Not sure how to blog about this without sounding horribly smug – but I've had a fantastic birthday here in the hut! I started celebrating the night before with a few beers and came home to lovely roses left by Davina and got to open A's pressie of an elephant statue I've had my eye on (and a hand-drawn card proclaiming it 'Hut Birthday' - pic of me with my hands on hips, apparently I do that a lot?!).
On the actual day I spent the morning e-mailing and drinking coffee, enjoyed 'Friday Pie Day' with the consultants at the Imani / Kadale office and Mike (who was leaving for Bejing) treated us all to a brilliant turn on his fiddle. Massage in the afternoon and then to Gay & David's for a 'high tea' party that Andrea and Gay threw for me!
It was originally supposed to be a surprise but I'd demanded to know who A had been texting the weekend before so I got to spend the whole week looking forward to it. Gay's house is beautiful and they'd arranged for all the friends I've made here to join us from 4 onwards for home made scones, smoked salmon (yay!) and, particularly for Andrea, Yorkshire Tea. By 5 we'd cracked open the Pongratz (South Africa fizz) and tucked into hot nibbles and a proper birthday cake with candles and everything! It was so much fun – Davina, Florian and Veronica all came along. Andrea's friend Penny came with Pumpkin her new, very cute but very naughty puppy and Gay's guest Theresa from Barcelona was on excellent form given she'd only arrived the day before. By the time we'd emptied a good few bottles and moved inside to hang round the log fire, David arrived and regaled us with stories of old Rhodesia and the only marine to ever curtsey to the Queen Mother - for once I even enjoyed listening to Abba and Neil Diamond!
I think everyone had had a pretty tough week and was ready for an excuse for a party but I'm very very lucky to have such people looking after me! Maybe Malawi isn't so bad after all.....
F x
Sunday 31 May 2009
Thursday 28 May 2009
Grand Designs
Work has started on our project to build an 'outside space' for the hut.
The plan is as follows: Use the pile of bricks Davina has on her drive & the left over kitchen doors she has in her shed, get a bag of cement, a shovel and a hammer and enlist the services of Phiri and a young guy called Stanley. Feed them up with big lunches of boiled eggs and rice and ask them to de-boulder an area of the garden, flattening it out into two separate tiers.
On the bottom tier ask Stanley to assemble a table and bench seats with the bricks and the wood, cemented to the ground so people can't pinch them. On the top tier build a kind of BBQ thing and then track down the grates / shelves for coals that apparently come in a standard size.
Reinforce the sides of the tiers with the boulders that have been heaved out of the ground, cementing them in as well so we don't have a mud slide come the rainy season.
All is going to plan. Delayed start due to Stanley having a bout of malaria (!) but we've now got two distinct tiers, and a 1.8m x 2m area laid out in bricks on the bottom tier. The kitchen doors are having the handles removed and being cut to size / stuck together to make benches. We have purchased a parafin lamp so we can sit out in the evenings and I am reliably informed that the Petroda garage on the Chileka road is the last remaining petrol station that has paraffin – MK165 a litre (about 63p, think I'll stock up!)
Yay!
Fx
PS – Today also a v g day because I'd asked Phiri to clear the back garden bit so its all nice for Mum & Jennie coming. I don't go round there because I can see there are loads of massive spiders in the cactus type stuff that hangs over the wall. After clearing Phiri set fire to all the weeds under the cactus plant, which will apparently send the spiders packing! Hurray!
The plan is as follows: Use the pile of bricks Davina has on her drive & the left over kitchen doors she has in her shed, get a bag of cement, a shovel and a hammer and enlist the services of Phiri and a young guy called Stanley. Feed them up with big lunches of boiled eggs and rice and ask them to de-boulder an area of the garden, flattening it out into two separate tiers.
On the bottom tier ask Stanley to assemble a table and bench seats with the bricks and the wood, cemented to the ground so people can't pinch them. On the top tier build a kind of BBQ thing and then track down the grates / shelves for coals that apparently come in a standard size.
Reinforce the sides of the tiers with the boulders that have been heaved out of the ground, cementing them in as well so we don't have a mud slide come the rainy season.
