This morning, the air was thick and damp and in the rays of sunlight, you could see the moisture dancing around. I woke up and literally ran to my sitemate's village to help her with her very first SOLID meeting! Since I am the southern region coordinator for this training program, part of my responsibility is supporting other volunteers, so I was happy to go and be there for her. On my way, I "ran into" my village running buddy, and he decided he would run with me to wherever I was going. So together we ran down through fields of tea, into the dambo (the low land next to the river where people grow most of their vegetables), hopped across the rocks in the river, and huffed and puffed our way up the very steep path up to Nessa village. Thankfully Tanvi saved me some sweet potatoes and tea for when I arrived and lent me a chitenjen to wear to the meeting. Things went very smoothly although Tanvi put me on the spot and made me lead energizers in front of the group! After the interest meeting concluded, we walked back to the center of the village where there's a 3 way intersection of dirt roads and women selling all kinds of goodies. We stood chatting for a minute eating the mandasi (fried donuts) that I'd just purchased before we then decided to buy a long stick of mzimbe (sugarcane) and sit down. We happened upon some benches next to the solar panel "electricity" kiosk and under some nice large shade trees. We talked and talked-having so much to catch up on since we'd been too busy in the past few weeks to visit each other. After 2 hours, the previously swept ground around us was covered in the remains of our sugarcane snack and our conversation had twisted and turned through all sorts of subjects (neither of us can stay too focused on one thing for long). By the time I left to go back home, the sun was high in the sky and the temperature was heating up! It's definitely nowhere near as bad as hot season (oct/nov) yet, but it's getting pretty warm during the days.
Tanvi and I in our nice shady spot catching up on PC life
The beautiful view of my village from Tanvi's!
When I reached my home (after a blazing 15 minutes!), I ran around preparing for our camp this afternoon, trying to find something to eat, getting dressed, and a million other little things. I hadn't even had time to eat or rest enough to stop sweating before I was out the door again!
Our camp went well today starting with a "girls only" talk about puberty and menstruation. When we first began, the girls were so embarrassed and shy, but they eventually opened up after the first "vagina" bomb was dropped. (Ps she pronounced it va-gin-a). The way girls talk about periods here is by saying akusamba which literally means "she is washing/bathing." The reason they use this terminology is because they think when a girl is on her period, she has to bathe a lot. There are also a lot of myths about periods here in Malawi like that a girl shouldn't eat salt when she's bleeding or that she can't sit on a chair. They asked about myths in America, but I couldn't think of any! (If you have any ideas, leave them in the comments of this post please!) So then we moved into family planning, or birth control as we say in the USA. The nurse from our health center luckily showed up with all kinds of examples of different methods from condoms and pills to implants and period beads to present to the girls who seemed very interested and asked a lot of questions. We didn't have time to make pads like we'd hoped today, but it will happen eventually!
Our walks home from the camp are always at an incredible time of the day. When we first set out, the sky is just beginning to turn faint shades of pink and orange, but as we get closer, dusk begins falling and the sky turns bright orange and yellow with tinges of red. By the time we arrive back in the village, the sky looks like it's on fire with deep and rusty reds taking over the landscape. And then there's the shadowy outline of the mountain set in front of this colorful backdrop. Dusk was being enveloped by darkness by the time I arrived back home, but through the trees and houses I can usually see a window of this amazing color show. My house was dark and a complete mess, and I was starving as I'd not eaten any actual meals today! I washed my hands and rinsed the dirt off my face, taking a deep breath and letting go of the stress of a long day with no break. No sooner had I done this when Judy was at my door calling my name. She, Ester, and Jackie (8, 9, and 4 yrs old) peered in when I said to come in. We sat "chatting" for a few moments before they went to get nsima, and we all shared a nice candlelit dinner on my bamboo mat. As soon as we finished eating, I felt the exhaustion sinking in. I couldnt even wash dishes or anything; when they left, I came straight to my bed. It's 8:15, and I'm struggling to even keep my eyes open. Time to rest up for another long day tomorrow.
Basi, usiku wa bwino onse! (That's it, good night everyone!)