A long way to Lilongwe!
on Ashtin Doorgakant (Malawi), 07/Feb/2010 19:25, 34 days ago
38 hours have passed since I woke up last. About 9 since I’ve arrived in Lilongwe. The intervening 29 have been spent in some form of transit or another getting from Manchester to here (train to London Euston, car to Heathrow, plane to Jo’Burg, further plane to Lilongwe, bus to VSO Office)- essentially sleepless. The travel was, among other discomforts, notable for the fact that my luggage never made it to the final destination. If it can be of any comfort, none of my other VSO partners received theirs either. Thus it suggests the whole baggage container didn’t make it and not just mine!My jet lag does not lend itself to a very pleasant narrative right now, but my feeling of recent satiation with a typical menu of Malawian cuisine does inspire a few words. The Nsima (a rather bland cross between polenta and semolina) was just as I remembered it from 2008. This dish, which is very unpopular among ex-pats, is essentially an acquired taste and I count myself as one who’s done just that. Accompanying it was the unmistakable Chambo, which I shall describe as the bone-on-fish (deliberate inversion) with more bone than fish (the little of which is incredibly tasty nonetheless)!The afternoon was otherwise quite light, with the usual induction session a la VSO, where all the bewildered ex-pats from different geographical and professional background had to break the ice. We therefore teamed up with someone random and presented them to the group. The group is made up of mostly Brits, but also Kenyans, Dutch and Filipino- and we’re all destined to different areas and placement roles: a motley bunch of very motivated individuals with quite a repertoire of skills to pass on. It’s quite exciting really. I guess the next 5 days of brainstorming induction within that group will confirm and dispel a lot of views about ex-patbehaviour abroad (including me) and pave the way for some unique milestones ahead. A top feature among this will be my tackling of the lingo- Chichewa. Chabuino Chabuino... Bring it on!