All is going to plan. Delayed start due to Stanley having a bout of malaria (!) but we've now got two distinct tiers, and a 1.8m x 2m area laid out in bricks on the bottom tier. The kitchen doors are having the handles removed and being cut to size / stuck together to make benches. We have purchased a parafin lamp so we can sit out in the evenings and I am reliably informed that the Petroda garage on the Chileka road is the last remaining petrol station that has paraffin – MK165 a litre (about 63p, think I'll stock up!)
Yay!
Fx
PS – Today also a v g day because I'd asked Phiri to clear the back garden bit so its all nice for Mum & Jennie coming. I don't go round there because I can see there are loads of massive spiders in the cactus type stuff that hangs over the wall. After clearing Phiri set fire to all the weeds under the cactus plant, which will apparently send the spiders packing! Hurray!
Tuesday 26 May 2009
Yum
Decided my upcoming birthday was too much of a special occasion for the salmon - I couldn't have taken the pressure. So, thought Monday night was special enough and cooked it up with onion & garlic and served with rice and peas. Verdict: it was good!
Thank goodness for that.
Also, was going to share leftovers with Phiri for lunch to alieveate guilt, but Davina gave him lunch today so I had extra with a big dolop of this salad creme type stuff and it was really really good - further example of my new theme of being 'grateful not guilty'.
F x
PS - Wish I could blog about some of the actually exciting things that have happened with elections etc over the past week but it really doesn't seem wise so I'm going to have to try and give you as much interest as I can from our culinary adventures instead!
F x
Thank goodness for that.
Also, was going to share leftovers with Phiri for lunch to alieveate guilt, but Davina gave him lunch today so I had extra with a big dolop of this salad creme type stuff and it was really really good - further example of my new theme of being 'grateful not guilty'.
F x
PS - Wish I could blog about some of the actually exciting things that have happened with elections etc over the past week but it really doesn't seem wise so I'm going to have to try and give you as much interest as I can from our culinary adventures instead!
F x
Thursday 21 May 2009
"Is it?"
I've not yet met a Malawian who doesn't speak English to some degree. Its great, it is everywhere. But there are some particular idiosyncrasies that I thought you might find interesting:
- Rather than 'really?' they say 'is it?': “Jane got a new job today” “Is it?”
- When someone is sent to jail, they are 'in': “Three in following police raid”
- Events are 'happenings': “We should not discount the fact that there were some very-un-desirable happenings elsewhere"
- Pubs are 'drinking points': “Notice is hereby given of a new drinking point – Charles' Place – opening this Saturday on the Chileka Road, opposite People's Supermarchette.”
- Directions are 'compasses': “I will tell you the compass to that village over there.”
:-)
F x
- Rather than 'really?' they say 'is it?': “Jane got a new job today” “Is it?”
- When someone is sent to jail, they are 'in': “Three in following police raid”
- Events are 'happenings': “We should not discount the fact that there were some very-un-desirable happenings elsewhere"
- Pubs are 'drinking points': “Notice is hereby given of a new drinking point – Charles' Place – opening this Saturday on the Chileka Road, opposite People's Supermarchette.”
- Directions are 'compasses': “I will tell you the compass to that village over there.”
:-)
F x
Tuesday 19 May 2009
Tuna Crunch
I really am living my life on the edge: The anticipated devaluation in the Kwacha is contributing to such a shortage of foreign currency here that I can't get any tinned tuna!
An imported product, the shops need foreign currency to pay for it, and no one has it, so they can't get any. I did see one tin a few days ago for about MK500 (approx £2.30) and thought, nah, I'm not paying that (still smarting from salmon escapades...)
Humm....I could really go a tuna, olive & tomato pasta and I'm going to have to wait – hardship!
Anyway, there are no tins of tomatoes either (which I don't really understand as I think they must be grown here, but the price has doubled in the past few weeks and now I can't see any.....). Didn't bother checking for olives.
