An update, finally!

Today is June 25. I haven’t checked my email for nearly two months. There are internet cafés in the town near me, but they cost 15 kwacha a minute, which is disgustingly expensive. I figured I’d wait until I could get to Mzuzu and pay mk5/min or to Lilongwe where I can pay mk0/min at the Peace Corps office. As it is, I’ll be proceeding to the capital tomorrow where I’ll stay for a few days. We’re celebrating the Fourth of July from June 28-30 here in Africa. Writing this ahead of time will hopefully keep me from hogging the computers at the office, as I’m sure one or two of the other hundred volunteers will be interested in using them.

I’ll try to start at the beginning and sum up the past four months along with adding some cultural and personal observations. Everyone paying attention, class? Bueller? Bueller?

Going back to what seems like a lifetime ago… after being booked on something like six flights in two days between Illinois, Missouri and the District of Columbia, I finally made it to the east coast. While I missed basically the entire Staging event, I did in fact arrive in time to enjoy one last meal with most of the Peace Corps Malawi – Environment 2007 group. I say most because I was not the last to arrive. Oh how I miss snow and cold weather! Actually here in Mzuzu today I am wearing long pants and long sleeves for the first time in almost exactly two months. More on the weather at my site later.

We flew 15 hours non-stop to Johannesburg, South Africa, stayed in a really nice hotel and were in the air the next morning on the final leg of the trip to Malawi. We landed, picked up our bags, went to the PC office in Lilongwe for about an hour, and then went to the Malawi College of Forestry at Dedza, which is the Peace Corps training hub. After 10 days at the college we began four weeks of homestay. This involved living with a family in a nearby village. And it was almost real Africa – mud huts with grass roofs. During homestay most days we had a mix of language and technical classes. As environment volunteers, our technical trainers taught us about major environmental problems in Malawi and some basic ways to encourage people to solve them. After four weeks of homestay, we had a Site Announcement Party where we learned what our permanent locations would be for the next two years. As I have mentioned previously, I am in the Northern Region. The most specific I can get is that I am in the north of the most northeast district of the country: Karonga. I could test Peace Corps security by being more specific, but it’s really not worth the potential headache. I am somewhere between 15 and 30 km from the Tanzanian border. (Not sure because I haven’t been there… yet.)

Because Chitumbuka is almost exclusively spoken in the North, and almost not all near Dedza where we had been, the eight of us in the group who are posted to the north got an Intensive Language Week that was designed to get us some more practical experience using the language. While the extra training was great, it’s was almost entirely pointless for me as the primary language in my area is Chingonde or Chinkondi or Kyangonde depending on which dialect you prefer. Peace Corps gave me exactly zero hours of training and no literature for the language.

Swearing-In was in Lilongwe on April 25, which was also the last time you heard from me. I must brag a bit here. I had the distinct honor – mainly because I volunteered to do it – of writing and reading the speech at our Swearing-In ceremony. Actually one volunteer read half in Chichewa, another read half in Chitumbuka, and I read the entire in English. On April 26, I spent about 11 hours in an SUV with two other PCVs, a driver and lots of luggage and was dropped at my site in the dark.

I spent 10 days at that house and decided to move because I was too close to one family. I wanted a bit more autonomy and not to be identified so closely with one family. I moved to house at primary school, so I’m almost never bored. Even when I want to be bored there are always school kids crowding my door. Some of them are OK, others can get annoying, but they’re kids. The house didn’t have a kitchen, bafa, or chimbuzi. After living there nearly seven weeks I still don’t have a kitchen or chimbuzi, though they are close on the latrine. And I’m cooking with paraffin (kerosene) so lack of a kitchen hasn’t really hurt me.

There are 22 in our group – 15 guys and 7 girls. Our group is a bit unusual in the fact that it is significantly larger than the previous two environmental groups and we have more men than women. A bit unfortunate, really. But everyone is pretty cool for the most part and we all get along well. Also, we lost our first about a month ago, as one girl ET’ed.

