Hostel Preparedness Kit

As Returning Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), we don't have a lot of money to spend on our trip. Accommodation is a huge expense when traveling, so we have opted to stay in dormitories at hostels in Europe and Africa.

Each hostel has it's own pros and cons, and you can read reviews about plenty of them on HostelWorld.com. Some of the reviews are actually pretty funny!

Regardless of which hostel you stay at, the PCV part of us means we always travel prepared. So in case you find yourself staying at hostels on your travels, be sure to bring the following, just in case:

- A chitenje or some sort of quick-drying towel, since most hostels do not provide them

- A bar of soap, since most do not provide soap to wash your hands in the bathroom

- A roll of toilet paper, just in case

- Ear plugs

- Something to put over your eyes to sleep, like a bandanna, for when your roommates want the light on way too late

- flip flops for the showers

- instant coffee and powdered milk, since most hostels provide some sort of hot water facilities

One Year in Malawi

As of last week I have been in Malawi for a year. It's crazy how much has happened to me in such a short time. To celebrate, I had dinner with a group of PCVs at a fancy restaurant in Blantyre. I forgot to take photos, but let me just say three words-- "garlic cheese loaf." It was a really fun night, and I felt really lucky to be here and have this incredible experience.

So now it is time to celebrate on the blog. In sixth grade we had a writing assignment that went "I used to _______, but now I _______". It was supposed to be a way to reflect on how much we had changed during elementary school. So I am going to borrow that idea to describe some of the changes that have happened to me this past year.

I used to speak English and a little Spanish, but now I speak English, Malawian English, and a little Chichewa. (My Spanish has mostly been displaced by my new language. Pobrecita).

I used to drink tap water, but now I only drink water that has been treated by filtering, boiling or adding WaterGuard.

I used to wash my hair everyday, but now I wash it once or twice a week.

I used to be a vegetarian, but now I eat meat when I feel it is safe and has been properly cooked (usually only in a city restaurant or cooked by a PCV.  Or when I get it in a care package. Beef jerky is like my new favorite food.)

I used to wake up to an alarm clock, but now I wake up to the crowing of roosters (and sometimes the mooing of cows).

I used to think powdered milk was gross, but now it is like sweet nectar when I put it in my coffee and cereal and hot cocoa.

I used to wear jeans everyday, but now I wear skirts and chitenjes, and only wear my jeans in the city. I still love them though.

I used to use a shower, a sink, a washing machine and a flush toilet, but now I use buckets for washing stuff and my toilet is a pit latrine (aka the chim).

I used to be blissfully unaware that cockroaches shed their exoskeletons at several points in their lifetimes, but now I have seen direct evidence of this in the chim. And I have the photos to prove it.

I used to mostly recycle my trash, but now I burn it. I still compost my food waste though.

I used to drive a car, but now I walk or ride mini-buses or bike-taxis to get around. 

I used to think it would be cool to move to another country someday, but now I want to live in America forever and just visit other countries.

I used to think I had the best family and friends in the world, but now I *know* I do. I love you guys! Thanks so much for all the letters and packages and emails and phone calls. It means a lot.

Cheers!

Lilongwe

I meant to post about Lilongwe while I was there last December for my PC In-Service Training, but for various reasons it never made it to the blog. However, I just passed through there earlier this week on my way back from Camp Sky, so here it is, at long last.

Lilongwe is the capital of Malawi, and is located in the central region. Lilongwe is also the name of the district, which is divided into different areas that are each assigned a number, like Area 25 and Area 23. The city of Lilongwe has government buildings, shopping areas, restaurants, a hospital, hotels and of course the PC Office. It also has lots of outdoor markets and shops.

One of the best things about being in the city for a PCV is the food. Particularly pizza.  This was my first meal when I arrived in Lilongwe last December. It was from Sana, and it tasted as good as it looks.  Which was very good.

The outdoor vegetable market in Lilongwe is amazing. They have everything! Except I don't cook when I am in the city because I am usually staying at a hostel with no kitchen facilities.  Oh well.  It is still nice to look at.

