Today was our first official day off from working. We drove about an hour out of Lilongwe to Mt. Nkhoma for a casual stroll up the mountain. Well, needless to say, hiking in Malawi is not like hiking up Snake Mountain. It was raining all morning and had started to clear up a little bit when we left for the mountain. When we got there it was still raining, but not as badly as before. We started on the trail that quickly became an over grown, rock covered trail, if you could even call it a trail. After about an hour or so we reached a house that was situated at about the mid point of the mountain. The views, besides the clouds we were in, were absolutely stunning as we could see the entire valley below us. After a short break, we departed for the more strenuous portion of our 'hike'. This is where our hike turned into more of a 'climb'. We basically bush-wacked our way up into a crevice, tripping, slipping, and falling on rocks and vegetation as we climbed. Our climb became almost vertical as we climbed over rocks and pulled ourselves up, battle wounds included. We finally reached the summit, legitimately in a cloud, and some serious wind gusts. Just as we thought that we were finished, Jaren, mountain man extraordinaire, (he's hiking Kilimanjaro sometime in February), decided since we were already up there that we had to go to the actual summit. We climbed over and down a bunch of rocks (cliffs on either side...) and slid down a little rock slope and reached a little green haven in the middle of the summit. We then climbed up one last rock face and reached the highest peak of the mountain. Standing on the top was, not gonna lie, a little scary considering it was really windy. Apparently the view is incredible, however seeing as we were standing in a cloud, we couldn't see anything below us (maybe for the better?). As much as we would have loved to see the view of Malawi below us, it still felt great to be standing on the top of this mountain, with the wind whipping around us, knowing what we had just gone through to get there. We ate lunch up there and then started our descent. Getting down the crevice was easier, but not easy by any means. On the way down just about everyone in the group ended up tripping, slipping, or falling over at one point or another. About one third down the mountain, the rain started to dry up and the sun started to come out. Slowly but surely the amazing view we had been told about was appearing before us. It was awesome to see the mountain we had hiked up in a different, more beautiful light than we had seen it on the way up, and seeing the views on the way down was almost more satisfying than seeing them from the top. At the end of our hike, we strolled by a few houses. Outside of one was a small boy who yelled to us, "Give me money! Azungu, give me money!" We've all gotten used to such requests by now and have learned to just wave and smile, saying "Muli bwangi!" a greeting in Chichewa.
By the time we returned home from the hike, we were all exhausted. There's little to no resting time here so many of us were excited to get the chance to sit around and do nothing. Karen, one of our coordinators, mentioned going to the Crisis Nursery that we visited on our first weekend here, and Marissa and some others went while I stayed behind. When we got back from the hike the power was out (a common occurrence here), so we just sat around in the dark for a bit. Eventually we had to make dinner, and the power had yet to come on, so we all sat around the table in our headlamps chopping vegetables and listening to music. Finally at around 8 the power came on, and although Lauren (who was heading cook group) had started cooking on the gas stove outside, we moved the whole operation inside and finished up quickly. We had a breakfast feast for dinner (rivaling MIdd's B for D) of french toast, eggs, hash browns, and fruit salad with mango, bananas, and pineapple, delish. After stuffing our faces Riss and I tried to write a bit of the blog but weren't feeling too hot and decided to call it a night. After such a long day and night, our exhaustion kind of caught up to us. Plus, we aren't 100% adjusted to the time change/food/busy schedule here so some nights can be a bit rough.
Today was our first day of camp number two. This school, Mchema, is a bit farther away than Chamwala was, though personally, I think it's in a more scenic area, surrounded by mountains on both sides. It was very very hot out today, and Riss and I weren't feeling very well, so the heat just sucked whatever energy we had out of us. At least for me, it was a struggle. I'm teaching this week while RissChichewa. Riss said that she is having a ball with the teachers and really learning a lot. At this school, which seems to be a very good establishment, the teachers are all very passionate and experienced in their field- something that not many schools can say. In Malawi, and many other parts of Africa, primary school (standards 1-8) is essentially free, and to pass on to secondary school, which is not free, students have to pass an examination. Most schools send a very small number of standard 8 students on to secondary school. At Mchema, their numbers are extremely impressive. In past years they've sent as many as 11 out of 26 students to secondary. Although that seems like nothing since the majority of American students move on to high school, at these schools the numbers decrease substantially after standard six. Some boys leave to take care of their families or to work on the family farm, and girls end up getting pregnant or married at a young age. Here, education just isn't really as big of a priority as it is in the states. Parents are more worried about their children's ability to build a house and survive off the land once they are on their own. Something I think all of us here are struggling with a bit is how we can make a difference in changing this trend. At least to me, it's frustrating because the lack of priority given to education is something really ingrained in their culture- and is a culture something you can even change?
Once we finished camp and started loading our truck, we started to hear some thunder rumbling in the distance. Upon hitting the highway dark clouds loomed in the distance. We drove right into a gigantic rain storm. Apparently in Malawi, when it rains, it POURS like nothing we've ever seen. We got home, jumped out of the truck and made a run for the house without unpacking anything. Lusungu's birthday was yesterday so John (basically our dad for the month/ king of the world camp house) had baked a delicious chocolate cake for all of us to enjoy. We all stood on the porch watching the rain pour down when Jaren decided to take a quick dip in the pool, running and cannonballing in- and of course we all followed. As Karen told us all to be careful because it was very slippery, Riss's feet came out from under her and she took a huge spill (typical). Somehow we all made it into the pool, swimming around in the pouring rain. It was fun for about ten minutes until the cold started to set in and we hopped out to eat cake and sing happy birthday to Lusungu. It was delicious, and I plan to get the recipe from John, although Karen told me he will only give out recipes if you trade one of your own with him. I wonder if Malawi is ready for carmelitas...
Of course, the power went out because of the storm and I'm currently sitting on the couch while Riss is in the kitchen preparing dinner for tonight. She's making pizza, rolling dough and chopping veggies with her headlamp. If the power doesn't come back we're eating raw dough and vegetables for dinner. The power never came on, so Riss, cooked the pizza on the outside gas burners... admittedly it was quite impressive and the pizzas actually were really good. It's only 9:20 and we're already so tired we're heading to bed...
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