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
5.23.2008
5.01.2008
Enjoying too much
had yet another Malawian meeting yesterday... 5 hours long to accomplish NOTHING. Plus it started 2 hours late. I am on the planning committee for the Cocacola cup, a tournament for school kids. It's actually pretty cool, a regional tournament that has schools then go to district and then a national level. Then, people are supposed to also scout a team to make regional all star teams as well. Very up my alley. I am enjoying too much, as they say here.
Our football team in in the finals this Saturday! We have been training HARD. I have been running with the team in the afternoon and, of course, doing lots of Yoga. I am making some of my students come, and we're making facepaint with crumbled blue chalk and oil. Martha and I are making American ndiwo (relish- what you eat with nsima... to see what nsima is, here is a link that explains it (think smoothe, unsalted, hard grits cooked into hard paste that you roll into balls and eat, dipped in sauce http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nshima). We're making bean or soya pieces and guacamole... they eat avocados as fruit, not savory, so its really cool for them. PLUS, they love to say guacamole.
Samantha gave me a nice idea; she wants to get me a copy of Romeo and Juliet for next term and asked what edition. If you have an old coppy to send, that rocks, but if you get a new copy, I would recommend:
Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare made easy, parallel edition
http://www.amazon.com/Romeo-Juliet-Shakespeare-Made-Parallel/dp/0748702555/ref=pd_bbs_sr_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209647141&sr=8-11
or, we are in desperate need of poetry books,
Unsung song, an anthology of Malawian writing in English
http://www.amazon.com/Unsung-Anthology-Malawian-Writing-English/dp/9990851344/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209647550&sr=1-1
That is what we are reading right now. It is actually quite good... I love the poems, which is what were are reading. If you get it, you should read it first.
Next year, we have a novel (Smouldering charcoal) and short stories from Africa (looking for a rain god), which is AWESOME and includes short stories form all over africa.
http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Other-Short-Stories-Africa/dp/0333604490/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209648171&sr=1-1
In fact, I reccomment you reading it and then sending the copy to me haha. it will be a challange to read the novel and the short stories next year. Because students don't have books, reading is a huge challange for them, as is any english, but reading especially.
Check out some Malawian music. It's very cheezy and poppy, but really fun. It's the stuff we played at our school dance last week. It was awesome... danced so hard the room filled with sweat. THey love Zambian music, like teh Third and Jimmy. the song its over over is awesome. THe black missionaries are the most popular Malawian band.. rad.
I love you all,
KB
Our football team in in the finals this Saturday! We have been training HARD. I have been running with the team in the afternoon and, of course, doing lots of Yoga. I am making some of my students come, and we're making facepaint with crumbled blue chalk and oil. Martha and I are making American ndiwo (relish- what you eat with nsima... to see what nsima is, here is a link that explains it (think smoothe, unsalted, hard grits cooked into hard paste that you roll into balls and eat, dipped in sauce http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nshima). We're making bean or soya pieces and guacamole... they eat avocados as fruit, not savory, so its really cool for them. PLUS, they love to say guacamole.
Samantha gave me a nice idea; she wants to get me a copy of Romeo and Juliet for next term and asked what edition. If you have an old coppy to send, that rocks, but if you get a new copy, I would recommend:
Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare made easy, parallel edition
http://www.amazon.com/Romeo-Juliet-Shakespeare-Made-Parallel/dp/0748702555/ref=pd_bbs_sr_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209647141&sr=8-11
or, we are in desperate need of poetry books,
Unsung song, an anthology of Malawian writing in English
http://www.amazon.com/Unsung-Anthology-Malawian-Writing-English/dp/9990851344/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209647550&sr=1-1
That is what we are reading right now. It is actually quite good... I love the poems, which is what were are reading. If you get it, you should read it first.
Next year, we have a novel (Smouldering charcoal) and short stories from Africa (looking for a rain god), which is AWESOME and includes short stories form all over africa.
http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Other-Short-Stories-Africa/dp/0333604490/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209648171&sr=1-1
In fact, I reccomment you reading it and then sending the copy to me haha. it will be a challange to read the novel and the short stories next year. Because students don't have books, reading is a huge challange for them, as is any english, but reading especially.
