Gone with the Plane

My luggage glared at me, sitting in the middle of the living room of my house, packed and ready to go. My whole family was home, despite the fact that it was the middle of a weekday. Time was all too quickly ticking down to the moment where we would all pile into the car and drive to the airport to send me off to Malawi for the next nine months. It was then that I realized I didn’t want to go to Malawi anymore. I had just returned from a summer away from home after a very busy school year. I was tired. I wanted to stay home and see my family for a while. I didn’t want to go teach. I didn’t want to say goodbye and leave. But my plane ticket was paid for and I had students, eager to learn, waiting for me in Malawi. So, with a heavy heart I said my goodbyes and boarded the plane, desperately fighting the tears that threatened to spill over the borders of my eyes. What happened to the excitement I had felt months earlier when my childhood dream of going to Africa as a student missionary started to become a reality? Maybe it would have better been left a dream, I thought to myself as my flight took me miles and miles away from everybody I knew and loved.

Traditional native dresses that the school made for us :)

That was nine months ago. Now, in the blink of an eye, I’m gone. A whirlwind of programs, dress fittings, potlucks, packing, presents, and goodbyes rushed past me as I tried desperately to make the most of each moment I had until the plane threatened to take me away. All too quickly, the days ran out, suddenly the rush was over, and I’m gone. Those same suitcases, filled with different items now, sit in my room, awaiting the next leg of my journey home. I know I packed everything, yet I still have that terrible feeling that I’ve left something very important behind. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. I wasn’t ready to leave. I wasn’t ready for my time there to be over. What about all the things I never got to do, never got to help with? What about my students? Already, I am kilometers and kilometers away from the people I know and love in Malawi, and I don’t like that fact. I’ve figured out why I feel like I left something behind. My heart is no longer in my chest; it’s in Africa with all my friends there. This whole leaving business just feels so incredibly wrong.

Needless to say, I’m glad my dream became reality. I am so thankful that I’ve had this opportunity, this experience, this joy. I would not trade the past nine months for anything in the world. I’m going to miss everybody more than I can describe, I already do; but I will see them again, if not on this planet, then in heaven.

Pool Time

Julian - always ready to swim!

Three days a week, as part of our Physical Education class, we take the students down to a hotel and swim in the pool. The kids love it, and it is a great way to cool down on the really hot days. (It came in really handy when we had no water for a week and could at least get wet by jumping into the very chlorinated pool!) 

Six of the seven students, ready to walk to the pool.

We make the students tread water for 10 minutes each day.

Gift concentrating on the perfect jump into the shallow pool. He had so much fun!

They specialize in having two people jump at a time, with one person always backing out at the last minute.

Alyssa wearing a life-jacket that's bigger than her to learn how to swim. She doesn't use the life-jacket anymore. :)

The pool is circular, so we often have them swim in one direction to create a whirlpool.

They love it because it's fun. We love it because they get exercise and burn energy.
And also because it's fun :)

Julian & Lety - Very enthusiastic students!

Taking a little rest :)

Julian and Claudio waiting for the girls to finish changing so we can go home.

Each Christmas, the students put on a little swimming show for their parents - the Swimming Gala. This past Christmas we had each student demonstrate a different stroke, or for the younger ones, another skill. Gift showed us how to kick and Alyssa demonstrated holding her breath underwater. We also had a competition as to who had the best cannon-bomb jump, among others. The parents were the judges and used number cards to give their score. It was great fun and very entertaining! 

Gift demonstrates how to kick.

Students waiting to demonstrate different strokes.

The photographers.

The spectators & judges.

In our last package from the university, Laurel and I each received a rubber duck. We had no need for rubber ducks, so we took them to school and on our last day of swimming, we had relay races that involved pushing the ducks across the pool without touching them. That was by far the best day of swimming this school year!

Lillee & Alyssa - couldn't swim because they both had colds.

Julian.

Brenda.

Claudio.

One of the two ducks. 

Cheering the teams on....

Claudio again. 

Breanda again - I love this picture!! :) 

Bianca & Lety 

Bianca, Laurel, Lety, Claudio, Brenda, Julian 

Lety. 

Team 1: Laurel, Claudio, Brenda 

Team 2 - Bianca, Julian, Lety 

Bianca. 

The whole class.

Chichewa

Random person: “Muli bwanji!!”

Me: "Um… ndini bwino! Zikomo! How are you?”

And that’s the extent of my conversational skills in Chichewa, the local language here in Malawi. Often, the greeting will be a little bit varied, with another word in front of the “bwanji.” I have no clue what they mean. People have tried to teach me, but I don’t pick up languages quickly at all, and in my work, I don’t get much practice.

But I try. When locals greet me in Chichewa, I try to respond correctly. My responses are almost always met with a friendly high-five/handshake and laughter. Huge smiles assure me that they aren’t offended by my lack of Chichewa knowledge. Being a person who likes to know what’s going on around her, I surprisingly don’t mind not knowing what people just said to me. I don’t mind the laughter at my response. Strangely enough, it makes me feel a little bit more connected to them. I try, and they seem to appreciate it - and then it doesn’t matter that I said the wrong thing, that I didn’t know what on earth they said. We just laugh and enjoy the moment together. That’s the important part of conversation. It’s meaningful to know the language of the people you are serving, but it’s just as important to make that connection with people by being friendly.