Zomba

A beautiful weekend destination. It is a plateau overlooking much of the southern region of Malawi. You can see a smaller lake just south of lake Malawi as well as Mulanje Massif, the mountain my friends climbed the weekend I opted to stay home. And from the looks of it from here, that was a VERY good decision. Most of the time you cannot see Mulanje because the clouds are covering it. But Saturday afternoon it popped out to say hello and we snapped a few good pics.

Saturday we drove up to the lookout and it was breathtaking and the mix of warm and cool breezes felt so good on your skin. The car was not 4x4 but somehow we made it, thanks to Tomondoni's excellent driving skills. After that we came down to the fanciest hotel I've seen in Malawi for lunch. They were having a Birthday party for some Christian bishop and everyone was dressed to the nines. Underdressed as we were, we sat outside and chilled and ate our food and it was lovely.

After a long lunch we set out on a walk, it ended up being longer than I thought but we made it to Williams Falls with the help of some locals, Bernard and Ephraim. I was excited to tell Ephraim that I had a friend who was his namesake in Detroit. They also sold us some of their crystals which are harvested from one of the Zomba peaks. I gave in to their good salesmen-ship and bought a big rose quartz for about 2 bucks. It reminded me of a necklace my nanny gave me when I was little.

After that we came back to our hotel and sat on the veranda and drank and ate and talked. Casa Rossa is a newly renovated house by an Italian couple so that means great coffee and great cuisine. Everyone tried the gnocchi and/or pesto which was a greatly appreciated departure from Nsima (maize meal) and beans. The couple owns a big Mastiff named Paulo, who apparently is only six months old as I realized his puppiness when I sat on the porch and he nuzzled and wrestled with me. It's nice to have some big dog time and makes me miss Moose.

Sunday was spent sitting on the veranda and slowly watching the clouds and fog lift over the beautiful view, while also reading and just enjoying doing nothing at all. The president of Malawi is visiting Zomba today and you can hear the party down in the village to celebrate his visit. I thought of visiting to see what was going on but then thought better of it with all of the political unrest. So sitting on the porch and looking forward to a yummy Italian lunch sounds much more peaceful. I'll just continue to listen to the party from a safe distance:)

Having a husband who sings, writes and records music is such a blessing because when I am missing him I can turn on an album of his and then I feel as though I am sharing this time with him. Or that he is here with me.

It is getting to the point in the trip where everyone is starting to miss the comforts and luxuries of home. The conversation keeps coming up what meals to have, places to go, beers to drink, etc...once we get home. I keep having to remind myself to stay here in the moment because it continues to be amazing that I have been given such an extraordinary opportunity and that here I am, in Africa.

On our way back home, we drove by Kamuzu Stadium where people were lining up for a game. Red and White (The Bullets) vs. Blue and White (unknown mascot), so I went and cheered The Bullets since I at least knew their mascot. I was adopted by two girls who must've known I needed a friend. They put me seated in between the two of them after an old drunk man was hitting on me, and didn't believe that I was married. They pointed out the team's star player #2 and were very gracious. I saw a man fall into a gutter out of sight, and then the folks around helped him out and he was fine and walked away. The nice girls walked me to the exit when I had had enough excitement and I got on the bus home.

They must know they overfill minibuses on game day because we got stopped by the police for over capacity so I hopped out and walked the mile that was left to home. On the walk I met a nice man who works across the street from our house and has 8 kids, 6 of which are college educated. 4 with masters degrees One of his sons works at the US embassy in Lilongwe and said he has traveled to Michigan before. It was a peaceful walk back and I am glad I left before the end of the game because it sounds like chaos outside, celebrating, but chaotically. I want to thank Ethyl and her friend for adopting me at the game and taking care of me, the Azungu in a Malawian world.