Since we arrived about 6 weeks ago, we’ve purchased a few things that are a bit out of the ordinary for us…

What: Car Battery
From: QuickFit
Why: Because the battery in the Biedebach’s van was dead – very dead. So dead that we had to borrow another battery to drive the van to town to buy the new one.

What: Mosquito Zapper Racket
From: Santa Plaza
Why: Because it’s more fun to electrocute mosquitos than to smash them, and a racket is faster than my hand.

What: Oil Lantern
From: Chipiku
Why: Because the electricity goes out often here, especially in the evenings; and the lantern cost $2.20.

What: Emergency Light
From: Santa Plaza! (Yes, Santa as in Santa Claus)
Why: Because it’s brighter than the oil lantern, and it comes on automatically when the power goes out.

What: Toyota Hilux Surf
From: Pam Forester, who moved back to Ireland
Why: Because we need to haul lots of stuff around and survive all the pot holes. Yay! We have a vehicle!

Our first official visitor was our good friend Wendy Simpson. Wendy and I have run into each other all over the world, so it wasn’t at all surprising when she said she’d be traveling through Africa and could she stop by? Of course! Matt and I haven’t explored very much of Malawi yet, so we took the opportunity to find a few new places with Wendy.

Kumbali Lodge, just outside of Lilongwe, has a great little village and cultural center. We stopped by to check it out and climb their trees.

We didn’t know how to play the popular local game of bano, so we made up our own game. Learning how to play the real way is now on my Cultural To Do List.

Lake Malawi is a required outing for any first-time visitor. It’s also great for second and third time visitors. =)

Thanks so much for coming to see us, Wendy, and for letting us take you to new places! We really enjoyed your company, friendship, and encouragement. You’re always welcome in our home!

When I posted on Facebook the other night that I was going on a date with my husband, I didn’t realize how many people would want to know what a date in Malawi looks like. I must interject here at the beginning and let you know that Matt is mortified that I have chosen to post this date for all to hear about. It’s nothing fancy. It’s not as elaborate as the morning he made breakfast for us and we had an early morning picnic in the park, and it’s not as exciting as the afternoon we got cited for hiking in a park with a mountain lion on the loose… But hey, it’s really and truly what we did on Friday night.

So here you go – date night in Malawi!

We started off with dinner at The Copper Pot, a restaurant in a local hotel. They’re known for their Chinese food, so we tried that – sweet and sour chicken and King Pow chicken (yes, King, not Kung). =) We talked and had a great time just checking out our surroundings and fellow diners.

And then off to the show! We jumped back in the van and headed home to catch the great classic – Swiss Family Robinson. What a great adventure story! We read the book together last year, and I do believe that in the last few weeks we’ve put to use 4 or 5 things we learned from the book…

That’s it! Date night in Malawi. The most important thing, and the thing that will make every date special is that it’s time I get to spend with my husband. God has blessed me so greatly with this wonderful man. I don’t want to take for granted any moment that I have with him, especially times like these when we can laugh, talk, and enjoy life together. I love you, Matt!

I’m developing a new skill, and it’s becoming a habit. I’ve served tea twice this week, I’ve been served tea twice this week, and I’ll be serving tea again tonight. As that will make a total of 5 times this week, here are my…

Top 5 Tea Observations:

• You can’t ever serve just tea; you must also have something to eat – cake, brownies, muffins, scones…. homemade is best.
• Five Roses brand is the tea of choice, not Rooibos, as I would have thought.
• Tea makes people talk. I think it’s that we all just like to have something in our hands.
• If you don’t have milk, or better yet cream, just don’t even serve tea. Milk is half the equation.
• Tea happens even if the electricity is off… good thing we have a gas stove.

Before we left the States a few people gave us great ideas for blog posts. Things like, what does a “normal” day look like for you, or what do you do for date night. So I’ve been trying to think about what things are quickly becoming “normal” for us here so that I can tell you about them before they’re so normal that I don’t realize they might be interesting. First on the list: driving.

