There are other Americans here now at Annie's Lodge, and our first reaction is the food going to taker longer to prepare! We've gotten used to the lengthy dinner, but any longer and we may get hostile. It's actually enabled us to get better acquainted while waiting for dinner.
Today our focus in class was on the body and when we entered the classroom, Macdonald was conducting a lesson on self-esteem. It seemed the class was in much discussion. As we listened, we realized the students were reading off the board. The points were very valid and we're hoping they got a lot out of it, but we don't really know how much they actually knew.
Lexi and I started off with stretches. We wanted them to learn the importance of this before playing sports. They really enjoyed them. We taught them "head, shoulders, knees & toes". They loved it!! It's so wonderful to see their faces light up when they learn something new. Then we taught them all the bones from the Cranium down to the Phalanges. The best part of our lesson was the "Hokey Pokey" when we went outside. FYI...VT does the HP at all the football games. It took a little while for them to catch on, but they love to see us move around in so many different ways.
We also went over to the other Standard 6 class to teach them the same lesson. The other teacher is not as involved as Macdonald, but he seems to appreciate our teaching.
Two of our students brought us nuts today. There was a lesson in English the day before that included the term "groundnuts" and we had never heard that term. Macdonald asked them to bring in the nuts and we had our pictures taken with them. It made me feel like a real teacher!
We headed over to MIE at 12. Instead of having our regular class, we visited Malika Church, a Catholic Church in the center of Malika Village. Being Catholic, I was so excited to see if there would be similarities in our traditions at home. It took about 40 minutes to walk there, and two choir members met us to lead the way. We passed the Domasi prison on the way and Dr. Kelly pointed out the water reserves and gardens they tend to. It was a very long walk, but the scenery is never a disappointment in all of Malawi. Along the way, we seemed to pick up some children. They were so inquisitive as to where we were going and followed us all the way there. I met a boy named "Patrick", and I was still wearing my name tag "Krista Patrick". I tore off the "Patrick" part and gave it to him. He was so happy!
We passed through a few villages on the way with beautiful views, fields, villages and mountains surrounding in the distance to Malika. It's never boring to take a walk here!
The choir performed several incredible pieces. The females in the choir wore chitingis(sp) around their waist (wrap skirts) that had Catholic insignia on them. Dancers also performed during some of the pieces. I got a lot of it on tape, and I can't wait to share the video of the dancing when I get home. All of the singing and dancing is so spirited-it makes you want to move along with them. Despite the fact that most of the songs were in Chichewa, I felt like I could understand what they were saying from their enthusiasm and "acting" from the dancing. The "MC" for the performance did a great job of explaining some of the meanings behind the dances and like all Malawians, truly welcomed us with open arms. Our three professors made generous donations to the church before we left, and of course they were very grateful.
The children that had followed us stayed too. They sat around us and joined in on the excitement as we did. There was such a sense of a community here. Malika village women also joined the crowd to listen to the singing and added their own applause of "noisemaking". It's impossible to replicate the sound -we tried. It was almost like a bird call.
The walk back to MIE for the bus was exhausting! It wasn't too bad on the way to Makika, but the sun had come out, and it made us overheated. We headed to the teachers' commons room at MIE for water. They actually have a bar there! We just wanted cold water, but teachers are able to order beer during the day. We were quite surprised. I was so happy just to have a cold bottle of water. We've been drinking bottled water since we got here, but it's never cold because we can't have ice. It was probably the best water I've ever had. I'm so dramatic.
Charles drove us back to town, but most of us were just too tired to stay in town, then walk back. I headed back to Annie's for the night. We stopped at the Tailor's house, which is next to Annie's to see if our dresses were ready. Most of them were finished, but we have to go back tomorrow for alterations. We were sooooo excited to see how they turned out!!
Dinner was pretty amazing and we've come to realize what we eat isn't that incredible, but to us it's the most glorious food we've ever seen. I tried the chicken curry with rice and green beans, and it was delicious. When you see the pictures of the food at home, it probably won't seem that appealing. Just know we're eating decent food now. Typical courses include chicken/fish/beef/with rice/potatoes.
The Internet still isn't working, but hopefully Peter will fix it soon. We're all having withdrawal! No other complaints though. I can't believe we've been here almost two weeks!
GOOD NIGHT FROM MALAWI, Krista
Please note: I am still transferring from e-mail to her blog. Will continue to bring you up to date daily, even though the dates do conflict.
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