Check out some Malawian music. It's very cheezy and poppy, but really fun. It's the stuff we played at our school dance last week. It was awesome... danced so hard the room filled with sweat. THey love Zambian music, like teh Third and Jimmy. the song its over over is awesome. THe black missionaries are the most popular Malawian band.. rad.
I love you all,
KB
Shakespeare and wooden penises
I wasn't sure how to get around the condom demonstration I wanted to do, but the administration would not allow. The students don't know the definition of abstenance (but say it as the answer to every question incolving AIDS...it's usually the answer I'm looking for, but still useless if they don't UNDERSTAND it), they can't define AIDS as anythign other than "a killer disease," and they say that if they have sex, they won't use condoms because condoms are not 100 percent effective (so a sure 0 percent is better?). So, I arranged for my articulate friend Crispin, the head of the People Livign with HIV support group to talk to the kids in Chichewa. He was fantastic. The kids were cheering and loving the class. It was fascinating, ebcause they loved the Chichewa, but when asked what is AIDS, they couldn't answer in Chichewa, but only with memorized, but not understood, English. I almost had a heart attack (as did the kids) when he pilled out a huge wooden penis and passed out condoms to the entire class, making kids put the condom on the model. I was a little worried about gettign in trouble, but happier to see soem guys, ones who i know are sexually active, shoving handfuls of condoms into their pockets. They said that they are too scared to go to the health center, because their parents will know they went. SOOOO, every time a student is late, I have a new rule that they have to go and get me three condoms from the health center. That willl work even better than gardening.
Speaking of, I've had late comers water my garden every day this week! My beans have produced, and I ate fesh beans (they cook in 10 minutes!), I've been lovng bean leaves, which you cook like spinach with onion and ground peanut flour, and my pumpkins are rocking! Soon i will be able to eat their leaves, which I love. Pumpkins do really well here. Lettuce never works in my village. But my rasishes look ok, as do my carrots. Rape greens are also coming along :)
And on the subject of food, I just spend 20 minutes loading 50 50 KG bags of rice into the back of a 2 tonne truck. Yes, that is 2,500 KGs of rice for the school lunch program next term. Now we have to figure our firewood and labor. Oh man.
I felt a little bad, because as we were there, you could just see the school committee's eyes wide with all the rice they were gonna cook for themselves. I lied. I said that American NGOs were big on accountability (true) and said that each week i would be doing an inventory of the bags (also true), so I guess it was a half lie. In a full lie, I said that if any bags were missing, the NGO would come to teh village and take back the rice All the school committee could do though was ask what else they are giving us. Jeeez. It's terribel They are awesome, but it's cultural.
I am in the city for tonight (as I had transport to there and figured I'd just stay till tomorrow, but have to head abck tomorrow morning, for a school DISCO. It is at 3:30 pm, and we're using a tape player. But I got a copy of a song called "it's over" by a Zambian band called Jimmy. Look it up, I love it. There is gonna be some DANCING.
I was allocated my new subjects. I am teaching English form 1 (like last term) and Lifeskills 3 and 4 (also like last term) and then two new classes, form 4 business and form 3 English Lit, a newly required class. I cannot emphasize how absurd it is that we have to teach English lit, a class that reads 4 required texts in 2 years. My school only had 1 copy of each of the 4 texts, African short stories, Malawian poetry, and African novel, and get this, Shakespeare. WHAT THE HELL???? These kids can't even answer the question, "how are you" without stuttering, who speak worse English than I speak Chichewa (in 6 months of learning), and MAN, they need to read Romeo and juliet (of which there is 1 copy)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now comes my appeal... any copies of Romeo and Juliet, perhaps a copy of the Baz Lurman film (we do a movie night once a year and rent a generator... maybe we coudl tag that on! and any Romeo and Juliet for children, in plain English. SEND THEM TO ME>
Kathryn Brand PCV
US Peace Corps
PO BOX 208
Lilongwe, Malawi
AFRICA
I love you all.
