Malawi

Wow. I'm in Africa. It is unbelievable. Undescribable... Serious. I just took a minibus to Lilongwe for 30 kwacha (you get 175 for 1 euro), after waiting almost the whole day for a guy that never showed up. And here I am, and I'm gonna give it a try. A try to describe it.

My mum, sister, Leonie and I took the train from Leiden to Brussel Airport Friday morning at 7 am. I slept 6 hours in the last two nights, so I was feeling a kind of aweful. After the shitty goodbyes we were on our own, waiting for our one and a half hour flight to London. Six hours (some sleep, some wondering around the airport and food) after arrival it was time to take the 11 hour flight to Johannesburg. All seats had their own screen to watch some movies, and I could choose the ones I wanted to watch. I even slept some hours, and one more, while waiting for the last plane on a bench in the airport in warm South Africa.
And then it all started. Right there. In a little, almost empty, plane of Air Malawi, where chichewa was spoken through the intercom. Right there. Flying above Africa, not too high, so we were able to enjoy the view all the time. The landscape was pretty dry above South Africa, but the more North we got, it got greener and greener. It was difficult to stop taking pictures before and while we were landing. I got a stamp so now I'm able to stay for 30 days.

I arrived in a warm, colourful and green land. Full of black people. (Of course :)And it's really Africa as I was expecting it, the same Africa I hoped wasn't true sometimes as well. We sleep at the Likuni Parish, 10 km from Lilongwe (ACEM, PO Box 999, Lilongwe is the mail adress), together with 9 Dutch boys. And there's (fat) Father Peter as well. And kooks, and a garden man and more. Veerle, Leonie and I, share a room, with running water and electricity. We decorated it with our clamboes, some pics and maps of Malawi, Tanzania etc. So far, we didn't do anything usefull. We tried, but making an appointment is hard. We knew, but now we really know.
We've been to Lilongwe in a minibus with 24 people, to look around. Close to the capital the roads are pretty good, around Likuni ok, and at the parish the roads are bad. The garden of the parish smells like a butterfly sanctuary, complete with sounds and birds (blue, yellow, red, everything is possible). Huge insects, huger temperatures and hugest trees ever.
We didn't do anything usefull yesterday and today. Breakfast at 7, some reading, playing some games, we walked around the poor area, played soccer etc. This all, combined with the temperature, blue sky and the blooming garden, makes it difficult to don't feels as if it is summer break. But I'd rather do something. Yesterday afternoon, mr Flemmings from ACEM (the partner organisation of ex-change; Association of Christian Educators of Malawi) took us to a Secondary Girl School. Classes full of girls waving, laughing, giggling. When we entered a class room, they all stood up, and asked us how we were and everything. Mixed feelings, great, weird, fantastic, awesome, everything.

Anyway, I have to go, the internetcafe is closing. I hope to be able to type to you soon. Pictures as well.

Lotte