I was gifted a chicken by a man named
Loyd. He came by my house to tell me that we had a meeting at 8am
the next day and that he fulfilled his promise. I had no idea what
promise he was talking about but I miss so much of many conversations
here I didn’t give it much thought. Later that day I went into my
“kitchen” (which is merely an outdoor room with a thatched roof
and my mbaula – charcoal stove) to find a chicken flocking towards
me. And then I remembered, Loyd. Loyd promised me he would give me a
chicken. Thanks? I lost that came of chicken! I closed the door
and counted to 10 to go back inside to untie its feet. I did this
three times…fail,fail,fail. I then went and asked my neighbor to
help me. Turns out I have a fear of bats and chickens and mice too.
Well I am more just really annoyed at the mice. I don’t know why
they say, “quiet as a mouse” because it is my experience they are
not quiet at all and wake me up every night. At the moment I am a
little extra peeved because they ate through one of my headphones.
Come on!
A few weeks after that episode I was
gifted another chicken. Thanks but you shouldn’t have…no really
you shouldn’t have. I was at a meeting with a Community Based
Organization (CBO) that supports those living with HIV/AIDS. It was
a really kind gesture to provide me with “relish” but the walk
home was awkward to say the least. I carried it with no ease at all.
Many people offered to carry it or just laughed. I must look like
such a strange bird being the only one in the village that is
uncomfortable around chickens. I hope this is an egg laying chicken
because I know I don’t have the guts to slaughter it and I still
want eggs. I walked it to my sitemate Mark’s house where he has a
room to keep it. He is almost as uncomfortable around chickens but
helped me cut off the ties around its feet. The chicken quickly
escaped and the neighborhood kids were helping us try to catch it. I
was just pretending to help because I didn’t want to pick it up
again. A kid ended up cornering it after some time. He was wearing
a blue Nike t-shirt so naturally we started encouraging him by
calling him Nike Blast. “Get ‘em, Nike Blast, get ‘em!” And
he did!
Oh, I have been meaning to ask, want to
come over for dinner?
In more impressing news…
I helped at a girl’s empowerment camp
called CAMP GLOW (Girls Leading Our World). It was a really great
week with many inspirational moments and fun with 70 of the brightest
girls in Malawi. Peace Corps has been hosting the camp for a few
years and has been able to acquire some excellent speakers. This
year was no exception…the Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton came
by to share some words of encouragement. It was a very hectic week
preparing for Hill O’ Beans especially because I was serving as the
resident gopher. It was such a great opportunity for Peace Corps
staff as well as the girls, I was very impressed with it all. But
still some of the highlights of the week were the Dance Party (I won
at least a few dance offs! Earning some real street cred) and the
Bonfire, where girls wrote down something they “can’t do”,
shared it with the group and then threw it in the fire, which was
pretty powerful. A lowlight of the week was speaking directly after
HC left, giving a talk with my colleague/friend Ian on Human Rights
and Democracy…wah wah. Come on girls you just met with one of the
most powerful women in the world…now listen to what we have to say!
Too bad CCN didn’t stay for that because I think we nailed it.
They say that Peace Corps has really
high highs and really low lows and most of the time those are in the
same day. I call that Manic. But it is sort of true. I have been
having some incredible experiences juxtaposed with some very slow
moving days. Village life is really good but can be really slow!
Adventure is always lurking. But when adventure is taking a hiatus
here is an average day, however, no day looks like the day before but
just to take away a little mystery.
5am Wake up and tell Splinter and his
rat friends to leave because I am up. Maybe I go running or run to
my chimbudzi (outdoor pit latrine).
5-6am Start the fire, which still
varies with success, fetch water, sweep my house
6am Enjoy Coffee or Tea and Oatmeal and
try to listen to BBC News.
7am-8am Read/Write or do my laundry by
hand…these hands.
8am Realize I have already been up for
3 hours and am running out of things to do so I heat up water for my
Bafa (outdoor bathing area where I take a bucket bath).
9am Head to the Health Center or to
meet with a CBO
Noon. Lunch time…Join someone for
lunch or start another fire…oh man…again…I just finished a
fire…maybe I will just skip lunch
1pm Back to the Health Center or
another group that I invite myself to observe
4pm look for something to do and make
my way to hangout with my neighbor friend Gertrude who is 19 and has
a 2 year old. Sometimes she lets me watch while she puts in a weave
for a friend. That is usually a Sunday afternoon activity and takes
a long time!
6pm It is pitch black…so I will read
for a bit by candlelight.
7pm…Tell myself I should probably try
to stay awake until 8pm.
