Getting settled in

---

Our first two weeks in Mzuzu allowed us time to get settled in, familiarize ourselves with the surrounding areas and start our work at the university. On the third night, our supervisor and head of the Land Management department, ‘Lucky’ had invited us all to his house for a big feast. The table held a buffet of delicious traditional Malawian food. The following days, we got our work figured out for the remainder of the school semester, I am teaching an introductory course in hydrography (aka ocean mapping) and geodesy. The first weekend we spent in here in Mzuzu to organize our lectures and lesson plans. I also went for my first trail run, were I escaped outside the campus gates to explore the surrounding areas. I made my way down a secondary school campus and noticed a local soccer game going on. I approached one of the spectators ‘Wilson’ on the side who explained to me that the two teams were competing in the presidential cup and the losing team who be eliminated. Towards the end of the game the players and fans were getting a little violent, and when the final whistle blew everyone started running away. I looked around and noticed some fans fighting and a guy on the ground getting kicked by a few other guys. At this point I realized I was in a mini soccer riot and decided to run to the hills with Wilson following. As we reached safe ground I asked Wilson how I could get to the surrounding villages that I pointed out in the distance. I was getting too dark for me to start exploring, so Wilson offered to show me around the following day. The next day he met me at my door step. As I was leaving he told me to bring my camera so I could take pictures and show my friends in Canada. Wilson is a student at the University of Malawi, studying agriculture-economy and soil sciences in Lilongwe but he was in Mzuzu on his summer break. As we made our way through the trails and around the rural villages, he’d teach me everything about the various plants, food and practices that the local people use for their livelihood. In one of the villages we met an African albino family. A few days later Wilson brought me to another village, one he grew up in his entire life.
The following night, me and a couple of the interns headed to the basketball court, to play some ball. The court was already full with the local students and university players practicing, but we broke out into a few half-court games and before the sun set we played full court matches. Luckily the average Malawian is shorter than me so I wasn’t at a complete disadvantage. The locals showed great sportsmanship and respect during the games, they played extremely fair and unselfish. They also found it hilarious playing blacks vs. whites Haha.
The following day I had to teach my first class ever. Luckily I only had 6 students in the class so it wasn’t that bad. I was teaching a course on tides and water levels, I found it hard to deliver the concept to the students who live in a land locked country and have never seen tides before. The students looked at me with straight poker faces and staring at my every move. I couldn’t tell if they understand me well, or can read my writing on the blackboard. Hopefully they will show a little more emotion after the next few classes.
So far we’ve established a daily routine of buying our fruits and vegetables at the markets, we each take turns every night cooking a meal for the whole group, luckily we have good cooks in the house. I‘ve gotten used to the little or no water available during the day, for some reason it runs full pressure at night and really early in the morning. Power outages occur every now and then, it gets tricky when it comes to making a meal with no water or power. Also, every now and then the light bulbs in the house explode when you turn the lights on. when this type of stuff happens i reassure myself with a phrase locals say sometimes.. “T.I.A” (this is Africa!)
On Thursday night, there was announcement of an official student’s sit in, meaning the students are on strike and won’t go to class. Their only printer and photocopier have been broken for quite a while and never been fixed so they need these to be fixed in order to do their studies. During the sit in the lecturers are not allowed to teach until the registrar give official notice that the conflicts have been resolved. The students formed a big rally in the middle of the campus and have set several road blocks on the campus streets, including the main entrance. Let hope this gets resolved soon!!!

---