Now I have been in Malawi just over a week, I think I can write about what makes a typical day here.
At about 6am the birds start calling very loudly to each other, and a cockerel crows intermittently. This is a very nice way to wake up. Much better than an alarm clock. The sun will already be streaming through the windows, and the humidity will be building up. I fight my way out of my mosquito net and go and make a cup of tea for me and my roomie. While the kettle boils, I get some toast on the way and take it all back to bed. My toast has to be taken with my antimalarial tablet, which is huge, but seems to go down OK with a bit of the blackcurrant jam.
After breakfast in bed, my roomie will get her guitar out and we will have a singalong, Carol King, Fleetwood Mac and a spot of Leonard Cohen go down well. We are a bit croaky and the cockerel generally sounds better.
After that it is a shower in the en suite - a concrete affair, with no hot water and a leaking toilet. The termites have been having a party in there, which is a bit ominous, but I do like the lizards that scuttle along the walls. The lizards are good news as they eat the mosquitoes.
Once dressed, we go for a half hour walk around the local streets. There is a lot of locking up of metal gates and wooden doors, and signing out, patting the guard dog first. Outside, there might be children trying to sell us tomatoes or the fried doughnut type bread. The trees are magnificent, but it is sad to see that all the houses need high walls and security gates, due to the lack of an effective police force here.
Work starts around 8.30am, sitting round a long desk in the office, next to our bedroom. Everyone works hard, until lunchtime. I sometimes make the lunch, which is generally rice and beans and a vegetable (which needs to be picked from the vegetable patch). Then more work until around 4 or 5pm.
After work it is good to go to the local backpackers' hostel, where there is a bar, pool, restaurant and garden. There are balcony style seats so it is a good place to unwind with a drink.
Generally there is a social event later on, a theatre visit, jazz or poetry evening. Then it is back to bed, smearing insect repellent liberally all over first (so you stick to the sheet), climbing under the mosquito net and complete shut down once your head hits the pillow.
At about 6am the birds start calling very loudly to each other, and a cockerel crows intermittently. This is a very nice way to wake up. Much better than an alarm clock. The sun will already be streaming through the windows, and the humidity will be building up. I fight my way out of my mosquito net and go and make a cup of tea for me and my roomie. While the kettle boils, I get some toast on the way and take it all back to bed. My toast has to be taken with my antimalarial tablet, which is huge, but seems to go down OK with a bit of the blackcurrant jam.
After breakfast in bed, my roomie will get her guitar out and we will have a singalong, Carol King, Fleetwood Mac and a spot of Leonard Cohen go down well. We are a bit croaky and the cockerel generally sounds better.
After that it is a shower in the en suite - a concrete affair, with no hot water and a leaking toilet. The termites have been having a party in there, which is a bit ominous, but I do like the lizards that scuttle along the walls. The lizards are good news as they eat the mosquitoes.
Once dressed, we go for a half hour walk around the local streets. There is a lot of locking up of metal gates and wooden doors, and signing out, patting the guard dog first. Outside, there might be children trying to sell us tomatoes or the fried doughnut type bread. The trees are magnificent, but it is sad to see that all the houses need high walls and security gates, due to the lack of an effective police force here.
Work starts around 8.30am, sitting round a long desk in the office, next to our bedroom. Everyone works hard, until lunchtime. I sometimes make the lunch, which is generally rice and beans and a vegetable (which needs to be picked from the vegetable patch). Then more work until around 4 or 5pm.
After work it is good to go to the local backpackers' hostel, where there is a bar, pool, restaurant and garden. There are balcony style seats so it is a good place to unwind with a drink.
Generally there is a social event later on, a theatre visit, jazz or poetry evening. Then it is back to bed, smearing insect repellent liberally all over first (so you stick to the sheet), climbing under the mosquito net and complete shut down once your head hits the pillow.
3 comments:
This sounds amazing! You're a really good writer and I hope you're enjoying your stay!
Thank you!
I agree with Tabi :)
Post a Comment