Day 15: Meeting Claire in Lilongwe
Please note - we sometimes run into difficulties getting access to the internet while in Malawi. We hope to get some photos from Ellie soon and will add them when she can get them to us.
Phoebe and I met for a nice breakfast in the Nuseen Guesthouse. I was excited to have some yogurt for the first time since being in Africa. It’s odd what you miss when you are away from home.
Olipa’s family, minus Eddy, came to pick us up and I got to see Doreen and James senior who hadn’t come to the airport yesterday. Later, on the way to Mthuntama we stopped to see Eddy, Olipa’s older son, at his boarding school. I love reconnecting with this family. I’ve known them long enough to feel like they are part of my own family.
Claire got in exactly on time and without a glitch. I am so happy about this.
What fun to see her wheeling those huge suitcases through the airport lobby and to hear that she had to explain about menstrual pads and blood to the security men who suddenly had heard enough and waved her through. We love that!
The Malawi crafts market was next on our agenda. We like to have some items from here as well as Uganda. Afterwards, Claire announced that it was fun. I’m so glad because, again, for me it’s stressful with all the vendors trying to lure me into their booths. But we did it and now have fun things to sell.
It was getting late, so we hit the road and only after leaving Lilongwe remembered that we had meant to go to Olipa’s house to unpack some things in bags at her house that are needed for here. Oh well, it was too late to turn around so off we went. The clouds and then sunset were spectacular. This is a beautiful country. Claire was charmed by the long Africa fabric skirts and all the people carrying buckets and baskets of things on their heads. We did stop at a roadside veggie market and bought some groceries for Alice, our host for the next two days. That’s always a lively experience and such fun to people watch.
When we stopped at Eddy’s school Olipa motioned for me to come into one of the classrooms. Four people were making sample swatches of different sewing stitches to use as teaching tools. We discussed the various stitches, and I got to take a few photos.
We made it to Mthuntama and were welcomed by Andy and Alice saying, “welcome home”. And that’s how it feels. Everything is familiar and comforting with these old friends.
We’ve all had hot baths and have crawled into our beds to get a good night’s rest for tomorrow.