Christmas Travels and Life at Site

I’ve been at site for a few weeks now and wanted to update you all on how things are going, and what my life is like at site. I haven’t written since before Christmas—quite a bit has happened since then. We traveled around during Christmas time and spent New Years in Mzuzu. School started January 5. I’ve been keeping myself busy teaching and getting to know my community.

Because I am becoming very organized (I am a teacher now), I’ll break up my entry into categories… starting with my fun Christmas travels!

Christmas and New Years
I outlined our plans a bit before we embarked on our journey, but of course, I’m in Malawi… plans change!
We left Lilongwe the morning of Christmas Eve, and arrived at Senga Bay (a beach in the central area) that afternoon. After setting up camp at Carolina’s, a resort on the lake, we jumped into the water. I was in the water for most of the day! We had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner (chicken and chippies—my favorite Malawian meal).
Christmas Day was pretty similar: going for walks on the beach, relaxing in the sun, splashing around in the water… it was nice, but I really missed everybody back home. It was strange to be with new friends on a beach in Africa when my image of Christmas is composed of family, tons of snow, and Christmas songs playing in the background (mom you should know that on Thanksgiving I asked my roommate Caitlin to wake me up by singing Christmas songs! It made me feel like I was back at home in Midland.).
When in Lilongwe I had received packages from Jenny and Tyler. As two of my dearest friends, they know that I have the palette of a child and stuffed the packages with skittles, pixie sticks, and other delicious candies. I shared the candy Christmas morning so it was almost like “stockings”… We had a nice Christmas dinner. I treated myself to a cider! It wasn’t quite as good as a Strongbow, but it was still wonderful.
The day after Christmas (Friday), many of the people in our group went back to their sites. But those of us who came down from the north decided our trip would only be worthwhile if we stayed an extra day. We moved to Cool Runnings Resort down the beach from Carolina’s. Cool Runnings has a great atmosphere—very laid back and homey. We met two South Africans there, Garth and Karen. They had been staying in Malawi for a few months doing volunteer work with orphanages, and were concluding their stay with some relaxing on the beach. They’re very interesting people, and Garth became one of our travel companions later in the trip!
Caitlin, Joce, Margaret and I went on an adventure for part of the day Friday. There is a small island close to Senga Bay that looked really cool. It’s a few miles away and appeared to be completely remote. We wanted to go check it out, but boat rides are very expensive. We ended up renting a 2-person canoe from Cool Runnings (there was only one, as the other had been tipped and damaged the previous day—by Garth and Karen, nonetheless). The four girls all decided that we wanted to take the trip out to the island, so we did. In a flimsy, 2-person canoe that we were convinced was going to tip the whole way there, and back. But it didn’t! And we arrived at the island in good time. We packed a picnic and spent a few hours just hanging out at the island, which was covered by rocks and completely free of any life aside from birds and monitor lizards (which kind of look like baby crocodiles from a distance and gave me a good scare). We ate sandwiches and mangoes, jumped off rocks, and swam around (Margaret and I swam around the whole island!). Most of you know how much I love boating, swimming, and just being on the water! It was a really incredible day—one of the best days I’ve had since I’ve been here.
The following day, Caitlin, Margaret, Garth and I left for our journey back north. We planned to hitch up the M-5, the lakeside road. Nkhata Bay is only about 30 minutes from Mzuzu, so our plan was to arrive in Nkhata Bay, spend the night there, then return to Mzuzu and go back to site. Hitching was not as easy as we thought it would be—there were hardly any cars on the M-5. We ended up riding a three-star AXA bus, which is pretty much the lowest of low of public transport here. It was awful. The vehicle was jam-packed, and stopped about every kilometer to let some people off and let more people on. When we finally arrived at Nkhata Bay, we were uncomfortable, unhappy, and exhausted.
But then, we realized that we had arrived at a little paradise on earth and our moods instantly changed. Nkhata Bay is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The water is crystal clear. The landscape is mountainous and the area is much less developed than in the central region. We stayed at a place called Mayoka Village. It’s named after a village in Nkhata Bay, and is run as a collaborative effort between a South African and members of the village. There were lots of options of places to stay in Nkhata, but this, along with the free snorkel gear, persuaded us to stay at Mayoka. We set up camp there, and had a delicious dinner. And the best part of the meal was that they had homemade ice cream! It was really incredible. The plan was to stay in Nkhata for one night, but quickly we determined that it would be a complete shame to leave so soon. We resolved to stay a second night.
The next day, we ended up running into three other Peace Corps Volunteers, Meagan, Danny, and Terence. They were coming to Mayoka Village too, so we had a few more playmates for the day. (Garth, meanwhile, is getting along with everyone in our group and at Mayoka just fabulously. He is behind the bar most of the time DJ’ing and making drinks. Before we leave, he has received an offer to stay and work there for a few months. Lucky guy! I wouldn’t mind working at a place like that). We just hung out and relaxed most of the day, tried out the snorkel gear (these cichlid fish are gorgeous), and ate tasty food. There are dug out canoes here, and there is a dug out canoe challenge at Mayoka where if you can take the dug out canoe around the raft without tipping you get a free night at the resort. I tried the challenge with Danny about 20 times and we were met with constant defeat. As a result, I was left with several bruises, a cut up foot (not too mention a sense of failure). Margaret and Meagan, after watching Danny’s and my attempts and stealing our strategies, managed to make it around the raft on their first try. They were one of seven teams who had accomplished the challenge in the past five years or something!
We left Nkhata Bay on Monday and stayed in Mzuzu for a few days before New Years. Stephanie, the PCV-Leader, planned a wonderful NY’s Eve extravaganza. She made SO much food! Fried chicken, fried cheese balls, vegetables and dip, devilled eggs, and wonderful desserts. I’m pretty sure, in that day alone, I gained back any weight I might have lost since I’ve been here. New Year’s Day I returned to my site. I had really started missing many of the people at site, and I was happy to see them again!

