We have made several very nice friends here in Malawi; some from our church and others through other acquaintances. The sad part is that some of the ones are here for only a short period of time, like us, so the relationship will be fleeting! We must enjoy them while we can. We were invited out for dinner last night with one couple that will be departing next week, back to Denver, and have an invitation to a Christmas day dinner with one of our church family friends. Our Christmas plans to date include a departure for a trip to a lodge on Lake Malawi and spend the 26th-28th with a couple of other Peace Corps volunteers of our similar ages. The lake view is supposed to be wonderful, and it will be yet another part of Malawi that we have not yet seen.
With the start of the rainy season, we got caught in a drenching downpour on Saturday. Having only a small umbrella between us, and with the blowing wind, we were SOAKED. Even though this is summer, and the temperature has risen, the rain felt cool, if not cold. We hit the warm tub upon our return to home. Rained again very hard yesterday, but we had solace indoors.
Some things had disappeared from our house over the past several weeks. Not from "our side”, but from the area of the house that we do not occupy. The result was a changing of the guard company! This supposedly occurs rather frequently throughout Malawi, and the guards are usually suspect, or at least could be party to the transgression. Fortunately, none of our belongings were taken, yet, although there was evidence that “they” had been able to gain access to our kitchen area and maybe an adjoining room. A little spooky. Since, we have had new, heavy-duty padlocks installed on the exterior security gates, changed a couple of interior/exterior door locks, and are trying to be a bit more diligence in our personal safety. On a side note, a recent trip to Lilongwe and the Lilongwe bus depot (HORROR!) resulted in my backpack being compromised by someone in the crowd and removing my iPod and cell phone charger. I wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper expressing my feelings and actually got published. Will be more observant and careful in the future.
My office closes on the 18th of December and doesn’t reopen until January 10th. I will have to figure out what to do with myself as Kaye will continue to work for part of my time off.
We can’t thank our US friends enough for the special care packages that have been received. Our enjoyment and surprise continues with each delivery. Thanks to all of you and have a Merry Christmas.
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