Hello everyone
After
completing our last blog entry for May, Gavin and I took Joshi away to
Huntingdon House in the tea estates for a luxurious weekend to celebrate our 5th
wedding anniversary. It was a beautiful time with gorgeous weather, only marred
by being attacked by soldier ants at our favourite picnic spot on Thyolo
mountain. Anyone who has read the poisonwood bible will know what that can feel
like- ouch. Joshi enjoyed beating me at croquet (that is how bad I am) and we
chilled out in Malawi’s oldest colonial home.
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| playing catch on thyolo mountain |
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| Joshi beats mummy at croquet |
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| wish we lived here sometimes.... |
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| Joshi nearly walks |
Gavin and I
have both been rushed off our feet this month with work, the meningitis season
is underway so my study is very busy, and the dialysis unit continues to keep
people alive with all the attendant ups and downs of trying to deliver high
tech medicine in the 10th poorest country in the world. The new
president, Joyce Banda, is still popular, and despite the massive devaluation
of the local currency by 40%, the country has not suffered significantly and
the donor money and forex is now flowing and business is brisk. We hope this
means that the fuel queues and diesel dramas are a thing of the past. I am
still using Malawi’s first fold up bike to get to work which uphill every day
means the baby weight is nearly gone now, which is great. I have moved office
into MLW’s new building which is air conditioned, with fast wifi- I could
almost close my eyes and believe I was working in the UK on my first day there,
until I see the hornbills in the tree outside the office. Our chickens are
growing and we hope to see eggs in the next few weeks.
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| Old office building |
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| New office building |
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| gav and Joshi check out the chickens |
We very
sadly said goodbye to Kate and Chikondi, very good friends here who looked
after me so well when we arrived with Joshi a year ago knowing very few people
with babies, and all my baby group friendships have come from her. Their fabulous
soap making business will also be sadly missed, as one friend put it ‘what will
we wash with now?!’
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| Kate (left) and Sam |
I made a
foray into the world cup football with a trip to Malawi v Nigeria in the
national stadium. It was a great result for Malawi who drew with the
favourites, and the atmostphere was fantastic. We bought tickets from a tout
for the grand price of 3 quid each – and even touts dressed as the Marx
brothers added to the mad African atmostphere – along with a man in a santa
costume and another with a cardboard box on his head.
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| would you buy a ticket from this man?? |
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| Kamuzu national stadium |
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| Red is the colour of the national team, but in 30 degrees I bet he was hot! |
Joshi is
still not quite walking un-aided (in June.....) but loves to go everywhere with his new
trolley, including to the shops, can blow kisses, make animal noises and is
every day becoming brighter and more interested in his surrounds. We have
discovered a new soft play area in a local hotel which he loves along with lots
of other local children. He had fun at Lola’s third birthday party this weekend
and can say ‘was-dat’ along with lots of words now, and is hardly a baby
anymore. It feels almost unreal that it was a year ago today that we arrived
back here with him still a small 3 month old baby, and the time has flown so
quickly.
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| Joshi in a ball bath and loving it |
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| Flying visit from Auntie Ros |
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| Joshi with Annie on my bike |
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| Picture of joshi from our first Malawi blog aged 3 months+ time is flying..to this...... |
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| Shopping in Chipiku with Gav aged 14 and 1/2 months! |
Congratulations
to Clare and Steve, Al and James and
Jackie and Andy on the birth of their new babies, we can’t wait to meet the new
arrivals when we are back in September for 3 weeks – along with baby Russell
and baby Whitely arrived last week. Also congratulations to Jez and
Ayako who got married this June, we are gutted tohave missed it.
This July
we are off to the lake for the first time in a long time, and can’t wait for a
swim in the warm water…if we can’t be at the Olympics we might as well enjoy
spending time in a tropical paradise beach………….and then off somewhere exciting
hopefully for my birthday.
Lots of
love to everyone
