That African Life

Gosh, there is just so much to write, so much to say....

Things are so amazing here. It is crazy how great my body feels too! I guess it just knows I love it here so much. I also think that somehow the time change is better for me. I am such a crazy insomniac at home and usually my day feels like night because I am so tired and my night feels like day. So maybe that helps? I am not sure, but I will take it!

My days are all mixed up, but I got to the school Thursday after a long day of travel and I was just so happy to be with the people and my team. Speaking of the team, I absolutely LOVE them. I was worried, as always, about group dynamics. I had nothing to worry about because they are all so great. I felt ok being alone for those few days, and so happy to have an extra day to just rest and get used to the time change, but so happy to meet everyone!

Getting to the school was so fun as well to get a tour and meet all the kids. Here they call white people Azungus", in Kenya it was "Muzungus", but it didn't change how excited they were to see us. Azungus are not as normal in the rural areas as in Llongwe in the city. There were lots of introductions and lots of excitement. I feel bad because I am already so bad at names, let alone Chichewa names and learning the language....I definitely was not blessed with the gift of tongues.

This picture was on my tour at the school - it is so beautiful! This is where they teach fishery, and Gloria (in the picture) teaches it. She is one of the brightest young women I have ever met. She studied at the university here in Malawi and has come very far in her education at such a young age. 

This is Alisha in our group with one of the cutest babies!

 I love Alisha, I'm so lucky to work with such amazing people.

I am so in love with this place. I can't tell you that happiness that I have in my heart. I barely can contain it! I'm so in love with this place and cant believe I am here. 

I was only at the school one night and then we were headed back to Llongwe and Salima for the weekend. It is a holiday here because they are holding national elections. It is huge here! People are so excited and rallies are happening all over. 

In the middle of writing this blog we ended up actually going to the rally and sitting on the stage with the president of Malawi. Nobody knows how this happened up it was actually one of the coolest things that I have ever done!

This is Calvin - our driver, bodyguard, and confidant. He is honestly the best! We are so grateful for him!

This is completely out of order because I have been working on this blog post for so long...but this weekend we went to Lake Malawi. It is so incredibly beautiful! I still can't believe it is a lake and not the ocean.

This is a tropical fish farm, they send fish all over the world.

This is Salima, the town where Lake Malawi is located. 

Alright, this is getting lengthy...I'm out.

More later!