First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who helped with the kitchen project. Lunch starts Monday and, one of the first times in my ten months, I really know that I have made a tangible difference at my school. Even before lunch started this week, attendance has increased. Everyone in Dzoole is talking about it.
In town, the Gender and Development club (GAD) just had its iron chef competition. It is a fundraiser where people pay to eat the food from three teams. The teams are given 6,000 Kwatcha ($40) to cook for 80 people! We were given a secret ingredient to incorporate into a started, main, and dessert. There were two this year, yogurt and chocolate (two of the most expensive foods you can buy in Malawi). To top it off, one partner is an amazing helper (peel garlic and chop onions) but doesn't know how to cook. The other, Corri, is an amazing chef, but sadly, a raging alcoholic. We were given the secret ingredient at 7:30 am, then had till 10:30 to menu plan shop in the market for ingredients. We were then driven to the country director's house where all three teams shared a kitchen, grill, camp fire, and mbaola (a small charcoal stove. Corri was passed out till helf ten, only just making the bus to the cooking, so we were down a hand shopping. We cooked bruschetta with yogurt roasted garlic tomatoes and cocoa-papper mayonnaise. The main was bbq sausage with chocolate orange bbq sauce served with curry-yogurt roasted cauliflower served with caramelized onions and glazed carrots. Dessert was burnt sugar banana crepes with chite, dark, and strawberry yogurt sauces. I cooked strait from 11 am till 6:20... even eating the pb sandwich and french fries I brought standing up as I prep worked. The three judges liked the food though and we won! No prize, just the glory and the satisfaction that I won and don't need to compete next year, because that was terrible :)!
Celtel, the leading African phone network, was bought out and is now called Zain. They are creating an international network with the middle east (useless for me) and now network is not only non exist ant in Dzoole, but not working in the city. One out of 20 calls I make actually goes through. It was frustrating to say the least. But because of a grant I am writing, I need to be in town next Saturday and the next one too, so hopefully things will be in better order by then.
At school, the kitchen is finished and school lunch is starting Monday. Late yes, but one week late is nothing for Malawi. It is really exciting and despite a million glitches, it is going worse than planned but way better than expected. Also, some of my favorite form one students had started coming to my house and reading the Chichewa-English dictionary and listen to English radio. It is really fun. Also, my garden is looking fantastic! I have lettuce, mustard greens, tomatoes, carrots, and beets :) It has greatly improved the quality of my life.
On a fun note, next weekend I am the co-MC of a dancehall and hip hop concert in Lilongwe. It is a producer who puts out unknown acts that have positive messages, from anti-HIV to education, as well as just some fun, really cool fusion with traditional music. It should be a real experience! Maybe this is my big break :) I could be the next Ryan Seacrest of Malawi!
I hope you are all well. I really love and miss you all.
KB
8.23.2008
8.08.2008
Dust
My time in the city is usually what keeps me sane here... Yogurt, hot showers, dancing, cold beer, and a nice conversation with my city friends. After two and a half weeks in the city though, I am more than full of these things (except the dancing). During break I ended up in Blantyre Adventist hospital with a lung infection. I was in hospital for 2 days on an antibiotic IV and then put on house arrest in Blantyre, which really stinks because there is no Internet near the house there and it's really hard to get anything done. I am now in Lilongwe staying with a friend in a nice clean house (with a bath tub!). I have been relxing and listening to lots of music and reading. It's great. I really am loving African especially Zambian and Malawian music, but miss music from home too (hint hint, blank cd).
It made me realize (or rather remember) how much I love Dzoole though. I went back just for the day yesterday with my friend Brian, who along with a bath tub has a car! Dzoole won finals (as you remember it's been rescheduled many times) 5-0 and it was fantastic! They played so well, dominating the game. As Brian said, it was the best village soccer he's seen, very different from the usually high ball volleying. I have never seen them so happy or excited. They were hugging and jumping up and down like little kids. Plus one of my students was MVP. He is shy and often overshadowed my his best friend, Thomas. Both Mayamiko and Thomas had made the Malawi school district team and were selected to the National school tournament. I'm really proud of them.
Back in Dzoole, the kitchen is being built. It is fantastic and very exciting. I'll know in just one week how the school lunch is going, although I've been impressed with how they are preparing everything, from calling a PTA meeting to getting cooks and firewood and all that.
