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Sometimes Peace Corps can seem really glamorous. The 'life is calling' photos with the beautiful sunsets in the background or the beautiful kids looking desperate to be taught. Stories of travel and work make me wonder why my photos don't show up next to Angelina Joli and Madonna (don't get me started on Madonna) in People magazine. Let me be clear, my life is not glamorous. Not in the tiniest way. And if I was starting to believe otherwise the past three weeks have confirmed the lack of glamour. Since returning from Ruarwe I have been entirely at site. This is kind of a big deal for me as I prefer to travel on the weekends to maintain my sanity and see Malawi. But for the past 3.5 weeks I have been dealing with Malawian shenanigans that have made me thankful I can start my countdown home. I'll try and break it down: School I love my school, I really do. I don't love being their go-to person for everything. I have spent the past 3 weeks typing exams for 6 schools. Exams in Chichewa, exams with ridiculous diagrams, exams with intense math equations, exams that don't appear to be in English or Chichewa but some other language belonging to a secret few. Oh, and typing the answer sheets. I type these exams because none of the schools in my cluster have computers and only one has electricity so they would have to pay someone to type the exams and they can't afford to do that, especially since the government has collected ALL the money from the schools without a plan to return it. The problem is that the teachers think I wave the paper in front of the computer and it magically appears-I have the easy job, so it's not big deal to turn in exams 3 weeks late and expect them the next day....I suppose other jobs are like this, I just HATE typing exams. The exams have also taken away time to do other, better things. Like finish the map, teach extra periods, and bathe regularly. But...we did have a special treat this week- A friend of mine stays in Lilongwe and had her sister, Laura, visit Malawi. Laura works at Gymcraftics, a nonprofit group in Boston and wanted to visit a school in Malawi. Monday we had a couple of sessions with the girls, it was absolutely awesome. They are so strong and were able to do some really advanced cool moves. Hopefully I will have photos to post soon but if you are really curious just google Gymcraftics! Exams have begun this week and will finish next week and then it's a 2 week holiday -- Mt. Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar here we come! AYID One of my teachers told me "Malawians are good at starting projects, but they are not good at finishing them." So it seems. We were supposed to open March 17, the date has been shifted to April 4th and sometimes I feel like to babysit to make anything happen. Oh, and we ran out of money....whoops. Life Hmm, some days have been great. Some days I have been woken up at 2am because the witches visited my neighbors in the middle of the night and we had to pray for their house. The more time I spend in Malawi the more I realize how little I know, maybe that is the point. Also, I put a deposit down at the University of Chicago so if you are in Chicagoland let me know, I would love to see some familiar faces! Miss you all! loads of love, e

In Which We Discover Paradise

To be sure, Paradise looks different for every person. Some people prefer fancy places or rural landscapes or maybe even a Sunday morning with pancakes. Last weekend I found my paradise in Ruarwe.


To be clear, Ruarwe is remote. So remote that you can only get there via a 3 day hike or by boat. I am of the opinion that the more difficult something is to attain, the sweeter the success at the end. With the term break at our disposal Jesi, Twila, Drea and I set off on a 3 day adventure. With high spirits and fancy hiking boots (minus Drea in her Snooks) we began.


One of the challenges of hiking to Ruarwe is that you are never quite sure where you in relation to where you need to be. As I have mentioned before Malawians are not known for their precise directions, they mostly just point towards a random direction saying "ahh, it is just near" or "you are just very close." We were unsure how far to walk each day, but we marched along knowing somehow in Malawi everything always magically works out.


At our first lunch break we all observed the lack of bore holes for water. The villages in this region are so remote that NGOs and Government agencies have done very little in regards to development. Why would you need a bore hold for water when you live on the lake? So with iodine tables and a prayer I drank the lake water...



Anyway, as we walked from village we chatted with people along the way. One man noted, as we were preparing to move on, that I "was meant to be a soldier, not a teacher." Probably true...but it's just that whole war thing....



I digress. The first night, upon recommendation, we stopped at a primary school with a perfectly symmetrical mango tree. We spent the afternoon swimming and cooking with the women. It was glorious.



The next day was more of the same but harder. The trail became narrow and steep and rocky. We stopped for a mid morning swim convinced we were not TOO far away. After walking quite a distance (and stopping for lunch) I realized my camera was missing. In a frantic burst of frustrated energy I threw my back down and started running back along the trail. A pack of kids soon followed when, about 30 minutes later, another boy started chasing us proudly swinging my camera in the air. He found it under a rock, I would have NEVER seen. I think my giant hug might have scared him but we all walked back to Twila, Jesi, and Drea laughing and smiling. I rewarded him with some American trail mix and granola bars and the loose change in my pocket. Oh, and we got to take lots of photos together.



The second night we found a school to sleep in, made friends who helped us cook and considered ourselves ready for paradise.

We were told we would arrive in Ruarwe anywhere between 10am and 2pm, but we were convinced we would have a full day in Ruarwe-it would just be a short morning trek. We walked and walked and walked, around bends, up hills, down hills-all of us loosing steam. We were low on food, water, and energy. Around 3pm we rounded the final corner and saw the lodge waiting for us-the most beautiful thing we had seen in a while.

The following days were spent swimming, jumping off tall things, eating delicious food, reading, chatting, and enjoying. We took the Illala- the big ship that goes up and down the lake out on Monday morning to Nkhata Bay refreshed and content. Tuesday was back to site and reality, being thankful to have found paradise.

Oh, the best part-the butterflies guiding our way along the entire path. Thank you Sarah for helping us find our way.


loads of love,
e