Mosquitos, cockroaches, and geckos - Oh my!!

EW GET IT LAUREL!! KILL IT KILL IT!!! GET RID OF IT!!! GET ‘IM!!!! EWWWWWWW!!!!!

There I was, 21 years old, huddling in one end of my mosquito net staring in horror at the mosquito that had made its way inside as I was setting it up. Of course, somebody had to keep track of the mosquito, and since I saw it first….  And Laurel is good with killing bugs. After a summer in Alaska, camping with mosquitos and no-see-ums, among other insects, one would figure that I could easily deal with the mosquitos here in Malawi, especially since I have the protection of a mosquito net here. Nope. 

There, I got it Talea, you can calm down now.

GO WASH YOUR HANDS!!

Not as if Laurel really needed reminding, I’m just paranoid. If only we had caught that moment on camera; I’m sure you all would have a good laugh over that.

Another night I was heading to bed and saw something move on the floor near the door. Cockroach. I stared in horror at it and told Laurel, calmly this time. She’s a dear and got rid of it for me. Our resident lizard-salamander-gecko-I-really-have-no-clue-what-it-is-and-I-don’t-particularly-want-to-know thing is taking some getting used to. I’ve only seen him once, but it was enough to become super paranoid. Laurel named him Jeremy, but I prefer to call him Germy. I feel like it’s more fitting. Whether he eats bugs or not. He’s not doing the best job, though I’m sure he’s eating his fill. You can tell by looking at him. Anyways, I was putting dishes away and opened the cupboard door to put something in it. As my hand was moving in to place the object on the shelf inside, I saw movement. Bug movement. Backward deeper into the cupboard. Cockroaches. Needless to say, my hand quickly returned to safety and I closed the cupboard. If they’re stuck in there they can’t get out, right? Probably not, but it comforts me to think so. I have Laurel open it and get something for me if I need it, but terrible need for stuff from that particular cupboard does not arise very often. Laurel graciously offered to clean it out, to which I did not oppose. The cupboard needed a good cleaning anyways, but this encounter has made that need incredibly urgent. However, at the moment we are not very motivated. We seem to be putting off this terrible task as long as we can.

I keep reminding myself that this happens to everybody in third-world countries, that it’s common and won’t kill you Talea, but I still don’t like it. I’m sure I’ll get use to it though and miss Germy when I get back home - that’s what I’ve heard from others who have gone as student missionaries. 

I did not come here to be comfortable. I came to get out of my comfort zone and meet others where they are, not expect them to meet my level. I came to be of service to others and make a difference in somebody’s life, God willing. And God is with me and has a plan “which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). Knowing and reminding myself of this brings me comfort and makes the bugs and other creatures a bit more bearable.

Stipends...

I have never ever had to budget my money before. I was always a saver with money I earned or was given for Christmas or my birthday, etc. But making a specific amount of money for groceries and other essentials last a whole month at a time? I’ve never really had to worry about it. I always had money when I needed it, since I was always saving and never needed a lot. Now I’m in Malawi, living off a stipend, and not wanting to spend my entire savings on food because I did not use my stipend wisely. 

So we went shopping. We needed a few food items and such to last us a few days until we could go to another store with better prices. So there I was, standing there looking at the shelf of toilet paper, searching for the best deal. Money-wise I got it. And boy did I get what I paid for. Honest to goodness sandpaper. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, it’s actually not bad. What was I expecting to find in Malawi? Charmaine super soft 4-ply, complete with the picture of a cuddly bear on the package? Haha, not quite!

Coco Pebbles? Never again. There was nothing “coco” about it. It tasted like a bland cereal, like really bland - so I added hot chocolate powder to it. Chocolate milk just helps everything. :)

Getting to know the currency here, kwacha, has been difficult. I have a difficult time converting to US dollars in my head and then decide whether or not it’s a good deal without taking FOREVER. So far Laurel has dealt with most of the cash part of shopping and whatnot, but I think I’m finally getting the hang of it. Oh, and it looks like we are doing just fine with our stipends :) I admit, the thought of spending my savings on groceries was completely ridiculous…

Driving. The driving is weird and all mixed up! The driver sits on the right side of the car and drives on the left side of the road. Thankfully, I am not expected to be driving while I’m here. We have people who can take us to the places we need to go, or we can use the mini busses. This past week four different people offered to take us along when they went grocery shopping. The other missionaries here are so nice!

I have to keep reminding myself that I’m going to be living like this for the next nine months and not just one. At camp this past summer I got used to moving around to different camps and different locations for a little over a week at a time before moving on, and I’ve never gone somewhere with a COMPLETELY different culture. Most of the time I forget that I’m not just on a month vacation and am actually going to be living here for the next nine months, which is so cool because it will give us a chance to actually get to know the people here and share experiences with them.

