In 7 days God created the universe...

...let's see what I can achieve!

My First Week

            So my first week in Blantyre has gone very quickly! I set off for Heathrow on Saturday morning, full of anticipation for the coming journey. I arrived very early and so had plenty of time to sit around twiddling my thumbs. My flight to Cairo was uneventful, despite an hour's delay. The (EgyptAir) plane exceeded expectations with comfortable seats, edible food and in-flight entertainment. My overnight flight to Johannesburg less so. It was delayed by an hour and a half, post-boarding which meant a very long wait on the plane. The seats were less comfortable, the food less appetising, and the company less friendly. However, I arrived in Jo'burg in one piece.

            Unfortunately (as many of you know) I left Jo'burg in a less complete situation – my rucksack decided it hadn't seen enough of South Africa and so refused to board the plane :(

            I was joined for my 5 hour (now 3 hour due to the delay of my flight from Cairo) wait in Johannesburg by Mum and Dom, who had flown directly there with South African Airways. The AirMalawi flight to Blantyre was delayed (not unexpectedly by this point) and was on a much smaller, older, rickety plane. But, again, we all arrived alive and were met at the airport by Dad.

            The rest of Sunday was spent settling into Kabula Lodge where we were to stay for the next couple of days. We hired a car for Monday to Wednesday so that we could do some shopping, move into our temporary housing, and start viewing the houses on Dad's short-list. Dom started his new school on Tuesday (7am start!!) which he is enjoying.

            On Thursday, Mum and Dad started work properly and I, still luggageless, took the opportunity to do some much needed (hand) washing. Our temporary accommodation is only two bedroom, which leaves me sleeping on a two-seater sofa! So I am looking forward very much to finding a house (and my luggage...).

My Bed. In the living room. :(

            There is no doubt in my mind that the most eventful part of my week was Friday evening, when I went clubbing (totally unintentionally!). One of my contacts for some potential voluntary work out here, Andy, invited me to a gig outside Blantyre. I, assuming it was an opportunity to discuss the project in which he is involved and my possible involvement there, agreed to go. In fact, it turned out it was an African club with live Reggae music. It lasted 5 hours! 9pm-2am! Which, considering that in Blantyre 9pm is the local midnight, was very late. I was forced into dancing by many strangers, who did not understand why the white girl wasn't enjoying the music. I could talk about that evening for quite a long time, but I don't want to bore you. The summary being that I spent 5 hours dancing to loud reggae music, trying to avoid random men who constantly tried to dance with me, all the while being harassed (for want of a kinder word) by one of Andy's local friends who seemed to have got the wrong impression from me, mainly due to my white skin and a massive language/alcohol barrier. Ooops. I suspect I may have to get used to this/better at handling it.

            Since then we have met up with an English family - the parents work at the same hospital as Mum and Dad, and the children go to Dom's school. They were lovely, and the mum, Jane, has lent me some clothes! Yay! :) Massively coincidentally, it turns out that Jane's brother (and family) live across the road from us back home in Wortley, and we've met the family a few times. Small World!

            On Sunday we went to a nearby Church. The service was unlike anything I had been to before lasting 2 and a half hours, and comprising mainly of music and a discussion/debate between the leaders and some members of the congregation which stemmed from an off-hand comment one of them made during prayer.

            Anyway, it's time for me to get back to job hunting, I hope you enjoyed reading this, if not then I wouldn't bother checking my blog again as my writing is highly unlikely to improve...

Over and out,

God Bless,

Baggageless in Blantyre

xxxx