Weekend Adventures
Wow, it’s October! I guess Thanksgiving is coming up this weekend, and that means that two of my close friends are getting married back in the Toronto area, and there is another wedding at the end of the month for my associate pastor. Congrats Lyf and Jenn, and David and Jen. I do hope all goes well, and I look forward to celebrating with you when we are on the same continent again. My bosses are from Canada originally (they’ve been here around 20 years), so they are having a dinner on Monday. I’m supposed to be going up to the lake this weekend, so hopefully I’ll be back in time.
It was a very busy weekend. Mike came down from Mangochi. In case I haven’t mentioned him by name, Mike is a fellow EI worker from Canada who I trained with in Stouffville before I left. He is working in Mangochi doing monitoring and evaluation for one of our projects there. It was good to see a familiar face, and to have someone to dialogue about things we’re learning here and some of the other questions I’ve been wrestling with in my reading and writing. Anyhow, on Friday I had my bosses over (the country directors are Paul and Helen, a married couple originally from Canada) The office I work at is attached to their home, so I will often stick around at lunch and use their TV, and they are good about inviting me for dinner fairly regularly, or feeding me when I stay to watch football on Tuesday evenings, so I was happy to be able to return the favour. The power went out briefly, but fortunately I have a gas stove, so cooking wasn’t a problem, and we just had to eat for a bit by candlelight. Such is Malawi.
On Saturday, I got to golf for the first time. Charles, the guy at my office who seems to know everybody here in Zomba, was able to track down a set of left handed clubs that I can use while I’m here. So Charles, Mike and I went out to the local Zomba course. After a couple of holes of grumbling about the hard dirt ground covered with leaves and all sorts of other crap (imagine playing golf on the roughest back yard you’ve seen with dirt trails running through it, and you’ll get the picture), and “greens” (I should just say putting surfaces) that are just sand, I managed to start to get used to the conditions and even had a couple good holes. Like Charles says, you just get used to the fact that this is the golf course we have, and you play it as it lies. On the upside, he told me about some much better taken care of courses in the country, so I’m hopeful to see them at some point.
Saturday afternoon, Paul and Helen invited a few people from around Zomba over to their home for a meet and greet and social time. Lots of good food and people to meet, and I even got to play a few piano tunes and got a few people singing. Then in the evening, a few of us learned salsa dancing from Rachel, a girl from the US. And I got to play some more pool with Mike and Emmitt.
Sunday, we had lunch with Eddie and his family, another coworker, and got to see his gardens, and various animals that he keeps (pigeons, ducks, rabbits) Then Mike headed off for Mangochi, and I headed over to the local swimming pool for a swim and to play some volleyball (on land, not in the pool). I never liked volleyball, but it’s a good social opportunity. Afterward, I had Rachel and Daniel (a guy from Australia that has been my tennis and one of my squash companions) over for dinner, and we watched a movie on Rachel’s laptop. I much prefer cooking when there are other people around, since it’s easier to cook and end up without leftovers, it’s more social, and it makes it feel more worthwhile for the effort.
All in all, a good weekend of fun, though I feel like I need some time to wind down. It’s busy this week at work since September is our year end and there’s much work to be done in closing the books. But I’ll fit some fun in as well. This afternoon, they’re replaying the Sunday night game so I get to see my 49ers stumble around against Arizona. And I’ve been invited to see the Monday night game live with some guys I’ve met from Wisconsin (who are big Packers fans) It starts at 3 AM our time, but I’m promised breakfast afterwards. Depends on when I get to bed, but I might go just for the fun and comraderie.
It’s been great getting to know people from around the world. I hope to meet more people as the weeks go on, as many of the people I’ve met are heading back to their countries in the near future. But I’m sure others will come. I expect to meet many people here, some for short times, some for longer times, but hopefully all for good times.
Hope all is well back in Canada. Have a great day!
It was a very busy weekend. Mike came down from Mangochi. In case I haven’t mentioned him by name, Mike is a fellow EI worker from Canada who I trained with in Stouffville before I left. He is working in Mangochi doing monitoring and evaluation for one of our projects there. It was good to see a familiar face, and to have someone to dialogue about things we’re learning here and some of the other questions I’ve been wrestling with in my reading and writing. Anyhow, on Friday I had my bosses over (the country directors are Paul and Helen, a married couple originally from Canada) The office I work at is attached to their home, so I will often stick around at lunch and use their TV, and they are good about inviting me for dinner fairly regularly, or feeding me when I stay to watch football on Tuesday evenings, so I was happy to be able to return the favour. The power went out briefly, but fortunately I have a gas stove, so cooking wasn’t a problem, and we just had to eat for a bit by candlelight. Such is Malawi.
On Saturday, I got to golf for the first time. Charles, the guy at my office who seems to know everybody here in Zomba, was able to track down a set of left handed clubs that I can use while I’m here. So Charles, Mike and I went out to the local Zomba course. After a couple of holes of grumbling about the hard dirt ground covered with leaves and all sorts of other crap (imagine playing golf on the roughest back yard you’ve seen with dirt trails running through it, and you’ll get the picture), and “greens” (I should just say putting surfaces) that are just sand, I managed to start to get used to the conditions and even had a couple good holes. Like Charles says, you just get used to the fact that this is the golf course we have, and you play it as it lies. On the upside, he told me about some much better taken care of courses in the country, so I’m hopeful to see them at some point.
Saturday afternoon, Paul and Helen invited a few people from around Zomba over to their home for a meet and greet and social time. Lots of good food and people to meet, and I even got to play a few piano tunes and got a few people singing. Then in the evening, a few of us learned salsa dancing from Rachel, a girl from the US. And I got to play some more pool with Mike and Emmitt.
Sunday, we had lunch with Eddie and his family, another coworker, and got to see his gardens, and various animals that he keeps (pigeons, ducks, rabbits) Then Mike headed off for Mangochi, and I headed over to the local swimming pool for a swim and to play some volleyball (on land, not in the pool). I never liked volleyball, but it’s a good social opportunity. Afterward, I had Rachel and Daniel (a guy from Australia that has been my tennis and one of my squash companions) over for dinner, and we watched a movie on Rachel’s laptop. I much prefer cooking when there are other people around, since it’s easier to cook and end up without leftovers, it’s more social, and it makes it feel more worthwhile for the effort.
All in all, a good weekend of fun, though I feel like I need some time to wind down. It’s busy this week at work since September is our year end and there’s much work to be done in closing the books. But I’ll fit some fun in as well. This afternoon, they’re replaying the Sunday night game so I get to see my 49ers stumble around against Arizona. And I’ve been invited to see the Monday night game live with some guys I’ve met from Wisconsin (who are big Packers fans) It starts at 3 AM our time, but I’m promised breakfast afterwards. Depends on when I get to bed, but I might go just for the fun and comraderie.
It’s been great getting to know people from around the world. I hope to meet more people as the weeks go on, as many of the people I’ve met are heading back to their countries in the near future. But I’m sure others will come. I expect to meet many people here, some for short times, some for longer times, but hopefully all for good times.
Hope all is well back in Canada. Have a great day!
posted by Chuck @ 5:22 AM
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