Nor was there any chicken yesterday (I don't count the packs of chicken feet that were strangely left on the shelf). Now, puzzle this: I know there are chickens here. I can hear them all the time, I see them strapped to bikes. This can not be caused by a lack of foreign currency. Perhaps people are buying more chicken as a result of tuna shortage (demand side substitutability) or perhaps people are stocking up in anticipation of possible civil unrest following today's election (demand shock).
Humm....I haven't stocked us up. Maybe I should. Wonder how long we can survive on a tin of peaches, some popcorn and a near empty packet of wine gums....
Anyway, we had sirloin steak last night. Plenty of that still cheaply available! Omelette for lunch today (so the chickens must still be laying). I'm going to book club tonight so it is someone else's concern to sort my dinner. Andrew can have popcorn peaches.
Fx
PS - No yoghurt either, though the diary market has always been variable.
An imported product, the shops need foreign currency to pay for it, and no one has it, so they can't get any. I did see one tin a few days ago for about MK500 (approx £2.30) and thought, nah, I'm not paying that (still smarting from salmon escapades...)
Humm....I could really go a tuna, olive & tomato pasta and I'm going to have to wait – hardship!
Anyway, there are no tins of tomatoes either (which I don't really understand as I think they must be grown here, but the price has doubled in the past few weeks and now I can't see any.....). Didn't bother checking for olives.
Nor was there any chicken yesterday (I don't count the packs of chicken feet that were strangely left on the shelf). Now, puzzle this: I know there are chickens here. I can hear them all the time, I see them strapped to bikes. This can not be caused by a lack of foreign currency. Perhaps people are buying more chicken as a result of tuna shortage (demand side substitutability) or perhaps people are stocking up in anticipation of possible civil unrest following today's election (demand shock).
Humm....I haven't stocked us up. Maybe I should. Wonder how long we can survive on a tin of peaches, some popcorn and a near empty packet of wine gums....
Anyway, we had sirloin steak last night. Plenty of that still cheaply available! Omelette for lunch today (so the chickens must still be laying). I'm going to book club tonight so it is someone else's concern to sort my dinner. Andrew can have popcorn peaches.
Fx
PS - No yoghurt either, though the diary market has always been variable.
Monday 18 May 2009
Angry or Complacent?
Being massive fans of The Thick of It, A and I are gutted that we're not getting to see The Loop (though I am keeping my eye out for the inevitable t-shirts with 'I am the loop' on them!).
However, a few Kutche Kutche's (the local beer) into the party last Wednesday night, I think I would have done Jamie proud. I was talking to a very lovely Yorkshire lad who works with A, mulling over what it was to be British and, as it always seems to when we we're talking to Englishers, the subject came round to Scotland v England, Independence or no?
As a Yorkshireman he was undecided on the union (though he did feel that if Scotland got its own, then so should Yorkshire, a fair enough point). This led us to the conclusion that the the distinction was not so much between Scottish and English, but between North and South – How to tell which you are, well, as I put it “Mike! Come on Mike, which are you, angry or complacent?” Well, which?
As I say, Jamie would be proud (even if I'm not...)
Fx
PS – Mike has got funding to do a Masters in International Relations at Beijing University next year, and goes with the express wish that Britain should just be, well, “awesome again, not in a colonial type way, but we can you know, we can”. I agree.
However, a few Kutche Kutche's (the local beer) into the party last Wednesday night, I think I would have done Jamie proud. I was talking to a very lovely Yorkshire lad who works with A, mulling over what it was to be British and, as it always seems to when we we're talking to Englishers, the subject came round to Scotland v England, Independence or no?
As a Yorkshireman he was undecided on the union (though he did feel that if Scotland got its own, then so should Yorkshire, a fair enough point). This led us to the conclusion that the the distinction was not so much between Scottish and English, but between North and South – How to tell which you are, well, as I put it “Mike! Come on Mike, which are you, angry or complacent?” Well, which?
As I say, Jamie would be proud (even if I'm not...)
Fx
PS – Mike has got funding to do a Masters in International Relations at Beijing University next year, and goes with the express wish that Britain should just be, well, “awesome again, not in a colonial type way, but we can you know, we can”. I agree.
Friday 15 May 2009
Hurray!
