The journey has begun. Ahead three days of driving, snacking, flying, napping, and, most of all, waiting. I am not looking forward to it.
It will be brilliant to see everyone again. I can't help smiling when I think about fresh air, hot baths, crisp sheets and total silence; but there is a bit of me that is something close to sad to be leaving Malawi (albeit only for a while).
Today, for the first time, I feel almost guilty about how I live. Driving up here this morning the fields were full of people bent double, planting seeds, hoeing weeds and carrying fertiliser (where, I hope, all the money for fuel has gone). Whilst numbers are beginning to fall, 1 in 5 of them has HIV/AIDS. A lot of people are wearing red ribbons & most people will have lost someone they love to it.
The queues at the petrol stations are immense and unmoving. The country is grinding to a halt and I'm 'out of here'. Off, with more fuel than I could possibly need, to enjoy the very best of things with a large, loving, family.
Overall I'm grateful and I am ready to go. It's just going to be a bit of a mind bend being here with all its foreignness and edge and then home, with all its comfort and familiarity. A calls it 'reverse culture shock'. Let's see.
F x
Ps – For the record, I am: 1) somewhat VINDICATED over last week's panic petrol stockpiling, 2) a bit EMBARASSED about how many people I've roped into the 'getting Fiona to LLW airport' mission & 3) FUMING at A for booking me on completely rubbish flights whilst he skips merrily through Jo-berg and Amsterdam in smooth comfort.
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