In town, I am working on grants for girls boarding facilities. It's nice to be doing work after a week of bed rest. Last year, only 10 of 65 girls past their JCE (Junior exams that allow them to go from Form 2 to 3 (between sophomore and junior year). Only 2 girls pasted their MSCE (senior graduation exam). So many girls end up pregnant and tons have sugar daddies, older men who give them school fees or food in return for sex. I would say 90 percent of students board in small rooms in the village (because maybe their family lives 10-20 Km from the secondary school. They are tiny, dirt-floored rooms with 10-15 kids sleeping on top of each other. No blankets, no nothing. They cook for themselves (over fire outside), cut their own wood, draw water and washing, all without the help of their parents. They are completely on their own, impressive for boys, but scary for girls. And the results of these freedoms as well as lack of good support, had particularly obvious repercussions for the ladies.
Although I am still a bit weak, I find time for dancing (I haven't been drinking, but if I am in town, I need to be dancing :) I am anxious to get back, but there is a lot, from more exam making to scheming lessons for next term, that I am not looking as forward too. On the bright side, staying busy makes time FLY.
It made me realize (or rather remember) how much I love Dzoole though. I went back just for the day yesterday with my friend Brian, who along with a bath tub has a car! Dzoole won finals (as you remember it's been rescheduled many times) 5-0 and it was fantastic! They played so well, dominating the game. As Brian said, it was the best village soccer he's seen, very different from the usually high ball volleying. I have never seen them so happy or excited. They were hugging and jumping up and down like little kids. Plus one of my students was MVP. He is shy and often overshadowed my his best friend, Thomas. Both Mayamiko and Thomas had made the Malawi school district team and were selected to the National school tournament. I'm really proud of them.
Back in Dzoole, the kitchen is being built. It is fantastic and very exciting. I'll know in just one week how the school lunch is going, although I've been impressed with how they are preparing everything, from calling a PTA meeting to getting cooks and firewood and all that.
In town, I am working on grants for girls boarding facilities. It's nice to be doing work after a week of bed rest. Last year, only 10 of 65 girls past their JCE (Junior exams that allow them to go from Form 2 to 3 (between sophomore and junior year). Only 2 girls pasted their MSCE (senior graduation exam). So many girls end up pregnant and tons have sugar daddies, older men who give them school fees or food in return for sex. I would say 90 percent of students board in small rooms in the village (because maybe their family lives 10-20 Km from the secondary school. They are tiny, dirt-floored rooms with 10-15 kids sleeping on top of each other. No blankets, no nothing. They cook for themselves (over fire outside), cut their own wood, draw water and washing, all without the help of their parents. They are completely on their own, impressive for boys, but scary for girls. And the results of these freedoms as well as lack of good support, had particularly obvious repercussions for the ladies.
Although I am still a bit weak, I find time for dancing (I haven't been drinking, but if I am in town, I need to be dancing :) I am anxious to get back, but there is a lot, from more exam making to scheming lessons for next term, that I am not looking as forward too. On the bright side, staying busy makes time FLY.
7.09.2008
With football, it happens... even in Jamaica
Chufukwa Majezi ya America! (It must be the American jerseys)
Dzoole Medicals (DZM) raced to the finals with unprecedented form wearing their lovely yellow American jerseys, donated by the Naples Optimists. With a whirlwind week of football - quarterfinals on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, then semi-finals that same Wednesday and Thursday, and then the 3rd place game Saturday and finals Sunday.. whoa. The whole village was football crazy, with people coming from as far as 20 km away to watch. Even the women watched, with babies tied to their backs. As DZM dominated their semi final game on Wednesday, all the ladies agreed, the reason they played so well was because of the American jerseys, that's for sure.
It's true though. When they put them on, the team seams to stand a little taller and play with a little more pride. They said it makes them feel special, because they got the jerseys without doing anything. What I keep telling them though is that they DO do something. They practice regularly, have weekly board meetings, are building a youth center, collected maize for the nursury school, and have even been making peanut butter (and soon soap too) in IGAs (income generating activities).
They made a camp all week, sleeping in a single house (think 20 players jammed into a college dorm room) cooking huge vats of nsima ( literally 5 or 6 metal buckets, not even pots) over fires out back. At night, they joked and played cards by candlelight. By day, they washed clothes by the river and kicked the ball about. They never took off their new or old jerseys, often wearing both or spreading them out so everyone had one. By Sunday, they were ready for the finals.