A Typical Day at Site
Here is an outline of how I spend a typical day at site. I wake up around 5:00 or 5:30. I take my bucket bath, have a cup of coffee, and eat my oatmeal (usually with bananas and honey—yum!). I get to school around 7 am. School starts at 7:30, though on Mondays and Fridays we have assemblies. I teach about three or four classes each day, then head home around 2. Some days I stay later, as we have manual work and I am needed to supervise (there are no custodians or workers here—it’s the students who clean the rooms, slash grass, and carry bricks when necessary. And they pay school fees too! The school is getting quite a deal, I think.). Once clubs start, I will be busier in the afternoons with the clubs I want to head up. Some afternoons I will go and chat with neighbors, or go to Bolero to get vegetables. Many days I just sit and read a book or draw pictures with the kids who live nearby. I’m in bed usually by 8:00 every night. I might read for a while with a candle or my headlamp, but for the most part I sleep and rise with the sun.

My House and My Village
My house is in a very remote area—my school is up on a hill and is very “in the bush.” I’m about a 20-minute walk from our trading center (where I can buy tomatoes, oil, and sometimes fish). While I know not all people would enjoy the remoteness of my site, I really do. I love the wildlife that I have around me, and I like being able to escape from the village from time-to-time. I have a few neighbors around me, but for the most part, if I want to be social and go and chat, it’s my job to make the effort. I think I would find it overwhelming to have a house at a more central location in the village (especially now, where I feel like anytime I am interacting with people in the community I have to be “on.”). I am about a 30-minute bike ride from Bolero, a town with electricity and groceries. I bike into Bolero about once a week.
There are a few houses nearby that have solar electricity, and I can charge my phones at those places. I’m glad I discovered these houses; at the beginning I was biking to Bolero anytime my battery was low, and that was kind of a pain!
My neighbors are really wonderful. They have been coming by to greet me, and bringing me many gifts. I have been receiving maize and mangoes, and even eggs every now and then! Guinea fowl are very obnoxious animals, but their eggs are delicious.

“Key Players” at Site
I spend a lot of time with the children of my fellow teachers. They like to come to my house to draw pictures or look at pictures in magazines. Sometimes, Tandiwe (my headmaster’s daughter who is 7) will ask me if she can sweep my house! She also asks if she can weed my garden for me. Or mop. Hey, if that’s what makes her happy, I’m not going to hold her back. My headmaster’s youngest child, Lekal, hasn’t quite warmed to me. Tandiwe will bring her over to my house sometimes, but Lekal has made a habit of urinating on my floor. I can only assume she’s trying to make some sort of statement.
Tandiwe often comes over just to chat. She is often very patient with my broken Chitumbuka, but sometimes when I don’t understand it, she will just shout it louder and louder. That’s a little frustrating… If I get too annoyed by the children, I will give them a ball to play with outside (Tyler they love the soccer ball you sent), or I will say, “Panyakhe mukukhumba kuluta ku thengere kupenja maluba!” (Maybe you could go into the bush and search for flowers). I keep wildflowers in a bottle on my table in the living room. There are some really gorgeous flowers out there!
My headmaster’s wife, Victoria, is a really great person that I am grateful to have living so close to me. She is cooking me lunch every day (I buy food for her to cook, enough so that she has some for her family too). I am getting my daily serving of nsima, don’t you worry! If I run out of water in the middle of doing laundry, or desperately need embers to start a fire, it’s nice to know Victoria is nearby.
I have a worker who comes to my house in the mornings to help me with cleaning and heating up water for my bath water and coffee. Her name is Cecilia (for the first few days she was coming to my house I could not get the song “Oh Cecilia” out of my head, but I’ve since been cured of this.). Cecilia is so helpful, and I’m really glad I hired her.
The Mfune family lives near me, and the daughters have been helping me with my Chitumbuka. Ethel is a Form 3 student and Tamika recently graduated secondary school in Lilongwe. Their sister, Esnart, has two adorable children. Her husband ran away (which is the same thing that happened to Cecilia). I go to the Mfune’s house fairly often to chat or play cards. Their mom brews a local beer called Kachasu to make a little extra money. I haven’t tried it though—I hear it can be lethal…
More key players: my site mates, Emily and Amalia who are environment volunteers. Emily has done some work with Lundu and is very helpful. I think I will be working with her a lot. Margaret is the closest volunteer in my group to me. She is at Lura CDSS.
My fellow teachers are Mr. Bota, Mr. Mkandawire, Mr. Chirambo, and Mr. Chipofya (the head master). We have two new teachers coming too.

