Some Snippets
I hope you all had a nice Easter. Jonathan and I went to visit a few other volunteers in the central region of Malawi which was nice. Good to catch up on the news and it may be the last time that I see these volunteers as either they are heading home soon or the fact that I only have 4 months left in Malawi which is a scary thought.
Anyway on the way down we had to pull over several times as it was Good Friday and many people took to the streets to parade – all the women were dressed in white shirts and purple skirts. I get the impression that Easter is probably celebrated more than Christmas but still no sign of any hard boiled eggs rolling down hills, or any chocolate ones come to think of it either!
I had plenty opportunities for some tourist shopping on our travels and I am now starting to stock up on things to take home. The good news it that Kenya Airlines have risen their baggage allowance to 46kgs so I’m hoping that they will keep this by the time I fly!
We were staying at an expensive place called Mua Mission (totally not worth the money as they tried to serve me goat meat for my dinner, Jonathan had my share!). On the way to the place we stopped to ask directions from several people – it is better to check as special awareness is not a Malawian strong point. We were still not sure we were heading in the right direction so we stopped and asked from traffic police. Of course they could direct us especially if we gave them a lift to the junction. Fine as there is nothing unsusal about that. In the car one of the officers found a bottle of water which hadn’t been opened and asked if he could have a drink. I quickly swapped the open bottle of a half full one and within 20 seconds the cheeky bugger had drunk the whole lot and crumpled the bottle in his hands. But what can you say? The traffic police are the power in this place and you really don’t want to mess with them!
The trip was nice and we stopped off at a rose quartz quarry on the way back up to stock up on rocks (not sure if they will get in the case but with that extra allowance you never know!). We were given a guided tour of the place by the owner and then had to buy a few goods!
Back in Rumphi things don’t change. However there was some excitement the other day. I was on my way to the office and the road I normaly take was crammed full of women. I initially thought that there was a funeral so took a detour. However appreantly there was a big scandal and the ladies had all come out from the woodwork to have a peak. One woman who has been married for 2 years but doesn’t yet have children, not through the want of trying, decided that she had had enough of being teased for not having a child. She took matters into her own hands and travelled down to the capital city, wandered into a village and while no one was loking, she stole a baby, popped it into her bag and made her way back to Rumphi (a day’s travel on minibus!) When she arrived her mother was slightly bemused and asked her where the baby had come from. Eventually her mother called the police and the woman was arrested. The ladies were all crowding about the police station to see this woman before she was taken to court! Now is the woman ‘mad’ or did her culture drive her to this desperate act?
That’s all for now!
Anyway on the way down we had to pull over several times as it was Good Friday and many people took to the streets to parade – all the women were dressed in white shirts and purple skirts. I get the impression that Easter is probably celebrated more than Christmas but still no sign of any hard boiled eggs rolling down hills, or any chocolate ones come to think of it either!
I had plenty opportunities for some tourist shopping on our travels and I am now starting to stock up on things to take home. The good news it that Kenya Airlines have risen their baggage allowance to 46kgs so I’m hoping that they will keep this by the time I fly!
We were staying at an expensive place called Mua Mission (totally not worth the money as they tried to serve me goat meat for my dinner, Jonathan had my share!). On the way to the place we stopped to ask directions from several people – it is better to check as special awareness is not a Malawian strong point. We were still not sure we were heading in the right direction so we stopped and asked from traffic police. Of course they could direct us especially if we gave them a lift to the junction. Fine as there is nothing unsusal about that. In the car one of the officers found a bottle of water which hadn’t been opened and asked if he could have a drink. I quickly swapped the open bottle of a half full one and within 20 seconds the cheeky bugger had drunk the whole lot and crumpled the bottle in his hands. But what can you say? The traffic police are the power in this place and you really don’t want to mess with them!
The trip was nice and we stopped off at a rose quartz quarry on the way back up to stock up on rocks (not sure if they will get in the case but with that extra allowance you never know!). We were given a guided tour of the place by the owner and then had to buy a few goods!
Back in Rumphi things don’t change. However there was some excitement the other day. I was on my way to the office and the road I normaly take was crammed full of women. I initially thought that there was a funeral so took a detour. However appreantly there was a big scandal and the ladies had all come out from the woodwork to have a peak. One woman who has been married for 2 years but doesn’t yet have children, not through the want of trying, decided that she had had enough of being teased for not having a child. She took matters into her own hands and travelled down to the capital city, wandered into a village and while no one was loking, she stole a baby, popped it into her bag and made her way back to Rumphi (a day’s travel on minibus!) When she arrived her mother was slightly bemused and asked her where the baby had come from. Eventually her mother called the police and the woman was arrested. The ladies were all crowding about the police station to see this woman before she was taken to court! Now is the woman ‘mad’ or did her culture drive her to this desperate act?
That’s all for now!
posted by Caroline Pitcairn at
4:56 pm
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