Their opponents also wore yellow, so the team switched to their traditional Argentina shirts, and had their children wore the yellow ones. They painted their faces with war stripes, a mixture of crushed blue chalk (crushed in the same giant mortars that crush maize) and my sunscreen. The children, also painted and decked out in Dzoole apparel, led them on by hand onto the field, just like in the premiership. The crowd roared as if David Beckham was taking the field. Unlike the MLS though, the game started nearly 3 hours late. It was called 10 minutes early in a 0-0 draw. They said we would not finish the game the next day, but rather restart a full game the next morning.
Both teams looked fantastic. It was a truely even match. Dzoole was not playing their level best though. They were nervous and somehow rushing. I think they were relieved to have chance to redeem themselves.
That night, we returned to camp, and the entire team was more tired than I had ever seen them. Malawians never tire. I once saw a woman returning from her maize garden 5 miles away after digging peanuts for hours (backbreaking work, literally). She had a baby on her back, a 50 kg bag of peanuts on her head, firewood on top of that, a hoe in one hand, and 3 6ft stalks of sugar cane in the other. She porobbably arrived home, cooked dinner, and drew water. It sometimes seems all Malawians can do this type of work. But that night, these boys were tired. Their bodies were worn from an intense 90 minutes (ok, 80 minutes), 5 days of camp (sleeping on the floor as usual but now sharing blankets and with 20 other men), and 5 days of camp meals that were always seemingly endless amounts of food somehow thinly spread amongst those 20 men.
More than anything though, they seemed numb. They'd been so ready to win, but were ready for a loss as well. This was not something we saw coming.
The next morning, at 11, an hour after the proposed kick off, I was taken by the hand by Bernard to see the Shadow MP cup host. Apparently, Samuel's team was refusing to show up to the game; they wanted it next Sunday. The ten minute walk took nearly an hour, as we had to stop and debate each option with every passer by. The team was unfazed by this lack of closure. In fact, they seemed calmer and happier than they had all weekend. We chatted, played cards, and made our last lunch together. Just as we finished, around 3 pm, a messenger came to tell us that finals would be July 20. After a verbose pep talk from the coach. Many players had traveled to the game (mostly brothers of current players and former players, some paid a lot of money and traveled 3 or more hours to play for the team), and all agreed they would return again. They seemed excited for a second chance to win, and even another camp with each other. We dispersed.
They begin training again today for their second final. Everyone in Dzoole is chatting to us about the final. Rather than being annoyed that their opponent had left them hanging, some reply that Samuel was just too scared (anawopa) or simple say that they will win, succeed, and win again (tidzawina, tidzapambana, tidzamenia). Most of them time they just shrug, smile, and say it happens (zimachitika).
Dzoole Medicals (DZM) raced to the finals with unprecedented form wearing their lovely yellow American jerseys, donated by the Naples Optimists. With a whirlwind week of football - quarterfinals on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, then semi-finals that same Wednesday and Thursday, and then the 3rd place game Saturday and finals Sunday.. whoa. The whole village was football crazy, with people coming from as far as 20 km away to watch. Even the women watched, with babies tied to their backs. As DZM dominated their semi final game on Wednesday, all the ladies agreed, the reason they played so well was because of the American jerseys, that's for sure.
It's true though. When they put them on, the team seams to stand a little taller and play with a little more pride. They said it makes them feel special, because they got the jerseys without doing anything. What I keep telling them though is that they DO do something. They practice regularly, have weekly board meetings, are building a youth center, collected maize for the nursury school, and have even been making peanut butter (and soon soap too) in IGAs (income generating activities).
They made a camp all week, sleeping in a single house (think 20 players jammed into a college dorm room) cooking huge vats of nsima ( literally 5 or 6 metal buckets, not even pots) over fires out back. At night, they joked and played cards by candlelight. By day, they washed clothes by the river and kicked the ball about. They never took off their new or old jerseys, often wearing both or spreading them out so everyone had one. By Sunday, they were ready for the finals.