I have seen things that many Americans have only seen in National Geographic, and I have eaten foods that most Americans wouldn’t. Overall, the food has been relievingly good. The strangest thing so far, I suppose is usipa, which is basically minnows. But, hey, mix it with a little tomato and onion and it’s not too bad. The staple food, as in the case in many countries in the area, is nsima, which is maize flour and water mixed to a thick, doughy consistency. You break off a piece, roll it into a ball and kind of scoop up your beans, greens, fish or whatever. It doesn’t have much flavor and has basically no nutritional value as it is prepared. Since I’m cooking for myself I’ve been eating pork once a week (that’s what has been at the market lately). I eat a lot of beans, soya, sweet potatoes. Breakfast has been mgaiwa pala, which is a porridge made from ground maize. It’s pretty good with some bananas, groundnuts and sugar mixed in.

I am posted in one of the hottest areas of the country, and I’m not looking forward to October, November and December, when I’ve heard the heat is almost unbearable. People sleep outdoors and take baths in the middle of the night to cool off. I figure I’ll just sit under a tree and eat mangoes most days during that time. Right now, the weather is beautiful – warm and sunny, maybe reaching 80 degrees during the day and cool at night. I sleep with one sheet and could almost use a another when the wind blows in my window. Soon I’ll be sleeping outside, naked in a pool of sweat.

While this is certainly a different culture, I partly feel like I’m missing out on something. The food they cook is a bit different. Homes and housing are different. Families usually have a kitchen, bafa and chimbuzi separate from the building the sleep in. Farming methods are different, but only because they are more primitive and basic. But many people in my area speak English at least well enough to communicate. And there are no Massai or other traditional, pastoralist tribes who wear interesting clothing. I haven’t been here long and maybe I’m not looking in the right places, but I can’t help thinking sometimes that Kenya or Tanzania might have more of … something. I’m not sure what it is I’m looking for, but I guess I had some ideas before I came here and I haven’t found it yet. But I’ll keep looking and let you know when I do.

The language is strangely reminiscent of romance languages a bit. Almost every word is spelled alternating consonant-vowel and most end with a vowel. The textbook Chichewa greeting dialogue goes:

-- Muli bwanji? (You are how?)
-- Ndili bwino, kaya inu? (I am well, what about you?)
-- Ndili bwinoso. Zikomo. (I am well also. Thanks.)
-- Zikomo kwambiri. (Thank you very much)

The same in Chitumbuka:

-- Muli uli?
-- Nili makola, kwali imwe?
-- Nili makolaso. Yewo.
-- Yewo chomene.

I can speak some of the greeting and say a few words in Chingonde, but I’m not yet sure about writing them. The ‘thank you’ is ‘ndagha fiyo’. I hope before I leave to be able to converse at least a little. An interesting note about the language – people tend to intermix L’s and R’s, which I hear makes for fascinating conversation during any election.

As far as work and projects, I haven’t done much yet, as I’m still meeting people, learning the area, learning the language and so on. I have some ideas, but even with things like building a compost pile, planting a garden and teaching about HIV/AIDS I feel my knowledge is still inadequate, though I suppose what I consider to be common sense knowledge could carry me quite a ways. I’ve been thinking about stealing Stephanie’s idea of taking some primary kids to a national park. I’m living at a primary school and the best national park in the country is in the northern region. We’ll see.

I certainly do miss the luxuries of America. I follow the Cubbies as close as I can (thanks, Dad). And I’m coming to appreciate Wal-Mart much more. And I also now believe that most Americans don’t know how lucky they are to be able to get away from bad news by turning the channel on the TV, too be able to eat what they want, sleep comfortably, afford entertainment, travel, and so much more. I certainly don’t blame anyone – I plan to live that way for most of my life. One of the wonderful things about being an American is the privilege of choosing your lifestyle (to a degree). I don’t want to live poor, be poor, suffer, starve or any of that. And there’s a line I have to walk between being comfortable here in the village and fitting in at the same time. But the saying that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone really hits home right now – in so many ways.


I’m sure I’m leaving something out. Questions about anything are certainly welcome. I think about home and all of you a lot and sometimes wonder why I’m here. Don’t worry, though, I’m not gonna wimp out. I miss pizza and WGN and air conditioning and lots more, but it won’t get me home. At least not yet.

I’ll talk to y’all soon.