Think it's been a while since I last wrote and then it was a bit of a whine, I fear.
Have got over that negative patch and am merrily settled down to the daily business of life here in the tropics. It is fiendishly hot these days and we have cold showers before bed and then sleep with fans blowing all night. But the upside is that all the trees are putting out bright green leaves as if in anticipation of the rain coming in December - even though there is not a sniff of it yet. Even the baobab at the back fence is beginning to sprout.
I was very honoured yesterday to name the new baby daughter of Edward (our head guide) and his wife Mable (our laundry lady). I was taken by surprise so I suggested my mum's name, Claire. But Malawians can't say i's so it was Crare and they looked disconcerted at that, so I suggested my granny's name Patricia, which was also difficult to pronounce and the baby nearby had the name already so they waited expectantly for another. So I suggested Jane, a name I have always loved for its simplicity, and because of my dear friend of the same name. They loved it too, so this afternoon at 3pm I am off to their house again to eat a meal in celebration of Jane. She'll be known as Jani though, as everything in Malawi ends in "i". (Remember the shopping list? Ben is a scream - he speaks his version of Chitchewa where he just speaks English and adds "i" onto everything!)
(An aside: there are very interesting names here - you know about Lyoness already, but some of my personal faves are Godafoloy (Godfrey) and Cleartone (known as Creaton).)
The boatmen are picking tamarind pods off our big tree in front of our office - it's interesting to eat - you eat the inner soft part of the pod - very spicy. They make a drink out of it here by mixing it with lots of sugar and water. And the kids are jumping on the trampoline which Franklyn is sitting on having a chat with other staff.
A very sad thing happened - our guide Foster's wife was expecting a baby which just wouldn't arrive. She was in the monkey Bay hospital and they let her get to 10 months, and of course it was then stillborn. Horrible. Would never have happened in the first world. People get so used to tragedy here. Staff leave for funerals every second day. But are back and cheerful within a few days. I suppose you get tough.
I won't bore you with another shopping saga - suffice it to say Pam and I did the Lilongwe big city jaunt last week and have returned with souls refreshed by cappuccino, home-made gelati and tortellini - and of course adorned with 30 more magnificent chitenjes from the Tanzanian ladies. (There was a leper there - a man covered in seeping sores who was yelled at by the ladies until he shuffled off - another third world vision!)
And I finally made it to the Monkey Bay market again yesterday. There is always a treat there. I was running short of bras (here bras are made of scratchy nylon with no underwire (necessary post-babes!) according to a pattern last revamped in 1955 - all pointy and Madonna circa 1984!). And blow me right over, but there was a pile of the most gorgeous la Senza bras, brand new, albeit a bit dusty, in exactly my size, in all the colours of the rainbow. I now own 10 - in every shade from orange, through the pinks, to lime green and turquoise and maroon. The joy! They cost the equivalent of less than $1 each. Also bought many boy's clothes, Gap and Oshkosh and whatnot - Ben and Eddie don;t own a new garment amongst them these days and are the best dressed kids in Cape Town (well, I think so - love a bargain!) Bush also owns many loud patterned shirts which he wears with his own inimitable flair and ubiquitous grey board shorts. I also dress Jurie (checked shirts and t-shirts), Buji (superhero things) and Java (anything pink!) (And shared the bra harvest with Gloria in the laundry who had requested help in that area.)
We just had a momentous occasion! A gal in the village had friends to stay - a gay couple, one of whom was a hairdresser. In exchange for a night on Domwe, he cut my, Bush's, Ben's, Eddie's, Jurie's, Buji's, Javi's, Pam's and Lucy's hair! Oh the thrill! We all look very smart. Poor guy must have been finished after that, but he was Edward Scissorhands and did us all with a smile!
Must go now - doing hostess duty on Mumbo tonight - kids will join me tomorrow - short staffed as everyone is off to music fest (not doing stall - long story...)
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