Malawi!

As promised, here is a recap, mainly in pictures (and although there are a lot, I had to leave so many out!) of our time in Malawi. Well actually Kwacha is STILL there.

I will try to let the pictures do most of the talking.

First up, a lousy picture of downtown Lilongwe. I took it while driving through. This is very close to his sister's house whom we stayed with.

I didn't get any pictures of when we first got off the plane. I wanted to BUT....I fainted. Yes, fainted, two minutes after getting off the plane. Never fainted before in my life! I guess I was overcome by the beauty of Malawi.  Or it could have been a combo of being sick and very tired. 

Oh well, thankfully I felt much better after a shower.

The next morning we took a little trip over to ABC (African Bible College) where the Biedebach's live.  Below is the fun tree house in front of their house.

Brian and Kwacha.  :)

Brian was excited to show us his "new" old tire cover.  He traded a brand new one he had for this one with just the right acronym.

"Game" is a store from South Africa that has made it's way to Malawi.  It looks just like a Target or Walmart inside and has pretty much the same kind of products!

Spar is another store that hails from South Africa.  Kwacha's best friend, Kondi, is the one with the shopping cart.  This is, unfortuantely, the best picture I got of him.

And an outdoor market.  Yummy organic vegetables.

 

The sky is always interesting in Africa!

Another supermarket, Shop Rite, that has all the food you could want.

The next day we drove six hours north to Mzuzu to visit Kwacha's parents.  We had a beautiful drive up with many sights to see!

Below is a large brick oven.  Most villages have one of these.  They make bricks within these structures.  Apparently they will spend all night stoking the fire, then they put in the bricks and close up the holes for a week or two. (From what I remember.)

Is this really Africa?

We often found lots of men piled up in trucks.

Finally in Mzuzu!

Below is one of my favorite pictures I saw at Kwacha's parents house.  So I took a picture of a picture.  :)  It's of Kwacha and all of his siblings.  The order in age, from oldest to youngest, starts in the bottom right and moves clockwise.  Chance, Granger, Jellita, Evelynn, Kwacha, and Malumbo.

I love Kwacha's face.

I was able to meet all of his siblings, except Chance, who died about four years ago.

We spent the night at his parent's house and the next morning we took a short trip to Nkhata Bay, on the shore of Lake Malawi.  It was a breathtaking drive!

Believe it or not, our first real picture together.

Look at the fish!

When we got back to Mzuzu, we saw cars lined up at the gas station.  That meant fuel was available!  This is actually a short line.  But by the time we got to the front, it was all gone.

Kwacha's family. 

From left to right: his aunt, mom, dad, Kwacha, Jellita, and niece, Ruth.  (Or Ite, as her family calls her.)

That night, when we got back to Lilongwe, we had dinner at the Floreen's!  It was fun to see them in their nice home and enjoy sweet fellowship.  :)

The next day we took a trip to Lake Malawi.

On the way, we stopped at the Parliament building.  The Simwaka's have a cousin that works there.  ( He's on the left.) We actually sat in for a bit on a session.

Close to Parliament is a five star hotel that the Chinese built.  It's almost ready to open.

We passed a village and saw that it was market day.

We had lunch at a Sunbird resort.  Here you can see Lizard Island which is populated with large monitor lizards.

The local fish, chambo, and their staple food, nsima, at the very top.



Kwacha was a little sleepy.  Still fighting jet lag.



Monkeys!

Beautiful sunset from a beautiful Creator on the way home.





The next morning, our last morning, we visited a local village.  Kwacha and Kondi have visited there many times. 

On the way I snapped one of many pictures of a bike carrying a huge load of firewood!  I don't know how they do it.

The chief of the village.

Kwacha brought him sugar and rice.

This man was so nice!  He gave us a little tour of one of their thatched roof homes.

And now for the pictures I'm sure most of you readers have been waiting for, cute village kids!

This girl in pink made her way into many of the pictures!



The lady below specifally asked Kwacha if I could take her picture.



Beautiful!



I was trying to get a picture of the building but somehow Pinky snuck in there.  :)



As we left, the kids followed our car.  We had quite a trail running after us. 

(These really are just a smattering of the pictures I took at the village.  Most of the pictures were crowded with kids trying to get in there.  :)

And here are some pictures of Jellita's house.

The room Em and I stayed in.

The living room.

Kitchen.





Kwacha's sweet cousin, Agnes, who insisted on washing our clothes!

From left to right, me, Evelynn, Kwacha, Jellita.



We stopped by Kondi's house to say goodbye to his wife, Patricia, before we left for the airport.  They had us over for dinner one of the first night's we were there.  I really enjoyed their family!

Here is Kwacha with their oldest daughter, Karen.  This is right after we got her to say cheese.  I wasn't quick enough with my camera to catch a smile.  ;)  But isn't she so cute??

And here we are with Patricia and Karen. 

The trip went by way too fast!

 

We had such a good time with Kwacha's family and all of the people we met there.  They are so kind.

Someday, you really ought to visit Malawi!  ;)

Friendies!!

Kristin is in the hospital gown.  (Sorry Kristin, but it IS on facebook and you look beautiful!  Megan is the other adult.  ;)  Devany is the one in the striped pants.  She is Megan's daughter.  January is holding Autumn and they are both Kristin's girls.  ;)
 

So, I am really excited because I get to see not one, but TWO of my best friends next week!  Pretty soon after college, most of my closest friends moved away, and not just one state over or anything, but on to the other side of the country!  Tennessee, Minnesota and Massachusetts!  Geesh.  What's a girl to do? 
 

Well, next Tuesday Megan is coming into town to meet Sara's new baby, Jessa, and I am going to pick her up from the airport.  It will be a quick thing but I am just thankful that I get to see her at all.  I'm thankful that Sara lives here, she is so close to Megan she is practically family.  (They grew up together in Montana.)  And Jason's sister and brother-in-law and their kids live here too.  All GREAT excuses to come out here and visit frequently. 
 

Then next Thursday, Emily and I are flying out to Massachusetts to visit the Cooley's/Fish's/DeFilippo's!  We are staying with Kristin and Megan's parents, the Cooley's, and we finally get to meet January, Devany and the newest girl in the family, Autumn!  Can you tell that I can't wait??!! 

 

 

We are going to a baseball game one evening in Boston, and we may go apple picking in the New England fall weather!  Can you believe that?  I always think of the end of Anne of Avonlea when I think of apple picking, when Anne and the once-evil-turned-nice principal are picking apples.  :)

 

It has been three years since we've seen Kristin (she came out to stay with us when my dad died and was a major help) and even longer since we've seen Megan!  It's hard to believe that it's been that long.

 

So.  I will obviously have much to post about after we get back.  I love my friends and I am so thankful for the chance to see them.