Their opponents also wore yellow, so the team switched to their traditional Argentina shirts, and had their children wore the yellow ones. They painted their faces with war stripes, a mixture of crushed blue chalk (crushed in the same giant mortars that crush maize) and my sunscreen. The children, also painted and decked out in Dzoole apparel, led them on by hand onto the field, just like in the premiership. The crowd roared as if David Beckham was taking the field. Unlike the MLS though, the game started nearly 3 hours late. It was called 10 minutes early in a 0-0 draw. They said we would not finish the game the next day, but rather restart a full game the next morning.
Both teams looked fantastic. It was a truely even match. Dzoole was not playing their level best though. They were nervous and somehow rushing. I think they were relieved to have chance to redeem themselves.
That night, we returned to camp, and the entire team was more tired than I had ever seen them. Malawians never tire. I once saw a woman returning from her maize garden 5 miles away after digging peanuts for hours (backbreaking work, literally). She had a baby on her back, a 50 kg bag of peanuts on her head, firewood on top of that, a hoe in one hand, and 3 6ft stalks of sugar cane in the other. She porobbably arrived home, cooked dinner, and drew water. It sometimes seems all Malawians can do this type of work. But that night, these boys were tired. Their bodies were worn from an intense 90 minutes (ok, 80 minutes), 5 days of camp (sleeping on the floor as usual but now sharing blankets and with 20 other men), and 5 days of camp meals that were always seemingly endless amounts of food somehow thinly spread amongst those 20 men.
More than anything though, they seemed numb. They'd been so ready to win, but were ready for a loss as well. This was not something we saw coming.
The next morning, at 11, an hour after the proposed kick off, I was taken by the hand by Bernard to see the Shadow MP cup host. Apparently, Samuel's team was refusing to show up to the game; they wanted it next Sunday. The ten minute walk took nearly an hour, as we had to stop and debate each option with every passer by. The team was unfazed by this lack of closure. In fact, they seemed calmer and happier than they had all weekend. We chatted, played cards, and made our last lunch together. Just as we finished, around 3 pm, a messenger came to tell us that finals would be July 20. After a verbose pep talk from the coach. Many players had traveled to the game (mostly brothers of current players and former players, some paid a lot of money and traveled 3 or more hours to play for the team), and all agreed they would return again. They seemed excited for a second chance to win, and even another camp with each other. We dispersed.
They begin training again today for their second final. Everyone in Dzoole is chatting to us about the final. Rather than being annoyed that their opponent had left them hanging, some reply that Samuel was just too scared (anawopa) or simple say that they will win, succeed, and win again (tidzawina, tidzapambana, tidzamenia). Most of them time they just shrug, smile, and say it happens (zimachitika).
5.23.2008
How to stay busy in the village
The cold season has arrived overnight. I return from runs in leggings and a henle shirt with numb, swollen fingers. Once refreshing bucket baths seem to drill the insides of my bones. Midday, the sun is so strong it cracks the ground and makes you sweat, but in the shade, you realize how cold the air still is. When the sun sets, your breath appears. Javit (my Chichewa tutor and best friend) said, "And this is only the beginning." Yikes. Somehow though, I never have time get a fire going in time each morning to heat my bath water.
In the village, they say there is nothing to do but drink, gossip, and have sex. As a single woman who does not drink and does not have a deep enough command of Chichewa to spread rumors, I am shocked I manage to stay as entertained as I do.
The recent gossip has been about Holli, the love of my life, who is, it turns out, not a compulsive theif. Song randomly lied that Holli stole money (perhaps bored village gossip), which we found out when Holli appeared two Saturdays ago, the day before a game. Needless to say, Song isn't really coaching us anymore. They tried to make me coach, which is laughable, but I have taken over their physical training regime. Holli had quite working for Song and decided to run off for a bit and returned for the next game (he is captain after all). He is missing again as of Tuesday, but as Javit told me Wednesday that this is just because they didn't have their usual Wednesday game, and Holli is not a thief, he just likes to "borrow" bikes, this time his uncle's, and come back a few days later. I told Javit to remind me to never borrow Holli my bike (yes, Malawians use 'borrow' the way one should use 'lend') and, though he insists Holli would never steal from me, Javit said, looking at my shiny South African mountain bike, that that would probably be a safe choice not to test this theory.
