the good, the bad, and the down right funny

so the last week as been a hodge podge of experiences, mostly good, some bad, and as always chalked full of a giggle or two....

we had a long weekend this past weekend, both in honor of columbus day and also for the malawian mother's day, a national holiday that obviously deserves its own day off (as it should everywhere... hi mom!) . so, after a morning of dilly-dallying, i piled into my new car with friends Mindy and Anila (Mindy will be a familiar face to some (Tony...) and Anila to more (HSPH...)) and drove 1.5 hours to the lake. yes, the lake again. i suppose that if i am in an entirely new country, i should see as much as possible as fast as possible. but not this past weekend, the whole point of that weekend was to see and do as little as possible for as long as possible. i felt going into it that i had spent so much of my time working on logistics, and the past weekend, i wanted to just relax. and it worked! i couldn't have had better, more chill company. on friday night, we watched the sun set, and the full moon rise, and saw two satellites in the 30 minutes of darkness in between. ah, lovely.

the past few days, however, have been intense... the disparities in living, basically between my rich self and the many, many poor beyond words malawians really takes its toll on me. i know that i am very fortunate to have what i have, but it feels awkward at times. so, for those of you who fell out about the car, prepare yourself... i spent the last day and a half interviewing staff for my new house..... i am going to pause to let you take that in... yes, i will have a gardener, housekeeper, three guards, and cute older man that we didn't need, but couldn't let go (he worked for the old tenants). and it’s hard because i really didn't want to have a gardener, housekeeper, and three guards, i would of course keep the last one!, but it’s expected. yeah, there is the safety aspect- many people around helps keep me safe in the "big" city - but it is also an economy thing, too, helping by giving jobs to as many as possible. but it’s just weird. its so different than what i had planned for, and part of me thinks i will adjust to the idea, and the other part of me wonder what it means if i ever fully adjust to the idea. (BTW, the photo here is of Frederick, the gardener at the house i am in now. excellent gardener, and all around nice, fun guy!)

and i've been homesick.

and there is the just plain funny.... i will let the pictures speak for themselves.