We have the money! Its arrived - YES!
And Halifax have refunded the transfer charges and given us 30 quid for the inconvenience - cost us much more than that in phone calls and I think we've actually been jipped on the x-rate but we have it! Tis not lost!
And now we're 'Fiona' and 'Andrew' not just 'the Parkers' with the good people at Ecobank!
Yay!
F x
And Halifax have refunded the transfer charges and given us 30 quid for the inconvenience - cost us much more than that in phone calls and I think we've actually been jipped on the x-rate but we have it! Tis not lost!
And now we're 'Fiona' and 'Andrew' not just 'the Parkers' with the good people at Ecobank!
Yay!
F x
Tuesday 12 May 2009
Tuesday Status Update
- Still keeping the salmon in the freezer 'for special';
- roof beams in hut are rotten (hence wildlife) and roof will probably have to come off;
- Phiri's sister has died, poor man is clearly very upset and won't be at work for a while;
- we've gone in with Davina and bought P a bike to help with his commute to Ndirande (were planning this before his bereavement) – A now wants one too;
- brother of the gardener at the house next door was waiting for me to come home one day to say his brother had told him we were living here now and did we need a housekeeper, he had references and would do anything (!);
- Rex wants extortionate price for picnic bench – need a plan B;
- older boys are back & filling in the pot holes again – I've paid them;
- Vimto, the little geko who hung out on the outside of our bathroom window every night, has moved on (I think since we put poison in the roof);
- we've got stroppy with Ecobank and they now say they've tracked down our money and we'll probably get it at some point this week....Halifax tell me there is no guarantee we'll see it again, though they'll keep trying (!);
- weather has turned and we now have 'Chiperoni' – grey, drizzle, colder. Making the homesickness really bite;
- tried Nsema – not bad actually, very much like mashed potato; and
- unexpectedly found ourselves at an 11 year old birthday's party Sat night – Roman theme, all fruit, whole chickens and an ice cream Colosseum cake! 'Grown ups' house party tomorrow night - BYOB, need to find a local taxi company....
Status: Fine, bit homesick.
Sunday 10 May 2009
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A woman's work
I got the chance to visit my first Mary's Meals projects this week. A and Lawrence (one of his colleagues) were going to HHI a Blantyre school to put up a sign saying this feeding centre was being funded by East Ayrshire Education Dept. I tagged along.
The children were charming and the headmaster impressive but what was most striking was how hard the volunteer women work – MM just buys the food & provides the secure storage space / the stoves etc but all the preparation and organisation has to be done by local volunteers. Apparently they find it easier to get volunteers in the countryside than in the cities. But at this school of about 1500 primary school children, 6 women had organised themselves into a rota.
Ellen, the chairwoman, reminded me of my Dad's mum - thin, elegant and very proud. When she saw that we wanted to take photographs she sent us away for a while whilst she got the other women mopping the floor (which looked spotless to me anyway) cleaning all the buckets and changing all their clothes. She explained that they arrive at 6am every morning to collect the water, chop the wood, and make the vats of Likuni Pala (just like porridge really). By 2 they've fed all the children, cleaned up and can head home to do the same for their own families. All she wanted from MM was some soap to be able to clean their clothes.
We then went to an under 6 centre where aids orphans are deliberately mixed with other orphans to help reduce stigma (and some children are there whose parent's pay for them to be looked after for the day). There were about 30 tiny tots in a bare room about 7m x 5m. Four women were keeping them singing and occupied and making two meals (the little ones get breakfast and lunch but that's probably it until they come the next day). Again, the children were charming (and very pleased to show us they could recite the months of the year, and say their name and how old they were) but the women were phenomenal! Babies strapped to their back, they were stirring and chopping and cleaning and signing with the children – the head woman again clearly knew every child and their own little strengths / worries. We all gave an 'introduction' and one of the women with a wiggling baby strapped to her back was 28 too – same age as me but a very very different life.
It is the 'mamas' here that keep it moving, there is no doubt about that. God bless them.