I have started turoring my good friend Beckham (everyone in Malawian villages has a nickname, or 7) to take his JCE exams, a national exam you take after sophomore year. He just got a really amazing job working in an HIV-counseling and testing center near the trading center, but it is really for people who have passed MSCE (senior exams). He worked so hard and interviewed so well, that they gave him the job, but conditionally, that he should pass his JCE next year. Again quoting Javit, "That one was a terrible one," always smoking pot and fighting with his parents. He failed his JCE and did not return to secondary school. He is HIV positive. Both his parents died of AIDS, and all three of his sisters are positive. He and his wife are positive, but they just had their 7-month-old Van Persie (named after Arsenal's star striker) tested and he is negative, and now no longer being breast fed, so he will stay that way. Now, when he is fit, he plays with the team, usually just for a half though, and is their manager. He is Holli's best friend, so the two come to my house for occassional (and I stress occasional, as Becks is busy with work and Holli is busy stealing (borrowing) bikes. They are defanitely fun sessions though. It has inspired me to work even harder with Chityiola to make the adult learning center at the youth center when it is finished (funds are in and bricks are being baked as we speak!).
Speaking of work, teaching is a little OK (oh god, now I sound Malawian), some days unrecognizably better than others. I am working on the grant for a school kitchen and pots now, lunch will begin next term. I'm also starting water treatment for the school water and setting up hand washing buckets by the Chimbuzi (pit latrines). Of course, the primary school team is still rolling well. I am beginning to look for funding sources for the 'acadamy camp' as well, and desperately seaking cleates (no matter how poor their condition.. they generally sew together the soles of second hand American cleats bought in the market to the leather of normal shoes or even canvas or fertelizer sacks) and shin gaurds.
Two girls said that teachers hit on them this week. The deputy had given a school loan to one's, and said she didn't have to pay it back if she slept with him. The other says the assistant deputy proposes (a word used to ask for sex) to her in his comments on her English essays. Both girls are in Form 2 (10th grade). It is disgusting and I am going to Kasungu for my midterm break or the next to the division of education and bringing the book as evidence. I talked to my boss, and she said this actually works. We'll see. It has to stop though.
What else? Chickens dug up my carrots, beans, and mustard greens, so I planted more carrots and brocoli. I was furious. That night we had a dinner for the team and a dance party using the battery and radio from one of the village bars (literally a thatch mud hut with home brewed liquor. I bought a bunch of reggae tapes from the market. IF ANYONE HAS OLD TAPES, WE WANT THEM... NO ONE USES CDS! I volunteered to kill the Chicken (which I have on video, don't worry) And man, Malawians can dance! They got down from 6 till 11:30 when Martha kicked them out. I am seriously toying with the idea of a regular village youth disco as an income generating activity for the club. Sweet.
I have tons of pics, especially of the team and the party. My parents will bring them on a CD and get them out. Speaking of...
I am so excited for my parents to visit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please visit me too. Like I said, I love you all too much.
XOXOKB
In the village, they say there is nothing to do but drink, gossip, and have sex. As a single woman who does not drink and does not have a deep enough command of Chichewa to spread rumors, I am shocked I manage to stay as entertained as I do.
The recent gossip has been about Holli, the love of my life, who is, it turns out, not a compulsive theif. Song randomly lied that Holli stole money (perhaps bored village gossip), which we found out when Holli appeared two Saturdays ago, the day before a game. Needless to say, Song isn't really coaching us anymore. They tried to make me coach, which is laughable, but I have taken over their physical training regime. Holli had quite working for Song and decided to run off for a bit and returned for the next game (he is captain after all). He is missing again as of Tuesday, but as Javit told me Wednesday that this is just because they didn't have their usual Wednesday game, and Holli is not a thief, he just likes to "borrow" bikes, this time his uncle's, and come back a few days later. I told Javit to remind me to never borrow Holli my bike (yes, Malawians use 'borrow' the way one should use 'lend') and, though he insists Holli would never steal from me, Javit said, looking at my shiny South African mountain bike, that that would probably be a safe choice not to test this theory.
