Explaination and then some.

by Dom on November 19th, 2006

Alright so I’m back here’s the situation. We are in training and they have decided to let us use the internet as a priviledge so I can’t say how much I will actually get to use it.

So I had some other stuff but then it got erased and now I’m mad. So anyway, hmm. Let me see what I can remember.

So the best story I think have is the one where Jessie and I walked up to this store on the highway to buy some absurd shirt. After the purchase we noticed the abundance of kids in the shop with us, not especially strange but what was was the fact that they weren’t looking at us. They were staring outside at the “traditional african dancers.” It was getting dark so we had to go but there was definite hesitation as they were all dressed up in pom-pom like things and canvas masks with clubs and machetes. So we tried to be discrete. It didn’t work. They immediately saw us and came over. I was quite apprehensive, but it was relieved when they stuck there hand out asking for five kwacha. I laughed, told them I didn’t have K5 and asked them to give me K5, so they asked Jessie. She did likewise right back to them. And so it began some stupid bickering fight between four people on the side of the highway in english and chichewa back and forth asking for K5 and telling them not to beg. Until finally we all started laughing at the absurdity of the situation and just walked away. I think my final question for K10 went over the line and we parted ways.

From then on there was a mutual ignoring. There would be children running screaming past us down a dirt path and here would come this random shirtless guy with a mask and a machete chasing them and our conversations wouldn’t skip a beat. I guess that’s Africa for me.

Some other things you might be interested in, Grass roofs make no noise in the rain, and washing clothes in the river stretch them out.

I’m trying to put some pictures up but right now I’m having issues, but I will definitely keep trying.

The hotel

by Dom on September 28th, 2006

This place seems pretty swank. It’s costing me 25 rand to use this computer for 15 minutes. I got complimentary wine while I checked in. Red, and it was good, though I don’t know what it was. Our rooms are nice, but there’s nothing that crazy about them save the light switches working oppositely and the toillet handle on the other side. Kind of a let down, but I guess I now have a pretty good idea of how Britain will work if I ever go there.

Seeing all the cars with the steering wheels on the wrong side was amusing. I was even surprised when one of the other volunteers got in the shuttle on what would have been the drivers seat but was actually shotgun. It’s the little things. Anyway, my time is running short and nothing really fantastic has happened so I’m going to wrap it up.