with love.. my travel update

Christoph was really the blog master on our trip (www.randomadventure.com). And so it has been 3 weeks since we’ve left each other and I am finally starting to write. There is a lot to say... but I find a hard time putting it all into words. I’ll try to follow the photos and make a story. Here are some more photos from the kili trip.

Here are some more photos from Zanzibar. Me and Jana (Christoph's love.. very awesome girl) in a swank sheesha lounge at the fancy hotel on Kwenda Beach. Jellyfish off our boat on scuba trip.. look closeley. Locals playing soccer on the beach, at sunset.. when i got lost from Chrisoph. Stone City, Zanzibar.

Nicki and I went to Malawi on Dec… well mid-December. Time is on a different scale here. Especially since I don’t have a job… which is so nice I must say. Our trip was about 9 hours by minibus... dalla dalla... we split it up into two days. One of the dalla dallas broke down.. or actually, ran out of gas.. so I think that made our trip more like 11 hours. We went to Nkhata Bay, and stayed in a cool hostel on the shores of Lake Malawi.. a gorgeous lake with the Livingstone Mtns. on the eastern shore. We met some very cool westerners and hung out here for a few days eating good food and drinking real coffee. One day we walked with our Dutch friend Martin to a building site in a nearby village. He was funding the building as part of an orphanage and trying to see it to completion, which wasn’t going to happen before he left. His organization is El Mundo Foundation. We met the chief and his family.. a fat man (fat meaning he is well off).. and some of his grandchildren. Martin was leaving for Holland the next day and saying his goodbyes; the chief took the opportunity to ask Martin for a car. Then headed to Mwaya Beach where Nicki had two friends, Mike and Chelsea, living and volunteering. They happen to live right on the beach. It was an adventure getting there. Malawi’s version of the dalla dalla is either a minibus or a small truck with everyone sitting in the bed of the truck, the open bed.. flying down the road.. babies strapped on mamas’ backs and all. This particular truck stopped about 15k from where we needed to be and wasn’t going any further. So we stood around hoping that another one would come, as it was getting darker and chances not looking so good, me asking everyone I saw with a car for a ride. Luckily, a man from Ripple Africa, the ngo that Mike and Chelsea volunteer for saw us.. and assumed two white girls were probably going to mwaya beach and he called and arranged for a guy to meet us at the gate at the main road, from where it was a 30 minute walk to the beach. And thank god he did that b/c it was completely dark by the time we got dropped off at the gate, and there is no way we would have made it to the beach without the guidance of Simone. It was a gorgeous walk… thousands of fireflies lighting up the way and lightening lighting up the sky. We reached the bungalows but no one was there. We were just happy to be there, but eventually worried a little that they might not come home and we would have to sleep on the beach. This would have been fine… Malawi is quite hot.. aside from the millions of mosquitoes and the threat of malaria. But they showed up and fed us and we were very happy.

We spent the next couple days relaxing on the beach and hanging out with the other volunteers. I woke up one morning at 4:30 am to see the sunrise and it was definitely worth it. I woke up my bungalow mate, Gordon, who joined me on the beach for photos.. a very cool guy from Scotland. It rained quite a bit while we were there, and usually torrential downpours. We hung out a lot in the main shelter area/kitchen, with a roof but open air and talked, read, wrote, ate cake that Chelsea baked in the wood stove, listened to Maggie play the guitar (Irish volunteer), went swimming. I swam with some local girls one day.. the water in the lake is gorgeous.. fresh water and warm enough to float yet refreshing.. kids refuse to go past their waists b/c they are afraid of crocodiles in the lake. Which I guess exist, especially in the rainy season and closer to where rivers empty into the lake. I swam out fairly far and took in all the beauty.

We left mwaya beach the Wednesday before x-mas and spent a night in mzuzu.. the nearest big town.. where we bought a coffee maker! A real western one, although a piece of crap.. but we can use at least the filter part. I tried negotiating the price with the owner of the shop as the coffee maker was already broken. He would only go down 150 kwacha.. about 1 usd and said, “poor workmanship.” I just laughed and gave in. And we bought real coffee, honey and actual bakery. None of which can be found in Tanzania, at least not readily. Malawi has actual supermarkets. These also do not exist in Tz.
After another 9 hour travel day, we arrived home.. where it was much cooler. I think Mbeya is at 1800m. Malawi is a gorgeous country, but driving into Tanzania, you are surrounded by gorgeous country as well. And since it is rainy season, everything is lush and tropical and green.


We spent Christmas at the center in Idweli. Idweli is a small village population 1200 about an hour outside Mbeya. The children’s center is an orphanage that Nicki volunteers at funded by an American ngo called Africa Bridge. Most of the kids were with their extended families.. there are 50 some kids total at the center, but around 15 at the holidays. We went there x-mas eve and decorated, the kids cut down a tree. This is Nema eating bugs.. although you can't see them. She is an awesome little girl.. a tomboy. The bugs wings were sticking out of her mouth and flapping while she ate them.. it was hilarious. She giggled the whole time.

Tamasha, Yacinta in the back and Juliana. Tamasha has the most infectious laugh.. and Juliana has a great smileMustafa, Solo, Price and Mzeza posing for the camera. Nicki and I went out in the village on X-mas eve and had a blast. It is very different than going out in Mbeya. No one hassles us and Nicki knows a lot of people. And there were women in the bar! That is very cool to me, aside from the question of where their kids are.. bars are usually all men with a few women who are probably prostitutes. So we danced with women and drank some local fermented fruit alcohol.. which was insanely cheap and not so good, tasted sort of like rotten fruit, but we were obligated. They scoop pitchers out of a vat of the alcohol and sell the pitcher for 400 shillings, about 30 cents. We walked home with our new friend Nema.. who Nicki always thought was a grandmother but when we saw her dancing up a storm in the pub we knew she couldn’t be. Nicki found out she was 25. She has a 14 year old son.. that could explain why she looks aged. We both woke up with sore throats the next morning. On Christmas we woke up and hung out.. I walked into the village and bought some mandazi (fried bread) and had some tea with milk.. this was basically hot milk with sugar. I ran into Earnest, a man who works at the center and he took me to meet his family who welcomed me into their home and said I am welcome any time. Villagers are very welcoming and kind. And everywhere we walk, kids yell out “Nicki!” It’s pretty funny.