I have started turoring my good friend Beckham (everyone in Malawian villages has a nickname, or 7) to take his JCE exams, a national exam you take after sophomore year. He just got a really amazing job working in an HIV-counseling and testing center near the trading center, but it is really for people who have passed MSCE (senior exams). He worked so hard and interviewed so well, that they gave him the job, but conditionally, that he should pass his JCE next year. Again quoting Javit, "That one was a terrible one," always smoking pot and fighting with his parents. He failed his JCE and did not return to secondary school. He is HIV positive. Both his parents died of AIDS, and all three of his sisters are positive. He and his wife are positive, but they just had their 7-month-old Van Persie (named after Arsenal's star striker) tested and he is negative, and now no longer being breast fed, so he will stay that way. Now, when he is fit, he plays with the team, usually just for a half though, and is their manager. He is Holli's best friend, so the two come to my house for occassional (and I stress occasional, as Becks is busy with work and Holli is busy stealing (borrowing) bikes. They are defanitely fun sessions though. It has inspired me to work even harder with Chityiola to make the adult learning center at the youth center when it is finished (funds are in and bricks are being baked as we speak!).
Speaking of work, teaching is a little OK (oh god, now I sound Malawian), some days unrecognizably better than others. I am working on the grant for a school kitchen and pots now, lunch will begin next term. I'm also starting water treatment for the school water and setting up hand washing buckets by the Chimbuzi (pit latrines). Of course, the primary school team is still rolling well. I am beginning to look for funding sources for the 'acadamy camp' as well, and desperately seaking cleates (no matter how poor their condition.. they generally sew together the soles of second hand American cleats bought in the market to the leather of normal shoes or even canvas or fertelizer sacks) and shin gaurds.
Two girls said that teachers hit on them this week. The deputy had given a school loan to one's, and said she didn't have to pay it back if she slept with him. The other says the assistant deputy proposes (a word used to ask for sex) to her in his comments on her English essays. Both girls are in Form 2 (10th grade). It is disgusting and I am going to Kasungu for my midterm break or the next to the division of education and bringing the book as evidence. I talked to my boss, and she said this actually works. We'll see. It has to stop though.
What else? Chickens dug up my carrots, beans, and mustard greens, so I planted more carrots and brocoli. I was furious. That night we had a dinner for the team and a dance party using the battery and radio from one of the village bars (literally a thatch mud hut with home brewed liquor. I bought a bunch of reggae tapes from the market. IF ANYONE HAS OLD TAPES, WE WANT THEM... NO ONE USES CDS! I volunteered to kill the Chicken (which I have on video, don't worry) And man, Malawians can dance! They got down from 6 till 11:30 when Martha kicked them out. I am seriously toying with the idea of a regular village youth disco as an income generating activity for the club. Sweet.
I have tons of pics, especially of the team and the party. My parents will bring them on a CD and get them out. Speaking of...
I am so excited for my parents to visit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please visit me too. Like I said, I love you all too much.
XOXOKB
We are the champions!
This last week I have been very very very busy, but in a good way... mostly.
FIRST OF ALL, DZOOLE MEDICALS WON THE DYSON CUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was amazing. They trained so hard leading up to it and played a phenomenal game, so fun to watch. Martha and I cooked dinner for the team the night before, nsima, greens, soya burgers (ground up soya pieces, bread, eggs and onion--- they call them soya buuugas), and guacamole... which they also love to say.... guacaMooooolaaay. Then, the next day, we walked over with the team to Indolera village about 2 hours away and watched them win 3-1. My close friend Gerald Tchitchola scored all three goals... a hat trick. Interestingly enough, Tchitchola hadn't practiced after a fight with the coach, who it turned out everyone hated, and wasn't going to play in the game till I talked to him and had his wife (my closest Malawian woman friend) talk to him.... he is very whipped. So thank god for that.
The coach, Song, continued to incite problems though. I HATE him... he is a womanizer and always saying bad things about Tchitchola and Bernard for being old... although they are the best people on the team. He told everyone that the money from the trophy, 12,000 kwatcha, a little less than 90 bucks, should be split up. But the team is huge, and it would not be well spent. However, invested, the team could buy 2 really nice balls (balls are expensive here) or save up for a trip. Suddenly, the team was divided and pride and egos were clashing. It was a mess, and two players from my school now refuse to play for the team. That was Sunday, the day after the cup.
That night, I had a nightmare that my friend Holli, the team captain, left with his brothers (who were visiting to help play in the game) and never came back. Now, don't be shocked by this, but I am in love with Holli... he just doesn't know it. It is the reversal of every situation in Malawi, where men propose to us all day. I eat a scone every day for tea, because he works in the scone bakery. It is ridiculous on many levels... his hands are always covered in bread flour, he didn't go to secondary school... um, he is MALAWIAN, and doesn't even speak English!
