And now I think I'm already ready to go somewhere else! ;)
that travel bug is reeeeal.
My 6 weeks away was almost too good. Despite the big scare, everything seemed to work out rather well (PS - thank you, ALL - for the love and support after sharing that <3 so appreciated). Sights continued to get more and more beautiful each day, I met amazing new people, had quality time with some of my favorite humans, had great conversations with even greater people, ate all kinds of different foods, tried all kinds of new things - literally everything I was hoping for and more. I start off by saying this because I can't wait to share it with you, but putting it into words/attempting to organize my 3,000+ (!!) pictures is just too overwhelming to fully wrap my head around sooo we'll just have to see how this goes!
For now - I present to you - MALAWI part o n e ! aka - the best quotes from the Africa portion of my trip - aka - MY MOST FAVORITE 2 WEEKS OF ALL TIME. I'm hoping this will give a nice little set up of what Africa is kiiind of like, as well as give me a place to put the random pictures that are still worthy of sharing. So much of my time in Malawi is hard to describe - I imagined dirt and desert and bugs and hunger and sadness and some more bugs. People who ask me about Africa say they thought same thing...so hopefully these next few posts about Malawi can give you another piece of reality looks like there. Most of the quotes below you 100% had to be there, but I'll do my best to try and explain the hilarity that was my time with Shannon in Malawi. <3
PS - *sorry not sorry* for the insane length of this post! ----------------------------
1. "Oh hey - um. A bat just flew into your house..." This was at Shannon's house in her village, while she was cooking us eggs and rice for dinner. I was casually keeping her company and in the dusk of the evening I noticed something fly right into her kitchen. From here, all of our bat knowledge came out and only a little bit of our fear/jumpiness. We both screeched a little too loud and neither of us wanted to get that close to the buckets - BUT we learned things like bats are blind and they have to fall first before they can start flying...who knew! the pictures below are us using Shannons' kitchen bucket system for it's alternative purpose - bat capture and getting it outside...and having much success!
2."Ooh I think I just ate a spider leg with that edamame." This is something that I calmly said and laughed at afterward, while snacking on loose edamame from Shannon's backpack. I know, who am I - being so okay with knowingly eating a spider?! A changed person, that's for damn sure.
3. "Give me my iPod, we're being sold." Malawian transport summed up in a single sentence. From mini buses, to big buses, to tuk-tuks, bike taxis and hitchhiking...disorganized, but oddly very functional chaos. This cannot be further explained, you will just have to go there to see for yourself - buuuut make sure you have Shannon with you, it's very confusing and sometimes they sell you to other minibuses and it's good to know what that actually means. but, good news - the buses stop often and you can get snacks from people on the side of the road! like lollipops, grilled corn, apples and samosas!
3. "Give me my iPod, we're being sold." Malawian transport summed up in a single sentence. From mini buses, to big buses, to tuk-tuks, bike taxis and hitchhiking...disorganized, but oddly very functional chaos. This cannot be further explained, you will just have to go there to see for yourself - buuuut make sure you have Shannon with you, it's very confusing and sometimes they sell you to other minibuses and it's good to know what that actually means. but, good news - the buses stop often and you can get snacks from people on the side of the road! like lollipops, grilled corn, apples and samosas!
4. "Heather! you need to 'bo' them!" This was Shannon's friendly reminder on how to talk to the kids. In her village (and I think most villages in Malawi?), everyone greets everyone. To greet kids you yell, 'BO!' and they yell back, (To Shannon - "Shannonni BBOO!!" and its really cute - everyone's waving and smiling and your heart just fills right up. My afternoon and mornings with those sweet faces, watching Shannon interact with them, playing games and coloring with them - nothing. better.
5. "My feet are the only ones that are nice." - this was in reference to us taking our shoes off and having our feet not smell so nice. #villagelife
6. "I think I dreamt that we fought..." "Oh, do you feel weird about me right now?" "Extremely..." Hours spent on transport, heading from the south of the country to the north. Shannon and I did a great job at getting along splendidly, just as we expected...but when one of you has a weird dream about the other, makes for some mini awkwardness. Thank you, malaria pills, for making my dreams extra cray.