KB
Speaking of, I've had late comers water my garden every day this week! My beans have produced, and I ate fesh beans (they cook in 10 minutes!), I've been lovng bean leaves, which you cook like spinach with onion and ground peanut flour, and my pumpkins are rocking! Soon i will be able to eat their leaves, which I love. Pumpkins do really well here. Lettuce never works in my village. But my rasishes look ok, as do my carrots. Rape greens are also coming along :)
And on the subject of food, I just spend 20 minutes loading 50 50 KG bags of rice into the back of a 2 tonne truck. Yes, that is 2,500 KGs of rice for the school lunch program next term. Now we have to figure our firewood and labor. Oh man.
I felt a little bad, because as we were there, you could just see the school committee's eyes wide with all the rice they were gonna cook for themselves. I lied. I said that American NGOs were big on accountability (true) and said that each week i would be doing an inventory of the bags (also true), so I guess it was a half lie. In a full lie, I said that if any bags were missing, the NGO would come to teh village and take back the rice All the school committee could do though was ask what else they are giving us. Jeeez. It's terribel They are awesome, but it's cultural.
I am in the city for tonight (as I had transport to there and figured I'd just stay till tomorrow, but have to head abck tomorrow morning, for a school DISCO. It is at 3:30 pm, and we're using a tape player. But I got a copy of a song called "it's over" by a Zambian band called Jimmy. Look it up, I love it. There is gonna be some DANCING.
I was allocated my new subjects. I am teaching English form 1 (like last term) and Lifeskills 3 and 4 (also like last term) and then two new classes, form 4 business and form 3 English Lit, a newly required class. I cannot emphasize how absurd it is that we have to teach English lit, a class that reads 4 required texts in 2 years. My school only had 1 copy of each of the 4 texts, African short stories, Malawian poetry, and African novel, and get this, Shakespeare. WHAT THE HELL???? These kids can't even answer the question, "how are you" without stuttering, who speak worse English than I speak Chichewa (in 6 months of learning), and MAN, they need to read Romeo and juliet (of which there is 1 copy)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now comes my appeal... any copies of Romeo and Juliet, perhaps a copy of the Baz Lurman film (we do a movie night once a year and rent a generator... maybe we coudl tag that on! and any Romeo and Juliet for children, in plain English. SEND THEM TO ME>
Kathryn Brand PCV
US Peace Corps
PO BOX 208
Lilongwe, Malawi
AFRICA
I love you all.
KB
3.24.2008
Football, Yoga, and Tobacco.... a natural combo
The Dzoole medicals have made it to the village league semi-finals!
The price of Tobacco is double that of last year. Malawi is so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All is well? Actually, no. The team captain says that no one is coming to practice because of Fodya (tobacco, which must be struck in leaves of 4 onto blades of grass and hung on shaded poles, taken down, carried in bundles on bikes to be graded, and sold... ) My good friend who teaches in the primary school says that school attendance has halved since prices went up... the children stay at home to work on tobacco.
While I have no idea how to stop the child labor going on in Dzoole, I do feel it is in my power to get the guys to show up to practice. The thing is, they all WANT to practice, but only for a quick tobacco work break; they simply don't have time for the typical 2 hours of waiting around before anything starts. They are becoming very American when, despite their lack of English, they clap their hands twice above their heads and say, "Program guys, program. TIME IS MONEY guys!" Practice begins at "2:00" Malawian time, which means people show up sometime in the afternoon between 3 and 5, and practice starts when there are enough guys to get a game going. They come, see no one is there, leave, and come back an hour later. In this two hour period, all the team might show up, but never form a group of more than 4 or 5, and so practice never starts.
One morning, I made my friends Kondwani and Holli (who we call program) saw me after a run, before their quarter final that day, and I made them do yoga with me. In short, they loved it. Every day last week, we did yoga while we waited for the guys, so that when they showed up, they started yoga, and by 4, the whole team was there to practice.
I felt bad I had to leave (or chose to leave) for Easter. But, Martha texted me on Friday to say that when she showed up at 3:30, they were already half way through a yoga routine!
The price of Tobacco is double that of last year. Malawi is so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All is well? Actually, no. The team captain says that no one is coming to practice because of Fodya (tobacco, which must be struck in leaves of 4 onto blades of grass and hung on shaded poles, taken down, carried in bundles on bikes to be graded, and sold... ) My good friend who teaches in the primary school says that school attendance has halved since prices went up... the children stay at home to work on tobacco.