Fx
PS – I'm taking the HHI women some soap next week. MM don't do it (though I've mentioned to the acting head of MM (Malawi) that perhaps they should) but I see no reason why I shouldn't, on this occasion, to these women.
The children were charming and the headmaster impressive but what was most striking was how hard the volunteer women work – MM just buys the food & provides the secure storage space / the stoves etc but all the preparation and organisation has to be done by local volunteers. Apparently they find it easier to get volunteers in the countryside than in the cities. But at this school of about 1500 primary school children, 6 women had organised themselves into a rota.
Ellen, the chairwoman, reminded me of my Dad's mum - thin, elegant and very proud. When she saw that we wanted to take photographs she sent us away for a while whilst she got the other women mopping the floor (which looked spotless to me anyway) cleaning all the buckets and changing all their clothes. She explained that they arrive at 6am every morning to collect the water, chop the wood, and make the vats of Likuni Pala (just like porridge really). By 2 they've fed all the children, cleaned up and can head home to do the same for their own families. All she wanted from MM was some soap to be able to clean their clothes.
We then went to an under 6 centre where aids orphans are deliberately mixed with other orphans to help reduce stigma (and some children are there whose parent's pay for them to be looked after for the day). There were about 30 tiny tots in a bare room about 7m x 5m. Four women were keeping them singing and occupied and making two meals (the little ones get breakfast and lunch but that's probably it until they come the next day). Again, the children were charming (and very pleased to show us they could recite the months of the year, and say their name and how old they were) but the women were phenomenal! Babies strapped to their back, they were stirring and chopping and cleaning and signing with the children – the head woman again clearly knew every child and their own little strengths / worries. We all gave an 'introduction' and one of the women with a wiggling baby strapped to her back was 28 too – same age as me but a very very different life.
It is the 'mamas' here that keep it moving, there is no doubt about that. God bless them.
Fx
PS – I'm taking the HHI women some soap next week. MM don't do it (though I've mentioned to the acting head of MM (Malawi) that perhaps they should) but I see no reason why I shouldn't, on this occasion, to these women.
Arrrggghhh!
[NB: Posted this on Thursday but internet crash & it didn't upload...]
I've just spent a FORTUNE on salmon and now the guilt has set in!
I was having a good day – just finished a piece of work for back home and had navigated past the 'witch doctor' to find the timber yard that apparently sells picnic benches. In the middle of a thunder storm tracked down 'Rex', discussed the relative merits of pine over Mulange ceder and am hopeful he'll phone me back with a sensible price.
I carried on and hunted out the illusive pork butcher and got great ham, bacon and pork chops – hurray! Then I went too far and skipped into the Halal fishmonger (?does that make sense? I thought halal was about the way they killed the meat – maybe it applies to fish too?) next door. Thought the price quoted was for a whole salmon not each steak! Was too embarrassed to say 'I don't want it after all' and now feel dreadful that I've spent MK4,500 on some chuffn' fish! And its frozen, not even fresh. Nor is it that poncy, Nigella, kind of 'organic' salmon that's really pale, as red as a farmed, dyed red thing.
OK that's about £18 and not a lot of money to us in the grand scheme of things, but really – come on Fiona! Too embarrassed to say “I'm not paying four times what I would pay at home, forget it, there are people begging for chips outside, I'll just learn how to cook Chambo” – get a grip!
Well, its done now. I'll just have to make sure I don't burn it!
F x
Ps – still no sign of the money I sent to us on EASTER MONDAY! Halifax are trying to charge me £12 just to find out who has it! Think I'll give them a call and take my salmon guilt out on them.
F x
I've just spent a FORTUNE on salmon and now the guilt has set in!
I was having a good day – just finished a piece of work for back home and had navigated past the 'witch doctor' to find the timber yard that apparently sells picnic benches. In the middle of a thunder storm tracked down 'Rex', discussed the relative merits of pine over Mulange ceder and am hopeful he'll phone me back with a sensible price.
