Under the Milky Way

It has been a ridiculously busy weekend. Early Saturday morning, I left to go to mbewa to meet up with some friends and run the porters race trail. When I reached the city, I took a “hitch” to Andy’s house. This entailed climbing into the back of a raggedy white truck loaded with people and bags. I had to stand up the entire ride (10km) and hold onto a bar behind the cab of the truck. I had no foot room to brace myself and felt like I was going to fall out the side about half of the ride. There were two men sitting on top of the cab right in front of me who insisted on speaking to me in Chichewa the entire ride once they found out that I was not an azungu . When I said I was a health volunteer, one began asking me all kinds of questions about HIV, condom use, contracting the disease, and if we have it in America. It was a long ride in, taking forever on the bumpy dusty roads. I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to pay since it was not a mini bus, but they still charged me 700 kwatcha ...

June 27, 2014  I woke up today with a plan. I was going to go to the secondary school’s graduation then head to the boma, use some wifi, go to the post office, meet friends for lunch, and crash at Andy’s house because we were all going to do a test-run of the porters race tomorrow morning. Well, that all changed when the graduation began three and half hours late. When I received my invitation, the deliverer said to arrive at 8:30AM and that the ceremony would begin at 9:30. I left my house at 8:15AM, expecting to be home in about 2-3 hours. I should never ever think this way while I’m here in Africa. I arrived at the school, and there was no one there except the group of students still setting up the “tent” for guests (throwing tarps over a basic skeleton of bamboo pieces). I settled myself onto one of the giant boulders in the open space by the school. A student ran over with a white, plastic lawn chair. I refused, but he sat and chatted with me while I waited. The sun w...

It's funny how me sitting outside on my front porch studying development materials can quickly turn into a gaggle of kids in my yard playing. My cute toddler friend Macy comes over to chat with her sister, a few neighbors kids join us, then she gets her "Malawian jump rope," more kids come (in their purple uniforms because they're on their way home from school), and before I know it, my yard has because a playground. Even though it can be frustrating when I actually need to get things done, sometimes being in the center of the village, surrounded by activity, a highly frequented produce stand, and children, can be a blessing. 

June 21, 2014 Well, it’s a rainy and windy Saturday morning—the perfect time to write about yesterday’s experiences. The rain is creating a soothing drizzle on my tin roof, calming me and reassuring me that it’s okay if I sit in my house all day instead of going out and interacting with my neighbors. I have my fresh, french press coffee sitting next to me. The curtain covering the window on my left is pulled back so that I can vaguely see what’s happening in my front yard. The rain is off and on, getting heavy and roaring on the roof and then dissipating off into silence every few seconds. People are running along the path in front of my house to get to their destinations—not wanting to get caught in a downpour. It’s a fitting day for winter solstice in Malawi, chilly and rainy. Although I enjoy the bright blue skies and warmth of sunny days, sometimes a relaxing rainy day is much needed.   Yesterday was nutrition day at the health clinic. There were plenty of mothers and ...

June 19, 2014 The funeral was set to start at 1:30, and my counterpart and I hurried down the deserted road through town. No one sat on their porches, no one worked in their fields, and no kids were out playing. However, when we arrived at the house where the funeral was taking place, it was overrun with people. We were led to where the chiefs of the surrounding villages were sitting in chairs. Everyone stared at me. I peered around at all the villagers sitting on practically every inch of ground available.  Me today, you tomorrow,  I kept thinking. I looked down the slope in front of me and realized that there was a coffin sitting right there in the yard. A line of women dressed in white, peasant-looking tops; simple, black knee-length skirts, and white head wraps filed into the house. People sitting in the space between the houses began to sing. Men walked by us and down to the house carrying a wooden post that read "Gladdis Foster. Died 16/8/014. C.C.A.P." When the singing...

June 18, 2014 (copied from my journal) Yesterday was antenatal day at the health center. Antenatal, ironically enough, is equivalent to prenatal in America. A woman is supposed to attend four check ups before she has her baby; however, many only attend one or two. At antenatal clinics pregnant women are weighed, given tetanus shots or other immunizations, tested for HIV, checked out by our maternity nurse, and given mosquito nets (without education on how to use them I might add). The women were ready and waiting at eight when I arrived, but the nurse running the clinic had not yet arrived. As we waited for her, all the women stared me. I played with the kids a little; making faces at them and tickling them. I saw a woman bite her child's nail. My counterpart decided it was a great time to play a round of "let's question Emma time" since apparently a lot of the women didn't know me. So I introduced myself and then they interrogated me on where my husband was, how ...

I  want to dedicate an entry to my emerging running group. Today, the first thing the kids asked me when I walked into my village was whether we were running. I told them maybe because I was a bit tired from walking the 5k up from the tarmac. When I got to my house, I sat there deciding. I knew I'd feel more energetic and happier if I just went for a 20-30 minute run even. Plus, the kids really wanted to. Their enthusiasm is going to keep me in shape! As I walked down my usual path to the main road, my apongo appeared; a four year old girl named Macy or Mercy. Honestly, with the pronunciation of words here, sometimes I can't figure names out. She popped out of the neighbors yard, and I grabbed her and threw her up in the air. Then I asked her the few simple questions I can say in Chichewa and if she wanted to run. She said yes, so we walked hand in hand down to the road. I started out very easy. It must have been a funny sight: a five and a half foot tall, white girl wearing N...

So today has been wet and cold! It has barely stopped raining all day.  Rain is good because my tap isn't working right now, so I can collect water in buckets off my roof! However, rain is a pain in the butt too because it means I can't hang clothes or set wood outside to dry, I can't set my solar charger out, and the ground is even more slippery than usual! Thankfully I only fell twice today. I managed to get a good longer run in today during one of the breaks from the rain! I have been wanting to know how far the walk is that I have to make from the tarmac up to my village, so I decided to run it. It's about 5 kilometers or 3 miles. I also did a little exploring on side paths too. One of which led me to a beautiful tea field with a narrow winding trail going through the bushes. It was one of those "whoa I'm running in Africa" moments. As I approached my village, some kids who were walking home from school started running with me. I decided to add on the ...

Hi friends! First post from Mulanje, Malawi. I have been toying with the idea of beginning a blog since before I got here, but (with the help of friends) decided that it's the time to 'just do it!' (Shout out to Coach Mason) After all, goal #3 of Peace Corps is to help Americans understand the people and cultures of other countries! So, I don't really know where to begin with everything. I've been in Malawi for over 3 months now. We spent the first 9 weeks in home stay families in the Kasungu district (central Malawi). We learned about the culture, studied the language INTENSIVELY, and also learned technical skills. As health volunteers, our four main areas of work in Malawi are HIV/AIDS mitigation and prevention, malaria education and prevention, nutrition education, and sanitation/hygiene education. We came to Malawi with a group of 37 volunteers: 16 health and 21 environment vols. After we "graduated" from training and swore in at the ambassadors ho...