While I have no idea how to stop the child labor going on in Dzoole, I do feel it is in my power to get the guys to show up to practice. The thing is, they all WANT to practice, but only for a quick tobacco work break; they simply don't have time for the typical 2 hours of waiting around before anything starts. They are becoming very American when, despite their lack of English, they clap their hands twice above their heads and say, "Program guys, program. TIME IS MONEY guys!" Practice begins at "2:00" Malawian time, which means people show up sometime in the afternoon between 3 and 5, and practice starts when there are enough guys to get a game going. They come, see no one is there, leave, and come back an hour later. In this two hour period, all the team might show up, but never form a group of more than 4 or 5, and so practice never starts.
One morning, I made my friends Kondwani and Holli (who we call program) saw me after a run, before their quarter final that day, and I made them do yoga with me. In short, they loved it. Every day last week, we did yoga while we waited for the guys, so that when they showed up, they started yoga, and by 4, the whole team was there to practice.
I felt bad I had to leave (or chose to leave) for Easter. But, Martha texted me on Friday to say that when she showed up at 3:30, they were already half way through a yoga routine!
Days of our Dzoole Lives
have officially finished my first term of teaching.... although not my first term of grading :(
My highest grade so far is a 63 percent, but, to their credit, I have only graded 15 (of over 220 exams in English and History... all of which involve LONG essays... yikes)
Every time I come to town, people come and ask me for updates of "Days of Dzoole Lives" because my village is officially a soap opera... it's rediculous.
I proctored (invigilated as they say) my first exam, and was shocked at how open they are about cheating, and how angry, shocked, and flustered they get when you stop it. It really pissed me off though, because I came off as a total bitch invigilating the Math exam, but saw the teachers in charge of my English and History exams leaving the class, taking tea, and not giving a damn that the students were openly discussing answers and leafing through their notes.
One student in my math exam tried to go to the toilet with the test, his note book, and a calculator. 23 students were marked for talking, obviously looking at other papers, and taking other peoples tests to copy. Yes, I mean they literally stood up, walked over, and picked up the test and started copying. I said anyone talking would be marked, yet they continued to talk, over and over and over. As surprised as I was that they were cheating, they were more shocked that I cared.
Last Saturday, there was a field trip to Misisi (about 1.5 hours away) for sports. The truck showed up 4.5 hours late, and the driver was visibly drunk and smelled liek beer. The teacher laughed at this, greeted him, gave him money, and hten hearded 80 students onto the back of the wall-less flat bed truck (a dangerous thing without it being standing room only crowded and on the dirt roads, not to mention with a wastey faced driver. Half way thorugh, I was so stressed I got sick and ended up hitch hiking home. All the teachers could talk about on Monday was the horror of that they were only given one mineral each (soda) and that the snisma they were given was mgaiwa (teh equivalent of brown bread)... they didn't care about the fact that the school's sports master never showed up or that the driver again left us in the market while the kids were getting their lunch (when I decided to leave) to go to a bar.
I also had it confirmed from my favorite student, Justice, that every single male teacher at the school (except for the now departed head master) has had sex with a student. The older teaher Kapalamula suddenly stopped teaching form 2, and there was much fast Chichewa chatter on the subject, that always stopped when I come in the staff room. I asked Justice to clear it up, and he told me that the sophomore girl he was sleeping with stopped, and everyone was makign fun of him, so he slapped EVERY SINGLE person in the class. That night, they stoned his house. They target sophomores, who take junior exams between soph and jr years, and lie and say that if they have sex with them, they will pull strings so that they will pass (of course, there are no such strings, at least none that these teachers can or will pull)
It was nice, as always, to have a break in Lilongwe. On my way in, I got a great hitch from a very attractive Malawian man who just returned from working in the UK and a masters degree in Peace and Conflict resolution from the University of Copenhagen. In fact, I went on a date with him last night! Although I ducked out to meet with an American I had met 2 weeks ago playing softball, to watch a movie that expats use an LCD projector and sound system to project movies on their wall (talk about feeling like you ain't in Malawi anymore). The movie was an Argentinian film called "9 Queen" and I highly recomment it. It was pretty fun. Not sure if the second was a date, but both events were fun, and both have invited me out tonight... the Malawian for dinner and the American for dancing... talk about when it rains it pours :)
Till then, I am really busy researching options for the school lunch program. I am trying to figure ways to get donations for the food and labor... not big costs, but it adds up for 280 students. They can't afford school fees as is, so I dont want to charge them the huge fee my dep head (as I privately refer to as dick head) is pushing for. I have researched plans for a garden that would supplement ndiwo (relish) costs, but that still leaves cooking oil, maize and protein. I am also toying with the idea of trying to find a partnership school in the US or a church or something that could make it a permanent project with annual contributions. Hmm. If anyone has suggestions or knowledge, please let me know or refer me to someone who does!