Well, Monday morning, he rode by on his bike with his bro on the back and stopped to say hi. That afternoon, he wasn't there so I had sweetpotatoes with my afternoon tea. I ate at Tchitchola's house and then discussed plans we're hatching for an adult learning center. We got the idea because he is the hardest working teacher at primary, wow. This guy and his wife have the coolest kids and work so hard. But our friend Becks on the team is HIV positive and got a really great job at St. Gideon's counseling center for HIV, but it is a special contract that is conditional that he pass his JCE exam within 2 years (the exam all Malawians take after sophomore year). Tchitchla said Holli was talking about trying ot get his JCE and wanted to join mine and Beck's tutoring session, but the next day, no Holli. Wednesday, no Holli. The excuses became odd,... he was here or there or other odd reasons for his absense. Thursday, no Holli. Finally, on the way to my bday party (more on that later) our star defender and my closest friend (and my Chichewa tutor) Javit started laughing and said that Holli had taken a loan from his bro to start his own bakery (he does all the work at the current one and gets paid NOTHING by the owner (incidently, the team coach), and money from the weekly break flour, which he has sneakily asked for from Song and Song's bro. No one knows where he is, but he never came back.. with 16,000 Kwatcha ($110 bucks.... more than he makes in a year or even two!). There are rumors that he is in Midisi (the next trading center, like 30 KM from us.
I wanted to cry. The love of my life is the prodigal son of Dzoole.
So, the one who doesn't know I love him will probably never know. But, when Javit said he wanted to go and find him on Friday when I left for Lilongwe and convince him to come back before it was too late, I said he could use my bike.
My party was GREAT. I made beans, rice, cabbage, and guac. It was me, Martha, a Njondo ( a friend who used to live in Dzoole and was visiting), players from the team (Beckham, Kondwani, Tchitchola, Bernard, and Javit) and then Justice (my favorite student and right hand man). We jsut laughed and laughed and listened to the radio, ate tonnnns, and laughed more. Awesome... even if Holli wasn't there.
In Lilongwe, two really cool Norwegian volunteers took me to a very expensive and FANTASTIC Indian restaurant. It was awesome. Then we went strait out dancing... in fact, we danced till 5:30 and got home at 6! I had ot wake at 7 to come to do work here at the computer. I feel like absolute death. Awful. But it was soooooooooooooooooo fun.
Today was a mess. The school said that the transport I had arranged for their sports field trip didn't come. It turned out, the driver went to Lilongwe instead! Never told anyone. I called and yelled at him pretty harshly, a no-no in this indirect culture, but I told him that 45 really disappointed kids had been waiting for 4 hours. He felt so bad that he arranged a replacement. All worked out. They are playing the game now, but I couldn't make it because I am drafting up grants for Peace Corps Summer school (more on that in coming weeks/months). I think they will win though; we have been holding training every day for 2 weeks.... god I am exhausted!
There is no water at the transit hour. A pipe broke. I haven't showered. No toilets. I am going ot bed, hoping it is cleared by tomorrow.... which it won't be because what pumber would come Saturday night? and going back home to my site tomorrow morning for a bucket bath.
I love you all. I miss you all. Keep the letters, emails, packages and phone calls coming. They make me very very happy, especially when I am dirty and tired and homesick.
Just a reminder, you can see all my past emails at my blog. http://battingforthepinkteam.blogspot.com/
XOXO
KB
FIRST OF ALL, DZOOLE MEDICALS WON THE DYSON CUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was amazing. They trained so hard leading up to it and played a phenomenal game, so fun to watch. Martha and I cooked dinner for the team the night before, nsima, greens, soya burgers (ground up soya pieces, bread, eggs and onion--- they call them soya buuugas), and guacamole... which they also love to say.... guacaMooooolaaay. Then, the next day, we walked over with the team to Indolera village about 2 hours away and watched them win 3-1. My close friend Gerald Tchitchola scored all three goals... a hat trick. Interestingly enough, Tchitchola hadn't practiced after a fight with the coach, who it turned out everyone hated, and wasn't going to play in the game till I talked to him and had his wife (my closest Malawian woman friend) talk to him.... he is very whipped. So thank god for that.
