Our last few days in Malawi were jammed packed with activities. After our last day of camp, we got back to the house, had a celebration party (Jaren's cheesecake included) and said our very sad goodbyes to the field staff. We then packed the bus back up and ventured out towards Lake Malawi to Cool Runnings. We got there just as the sun was setting and looked out on a beautiful view of the lake, the third largest in all of Africa. After dinner, we all passed out after our long and tiring last day of camp.
We woke up the next morning, bright and early, and hit the beach to attempt to rid ourselves of our farmer's tans. Caitlin obviously is now bronzed, and Riss is resembling more of a tomato despite her 70spf. After a long day relaxing on the beach, we sat down for a dinner of chambo, the fish that is found in abundance in Lake Malawi, and as Jaren put it, "you haven't been to Malawi if you haven't had chombo". It was absolutely delicious, and it was very cool knowing that the fish had been caught a few hours before by one of the many fisherman we could see out on the lake. The next morning we woke up at 5am to watch the sunrise over the lake which was absolutely stunning. A little while later we packed up, and hit the road to go to the craft market. After some impeccable bargaining and bartering we hopped back in the van with crafts in hand headed towards Lilongwe. Our last day was a whirlwind of activities from dinner at Michael and Amanda's (two people very close with World Camp who are fantastic cooks and dinner was unreal) whose family welcomed us in as their own and couldn't have made Malawi feel like more of a home.
36 hours later, we landed in New York. Needless to say, the cold was a shock and the snow is ridiculous. This month has been a fantastic experience and so much fun, it's too much to put into words how great of a place Malawi is. We've never met so many people who can sing and dance (we'll be bringing our new moves to the dance floor of the mods...) but most importantly who are happy. These people face unimaginable hardships yet they manage survive with a smile on their face. Malawi couldn't have welcomed us more into their homes, schools, and hearts and we hope that we have left as much of an impact on Malawi as it has on us.
Until the next time we get to cross the Atlantic, ndapita and tionana.
