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Published: August 1st 2008
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The title of today's blog means "Hurry, hurry has no blessings". It would be good if one could apply this to this trip but sometimes there is not even a hint of "pole pole" (slowly, slowly). Occasionally we have to cover quite long distances and there is no question of having the one or other photo stop. It's just shooting out of the truck window and everyone knows that those snaps could as well be deleted right away. But this is really the only thing which is regrettable. Did I mention the food yet? We are actually roasting a whole (small) pig on a spit for tonight's dinner!
I have just come back from a short stroll along the beach of Lake Malawi. The lake is huge! The waves come swishing in and the night before last when the wind had picked up one had the feeling of being on the shore of the North Sea. Just the twang of the salty air was missing. (Liebe Grete, wenn man die Augen schliesst, vielleicht nicht ganz Wangerooge, aber ein bisschen so.) Wherever one goes children come running up to you shouting: photo!photo! It's great fun especially after Zanzibar where people were much
more reserved. (Meike, if you are reading this at all, I must admit I loved Stone Town. I remember you telling me that you didn't enjoy it that much but I loved to wander around the small lanes, getting lost occasionally, looking at all the beautifully carved doors, chatting to people - oh, and Frank and Karin, if you read this, I went into a small shop where they sold paintings but also Cds and they had a Cd of Ngoma Africa with a photo of Jaspo on the front. I talked to a woman there and she actually knew Jaspo and his wife but said that he calls himself Said over here.What fun.)
This is turning out to be a very uncoordinated blog. I was going to plan it a little more but there seems to be so little actual spare time. The days are full of new and exciting impressions so that I am getting tired quite early in the evening.
Today I have been to school - again! Primary school in Malawi is free. It goes from class 1 to 8 and at the end the pupils take a national exam which covers 5 subjects. 160 000
pupils pass annually but there only 15 000 places at the secondary schools. (And possibly not many jobs afterwards.) At the school I visited today there are 1105 pupils but they only have ten teachers. Can you imagine the size of the classes? Hopefully one of my pictures will turn up on this blog. A term in secondary school (there are three of them per year) costs five US dollars. One can imagine how many people can afford these fees. Sometimes students drop out for a while and do any kind of job they can find to then pay for another term or two. One of these jobs can be that of a tour guide as I learnt the other day when we took a tour around a tea plantation. (Thanks for your message, Bernard. More information on Amnesty International's work in Malawi and Zambia would probably help me understand the situation in these countries a lot better. We have to find out things ourselves by talking to people and sometimes the language barrier is just too much.)
Let me end today's blog with an account of another exciting adventure. I am referring to the return journey from Zanzibar.
I call it "Walk this place."
Imagine being on a rollercoaster within a giant carwash. (We are sitting in the bottom deck cabin of the Super Fast Ferry.) Thew rollercoaster has an "in-flight" movie with two channels. One plays "Rambo" (possibly IV) with mainly sound effects like "Shriek! - Splatter! - Ratatatatata! - Wham Bam - Scream zinnngg splash! - Scream Auuuughhh!" , the other channel plays people puking into small black plastic bags, which have been handed out halfway through the journey.
The way out to Zanzibar was weird enough,with "Mr Bean on Holiday" being played. But this was way stranger. With my eyes trying to hold on to the horizon so that I wouldn't be sick myself I still had to catch an occasional glimpse of the procedures on the screenonly to look away again quickly because the sights there could easily make you sick just as well. What brutality! But the English subtitles were just too funny. Hero and heroine running through the Burmese jungle trying to escape from the baddies. Stone-faced Rambo (he didn't twitch a facial muscle once throughout the whole movie) whispering "This way." and pulling the heroine into hiding. Subtitle:"Walk this place." Unfortunately
more wildlife
How wild can it be if it is running away from us? I couldn't write down more during the trip to remember it for later as the boat was going all over the place but, I assume you get the idea.
So much for today. We are leaving very early tomorrow to be on our way to Lilongwe the capital of Malawi.
Night sets in very early here. It's only just six o'clock and it's getting dark already which means the mossies are coming out with the intent of eating me alive. Keep up the good work of sending me lots of messages. It's great fun hearing from all of you.
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paul runesha
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Haraka haraka ni baraka
I loved your story about Malawi and the beautiful pictures of animals. Apart from two of the African faces, the majority are gloomy faces...why didn't you take smililng faces? Next time do