We arrived at our final destination, Cape Maclear, around 7:00 p.m. Another long day of travel. A note from my jounal:
"We discovered that our electric charge adapter fits in the outlet here. We exchanged 2 hundred dollars, went grocery shopping, got some food for the ride, stopped at market for produce andmade our way here. It took us between 4 and 5 hours from the time we lwft the airport, till we got here - it was another very long day! The roads weere bumpy, paved a lot of the way, but 2 lanes, people walking or bike riding on both sides of the road, so it was a pretty tight fit with 2 cars going by!"
This is where we slept and some of what our room looked like. This pole was 'the closet'...as it turned out, there were worms or bugs of some sort in them, and before the end of our stay, Shannon's clothes, mostly, had little tine holes in them from the bugs! We discovered this before we left and we were able to get another pole for the closet. As I recall, that first night's sleep was good...it felt surreal to be falling asleep here and thinking that this would be where I would be sleeping for the next 3 months. We slept under mosquito nets every night which took some getting used to...a lot, actually, for me. I sort of felt clautrophobic, and I am not really prone to that feeling, but somehow I had a slight fear that I wouldn't be able to breathe. There were even a couple times I woke up in the night and a mosquito was inside the net; that is an unsettling feeling! Plus, there was no way I could go back to sleep unless I knew for sure it was gone or dead...I would get bitten for sure if it stayed inside the net. The other thing I found that happened for me was that my feet became very dry there. We were barefoot (with flip flops) most of the time; and it was hot and sandy, and my heals cracked and were very scratchy. Well, they 'caught' on the netting and I had to wear socks at night so my feet wouldn't stick to the net! It all worked out in the end...
Another quote from my journal: "We fell asleep listening to singing from the bar down the beach. Oh! I probably should describe the quarters. Shannon and I share a room-2 double beds, some wooden shelving alon 1 wall, and some bamboo poles that hang from the ceiling that Shannon used to hang her clothes over. I woke up a couple times and looked at my watch - it seemed to go back and forth in time - it seemed to be 1:00 and then 12:00 later. there were some different sounds - singing. It sounded like someone laughing at about 12:00. We took showers in the morning - they were cold. The water here is heated by a solar panel, so the water isn't warm until the afternoon. It was a quick shower but we were hot so though it was cold it felt good. We had yougurt for breakfast and an orange."
That first 24 hours was long and filled with so much anxiety for me. I could hardly speak without breaking into tears. The tears were a combination of fear, insecurity and excitement. I was overwhelmed at what we were doing and could hardly grasp the enormity of the experience. For me, this was not just an activity; it was truly life changing...and I felt that as soon as we landed in Africa.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
"We did take a nap before lunch and another one just now (4:30 p.m.)! Lunch was communal and Joab cooked for everyone. He made chicken, potatoes, coleslaw and quiche. It was very good - and looked very nice on the plate. We ended up back at our room again after lunch; Shannon was feeling very sad and homesick - she said she wished she hand't come. No, I'm not sure those were her words. But she said she didn't want to stay for 3 months. I, then, started feeling very bad and sad. I felt builty because I "made" her come even though that is not true."
That was how our first 24 hours went...trying to settle down and understand our feelings and deal with the enormous task we had taken on.
"The water here (Lake Malawi) is absolutely beautiful - and there are waves, that we can hear at night! I'm beginning to "get" how long 3 months will really be for us - but also, it will change when we're busy doing a 'job' and stuff. We are just getting the hang of the money. Also, we are talking about some R&R things we can do - I'm just still hoping it all works out with the money and stuff!"
