starting out in malawi

       Getting started has been an adventure. Thankfully I could stay with coworkers for the first couple weeks in order to learn the ropes and get my bearings.
During that time I started Chichewa lessons with Agatha. She is a great teacher.
  I enjoy the similarities to Swahili, but am finding it hard to learn all the differences. Language study takes time.
   For now I have class for nearly 2 hrs each weekday morning. 

There is fear of a power shortage later this year when the rivers run dry. So they are initiating a load-sharing program. There is a schedule that is supposed to be followed in which different areas of town are turned off for 5-6 hours at a time. Some days they cut the power around 4 am and other days it turns off around 11 am while other days it is around 3 pm.  I am learning to get used to this and we have a small gas stove to cook on for now.  The first couple days in the  house, the breaker went off and we didn’t realize it so we had nearly 48 hours with no power. Not good for a fridge that is just started up!  We are thankful that it isn’t the normal.
      I am also thankful that the landlord has installed hot water in the house. It was always on the to-do list, but finally they purchased the heater (known as a geezer here) and had it installed 2 days later.  We still have to figure out how to use it with the power outages, but it is nice to bathe with hot water, even if it is hot outside.
     I am thankful for co-workers who have let me use this house and their car for a couple months while they are stateside. Such a blessing and it takes the burden of a quick house and car hunt off the table. The car and house were sitting for a couple months, so there was some normal cleaning and battery charging to do before everything was set. We had to figure out how to disconnect the battery from Sue’s car and jump this car’s battery that first day with only a leatherman on hand!  It worked. 



Another day I was picking up some of my things from the container where we have stored it all and the car locked itself. The problem was that the keys were inside! We had to call a friend who called a mechanic who called a guy he knew could help us out. After waiting for nearly an hour, he finally came and using a hanger and other things was able to finally unlock one door and we were able to get in!


Just a few of the adventures here in Malawi this week!