As PCVs we can't afford new clothes from the shops, so we buy used clothes from the markets (although there is a used clothing chain called DAPP that we frequent also). The Lilongwe clothes market is HUGE!  To get there you have to cross a rickety wooden bridge and pay a small fee. Here is a photo I took of the bridge last December.  Back then it cost K20 to cross the bridge.  However, the bridges collapsed during the storms we had in January, so they had to rebuild.  Now it costs K30, and is hopefully much more stable. I walked across it in February and it seemed pretty solid. There were a few wobbly parts though.

Used clothes shopping is more like pile diving. Piles are usually divided by gender and article of clothing.  I was looking for skirts for teaching the last time I was there, but I didn't have any luck that day.  I did find a few cute shirts and blouses though.

You can buy shoes there too, though so far I have only bought cheap, new ones.

Lilongwe also has a wonderful chitenje market.  To get there you have to walk past the clothing market and then wander through a maze of vendors, often jumping over mud puddles and walking through dirty alleys. Good times. But it is worth it. When you get there you see a narrow aisle with a huge selection of chitenjes and the best prices I have seen so far-- K1300 each. The first time I went I bought one to make into a skirt, and one for a PC bandanna swap my group was doing at our IST. (I ended up with some really cool patterns after the swap).

Guess what-- there is ice cream in Malawi! Which is great because it is so hot here. And also because ice cream is delicious. You can find soft serve at a few restaurants, but sometimes you come across something special. Like this place, which has milkshakes!  I can't remember the name of the place, and I only went there once in December, but I definitely want to go back. Here is a photo of me having my first milkshake in Malawi.  (I had been up since 5:30am and spent hours on a bus earlier that day, so I was exhausted, which you can see in the photo.)  All the more reason to enjoy a delicious treat with my PCV friends.

The accomondations in Lilongwe are really nice.  It costs more than the place we stay at in Blantyre, but the rooms have their own bathroom and they have air conditioning. Some even have refrigerators.  I feel like royalty when I stay there.

So going to Lilongwe is a nice treat after being in the village for a while. It's a chance to eat some familiar foods, speak English, hang out with the other PCVs, do some work at the PC Office and just enjoy a hot shower, a clean bed and a toilet. Lilongwe is pretty far away from my site, so I'll probably only go there a few times a year for trainings. But I will definitely enjoy being there when I go.

20 Ways to Use a Chitenje

A chitenje is printed cloth typically sold in two meter increments. You can find them throughout Malawi. They are most commonly wrapped around and worn as a skirt by females. However, I have learned there are many other uses for this amazing item. My goal is to come up with 100 different ways to use a chitenje before I leave Malawi.

A typical chitenje vendor on market day will have many for you to choose from. The local trading posts will have a smaller selection and usually charge more.

Here is the first list of 20. I have used zitenje (plural of chitenje) in each of these different ways so far:

Wrap it around your waist and wear it as a skirt

Tailor it into a blouse or skirt

Tailor it into a dress

Wrap it around you as a shawl

Hang it as a curtain

Cushion eggs while in transit

Privacy screen in the bafa

Cover your water bucket

Use as a towel after bathing

Cover your underthings on the clothesline

Outdoor blanket to sit on

Potholder

Tablecloth

Baby sling

Rug

Lap blanket

Bathrobe

Carry stuff in it

Clean your paraffin lamp

Wet it and drape over you to sleep in the hot season

Happy Mothers Day, Amayi

It's Mother's Day in Malawi. This is a National holiday, so schools are closed. They print special chitenje fabric just for the occasion each year.

This also marks my first holiday as a teacher. I spent the day reading and playing with the neighbor kids. We did leaf imprints with crayons and played cards.

This evening I helped the kids pick mangos from a nearby tree. The mangos are small and unripe, but I guess to a kid it is better to eat now then wait two months for something better. They eat the mangos right off the tree, skin and all, with a bit of salt. Not my cup of tea, but they enjoyed it.

Then I chatted with some of the amayi (mothers) while they cooked dinner. I helped peel the stringy parts off the stems of the pumpkin leaves, then I helped pound peanuts into sinjiro (peanut flour), which was added to the pumpkin leaves and tomatoes as a side dish for nsima. All in all a good holiday!

So, in the spirit of the holiday, sing a little 80s Madonna with me. (For some reason I have had her old classic songs in my head off and on since I got to my site. Let's not analyze that too deeply.)

Holiday

Celebrate

If we took a holiday

Took some time to celebrate

Just one day out of life

It would be so nice!