I carried on and hunted out the illusive pork butcher and got great ham, bacon and pork chops – hurray! Then I went too far and skipped into the Halal fishmonger (?does that make sense? I thought halal was about the way they killed the meat – maybe it applies to fish too?) next door. Thought the price quoted was for a whole salmon not each steak! Was too embarrassed to say 'I don't want it after all' and now feel dreadful that I've spent MK4,500 on some chuffn' fish! And its frozen, not even fresh. Nor is it that poncy, Nigella, kind of 'organic' salmon that's really pale, as red as a farmed, dyed red thing.
OK that's about £18 and not a lot of money to us in the grand scheme of things, but really – come on Fiona! Too embarrassed to say “I'm not paying four times what I would pay at home, forget it, there are people begging for chips outside, I'll just learn how to cook Chambo” – get a grip!
Well, its done now. I'll just have to make sure I don't burn it!
F x
Ps – still no sign of the money I sent to us on EASTER MONDAY! Halifax are trying to charge me £12 just to find out who has it! Think I'll give them a call and take my salmon guilt out on them.
F x
Sunday 3 May 2009
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Our First Malawian Wedding - Part 2
Our invitation said that the second part of the day was 'from' 1pm in a Church hall the other side of town. We showed up at 1 and there was no one there except the usual scattering of people just hanging around, a DJ playing phenomenally loud music and a couple of armed guards. A friend of the mother of the bride was also there and dressed in a brilliant black and gold African outfit, including that head scarf / tie thing with a giant bow. She took our present and saw it locked in a room – there was later a bit of confusion as to whether we were going to process and formally 'give' the gift (most people didn't bring one) but we explained this wasn't necessary (in part frightened that they would open it in front of everyone and say 'oh, great, towels'!).
We decided to go and get some lunch and came back an hour or so later – the bridal party were just arriving (change of outfit for the mother of the bride, same white bridal dress and red bridesmaids dresses for the rest of the party). There must now have been about 300-400 people seated in the hall and again the bridal party shuffle danced up the middle to where a DJ, dressed quite a bit like Crocodile Dundee, started giving speeches and explaining stuff, again in Chichewa – although a few people kindly translated some parts for us.
Then, for three hours, people shuffle danced (1,2; 1,2; 1,2,3,4) up the aisle and crowded round the bride, or the groom, or the parents, or the bridesmaids, or any combination of them and just kept throwing loads and loads of cash. We had a few goes and learnt that there would be a target the family needed to meet the cost of the wedding and that this would carry on until they reached it. There was a table set up to count the money and another table where you could change large notes into small so as to be able to carry on throwing for longer!
A few hours into the money throwing ushers started handing round bottles of fanta – it was very hot and sticky and we'd sunk ours before we realised that this was for toasts and to mark the start of more rounds of money throwing! Oops. No one seemed to mind too much – in fact we were called up to the front at one point to stand & have our photos taken as being folk that had come all the way from the UK – didn't like to point out that we were here anyway.
There was a big throne thing for the bride and groom and the bridesmaids kept mopping their brows. When they'd reached the money target the cake cutting began – cake covered a whole table, in fact it was three or four different cakes of varying sizes and tiers – then everyone queued up, threw some more money and got a piece of cake! The groom picked up the bride and everyone cheered. The bride knelt in front of her in-laws and gave them cake and everyone cheered. All the unmarried women were gathered at the front, given presents and everyone cheered. The bride threw her bouquet and we made our excuses and headed home.
Everyone had been very welcoming and it was great to be able to see it – we're shattered today, I can only imagine how Mr & Mrs Martin are now feeling!
F x
We decided to go and get some lunch and came back an hour or so later – the bridal party were just arriving (change of outfit for the mother of the bride, same white bridal dress and red bridesmaids dresses for the rest of the party). There must now have been about 300-400 people seated in the hall and again the bridal party shuffle danced up the middle to where a DJ, dressed quite a bit like Crocodile Dundee, started giving speeches and explaining stuff, again in Chichewa – although a few people kindly translated some parts for us.
Then, for three hours, people shuffle danced (1,2; 1,2; 1,2,3,4) up the aisle and crowded round the bride, or the groom, or the parents, or the bridesmaids, or any combination of them and just kept throwing loads and loads of cash. We had a few goes and learnt that there would be a target the family needed to meet the cost of the wedding and that this would carry on until they reached it. There was a table set up to count the money and another table where you could change large notes into small so as to be able to carry on throwing for longer!
