season would be any longer than it is, I can imagine that it could happen.) Anyway. I wish you a happy new week with a Doris-like motivation, dry laundry and salt that grinds.

 

I love this gappy grin...