Today began a little later. I planned on sleeping in, but the guards right outside my window began talking soon after the sun came up. Only my suitemates, Jiayin and Mike, were awake. I did a load of laundry (the chicken blood stains laughed at my meager Tide), hung them on the line to dry, and waited for the rest of my crew to awake.
Evidently, it had been a long night for my teammates. One of our team had managed to chip a tooth of another of our housemates, and no one had gotten home until very late. Bryan emerged around 11:00 AM and announced Silas was coming over to take us to get some more Kwacha (Malawian currency).
On the way home, we stopped by a fried chicken place. I went ahead and ordered a nine-piece box for myself. I’ll have breakfast for at least two days. In the world of Malawian fried chicken, you might say that the secret ingredient is salt.
After a leisurely lunch and a few thrown Frisbees, we decided to take a trip to the local curio market. Mike drove us in, and we met with another researcher who was skilled at negotiating with the local craftsmen. Dozens of vendors had their wares laid out across a parking lot. Wooden animals of all description, painted scenes of fishermen on Lake Malawi, folding wooden chief’s chairs, and all sorts of clever jewelry were available for negotiation.
As soon as we got out of the car, we were swarmed with vendors introducing themselves. “Hello, friend. My name is Charles. I have something to show you. Remember, it costs nothing to look.” Each one insisted that business had been terrible that day, and in order to secure money to pay for travel home, he was willing to give us a truly low price. I picked up a few small carved wooden pieces to bring back home.
We went to Mina’s house for a housewarming party. Mina’s an infectious disease specialist who runs the medical school’s Malawi Project. Her house was incredible, set in a neighborhood of huge, individually walled-off estates. There were fruit trees in the gardens, cokes and cold beers in the cooler, and goat on the grill. It was utterly delicious.
Keeping up my pattern of near-continual exhaustion, I opted out of going clubbing tonight. No pictures today – sorry. Tomorrow I’m planning on playing ultimate with some of the UNC folks for a few hours. We’ll see how the weight that I’ve lost on this trip, my comparatively well-skilled throws, and my inability to run for more than three minutes will balance out into a gametime performance.
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Just remember the longer you huck it, the greater amt. of time you have to catch your breath before playing defense.
ReplyDeleteI hoped that the tooth which was chipped was immediately pulled.
ReplyDeleteIt's the only way to be sure.
So you finally see the light. Goat truly is the food of the gods.
ReplyDeleteWas that Mina Hosenpour - sp?
ReplyDelete