Sika | May 24, 2010
We went to Dolphin Dhow, and luckily they had a group of four American guys, all laid off from a sinking Washington Mutual, already going out the next day for an overnight trip. I decided to go along first, and then John decided to go, as well. There’s some really nice snorkeling to be had [...]
Sika | March 25, 2009
There is a problem, I think, with the way we live in America. This time, I am talking about how divorced we are from the physical world in which we live. We can start with the fact that having lights on until the wee hours confuses the hell out of your body, which then fruitlessly [...]
Sika | February 20, 2009
My birthday party was awesome. David made a nutella birthday cake for me, I made Tracy’s carrot cake for Thoko’s birthday, and Adrienne blessed me with her first ever baking attempt: a delicious although somewhat disconcerting red velvet cake. Wanangwa brought a Ngoni delicacy—a hog’s head, and parts of it actually tasted good*. We had [...]
Sika | February 20, 2009
When I think of writing now, my thoughts seem so negative. As much as Derek may rejoice in me becoming a jaded old PCV, I am not happy with the way all the negativity makes me and Malawi sound. So, I think I’m going to do what I did for my students after their practical [...]
Sika | January 19, 2009
Because it’s taken me about 5 hours to get a screen up I can post from, I’m going to hijack my own post to give y’all a link to an article that I think makes a good case for why Bush officials need to be prosecuted for war crimes: www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/18/prosecutions/ . It basically says that [...]
Sika | November 18, 2008
David was complaining to Flora that it is too hot* and how he wanted the rains to come. Flora’s response: The rains aren’t coming because people are still burning bricks (to cure them and make them usable). David thought she was joking and laughed but she wasn’t. She explained that the bricks require heat and [...]
Sika | March 28, 2008
It’s interesting to watch the landscape change from the green and lush wonderland that has marked the rainy season to having areas of tawny, gold, and brown, as it becomes more and more like the country I flew into 10 months ago. Avocados are no longer expensive (MK10 now, instead of MK30-50); maize is piled [...]
Sika | February 1, 2008
Derek has been teasing me because when I got back from the U.S. I told him I was expecting rain but not the incessant cloudiness, continuous bursts of drizzling, and general dreariness. Specifically, I said, “Dammit, why is it acting like Seattle?” So, after the umpteen billionth time Derek teased me about how wrong I [...]
Sika | January 14, 2008
My grandma is doing better, I’m back in Malawi and back at work. Derek and I had Christmas dinner Iranian-style at the house of an ex-PCV in Old Niecy here in Zomba and then hiked the Zomba Plateau right after Christmas. I then went north and camped on the beach for New Year’s eve with [...]
Sika | November 8, 2007
Is starting early this year. On Saturday, around 6:30 (pronounced “half-six”) at night the lightning started. At first there was no rain and no thunder, and then a little drizzle started, but it sounded like a real rain because the tin roof amplifies the sound. The lightning started coming more and more frequently, but the [...]
Sika | July 8, 2007
I got a phone! I got a phone! My # (including country code and access symbol thingie) is +265 9476765. If you’re calling from a land line, it’s 011 instead of +. I can receive text messages and calls free, but for me to call the U.S. costs me about $10 for 5 minutes, and [...]
Sika | July 8, 2007
I’m not sure how to catch y’all up. On one hand, not much has happened. On the other, tons has happened. It feels like the 21 of us have been here forever. As if for forever we have been getting up at 5:30, stumbling out to the chimbudzi in the dim dawn; bathing in the [...]
