Rainy season reflections
Start of a new year in Lilongwe
It’s been a little while since we’ve written one of these but the truth is we’ve had a relatively quiet few weeks since returning to Lilongwe in early January. We are now very much in the depths of the rainy season, and Malawi is looking greener and lusher and more beautiful, with the ubiquitous maize plants at the side of the road growing taller and taller. Malawians will grow maize, which makes the staple food nsima, pretty much anywhere, which means it is on verges throughout the city adding to Lilongwe’s rural feel.
Tropical rain
It is raining a lot, although thankfully unlike the UK the temperature is otherwise warm and we do still have quite a lot of sunshine. One of the most visible impacts of the heavy rains is the deterioration of the roads, which are getting worse and worse. It’s striking to think that we are in one of the richest parts of the capital city and the roads are this bad. People temporarily fill them with dirt/stones/crushed bricks but they will then often wash out with the next heavy rain that comes through. The rain can also cause electrical faults which means that some parts of the city are without power for days or even weeks, and the wait times to get through to ESCOM - the electricity supply corporation of Malawi - are painfully long. We have also had some exciting and dramatic tropical storms complete with flashes of fork lightning and intense thunder. Fingers and toes crossed that we get through cyclone season (through to the end of March) unscathed.
Getting to the lake
Last month we spent a nice weekend at Casa Costantini in Salima with some friends, an incredibly relaxing few days where we did little besides swim in the pool, eat and drink. We hired a cottage which came with our own chef (Gerard), although we had to provide all the food, drink and the recipes which was a logistical challenge. A challenge Euan very generously took on. Some recipes worked well - Gerard had lasagna down pat - others less so (the poor man spent ages hand whisking egg whites for a pavlova and it came out surprisingly like marshmallow). We’ll see what delights can be created next time as we are now planning another weekend by the lake with a larger group.
The Day Today
Char is being kept busy still navigating the lack of news on UKAid and FCDO staff cuts with a rapidly approaching end of financial year and nervous implementing partners. She did make the Malawian newspaper which was a surreal experience celebrating a global health partnership which supported nurses and midwives quality improvement research projects. Euan is enjoying sharing an office space with three other “trailing spouses” and practicing his Chichewa with our Malawian colleagues.
Plans
We hope to have a long weekend in Nairobi after Char represents the UK at the International Maternal Newborn Health Conference, and then we are heading north over Easter, to Nyika National Park, Livingstonia and Nkhata Bay. We’re very excited as we have heard great things about all of those places, and it’s a part of the country we have yet to properly explore.
Other bits
We’ve joined a volleyball team (sort of)
We went to the 250th Marine Corps Ball last month, which was hosted at the swanky Bingu International Conference Centre by the US Embassy
We helped demonstrate some ceilidh dances at the Burns Night celebrations hosted at the British High Commissioner’s residence
It turns out we have an avocado tree in our garden, and are experiencing a glut of avocados at the moment
Euan is training for a half marathon at the end of May in Thyolo
We’re eagerly tracking the voyage of a new car we have ordered from Japan, due to arrive next month
Pete the cat is doing well - although has managed to lose 3 bell collars since we have been back, which we think may be intentional
Looking forward to our next trip back to the UK in May after which Euan’s parents will be coming to visit
Zikomo
