http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/jondhill/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from jondhill en-us Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:41:06 +0000 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:41:06 +0000 MalomoIt was a strange moment when I realized that with 99.9 confidence I am living in by far the worst living conditions of anyone American I know and Irsquove made a few auzungu friends in MalawihellipFor the final push of the project Irsquom working on we have moved out to a small trading center named Malomo whose only significance is that it lies about half way between two serious t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/blog-420517.html Mulanje MassifI want to first apologize for taking a couple weeks between blog posts Irsquove been rather busy with work and have failed to get around to writing this post. However I promise that it is worth the wait.A couple of weeks ago I visited a mountain in Malawi named Mulanje Massif which rests in the Shire Valley in the southern region of the country. Anyone who has seenread the Lor http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Southern/blog-416721.html Nkhotakota Lake MalawiI've just got back from seeing Lake Malawi for the first time at the coastal trading center of Nkhotakota and two things struck me instantly upon arriving.One Lake Malawi is big.Two Nkhotakota is truly a hidden gem.Sani Beach ResortA friendcoworker and I last week decided that we were going to get out of Ntchisi and see some of the rest of the country so the obvio http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Lake-Malawi/blog-412102.html Gule WamkuluOne Happy Birthday Mom.Two I've posted some new photos from a Gule Wamkulu dance that we were able to see yesterday. Gule Wamkulu is a secret societycult in Malawi that shows how traditional life used to be and is very entertaining to watch. If you remember a young child previously confused me for one of these dancers you'll understand how fantastic that is by clicking the li http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/blog-408707.html Note It has been brought to my attention that the phone number I provided earlier is incorrect if anyone wants to reach me call 011 265 99 3213078 Thanks MomMoving on to Stage 2 of the summer So I realized that I haven't written on this thing in a while so I figured that I'd go ahead and write a little update on everything that's been happening. First of all we have finished the initial pha http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/blog-405853.html What I'm Doing HereSo I've realized that in my carelessness I've completely forgotten to explain in detail what I'm doing in Malawi this summer I am extremely fortunate to kind of stumble into a great opportunity paid by U of M research grants to work on a field pilot survey of isolation and transportation effects of economic development. The study is put on by Michigan professors with help fro http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/blog-402670.html NOTE My internet connection is too slow to upload photos but I'll make sure to upload a handful when I get to a faster connection.NtchisiThis is my first post in a week because I've been getting myself acclimated to my new home Ntchisi Malawi. According to the Malawi guide book I bought One Malawian described Ntchisi to me as the most remote town in the country hellip There are a few rest http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/blog-399958.html Chez Ntimbe and Lilongwe Night LifeLast night I had what will become one of the more memorable nights of my life.After a long busy week of eurooeligworkeuro euroldquo traveling around town in these little public transportation buses and asking questions to locals euroldquo L and I decided to go out in Lilongwe and enjoy ourselves. Two days ago we road a minbus with a guy from http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/Lilongwe/blog-397410.html NOTE The previous number I gave was actually incorrect thanks to Mom for pointing that out my real cell number in the country is 265 993 321 3078. Sorry to everyone who is getting currently spammed by my multiple entries in two days but itrsquos kind of a busy time for me since I just arrived in the country so in the future expect closer to once a week or something along that rate.Lilong http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/Lilongwe/blog-396530.html Arrival in LilongweI've arrived in Lilongwe this afternoon. I'll write a longer post later since my battery is dying but I wanted to make sure everyone saw this.My phone number for the summer is 265 99 321 3084 I get free incoming calls so feel free to call whenever. Jon http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Central/Lilongwe/blog-396225.html FYI I tried uploading some photos from London onto this but the internet connection I'm working on is pretty slow and it doesn't look like that's going to happen. ApologiesLondonTo play it safe with my connecting flight to Johannesburg I played it rather conservatively on getting back to Heathrow in time so now Irsquom stuck in the position where I have four hours until my flight and not a w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/blog-396221.html Hey everyone if you've already subscribed to this blog disregard this but for everyone else please subscribe by clicking this link httpwww.travelblog.orgalert.htmlbloggerJon20Hillbloggerid99735popped1 there is no spamming mechanism you'll only get an email when I enter a new post.A Couple Hours Out...So before I left for the summer I wanted to write up one quick post a few ho http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Illinois/Naperville/blog-395681.html Favor Could everyone who is interested in reading this blog sign up as a subscriber It doesn't involve being on any spam lists you'll just get an email whenever I make a new post. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch that way.One Week OutFinal PreparationsSo one week from today is my flight from O'Hare to Heathrow and one week from Monday I'll arrive in Lilongwe. At this point it's http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Michigan/Ann-Arbor/blog-393784.html Prep for Travel20 Days til I leave...Moni that's hello in ChichewaSo I'm starting to play around with all of this site to see if I can get it to work so put up with me if I mess some stuff up at first.A little background people who aren't too sure about what I'm doing this summer I will be living in rural Malawi from May 4th to August 20th though I will be out of the us from May 2nd to Augu http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Michigan/Ann-Arbor/blog-390109.html Mexico City Photoshttpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid2521603id8643197leaff91b618 http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/blog-386912.html Costa Rica Photoshttpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid2425937id8643197lc3ef59a483 http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/blog-386910.html Hawaii Photoshttpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid2425936id8643197l28816b93e3 http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/blog-386909.html Japan Photoshttpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid2425917id8643197lb389dad33bhttpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid2425923id8643197lf45800f2a2httpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid2425928id8643197l4822793442httpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid2425932id8643197la978ac74db http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/blog-386908.html China Photoshttpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid2425906id8643197la180bca280httpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid2425911id8643197l9fd525af02httpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid2425913id8643197l66c1bfa8eb http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-386906.html Cambodia Photoshttpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid2424966id8643197l7603be8aaahttpwww.facebook.comalbum.phpaid2425073id8643197la57d7d45fc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-386905.html