Teaching
I’m teaching Form 1 Math and Physical Science, Form 2 Social Studies, and Form 3 Social and Development Studies. Form 3 has been suspended because there were only nine students who passed the Junior Certificate Exam (the lowest pass rate in my district…). Many of the students who did pass could not afford school fees. So at this point I’m not sure if we’ll be teaching Form 3 or not.
I’m really enjoying teaching Physical Science and Math. Of course the language barrier is a serious challenge. I have been trying to make class somewhat fun. I had them make a human number line, and play a set scramble game to teach about sets. For social studies, I had them decorate the library with illustrated Tumbukan proverbs. There are some proverbs that are interesting, such as “one turn of calabash spits on okra,” or “man who hides on wooden spoon exposes back.” I don’t quite get them yet.
I am the librarian at school. I moved the books from a closet to a vacant classroom, and I’m selecting “library assistants” to help me with inventory and keeping the library in order. I am also on the school committee which helps with school development. Additionally, I’m the sports organizer for girls (I’m the only female teacher so I sort of need to help, or else they can’t play!). I also want to start a girls’ club and a science club.

Animals
I have a cat! He has black and white fur and has a little bit of black on his otherwise white face. It looks like a beard and goatee! I thought he needed an Italian name, so I went with Vincent (Vin, Vinny, Vince). He is really cute. I got him because I had a small mouse problem, and I am glad to be free from that problem and to have an adorable companion now.
I also was gifted a chicken. What a prize! It was alive. I did not want to kill it so I’ve been keeping it. Victoria, the headmaster’s wife, is keeping her for me. It hasn’t laid any eggs yet but I am hopeful that it will start earning its keep.
As I’ve mentioned, the wildlife here is really beautiful. I’m at the base of Nyika and so there are wonderful birds and flowers. Some of the Form 1 boys found a snake in my bushes! They killed it, after I consulted my Wildlife of Southern Africa book and saw that it was poisonous. This wildlife book I have is really great. I’ve been circling all of the birds and plants that I’ve spotted! Unfortunately one of the things I got to circle was a scorpion, which I found in my bed… eek!

Cultural Notes and Anecdotes
I wanted to write about a few of the funny/interesting/shocking things here…
-My students are so used to having male teachers. On the first day of class, the Form 1 students all stood up and said, “Good Morning Sir.” I had them try again.
-It is rainy season now, which happens once a year so it seems like everyone would be prepared to deal with the rains. But I am continually surprised to see that so many people won’t do anything if it is raining! Students won’t come to school, or committee members won’t come to meetings.
-I am so glad that I am in an area that is so deeply Tumbukan. The culture is very rich. There are fabulous cultural dances, such as the mbotoska dance for women and the malipingo for men. The women do the mbotoska fairly often and they try to teach me! It’s good entertainment for them and fun for me. There is also the vimbuza healing dance that happens on Friday nights. From my house, I can hear the drums beating. I went one night with the Mfunes to watch the vimbuza. It was late at night (10:00 or something—way past my village bedtime) and that night there was a full moon, which made it for a really cool setting. The vimbuza took place at the African Hospital, which is near my house. There was a woman sitting in a chair, encircled by people who were singing, clapping, and playing various wooden instruments. There were three men playing the “healing drums.” The woman drank a maize drink, and seemed to be in a trance-like state for almost an hour while sitting down and swaying to the music. Eventually, she elevated from the seat and began dancing. She was joined by two or three other people who wanted to be healed. It was really interesting to watch.

I feel so lucky that I am so close to all of this culture. It’s the perfect site for an anthropology major!

Well, that’s all I have for now. I miss you all and hope all is well in your lives.

Love,

Alyssa