The avocados here won’t be really good until December, so here is a picture of the baby avocados that will hopefully be taking a journey through my digestive system before Christmas!! Thank for your prayers and support!!

Teacher Talea

I walked into our apartment, dropped my bag, and flopped onto my bed, staring at the ceiling. What on earth am I going to do?   Having never gone to kindergarten as a child, and literally not remembering what it was like to not know anything at all academically, I have no clue what to do with these kindergartners. The one who speaks a little bit of English can hardly say her ABC’s, even with the song, much less recognize them. And the little local boy who doesn’t speak any English can hardly do any of it (but man, can he smile - so cute!!). The curriculum we were given for these two students is way beyond them, starting out with phonics, which of course requires the ability to both recognize and be able to sound out the letters plus different combinations of letters, which, we all know can have many different sounds in the English language (thank you, complicated languages). Goodness gracious. Do children in the states do phonics and assignments in kindergarten? I always got the impression that kindergarten was more of an enriched play time, where they had educational games - they played and learned at the same time! Genius, whoever came up with that wonderful idea. Seriously. I love you (even though I happily kindergartened at home with my sister and our beanie babies).

But over here in Malawi, playing all day doesn’t necessarily work. One: The two little kids are in the same room as the big kids, which won’t be changing and doesn’t leave a lot of room to set up stations or anything for different activities or “subjects.” Two: SUPPLIES. I keep reminding myself that this is a third world country, and no Talea, you can’t have everything and anything you think you need for the classroom, no matter how nice or helpful it would be. (Actually, we have a lot of good supplies and resources - not a lot aimed for kindergarten though.)  So, we are starting at square one, and I do not recognize it at all. I remember having trouble with the word “something” when I was in first grade, but that’s it. Well, I remember missing a word on my spelling test and not getting a gold star on it like I usually did - heart wrenching. If I remember correctly, I almost started crying. My 1st and 2nd grade teacher was and is a saint, and a wonderful model of patience and loving-kindness that I wish I could emulate.  I tried showing them letters, saying them, having them repeat them, and having them write them down. I had Laurel try something when I couldn’t think of anything else to try. Nothing really seemed to stick. Will this really work? Are they going to learn ANYTHING from me this year?

... That’s probably a little extreme. And I know I’m an overachiever (you should have seen some of my lesson plans!!! I fixed those…), and seriously Talea, that was only day one. DAY ONE. Stop freaking out, calm down and relax. You have 9 more months - they’ll learn SOMETHING at least.

I have as much of a learning curve as these two kids, but I guess that’s okay. A wise friend told me that the day you stop learning and growing you die. And besides, isn’t that part of why I’m here - to learn and grow? And to help other people? It all fits. This unexpected challenge must be part of God’s grand plans for me this year. Please keep us in your prayers as we tackle this challenge and slowly discover what will and won’t work. And God-willing, these two kids will be able to recite and recognize the alphabet and many numbers and do much more by the end of the year!!

Jet Lag

I made it (on Friday evening - now it’s Monday afternoon)!!!! I am now in Blantyre, Malawi where I will spend the next 9 months teaching the missionary kids here and spending time volunteering at the hospital and at a nearby orphanage. The weather isn’t as hot and humid as I was expecting, but that’s because they are having winter weather, which is quite unusual for the beginning of summer. The first night my mosquito net ended up piled on top of my face, but since then it has been working much better!! I have one mosquito bite though :/ Let’s just assume that mosquito wasn’t a malaria infected one. Only one mosquito bite so far isn’t bad though - after two days in Alaska this past summer I had at least 15.

Jet lag and I are not best friends. I laid down for a nap at about 3 in the afternoon, slept until 7, when I decided to assemble my mosquito net and just go to bed for the night, and then woke up at 11 pm. I was awake since. It's getting better though. I woke up at 1:30 this morning and went back to sleep!!!

School is starting tomorrow, to give us a chance to get organized since we got here Friday night. Last night was spent doing lesson plans. I HATE lesson plans. And I only did the ones for grade 6. I have many more to do this afternoon. We have 7 students total. Two kindergartners, one of which is Portuguese who speaks little English, and the other is a local boy who doesn’t speak any English at all. We also have one 5th grader, one 6th grader, two 8th graders, and one 9th grader. I’m anticipating that the most challenging part will be the kindergartners, however, having no experience teaching, I could be very, very wrong. 

It’s really cool being in a new place and experiencing new things, though I really am not sure what to do most of the time. I haven’t started taking pictures yet - I’ve been too let-lagged to even care about that, but I will pull out my camera soon!! I must get busy now so that I’m ready when school starts tomorrow - wish me luck!!