New Year, but really I mean last year into this ye

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  Blantyre, Malawi
Saturday, January 7, 2012

First of all my apologies for being so rubbish at blogging over the past few months. My one friend has said it's because I now have a girlfriend, who does, admittedly keep me busy at the weekend, and my Dad will tell you it's because of the close proximity of the local drinking place... Myself, well I'd say that it was because I fell out of the habit of blogging. But don't worry, my new years resolution is to get back into the habit!

So what have I been up to? I spent a fantastic term helping teach Standard One (6 year olds) at the local primary school. I was basically supporting another volunteer called Marc, who did all the hard work such as planing and resourcing, as, as soon as I finished school I was back onto my main task of helping set up the children's centre. The change in attitude and approach of our class was remarkable after one terms worth of teaching. Our children were thinking and asking for themselves, they were beginning to use their initiative but most importantly they were enjoying school and having fun. I've nearly finalised a proposal for some of my caregivers (they're not my students any more as they're paid employees as of 4^th January) to go in and support the two remaining standard one teachers until Easter so classroom management and group work will be easier. I think it's safe to say i'll be visiting the school regularly, especially my old class there. It was quite sad the other day as I went to meet the headteacher, all of my old class thought I was going to teach them so they all went running ahead to get into class first, only to see me walk past (I did pop my head in and apologise).

Apart from school, My Dad came out to visit for a month from October to November. It's always great to have him out here as we get on so well. We spent a week at the lake and it's the first time i've ever said to him 'Dad, I just want to go and relax'. And that's exactly what we did. We also went to Liwonde a national park and most importantly, we went to Dowa, my girlfriend's home village, to meet her parents. As well as my girlfriend (I call her Tal but her name's Patricia), her twin brother, Steve and her older sister Diana came. It was the first time the family had all been together in four or five years so it was quite special. However, now i've met her parents and especially because they met Dad, we have to marry according to their tradition. Tiziona. This means 'we shall see' in Chichewa.

At the beginning of December was the first anniversary of my Mum's death. The worst thing about it was being away from my family. But all in all it passed by okay. I attempted to release a Chinese lantern at the same time as my family were due to back home, however the wind had other ideas and turned it into a thundering fireball that rocketed up the nearest hill. The thought was there though.

December also saw the departure of Marc, who'd been here since August. It's safe to say that myself and Marc had become very good friends over the past few months. Marc moved into the township to live with us, well we didn't have any spare rooms, so we converted a storage building at the back of our house. It was a bit like a cell with no windows, so we knocked a window through and put a power supply in there. And it became known as the legendary 'MacWilliams Love Shack- where the magic happens'. It was all a total joke but highly amusing to any local Malawian women who automatically assumed magic to mean black magic, but when we hinted at other types of magic the shock on their faces was priceless. Needles to say Marc, Macwilliams, Mr Baobab or The Giant as he was known here, and myself got on like a house on fire. Although, it was sad to see him leave, the honeymoon had to come to an end ;-)

For Christmas, my girlfriend and I were invited to the residence of a top official (his daughter is my girlfriend's best friend) in the capital Lilongwe. We stayed for four days and it was like a hotel. There were carpeted floors. I had a bath tub in my en-suite. I had the closest thing to a power shower i've come across in Malawi. And, I had a telephone at the side of my bed in case I needed anything. It's funny, as many of these little luxuries, I don't actually miss living where I am, but I have to admit, it did make it feel like Christmas having them once again. The family we were staying with always have a party on Christmas day and there was a real festive feeling amongst the people as the day/night went on. I was the only white person there (but hey i'm use to that now!), but it was different to normal circumstances where being the only white can mean you're an attraction. The majority of these people were all clearly well educated. I met Doctors, professors and governors, none of whom I can remember names of. A highlight was probably being in the swimming pool with around twenty other people. However, I was the only person who could swim. Kids were just jumping in left, right and centre to begin with, until I established some order. Most Malawians can't swim and many of the adults are scared of water. The children on the other hand have no fear and this can lead to the most tragic of events. Anyway, all ended well and I had made many new friends by the end of the afternoon's life guarding! Christmas was different out here, compared to home. But it was lovely and relaxing and i'd happily do it all over again.

New year has always been important to my family, with my Dad's side being Scottish, and it was nonetheless special again, even though I was 5000 km away. The night before New Years Eve we went to see my favourite Malawian band 'The Black Missionaries'. I've lost count of how many times i've seen them now, but they never fail to disappoint. This was kind of where my New Years Eve celebrations began. On New Year itself, we went to a local club in Blantyre called Chez Ntemba. I love Chez as I think it has real character, however this character was frightfully scary at midnight as fireworks were set off left, right and centre in the crowds. Luckily it was an outside stage and I don't think anybody was hurt. I do remember speaking to my Dad as he called (remembering that Malawi is two hours in front) for him to wonder what all the commotion was.

This is to just give a vague overview of my absence from blogging. I promise to keep you all updated for the next five months before I return home.

Lots of love, peace and best wishes for 2012.

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