Lake Malawi

---

So, I decided to get out of Lilongwe and head to Lake Malawi over the weekend, because not much is shaking in Lilongwe. Blantyre is really where the action is. So first I needed to go to the bank to see if I could get out some money (after the whole debit card debacle). So, two hours later I have my cash, but I'm exhausted. I freaked myself out, like what if I can't get out any money, what am I going to do (of course I would have figured something out, but I was too busy working myself into a frenzy). Gender lines here are very clearly drawn. There were only a handful of women in the bank, only men. And when I left my hotel in Lilongwe for the lake, the bellhop asked where my husband was…

So the road to the lake takes about 2 hours or so driving. I had a safe, Africare approved driver so I felt pretty good. We drove by village after village of small round mud huts with thatched roofs. Little clusters of them. Goats, cows, school children walking alongside the road. I didn't take any pictures, because I didn't want to be rude, but to imagine living like that, working a little plot of land, washing clothes in the river, toting water, etc. I just couldn't imagine it. Oh, and all the men were lounging under the trees. The women seemed to do the fieldwork and just about everything else that I could see. Every once in a while we'd come through a larger town with a little "tea room" and "bottle store".

The lake is absolutely beautiful.

Last night, since you know I'm shy, I tried to go and mingle in the pool bar. This guy heard me ask for a water and asked if I was from the US . Long story short, he is from Malawi and went to school in the US. He was there with some friends and they have an NGO where they are working against uranium extraction in Malawi. A little more probing and I find out that his grandfather was killed in a coup, his father had been a minister in the government, and that his girlfriend who was also with him, her mother is the minister of something here, I think it was labor. Today we went out on a wooden boat to this island, which was more like an outcropping of rocks, and did some snorkeling. I'll send the pictures soon.

The hotel has dial up internet. How's that for throwback?

Oh, and the beer here, Hunter's Gold, it is really a cider. You know I'm in heaven. It's that or Carlsbad - three varieties.

I think missionaries really have been active in Malawi. One guy's name is Gracious and another guy's name is Gift. I'm not kidding.

They also use their "God given knives and forks", meaning their hands. The waiters bring a little bowl and they rinse their hands and that's how they eat. I gave it a try. But again the lefties are at a disadvantage because people eat with the right hand.

Tomorrow back to Lilongwe. More then!

---