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I'm still here!

Hiiii friends!

 I have been the worst blogger ever the past few months! Sorry for that. Although my crazy life has become so normal in my mind, I can't count the number of times that I've been asked, "So what are you actually doing over there?" So here's to the next 8.5 months and posting more updates on my work, Malawian culture, and life in Bondo village.



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Emergency Evacuation!

It’s been a whirlwind of a week. A giant tropical storm slammed the southern region of Malawi a few days ago with multiple feet of rainfall in 2-3 days. Considering homes and buildings are made of sandy mud bricks around here, lots of rain can weaken these walls and cause walls and entire structures to collapse. Thankfully I was not in my village when the storm hit (I was staying with a friend who knew the storm was on its way), so I was safe. I watched the storm bend palm trees and flop big branches from the safely of a large front porch that overlooked the tea estates. The rain came in waves usually of ridiculously hard rapping on the roof to light drizzling, and we had phases of thunder and lightning. One thing was for sure though—it didn’t stop raining for three days straight. The only discomfort I experienced though was temperamental electricity (which didn’t bother me since I’m used to not having it anyway). Besides that, I spent four days working on lesson plans for programs in...
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Luderitz

After a week of rest and recovery (sort of) in Windhoek, I decided it was time to get down to the work exchange I'd organized to do down in the remote, coastal town of Luderitz. Honestly, I was getting bored of playing tourist and ready to get back to doing meaningful work. I hitched a ride down to Keetmanskoop, a small, commercial town about five hours south of Windhoek. When I arrived, I was actually lucky enough to meet two Peace Corps Volunteers living there. It was great swapping info on our two countries for a bit. Then I did some wandering around town...although there wasn't a whole lot to see. The guy I'm doing the work exchange with (his name is Giel for future reference) was kind enough to drive over 350km to come pick me up in Keetmans, so I was happy to have a safe and reliable ride into Luderitz. The scenery on the drive, before it got dark, was pretty amazing as the sunset painted the sky orange-y yellow and in the far off distance we could see lines of rain...
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STOMP Out Malaria boot camp

Hi all!   So I just returned to Mulanje from a trip to Lilongwe for a (mini) STOMP Out Malaria boot camp. It was such a wonderful week! Kudos to Brooke Mancuso—our national malaria coordinator— for planning a successful camp! The STOMP Malaria team in Malawi has now more than doubled from 4 to 10 people. Last weekend, I traveled to Blantyre which is the nearest big city to me and a good stopping place between Bondo and Lilongwe. I met up with some PCVs there and was able to meet some of our new education volunteers along the way. We have a new education volunteer coming to Mulanje, so we’ll be a solid crew of five. I was able to explore the city some, even found some incense and a yarn store which was exciting!  When we reached Lilongwe, it was so nice to be reunited with volunteers from our H&E 2014 group—especially the ones who live far up north! We had a great time hanging out and being able to catch up all week.  Our training began with lear...
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