7. "A bus for Zimbabwe?! I think we're on the wrong bus..." #africatransportproblems
8. "How can such a tiny thing inflict so much pain on a human being?!" Those of you who know me know that if you can see the salsa on my chip, it's too hot for me...but spice whimpy-ness aside...Malawi has these teensy tiny peppers that with a little lick of one, I kid you not, instant fire. Shannon thought it was funny to encourage me to have a bite of one each time we walked by a bush...I'm not always the best at saying no to peer pressure so, I learned about these bad boys the hard way. Props to you, Jaryt, for having a pepper pocket and including them in your meals, often. You real impressive. (sorry for the blurry pic, but LOOK HOW TINY THEY ARE!)
8. "How can such a tiny thing inflict so much pain on a human being?!" Those of you who know me know that if you can see the salsa on my chip, it's too hot for me...but spice whimpy-ness aside...Malawi has these teensy tiny peppers that with a little lick of one, I kid you not, instant fire. Shannon thought it was funny to encourage me to have a bite of one each time we walked by a bush...I'm not always the best at saying no to peer pressure so, I learned about these bad boys the hard way. Props to you, Jaryt, for having a pepper pocket and including them in your meals, often. You real impressive. (sorry for the blurry pic, but LOOK HOW TINY THEY ARE!)
9. "Who needs a cigarette when you can just rip off your chest hair with a nicotine patch?!" An "example" of how PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) find new ways to have fun while living in Malawi. loool. Meeting Shannon's people/new friends was so so fun and each minute was filled with goofiness, laughter and great stories. PCVs are quite entertaining, lemme tell ya.
10. "Ooh, babe at 3:00, look." "The one in the hat? He looks like a child, I think he's legit like 13..." Shannon being just an okay wing woman.
11. " You can put your legs in there?! We must go!" Dangling my feet is a highly used motivation of mine for many of my activities. One place we stayed at had a floating dock in the water, so why not paddle board out and take pictures on it!
^^^ those little huts (Myoka Village) are where we stayed for 3 nights while in Nhkata Bay - it was incredible.
12. "This is what the people in jurassic park must have experienced." Shannon and I in our room at our lodge in Zambia, looking out the window as an elephant walks by.
13. "Well that was the most expensive nap I've ever taken." Shannon and I napped on our morning safari in Zambia. A big oops, but also so SO necessary.
14. "Hm that's interesting...but back to the hippos...." While on the safari, Shannon and I discovered hippos are actually one of our favorite animals. We were oddly fascinated by them and wanted all of the hippo info possible. At one point I asked our guide, "so what else can you tell me about hippos?" And when he asked what I wanted to know, I said everything. This caused excellent entertainment throughout the safari for Shannon and I - and I'm sure only a little annoyance to all the others with us. Did you know they can stay underwater for 5-7 minutes? And they most likely do not get their bellies sunburnt when they lay outside. You're welcome.
14. "Hm that's interesting...but back to the hippos...." While on the safari, Shannon and I discovered hippos are actually one of our favorite animals. We were oddly fascinated by them and wanted all of the hippo info possible. At one point I asked our guide, "so what else can you tell me about hippos?" And when he asked what I wanted to know, I said everything. This caused excellent entertainment throughout the safari for Shannon and I - and I'm sure only a little annoyance to all the others with us. Did you know they can stay underwater for 5-7 minutes? And they most likely do not get their bellies sunburnt when they lay outside. You're welcome.
^^^hippos making all kinds of noises while underwater, cause they cool like that.
15. "Come'ere chip!" this is an inside joke that goes way back...but we did call this chess piece "chip" and it was hilarious as hell.
15. "It's so weird how comfortable I feel about mosquito nets - it's like my safe place." This became ridiculously true. I got used to the bugs pretty quick, mostly because they weren't bad at all like I assumed they would be and also because I had to. But once wrapped up in the mosquito net at night, I just told myself nothing could get me in here and all the sleep was had.
16. "Ooh look at this shirt- it says 'Hard rock cafe, fuck it!' I think it's pronounced 'Phuket'..." thank you, secondhand secondhand stores. You're so entertaining.
<3 <3 <3
<3 <3 <3
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