The coach, Song, continued to incite problems though. I HATE him... he is a womanizer and always saying bad things about Tchitchola and Bernard for being old... although they are the best people on the team. He told everyone that the money from the trophy, 12,000 kwatcha, a little less than 90 bucks, should be split up. But the team is huge, and it would not be well spent. However, invested, the team could buy 2 really nice balls (balls are expensive here) or save up for a trip. Suddenly, the team was divided and pride and egos were clashing. It was a mess, and two players from my school now refuse to play for the team. That was Sunday, the day after the cup.
That night, I had a nightmare that my friend Holli, the team captain, left with his brothers (who were visiting to help play in the game) and never came back. Now, don't be shocked by this, but I am in love with Holli... he just doesn't know it. It is the reversal of every situation in Malawi, where men propose to us all day. I eat a scone every day for tea, because he works in the scone bakery. It is ridiculous on many levels... his hands are always covered in bread flour, he didn't go to secondary school... um, he is MALAWIAN, and doesn't even speak English!
Well, Monday morning, he rode by on his bike with his bro on the back and stopped to say hi. That afternoon, he wasn't there so I had sweetpotatoes with my afternoon tea. I ate at Tchitchola's house and then discussed plans we're hatching for an adult learning center. We got the idea because he is the hardest working teacher at primary, wow. This guy and his wife have the coolest kids and work so hard. But our friend Becks on the team is HIV positive and got a really great job at St. Gideon's counseling center for HIV, but it is a special contract that is conditional that he pass his JCE exam within 2 years (the exam all Malawians take after sophomore year). Tchitchla said Holli was talking about trying ot get his JCE and wanted to join mine and Beck's tutoring session, but the next day, no Holli. Wednesday, no Holli. The excuses became odd,... he was here or there or other odd reasons for his absense. Thursday, no Holli. Finally, on the way to my bday party (more on that later) our star defender and my closest friend (and my Chichewa tutor) Javit started laughing and said that Holli had taken a loan from his bro to start his own bakery (he does all the work at the current one and gets paid NOTHING by the owner (incidently, the team coach), and money from the weekly break flour, which he has sneakily asked for from Song and Song's bro. No one knows where he is, but he never came back.. with 16,000 Kwatcha ($110 bucks.... more than he makes in a year or even two!). There are rumors that he is in Midisi (the next trading center, like 30 KM from us.
I wanted to cry. The love of my life is the prodigal son of Dzoole.
So, the one who doesn't know I love him will probably never know. But, when Javit said he wanted to go and find him on Friday when I left for Lilongwe and convince him to come back before it was too late, I said he could use my bike.
My party was GREAT. I made beans, rice, cabbage, and guac. It was me, Martha, a Njondo ( a friend who used to live in Dzoole and was visiting), players from the team (Beckham, Kondwani, Tchitchola, Bernard, and Javit) and then Justice (my favorite student and right hand man). We jsut laughed and laughed and listened to the radio, ate tonnnns, and laughed more. Awesome... even if Holli wasn't there.
In Lilongwe, two really cool Norwegian volunteers took me to a very expensive and FANTASTIC Indian restaurant. It was awesome. Then we went strait out dancing... in fact, we danced till 5:30 and got home at 6! I had ot wake at 7 to come to do work here at the computer. I feel like absolute death. Awful. But it was soooooooooooooooooo fun.
Today was a mess. The school said that the transport I had arranged for their sports field trip didn't come. It turned out, the driver went to Lilongwe instead! Never told anyone. I called and yelled at him pretty harshly, a no-no in this indirect culture, but I told him that 45 really disappointed kids had been waiting for 4 hours. He felt so bad that he arranged a replacement. All worked out. They are playing the game now, but I couldn't make it because I am drafting up grants for Peace Corps Summer school (more on that in coming weeks/months). I think they will win though; we have been holding training every day for 2 weeks.... god I am exhausted!
There is no water at the transit hour. A pipe broke. I haven't showered. No toilets. I am going ot bed, hoping it is cleared by tomorrow.... which it won't be because what pumber would come Saturday night? and going back home to my site tomorrow morning for a bucket bath.
I love you all. I miss you all. Keep the letters, emails, packages and phone calls coming. They make me very very happy, especially when I am dirty and tired and homesick.
Just a reminder, you can see all my past emails at my blog. http://battingforthepinkteam.blogspot.com/
XOXO
KB
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