My highest grade so far is a 63 percent, but, to their credit, I have only graded 15 (of over 220 exams in English and History... all of which involve LONG essays... yikes)
Every time I come to town, people come and ask me for updates of "Days of Dzoole Lives" because my village is officially a soap opera... it's rediculous.
I proctored (invigilated as they say) my first exam, and was shocked at how open they are about cheating, and how angry, shocked, and flustered they get when you stop it. It really pissed me off though, because I came off as a total bitch invigilating the Math exam, but saw the teachers in charge of my English and History exams leaving the class, taking tea, and not giving a damn that the students were openly discussing answers and leafing through their notes.
One student in my math exam tried to go to the toilet with the test, his note book, and a calculator. 23 students were marked for talking, obviously looking at other papers, and taking other peoples tests to copy. Yes, I mean they literally stood up, walked over, and picked up the test and started copying. I said anyone talking would be marked, yet they continued to talk, over and over and over. As surprised as I was that they were cheating, they were more shocked that I cared.
Last Saturday, there was a field trip to Misisi (about 1.5 hours away) for sports. The truck showed up 4.5 hours late, and the driver was visibly drunk and smelled liek beer. The teacher laughed at this, greeted him, gave him money, and hten hearded 80 students onto the back of the wall-less flat bed truck (a dangerous thing without it being standing room only crowded and on the dirt roads, not to mention with a wastey faced driver. Half way thorugh, I was so stressed I got sick and ended up hitch hiking home. All the teachers could talk about on Monday was the horror of that they were only given one mineral each (soda) and that the snisma they were given was mgaiwa (teh equivalent of brown bread)... they didn't care about the fact that the school's sports master never showed up or that the driver again left us in the market while the kids were getting their lunch (when I decided to leave) to go to a bar.
I also had it confirmed from my favorite student, Justice, that every single male teacher at the school (except for the now departed head master) has had sex with a student. The older teaher Kapalamula suddenly stopped teaching form 2, and there was much fast Chichewa chatter on the subject, that always stopped when I come in the staff room. I asked Justice to clear it up, and he told me that the sophomore girl he was sleeping with stopped, and everyone was makign fun of him, so he slapped EVERY SINGLE person in the class. That night, they stoned his house. They target sophomores, who take junior exams between soph and jr years, and lie and say that if they have sex with them, they will pull strings so that they will pass (of course, there are no such strings, at least none that these teachers can or will pull)
It was nice, as always, to have a break in Lilongwe. On my way in, I got a great hitch from a very attractive Malawian man who just returned from working in the UK and a masters degree in Peace and Conflict resolution from the University of Copenhagen. In fact, I went on a date with him last night! Although I ducked out to meet with an American I had met 2 weeks ago playing softball, to watch a movie that expats use an LCD projector and sound system to project movies on their wall (talk about feeling like you ain't in Malawi anymore). The movie was an Argentinian film called "9 Queen" and I highly recomment it. It was pretty fun. Not sure if the second was a date, but both events were fun, and both have invited me out tonight... the Malawian for dinner and the American for dancing... talk about when it rains it pours :)
Till then, I am really busy researching options for the school lunch program. I am trying to figure ways to get donations for the food and labor... not big costs, but it adds up for 280 students. They can't afford school fees as is, so I dont want to charge them the huge fee my dep head (as I privately refer to as dick head) is pushing for. I have researched plans for a garden that would supplement ndiwo (relish) costs, but that still leaves cooking oil, maize and protein. I am also toying with the idea of trying to find a partnership school in the US or a church or something that could make it a permanent project with annual contributions. Hmm. If anyone has suggestions or knowledge, please let me know or refer me to someone who does!
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