Saturday September 16, 2006
Today the time change kicked in. I spent a good part of the day in bed. We tried to get to the big market today but it was too packed to even get close.
We stopped at the post office market. They sell a lot of carved goods and paintings. We kind of got swarmed by people trying to sell you thing, so this will be something we will have to get use to.
We went over to the Shop-Ko and picked up a few things. Our fruit man was there again and showed us where the fruit market was. We now have a new saying “not today”. We tried to get bread – “not today” no bread, maybe tomorrow.
Saturday September 23, 2006
Wow it has been quite the week.
On Monday we rented a car and drove down to Blantyre.
It is about 380 km south of Lilongwe. That was quite the drive. The road was packed with goats, cows, bicycles, people, cars, and trucks.
It is only a 2 lane road with a very minimal shoulder. It is rather frightening do to the number of children walking beside the road – we are talking 3 year olds here, walking all by themselves.
There are 4 permanent police road blocks along the way. Not sure what exactly they are looking for. This was a little unnerving as no one warned us about them. I had a flash back to things I have heard about bribing police in 3rd world countries. Long story short nothing happened at the police stops.
The landscape between here and there is beautiful. There are many craggy looking mountains. They range from white (I thought it was snow covered) rock to tree covered. There are many tradition grass roof villages along the way as well as several large markets.
Blantrye is a very busy city. The streets are packed with people, and bikes. The trucks and cars take up the remainder of the space. It is hard to describe the business in the cities here, all I can say it that you constantly feel like you are going to run someone over.
While in Blantrye we were able to tour the YWAM base and meet the staff.
The base staff was very nice and we enjoyed the interaction with them. While there we had to haul water from the community pump. It was one of the long handled pumps that you most likely have seen on TV.
On Monday night we were treated to a traditional Malawian meal of rice, and boiled eggs in a tomato and onion sauce. It was very good.
Tuesday morning we awoke to the smell of Malawian rice pudding and tea. It was also very good and a great way to start the day.
After breakfast we went to a huge market to buy our vegetables. It was really cheap as this was the main import market out of Mozambique. Tomatoes were $0.08ea, Potatoes $0.04, big bag of green beans $0.30 and a cabbage the size of a basketball $0.15.
We returned to the base for a lunch of nsima and tomato and onion sauce with egg mixed into it. It turned out the consistency of hominy grits. Again, very tasty.
After lunch we went to the local village and visited with many people. We are beginning to pick up the language which is making life a lot easier.
While at the village, school let out and that made us the center of attention. The children started to swarm and soon it began to look like we where leading a parade. White people are a real novelty in the villages. Most of the children want to touch you but some are scared, cry and run away.
We found out that in a similar fashion to our boogie-man stories the Malawian tell their children that if they are not good that the white people will come and eat them.
On Tuesday night we cooked beef stew (a traditional Canadian dinner) for the staff. It was a real hit as they have very little meat in their diets due to cost.
We spent the morning on Wednesday dealing with immigration before heading back to Lilongwe. The trip back was much nicer as the roads were not as congested.
After returning from Blantyre, Jodi and I have decided that YWAM would not be a fit for our family.
However God has once again come through and the National A/G church will be sponsoring us for our visas.
That’s about it for now. I am preaching tomorrow. This will be my first time preaching in a village church so lift me up in pray.
In Christ
Scott
Today the time change kicked in. I spent a good part of the day in bed. We tried to get to the big market today but it was too packed to even get close.
We stopped at the post office market. They sell a lot of carved goods and paintings. We kind of got swarmed by people trying to sell you thing, so this will be something we will have to get use to.
We went over to the Shop-Ko and picked up a few things. Our fruit man was there again and showed us where the fruit market was. We now have a new saying “not today”. We tried to get bread – “not today” no bread, maybe tomorrow.
Saturday September 23, 2006
Wow it has been quite the week.
On Monday we rented a car and drove down to Blantyre.
It is about 380 km south of Lilongwe. That was quite the drive. The road was packed with goats, cows, bicycles, people, cars, and trucks.
It is only a 2 lane road with a very minimal shoulder. It is rather frightening do to the number of children walking beside the road – we are talking 3 year olds here, walking all by themselves.
There are 4 permanent police road blocks along the way. Not sure what exactly they are looking for. This was a little unnerving as no one warned us about them. I had a flash back to things I have heard about bribing police in 3rd world countries. Long story short nothing happened at the police stops.
The landscape between here and there is beautiful. There are many craggy looking mountains. They range from white (I thought it was snow covered) rock to tree covered. There are many tradition grass roof villages along the way as well as several large markets.
Blantrye is a very busy city. The streets are packed with people, and bikes. The trucks and cars take up the remainder of the space. It is hard to describe the business in the cities here, all I can say it that you constantly feel like you are going to run someone over.
While in Blantrye we were able to tour the YWAM base and meet the staff.
The base staff was very nice and we enjoyed the interaction with them. While there we had to haul water from the community pump. It was one of the long handled pumps that you most likely have seen on TV.
On Monday night we were treated to a traditional Malawian meal of rice, and boiled eggs in a tomato and onion sauce. It was very good.
Tuesday morning we awoke to the smell of Malawian rice pudding and tea. It was also very good and a great way to start the day.
After breakfast we went to a huge market to buy our vegetables. It was really cheap as this was the main import market out of Mozambique. Tomatoes were $0.08ea, Potatoes $0.04, big bag of green beans $0.30 and a cabbage the size of a basketball $0.15.
We returned to the base for a lunch of nsima and tomato and onion sauce with egg mixed into it. It turned out the consistency of hominy grits. Again, very tasty.
After lunch we went to the local village and visited with many people. We are beginning to pick up the language which is making life a lot easier.
While at the village, school let out and that made us the center of attention. The children started to swarm and soon it began to look like we where leading a parade. White people are a real novelty in the villages. Most of the children want to touch you but some are scared, cry and run away.
We found out that in a similar fashion to our boogie-man stories the Malawian tell their children that if they are not good that the white people will come and eat them.
On Tuesday night we cooked beef stew (a traditional Canadian dinner) for the staff. It was a real hit as they have very little meat in their diets due to cost.
We spent the morning on Wednesday dealing with immigration before heading back to Lilongwe. The trip back was much nicer as the roads were not as congested.
After returning from Blantyre, Jodi and I have decided that YWAM would not be a fit for our family.
However God has once again come through and the National A/G church will be sponsoring us for our visas.
That’s about it for now. I am preaching tomorrow. This will be my first time preaching in a village church so lift me up in pray.
In Christ
Scott
posted by nextmalawi at 11:17 AM
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