Today the crew got up and had breakfast as usual, I tried
the egg sandwich today since it looked so good yesterday and it didn’t disappoint.
After breakfast we said our goodbyes to Tony the cat (meow) but luckily we will
be returning to Annie’s Lodge in Lilongwe right before we fly back home so it
wasn’t goodbye forever. We headed out to Annie’s Lodge in Zomba, which is
really exciting because that is the location we will be teaching! I cannot even
begin to express to you how excited I am to begin teaching. Also, it’s where we
will spend the remainder of our time when we aren’t on the Safari or visiting
the orphanage. As said before, the drives around Malawi have been so
interesting. There were still hundreds of people on the side of the rode when
we journeyed the seven hours to Zomba from Lilongwe. We did make a couple of
pit stops at some shops, which were so amazing! The first shop we stopped at
was Dedza Pottery in the town of Dedza, of course. It was so wonderful!
Everything was so beautiful and hand made. I walked in there and I was running
in all directions because I wanted to see it all so fast, plus we only had
about 30 minutes to look around and decide what to buy, which takes some time
for me. The mugs, cups, plates, platters, tea pots, and everything else they
had to sell was so artistically made and I was so impressed at how perfect it
all looked. The colors they used were so well put together and if I didn’t have
so long to travel back I probably would have put the shop out of business. The
next shop we stopped at was Dedza Art Shop, which specialized in hand made
paper wall art. I bought this beautiful piece of art that is of a Mother
giraffe and her baby; I’m obsessed. They also had necklaces, headbands,
journals, and other types of wall art.
After we stopped at those two shops we were on the road for
a while. When driving on the streets in Malawi the cars really don’t have any
road rules so it’s kind of an adventure driving anywhere. One thing I had
noticed before making our way to Zomba was that there are not any speed limits,
stop signs, patrols, etc. It is literally a free for all. When we were going
through one town the car in front of us swerved on accident and hit someone,
the guy was hurt pretty bad and the men that were helping him ran after the car
and started beating the driver, which put me in total shock. It was such an
awful moment for all of us in the car because that is not something we would
expect to see. Sammy, our Malawian friend who travels with us told us that
someone would most likely step in and stop the fight but in the moment it was
really hard to watch. In that moment I was feeling really angry but then I
remembered that this is a totally different culture and unfortunately for me, I
wasn’t able to cope with it as well as the people who see this kind of violence
more regularly. I’m not letting that moment define my time here so far though.
The people that I have talked to face to face have been some of the kindest
individuals I have ever known. The people here are so proud of what they have
and are so eager to share with us.
On a more positive note we arrived safely in Zomba and the
people here welcomed us with hugs, cake (yes, CAKE), and assistance to our
rooms without any hesitation. We were able to meet Annie, who owns all three
Annie’s Lodges, and she is the most adorable lady ever! Tomorrow we are going
to be able to attend a church service, which I could not be more excited about
and then we are going to shop around the Zomba market and get familiar with our
surroundings.
THEN COMES MONDAY. Honestly, I have never been more anxious
to meet a group of children in my whole life; I tear up just thinking about it.
I am so fortunate to have been given this opportunity and not an infinite
amount of cupcakes, Ellen Degeneres clips, kittens, and huge amounts of Chipotle’s
guacamole compares to this excitement. I cannot wait to start blogging about
the experiences I have while teaching and how this is going to totally change
my life.
I would like to once again thank my Mom & Dad for giving
me this opportunity and for everyone who has supported me in anyway possible,
it is genuinely appreciated. I love you all so much and cannot wait to share
more with you soon.
Until then,
Xoxo
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