Living somewhere is something very different from traveling. Traveling is finding somewhere you can eat and if it’s bad then you only have to do it once and if it’s good then rad! You nailed food choices this time! Living somewhere is buying salt and pepper and clothes pegs. Traveling is visiting the spectacular. Living is getting your feet dirty amongst the ordinary.
It’s still sinking in for me that I moved to Africa.
This won’t be over in a week or two.
Learn to boil every drop of water before it goes in your mouth. Learn to look poverty in the eye 365 days in a row, and figure out what you have to do about it. Learn to be lonely and learn to do well with that. Learn to say no. Learn when to let your guard down and learn when you keep it fiercely up. Learn to keep everything charged because of power cuts. Learn to shower any time of day you hear water in the pipes because chances are it won’t be there for long. Learn to keep your cupboards fairly full so you don't have to walk to get groceries when it's pouring with rain. Learn to be ok with bugs crawling on you.
Today on my way to the markets I saw a guy standing in front of a tree saying “amen” over and over and over. When I walked back the other way he was on the other side of the road, standing in front of another tree doing the same thing.
I saw a guy walking down the street with a red hair clip proudly clipped in his beard.
I saw a centipede as long as my foot and as fat as my big toe.
I walked past a man holding his son’s hand, I smiled at the little boy and the dad pushed him towards me and said “Take him!” and I was about to run away before I got landed with a small Malawian child. But turns out he was joking so I stayed and laughed.
I carried a 5 litre container of water home from the shop and wished like anything that I knew how to carry things on my head like every Malawian woman can.
When I cut through the park a man starts walking alongside me:
First he laughs..
“Why did you buy water?”
“Because I get sick! I’m not used to Malawian water.”
“Oh! Where are you coming from?”
“From New Zealand”
“How long are you in Malawi?”
“I’ve been here for three months”
“And you like?”
“Yes, yes! Malawi is very beautiful!”
“What are you doing?”
“I work at the hospital”
“Ah!”
Then he told me about his business and how his office is nearby, how he is going to the sports centre to play basketball. He used to play basketball but now he’s old, but he’s going to anyway.
He says “I will come and visit you at the hospital! What’s your name again?”
Ok, Patrick! Lovely to meet you!
- Malawi, January 2015
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