MALAWI . TWO CENTS WORTH

Mood status: Taking 5 minutes to even identify what mood I’m in. Is there such thing as a ‘nothing’ mood?

Location: 2^nd row window seat on my dear truck somewhere in Malawi

Kande (pronounced Kan-dee) Beach was about the sun, surf and sand and not prostitutes and psychedelics as its name might have advocated. Spending the last 2 days at Lake Malawi, which quite frankly resembles a beach more than a lake, was so relaxing and completely un-African. We spent hours snorkeling, jumping off some pants-shitting cliffs on Kande island and spent many lazy hours allowing the African sun to lather us in melanoma. So the western nature of it all means that this would be a good time to reflect on the more cultural things I’ve done over the past 2 weeks my blog has somehow managed to neglect.

I find myself staring out the window of the truck a lot, partly because there’s literally nothing better to do and partly because you can take in so much. The either brick, straw, wood and aluminium clustered houses are aptly termed as popcorn cities, due to the quick time it takes for some of these communities to pop up in the most barren of places.

If it’s not an elephant or zebra strolling on the side of the road, there are beautiful children screaming and waving and running as the truck passes by. The funniest and most heart-melting thing we saw was 2 cheeky young boys smiling from ear to ear as we passed and dancing like the Brazilian dancing baby internet sensation – YouTube it.

Did my mum have relations in Africa? I gained 40 new African siblings who insisted that I was their “sister”. Celebrations of discovering a long-lost sister however were always marred by the conversation-stopping topic of how much cash I had – and more importantly how much I was willing to spend. My brothers’ shops were adorned with the most colourful jewellery, clothing and hand-paintings, as well as skillfully crafted wood carvings of.. anything and everything. My bartering skills are pretty down pat now – and my technique of not settling for anything more than half price has served me well.

The weather is… strange. During the days it’s hot and the wind is dry. The nights can sometimes be excruciatingly cold. But then every now and then you get a day that’s cold and windy but can bring on sweaty nights. For the main part, it’s notoriously hot. With no dirty business to it, this morning I awoke sprawled in my tent with my pajama pants down around my ankles. Such is the heat.

Some of these communities are among the poorest in the world but as cliché as this sounds, are also among some of the happiest I’ve ever met. But as humanity would have it, they are not without problems and while their problems are “simple”, they’re devastating. The lack of clean water and sanitation is a cold-blooded killer in many of the towns and not surprisingly many live under the poverty line. Where I am seems worlds apart from where I’ve come from. I’m not too sure whether I feel angry, saddened or worse, pity. I just know that it’s not fair and in the famous words of Pauline Hanson (God forbid I ever quote this woman again), “I just don’t like it”.

I’m not too sure what this trip is doing to me, but I feel like I’m slowly turning into a left-wing hippy that can do without checking Facebook after dinner every night. I don’t know if it’s the lack of my own luxuries combined with a culture that kinda “makes sense” in its 3^rd worldly state, but I’m tackling materialism and consumerism head on right now. That being said, it’s all happening in my head because the MacBook Air I’m staring at this very moment would be suggesting otherwise.