On Christmas, everyone dresses up and looks really nice and most people go to church.. although I am not sure what type of church.. I think Christian. The kids looked great.. they had new clothes which would only be worn on Christmas. We painted all the girls’ nails. Lunch was the big meal.. with pilau (rice with Indian spices), meat, pineapple, and pepsi. And frosted cookies.. the kids made frosting and frosted biscuits in the morning. Then the kids each got one present.. wrapped under the tree.. a pair of underwear.. probably the first gift they had ever opened on Christmas. One pair of underwear. The gifts were donated by a woman Debi, who is volunteering at the center and her whole family is out for x-mas.. husband and two daughters, 16 and 19. They are from Boston. A very cool family.. although a bit out of their element in Africa. They refused to eat the cookies after seeing the kids make the frosting. Of course Nicki and I ate about 5 or so each. After lunch, the kids took off to walk around the village.. and so did we. One of the girls found some money and shared with all the kids.. who immediately spent it on candy and mandazi. We walked around with them, and they were sharing their candy with us.. this was amazing to me. Kids who have nothing.. find some money.. of course spend it right away.. and then are shoving candy at me.. very generous. Nicki and I stop and have a Christmas beer on our walk back to the center. You can buy beer at almost any shop. We debate whether or not we will return to Mbeya or stay another night in the village. The family is taking a taxi back so we could ride with them. We’re terrible at making decisions together. We arrive back at the center to see the family sitting and waiting for their taxi.. all their bags packed and sitting next to them. We look at each other and know that we have to stay. They made it pretty clear they couldn’t wait to get out of there. Nicki and I try to find cell reception to call our families.. but to no avail. We are a bit bummed, although expect this to happen.. and decide to nap for a while. I woke up and played go fish with the girls for a bit and then Lucy went and got us some leftover pilau to eat for dinner. Nicki and I shared a plate of it. During the middle of the night, both of us got sick.. terrible stomach cramps.. and with the sound of Nicki throwing up.. I lost it and barely made it out the door before puking myself. We were a mess.. Nicki called a taxi so luckily we didn’t have to take the dalla dalla back into Mbeya. The girls laughed at us.. we were barely moving. We got back home and crawled into our beds. We found Deborah, our house mate, also sick. She went to the hospital. We decided we most likely had food poisoning and not malaria since we both got sick at the same time.. and we figured it was the left over pilau. Either way.. we suffered quite a bit on the 26^th.. I barely made it out of bed.. very weak, terrible body aches, fever, nausea.. we didn’t eat or drink anything. I dragged my ass out of bed that night to prove to Nicki and Deborah that I was alive. We all lay on the couch and watched movies. We both felt better the next day.. with the nausea returning that night. Our stomachs are still not right.. but much better. The food choices here are quite limited and not very desirable. The main staples are rice, beans, fried potatoes, chicken, and white bread. There is a good market with lots of produce.. tomatoes, onions, eggs, mango, pineapple, cucumber, carrot, avocado. It requires effort to get food here.


I haven’t done a lot lately and am getting a bit antsy. I mainly fill my time with writing, e-mail, reading, and watching movies. Deborah has a TV and DVD player and I have watched more movies here than I have in the last 3 years of my life. Village life is very different than life in Mbeya. I have managed to go for two runs.. which is quite pathetic.. and now my shoes have been stolen.. ha... so that is postponed. Yesterday, I did heat up water and bathe with warm water instead of a cold shower.. that was nice. Nicki and I went to the village the other day and were attempting to get to Ngumbulu.. a village 20 km from Idweli where Nicki has started a soap cooperative. We have all of the supplies and are trying to get them there.. which seems to be impossible. After sitting around for 6 hours, we realize the lorry that was supposed to be coming isn’t coming. The head teacher from Ngumbulu is also waiting for a ride and expects us to hire a land rover. Since we are western and therefore have money. Ha. We refuse to do this and eventually leave with all the soap making supplies on the side of the road, in the rain, under the trust of the head teacher. She called Nicki the next morning and said she walked to Ngumbulu (which is how most people get there) and that all of the soap making supplies were carried there. Which is entirely possible, although there was a lot of heavy stuff.. but people carry very heavy things on their heads here. We visited the kids at the center.. and it was hard to leave.. they want you to stay. So we are planning on going and staying for a few days or more in the coming week.Deborah, Nicki and I.

Oh Mom, funny story. We met a westerner last night at the bar..which is pretty rare in mbeya. Elite grocery 2000.. yeah, that’s the name of it. He came up to Nicki and I.. rough looking guy..chain smoker.. but seemed to be nice.. we sat with him and his friend.. local guy. The conversation turned weird relatively soon afterwards.. both men clearly trying to hook up with us.. they looked to be about our parents’ ages. Dean, the American, asks me if I have a boyfriend… I say yes. And then I said, “I think you are a bit old for me… my mom and I have a rule.. we can’t date anyone who is closer to the other’s age.” He says, “well, how old are you?” I tell him. He says he is 38. I almost say, bullshit.. but just smile and say, oh really? He was totally lying. Thanks, but I’m not interested.