Day 2
This morning, I journeyed to Limbuli market which is the big market at the Mozambique border. To get there, I walk 3 miles down to the road and then board a mini bus that takes maybe 20 minutes. I left my house around 7 AM and hustled down to the road, making it there in good time. I was going to the market to buy zitenje or old bed sheets as well as towels/blankets to use for pad making this coming week. Now, I've only been to Limbuli 3 times previously-none of which did I spend a ton of time looking around. The place is super sketchy with massive crowds of people everywhere (legit, the road is almost overtaken by shoppers and bikers), but it's also a gold mine for anything and everything you might want. I brought a big plastic Africa tote bag with me and wandered around. Mostly I bought the things on my list plus a few other materials for potential projects (red, yellow, and blue oil paint as well as some maize sacks). Then as I was about to leave, I decided I should explore some more, so I followed the crowd into the narrow alleys of the "deep markets" where the sun isn't quite as bright. I encountered an endless row of butchers aggressively hacking away at raw chunks of meat set out on stands covered in black plastic and with flies humming around and then practically a whole fish market all of which were selling the same varieties: fresh fish, dried fish, or salted and dried fish. As I continued, the stands shifted to women selling heaping piles of pumpkin leaves, rape, sweet potato leaves, Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, and onions. I had to search for them, but I also found and bought carrots, green beans, and green peppers. Young, dirty kids wandering around the aisles everywhere selling jumbos (plastic bags), fighting over customers and clogging up the narrow passageways. I easily slipped through the market without too many stares and collected my treasures: baobab fruit, a small tin funnel, fresh veggies, etc. Then I found my way back out of the endless maze of the market and into the bright bright sun. On my way toward the mini buses, I impulsively bought two coconuts before spotting the "hair medicine" that my 9 yr old neighbor had asked me to buy her the night before after we'd finished eating nsima and were chatting outside her house. The "medicine" looked like whipped egg whites and smelled like chemicals. The vendor took a spoon and plopped a few scoops into a blue plastic jumbo before tying it tightly and handing it over. I moved on to buy a 2 L of paraffin for my stove (saving it for last bc of its weight). As I paused to haggle and buy the paraffin, 2 dudes came over to hassle me about where I'm going so that they can put me on their mini bus. I was refusing to tell them when out of nowhere this guy, who looks familiar but whose face I can't place, says "she's going to lichenya." Our eyes met and we exchanged a friendly smile while I scanned my brain hard to remember how I knew him. But then the moment was over, and I was being led to a bus. Thankfully I got the front seat because after passing the police road block, the drivers cram as many people in the bus as possible!
I arrived at my road, bought 3 pineapples (for the equivalent of $1 total btw), and started my walk up to the village. My big bag was super heavy but awkwardly not full, so when I reached the maize mill with lots of amayis around, I stopped and asked one to help me fix my bag so it would be easy to carry (they are the experts!). This one woman fixed me up good, and I carried my bag on my head almost all the way up (besides a 1/2 mi chunk when this girl insisted on helping me) and even balanced it (with no hands!!) for a lot of the time. It was nice to have the weight off of my shoulders (like with my backpack), and I quickly began to understand how this is so much easier and why people here carry everything on their heads. I laughed to myself thinking about how when I get home, I'm going to be looked at so strangely if I ever try to reenact my days in Malawi of carrying things on my head.
(My goodies from the market)
When I arrived at my house, everyone was so shocked that I was already back and it wasn't even noon yet. "Back in time for nsima," they said. Instead of making nsima though, I cooked up some rice to eat with my beans from yesterday and then made fresh guacamole with cilantro from my herb garden and lots of garlic. YUM! I couldn't finish it all, but I took the extra to my neighbors who quickly devoured it along with some baobab fruits that I'd brought to share. After such a big heavy lunch, the last thing I wanted to do was to go do more chores especially because the rhythmic drums of the "ngole" (initiation ceremonies are happening right now) were so enticing, but I gathered my clothes, threw them in a bucket, and headed to the river.
When I reached the washing spot, I was happy to find it empty (washing undergarments in front of Malawians makes me feel awkward). Of course it didn't stay that way for long and soon after I was getting questions from the amayis about my sports bras and asking what they were. When I explained that they were bras to wear during exercise, they were so surprised. Oh, cultural exchange..... One of the amayis set up on a rock riiiiight next to me, humming gospel songs while washing which put me in a good mood as it was a pleasant reminder of how lucky I am to live this lifestyle and in this place so rarely visited by outsiders. When I was finally finished with my big stack of clothes, I had multiple spots on my hands and fingers where the skin was rubbed raw. My arms were limp with exhaustion and my back was tight and throbbing from bending over a rock for 2 hours washing. The last thing I wanted to do was wash my chacos, but when I made a move to put them on, my 'washing-buddy Amayi' scolded me. I told her I didn't want to wash them, so she took one from me and started scrubbing. Feeling guilty, I grabbed the other and washed it too.
As I headed back to the main road with my bucket atop my head, the neighbor kids came running to me-2 of them with the new "hair medicine" in their hair-offering to take the bucket from me. When I refused, they followed me saying they wanted to come study English at my house.
When we arrived at my place, I pulled out my colorful rug for them to sit on and set the bag of books down for them to scramble and fight over. They sat "reading" aka looking at the pictures for awhile. Judy brought down some nsima for us to share. They asked for my photo album and played the game that they always play where they flip through the pictures and find me (or other people they might know) in every single picture. From inside my house, all I heard was "Emma. Emma. Emma. Eee, Abigailo. Emma. Emma. Thomas. Emma. Thomas. Makolo a Emma. Melanie. Emma....." I had a bit of a headache and wanted them to go, so I said I needed to go get water at the spring. They insisted on helping me, fighting over who got to carry which bucket. I couldn't deny them since carrying water on my head is probably my second least favorite chore (second to washing clothes). We were a little parade of neighborhood kids-falling in line with our buckets of various sizes and colors. The spring was empty of people, so our process of scooping water up was quick. Carrying the 20 liter bucket on my head, my neck muscles ached, telling me I'd done too much carrying on my head today. A random group of boys told me "you are a woman now" because now I know how to carry water. Ugh, gender roles. I asked if he could carry water and when he said yes, I said "okay, take this." Of course his response was just laughter.
The kids continued to chat on my porch (doing each other's hair) while I hung my wet clothes on the clothesline. Then I finally shoo-ed them away because dusk was falling. When they left, I simply closed all my windows, grabbed some carrots and bananas to eat for "dinner," and then came to lay in bed at 6 PM.
I feel unreasonably tired, but then again I have to remind myself that I did walk 7+ miles today and washed clothes and carried water. My body is just telling me that its done for the day! I think I could fall asleep right now, but then I'd wake up at like 4 AM when the roosters start their wake up crows. What amazes me is that women here to this kind of labor intensive work EVERY day. God they're so tough. Today was a great reminder of that!