We’ve done a bit of driving since we got here, and I’ve discovered that this is one area where I’ve had more trouble adjusting than I thought. It’s the small things, like which side of the car I get in. The steering wheel is on the right side, as they drive on the left side of the road here, so I have to stop (sometimes literally stop moving) and think about where I’m going. Matt’s done all of the real driving, so my side is the passenger side – the left. And sitting on the left side has really confused me where it concerns the rear view mirror. It’s set so that Matt, on the right side, can see behind us, but something in my American driver trained brain thinks that because I’m on the left side, I should be able to see out that mirror! I think culture shock is found in little things like this. They don’t sound all that exciting when you blog about them, but they’re the little things that catch you by surprise in the first few weeks. =)

In other car news, I have driven a couple times now. We’re living at the Biedebachs’ house, and they’re located on a large compound with 20+ other families. I have driven from one end of the compound to the other end, and then from that end back home. Impressive, eh?! I’ll be doing it again tonight and doubling my Malawi driving experience. Someday I might graduate to outside the compound…

Driving in town… not bad. Pretty good actually, and relatively orderly. So long as I figure out which way to go on a traffic circle, we’ll be ok.

Driving downtown… people and cars everywhere, and no one really pays attention to street lights or right of way. But honestly, still not bad if you’re willing to go on the offensive and defensive at the same time.

Driving outside of town… suggestion: 4 wheel drive and wear your seatbelt – potholes are guaranteed!

In our blog post Home in a Box, we told the amazing story of how God provided for our container to arrive in Malawi and be released and unpacked within 2 days. Well, here’s what it all looks like now:

The container was unloaded into Brian’s office, so it’s basically a room stuffed with boxes now. We took a couple hours this morning to sort through everything and check for any damaged or missing items. We handled every box, opened a few, poked and prodded the larger items, and as far as we can tell everything made it and the only damage was a very small pin missing from our dining room table. I’m not at all worried about that, because I’m married to Mr. Fix-It!

And yes, there were a few items that have returned home to Africa…

Now we just need to find a house!

We’re here! In California time, we arrived at about 12:30am, and here in Malawi, that was about 9:30am on Wednesday the 20th. We had no problems with our connections, all our luggage made it, and we got to enjoy an 8 hour layover in London!

The official “this is proof we’re in Malawi” picture. Notice the African man and the brick buildings with thatch roofs. And if you look closely, you’ll notice that we look really tired!

Our layover in London was dedicated entirely to getting Matt into Westminster Abbey. This was attempt #5, and I’m happy to say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! You can’t take pictures inside the abbey, so we had to settle for a picture outside, but with the tickets as evidence that we really did go in. And we did find the tomb of David Livingstone, explorer and missionary throughout Malawi and most of southeast Africa. =)

It was a great trip! We enjoyed the travels, but it’s really nice to be here now, to finally be in Malawi.

We’re tired now, and after a couple more adventures, we’ll probably go to bed a little bit early and try to get as much rest as possible. We have only a few short days with Brian before he leaves to be with his very expectant wife in South Africa, so we need to be as alert as possible for those few days!

Specific Instructions for Those Desiring to Move to Africa

1. Find one large living room – thanks Mama Flo!
2. Put everything you own in the USA in said living room.
3. Remove all items that are not Africa-worthy.
4. Pack all items in 4 boxes, distributing weight evenly – thanks both moms!
5. Weigh all boxes – thanks Dad Smith!
6. Remove all items that are too heavy to be Africa-worthy.
7. Repeat #5 and #6 for a long time.
8. Put the boxes in the car and head for the airport!

We’ve completed through #7! We’re just finishing up the last couple things we need to do, and then we’re off to the airport! Our flight leaves at about 5:30pm, in just a few short hours! We’ll update when we arrive! =)