Saying Goodbye

July 25th was my last day at site. I packed up my stuff, said a few more goodbyes, got into a share taxi that happened to be passing by transporting a few hikers into town from Mulanje, and I was off.

It's hard to believe that two years have come to a close, and that I won't be seeing my friends and neighbors and the village everyday anymore. As I looked out the window at the rolling hills, the brick houses, the women filling buckets at the borehole, the children playing at the side of the road, I couldn't help but feel sad to say goodbye to my village and my home of the last two years.

Goodbye, Village

Goodbye, School

Goodbye, Mountains

Goodbye, Neighbors

Goodbye Other Neighbors. Goodbye, cow.

Everyone was so sweet when we were saying our goodbyes, and they all wanted to know when I would be back. I had to answer "kaya" (who knows?) because it's hard to know what the future holds. But Malawi will always hold a special place in my life, and I would love to come back again someday.

Just hanging around

This is one of the trees by my house. Hey, what's that in the tree? Is it a bird? Is it a snake? Hmmm...

Oh, it's Nowelo! He's climbing the avocado tree just outside my house.

There aren't any avocados on the tree this time of year. He just wanted me to take a picture of him climbing it. Then all the other kids started climbing trees in the hopes I would take pictures of them, so it was time to put the camera away.

My Iwes

There are a lot of iwes* (kids) that live near me, mostly between the ages of 3-10. They come over everyday, sometimes several times in a day. Often when I am napping or working on a lesson plan and don't want to be disturbed. They knock and knock and knock on my gate until I answer. Then they say, "Tikufuna kuwerenga" or "Tikifuna kuphunzira English." (That's, we want to read and we want to learn English, respectively). Even if I am tired or busy, how can I refuse them?

We have a whole routine now. They come in and sit on the porch. I take out my little box of books and games and art supplies that I keep for them to play with. (Kinda like a "kid kit" from The Babysitter's Club, if you ever read those books). They take out what they want, and put it away when they are done. Sometimes I read with them or we use my flashcards to practice English. Sometimes they read while I work on my lesson plans. If I have power I might make them a cup of tea or give them some of my bread. It's a good time.

They love when I take pictures. They know I like to photograph the wildlife in my yard, so now when they see a bug they grab it and say, "Kujumbula!" which is Chichewa for take a photo. The other day they found a snakeskin near my lemongrass plant. They immediately picked it up and said "kujumbula". So I went and got my camera, and somehow we ended up doing a photoshoot.

For the record, I did not tell them how to pose. This is all their own idea. I just suggested the backgrounds. The fruits and faces are all them.. 

This girl is the happiest girl in Malawi. Her name is Aisha and I have known her since she could barely walk. Even then she always had a smile on her face. Now she knows my name and says "Hi" and "Bye" to me when she sees me. She always brings a smile to my face.

Those are my iwes. They keep me company, they drive me crazy, we laugh together, and my service would not be the same without them!

*Note: the Chichewa word for kids is "ana". "Iwes" is PCV slang for kids, since when mothers call for their kids here they always add "-iwe" to the ends of their names, like "Stesi-iwe!" Iwe translates to you, informally. So we PCVs call all the kids "iwes". It's funny to us, but maybe you have to live here to appreciate the humour.