Holiday time.
Then we spent the day climbing a nearby hillside-soaking in some incredible, crystal-clear views and beautiful breezes up on the top where we had a 360 view of the tea estates, rolling hills, and, of course, Mulanje mountain. After that, we headed down to the wide river that cuts right down through the valley coming off the mountain. Although some of my neighbors warned us not to swim (too much water, they said!), we did anyway and had a blast. Some of the baby rapids were almost like water slides! We had so much fun that we forgot we were in a village-laughing and squealing like children-and that ATTRACTED the kids. So then we were sunbathing and relaxing on the rocks in the middle of the river with kids on the banks being obnoxious. Oh well, it was fun for a bit!
It can be a difficult time of the year for Peace Corps volunteers who don't go home to spend it with their families. Another thanksgiving away from home and away from my family. Of course I miss the traditions and being together with my fantastic family (especially considering there are new children whom I still have yet to meet). But, on the other hand, spending holidays away from home is a whole different experience and can be pretty interesting too. I enjoy having a completely clean slate-with no traditions to build off of. So we took advantage of this freedom.
For a few days this week, I've had some other PCVs visiting my village. It's always nice to have visitors, especially when they're good friends. Yesterday, we were coming from town. When we arrived at the bus stage, we put our bulky backpacks on bicycle taxis to carry up to my house. Then we stopped by the local tea room and had a fabulous breakfast of Mozambican breads, papaya, and avocado along with our sugar-water tea. As we were leaving, we saw a car turning up the road and recognized it as a car from one of the NGOs we work closely with. We hitched a slightly cramped ride all the way up to my village, luckily!
Then we spent the day climbing a nearby hillside-soaking in some incredible, crystal-clear views and beautiful breezes up on the top where we had a 360 view of the tea estates, rolling hills, and, of course, Mulanje mountain. After that, we headed down to the wide river that cuts right down through the valley coming off the mountain. Although some of my neighbors warned us not to swim (too much water, they said!), we did anyway and had a blast. Some of the baby rapids were almost like water slides! We had so much fun that we forgot we were in a village-laughing and squealing like children-and that ATTRACTED the kids. So then we were sunbathing and relaxing on the rocks in the middle of the river with kids on the banks being obnoxious. Oh well, it was fun for a bit! 
After a long day in the sun, we returned to my house and enjoyed a relaxing evening of tea, lentils, and chatting in my courtyard with glowing candles galore and twinkling Christmas lights that we draped around us on the clothes line. What a Wednesday, right?
This morning, two of us went for an extended run (almost an hour), as I showed her all around my village and surrounding ones...partially by accident as we went down new trails and I got a bit mixed up with directions. Regardless, it was a great way to start thanksgiving. I hope all of my runner friends enjoyed their turkey trots as much as we enjoyed our jog!
Later in the morning, we decided to go by the hair salon (hehe) and have our hair braided! We spent about an hour there gettin' allllllll fancy for our SOLID team's graduation. The group planned the whole thing themselves, and it was crazy successful!! They cooked a delicious and typical "celebratory" Malawian meal-rice, beans, cabbage, and orange-flavored sugary "juice." Someone had rented a sound system, and they'd cleared out and set up chairs and tables in our pregnant ladies' guardian shelter next to the health center (an awfully convenient event location with a kitchen attached and a tap right outside).
The graduation went very smoothly with kind remarks, certificate and gift presentations, and lots of dancing! I don't know if I've just gotten used to Malawian celebrations, but I did not feel the least bit awkward when the music was blasting, we were all dancing together, and there were gobs of people standing outside just peering in through the window-lined walls. We laughed and danced and enjoyed, and I was so thankful for the relationships I've formed with these wonderful, motivated people in my community. There's nothing like a 4.5 month training to connect people and create a bond. I felt so proud of them today, and I'm so excited for the things to come. I can't wait to work with them for the next few months and hand over leadership responsibilities and practice planning and implementing projects together! It was definitely one of those moments in my service that I will forever remember and think back on fondly as a time where it felt like everything is coming together. Like when you find the piece of puzzle that you've been searching for for so long. There are so many times in peace corps when everything feels so disorganized and disconnected...like you're doing a million little things. But this project (SOLID) and this group is that thread that connects it all. And the people are just incredible. I am going to work on putting together individual blogs about many of them!
So after such an exhilarating event this afternoon, my visitors and I came back to my house and relaxed. We had tea and juicy, sweet pineapples and chatted. This evening, we sat on a bamboo mat in my courtyard, again with candles and string lights all around us, with a bowl of fresh mango guacamole and homemade tortillas. Before eating, we each shared the things we are thankful for-mostly consisting of being able to be together, the wonderful relationships we've formed through peace corps, and all the incredible things we've been able to experience this year-and we enjoyed a communal bowl of guac under the bright moonlight! It may not be traditional, but it's a thanksgiving I'm sure I'll always remember. We celebrated the beauty of being unconventional.