A few hours into the money throwing ushers started handing round bottles of fanta – it was very hot and sticky and we'd sunk ours before we realised that this was for toasts and to mark the start of more rounds of money throwing! Oops. No one seemed to mind too much – in fact we were called up to the front at one point to stand & have our photos taken as being folk that had come all the way from the UK – didn't like to point out that we were here anyway.
There was a big throne thing for the bride and groom and the bridesmaids kept mopping their brows. When they'd reached the money target the cake cutting began – cake covered a whole table, in fact it was three or four different cakes of varying sizes and tiers – then everyone queued up, threw some more money and got a piece of cake! The groom picked up the bride and everyone cheered. The bride knelt in front of her in-laws and gave them cake and everyone cheered. All the unmarried women were gathered at the front, given presents and everyone cheered. The bride threw her bouquet and we made our excuses and headed home.
Everyone had been very welcoming and it was great to be able to see it – we're shattered today, I can only imagine how Mr & Mrs Martin are now feeling!
F x
Our First Malawian Wedding - Part 1
A guy Andrew used to work with invited us to his daughter's wedding this weekend. It was great to see how Malawians get married – a lot is the same, but a lot is very different.
The ceremony was 'from' 9 at the Church (an exact replica of the Church in Medjugorie, a catholic pilgrimage site in Bosnia). There must have been a few hundred people there, with a choir singing brilliant African (obviously) songs. They bounced and echoed round the hall and at about 9.30 ish the bridal party began to enter (the bride had been there since we arrived milling around with everyone and then praying by herself in the Church for about 20 mins).
There were LOADS of bridesmaids and page boys and they each danced up the aisle ahead of the bride, who was accompanied by her mother and father. When I say danced, it was like a school disco shuffle, barely more than the transfer of weight from one foot to the other, but done with much more aplomb than your average teenager!
The ceremony lasted for 2 and a half hours and we didn't understand a single word. We guessed at the bit where they exchanged vows – only time the bride or groom spoke and it was followed by a particularly loud chorus of clapping and that tongue yelling / yodelling thing I'd associated with middle eastern women. At one stage everyone went up to shake the bride & groom's hand and we held back until someone said to us that we were v welcome to go up too – on the way up I got caught up dancing with this little wizzened old lady and later found out I must have made quite an impression as another colleague of A's, whose wife had been at the Church in the morning, later said “oh, you must have been the dancing Muzungu”(!).
There were enormous African drums outside the Church afterwards and I'm sure more dancing but we headed off. It was getting very hot and we needed some water & a coffee.
The ceremony was 'from' 9 at the Church (an exact replica of the Church in Medjugorie, a catholic pilgrimage site in Bosnia). There must have been a few hundred people there, with a choir singing brilliant African (obviously) songs. They bounced and echoed round the hall and at about 9.30 ish the bridal party began to enter (the bride had been there since we arrived milling around with everyone and then praying by herself in the Church for about 20 mins).
There were LOADS of bridesmaids and page boys and they each danced up the aisle ahead of the bride, who was accompanied by her mother and father. When I say danced, it was like a school disco shuffle, barely more than the transfer of weight from one foot to the other, but done with much more aplomb than your average teenager!
The ceremony lasted for 2 and a half hours and we didn't understand a single word. We guessed at the bit where they exchanged vows – only time the bride or groom spoke and it was followed by a particularly loud chorus of clapping and that tongue yelling / yodelling thing I'd associated with middle eastern women. At one stage everyone went up to shake the bride & groom's hand and we held back until someone said to us that we were v welcome to go up too – on the way up I got caught up dancing with this little wizzened old lady and later found out I must have made quite an impression as another colleague of A's, whose wife had been at the Church in the morning, later said “oh, you must have been the dancing Muzungu”(!).
There were enormous African drums outside the Church afterwards and I'm sure more dancing but we headed off. It was getting very hot and we needed some water & a coffee.
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