Reflection

So it's been a week and a half since I have been back. It kind of terrifies me that I made the transition back so easily. Maybe because I landed right in the middle of a hospitalization and graduation so I did not have time to wonder about my ability to swallow shower water, my lack of a bed net, and the plentiful abundance of money dripping from everywhere in the U.S. (in comparison at least, I do realize that poverty is a problem here as well).

Jennifer, Tim (the next researcher looking for gender information), Phil and I went to a country club in Lilongwe the last week and to me that was the biggest culture shock. I mean, what is the point of an overseas assignment if you just hang out a place like that all the time? It was very very odd. Just like being at a country club anywhere. Somehow, that was stranger than coming home. Maybe I wasn't gone long enough :)

So just a few final words about my time in Malawi and my return.

I have a feeling the hard part of this assessment is just beginning, but I will keep that stuff out of the blog. Let's just say that there is still plenty of work ahead.

I had a great time in Malawi. It confirmed for me that I do want to try and pursue this type of work (so if anyone has any great connections in terms of a job- I am all ears). It also confirmed that I would like to do a longer stint overseas- I can only hope that will work out in some way. Ninety-seven percent of the people I worked with in Malawi - local and expat alike were so helpful. While I am still waiting for some information to make its way into my hands, I remain hopeful that I can be pesky enough to get it soon. I am impressed and inspired by the people I interacted with, many of whom make very very little and work incredibly hard and under very limiting conditions. I am also touched by the Malawian students that I met who are so dedicated to their education and to the teachers who are even less appreciated that teachers here in the States.

I wish I had time to tell you about Freshwater Project and all the good work that Charles is doing providing boreholes to communities all over the country. Or Jennifer who has built a reading room in a local village that is giving many children the ability to visit a "library" for a few hours a day for the very first time. Or DTED, an organization in rural areas that has started a program for dropouts that will catch them up so they can re enroll in school. I could go on and on.

Things that I will miss: chicken peri-peri, nsima, beautiful sunsets and bright stars, the kindness of strangers, the call to prayer. Those are just little silly things to miss. Mostly I will miss being surrounded by people that are so gracious, giving, and happy despite being very poor. They do not consider themselves poor and will share their very last food and drink with a guest.

What I will not miss: seeing men hanging around the bottle store in the middle of the day. I will not go into this very much. I will say this: many Malawian men work quite hard. I am sure the majority do. The women work extraordinarily hard all day and all night. You never ever see women sitting around. Enough said.

I will not miss existing in a cash only economy - my debit and credit cards are my new favorite thing. I DO NOT miss tucking myself under the bed net at night and still waking up with 10 new bites from who knows what insect. I will not miss being stared at, but I got used to it by the end actually.

I highly, highly recommend going to Malawi on vacation. It is an undiscovered gem in Africa. Go. Soon.

So, now just some words of thanks. Thank you to my parents who always support me even if they are not wild about my far flung travels. Thank you to my mom for calling to chat for 5 minutes almost everyday, that was very sweet. Thank you to my dad for insisting he know the location and phone number of each place I stayed even if he only called once and a while. Thank you to my mother's parents - to my grandmother for missing me so much and to my grandfather who read my blog although he never reads anything online. A particular thank you to my father's parents without whom my graduate education and this experience would not have been possible (and to my uncle who helped them help me). Really, thank you to all my family (to the Jones family for that headlamp- lifesaver! and my uncle for always being sweet to me). Thank you to Phil who came to visit and tried something new with me, that was amazing. He even stayed positive when he came down with a bug post trip and had to be hospitalized (boo I have no illness to show for my two months), insisting to leave the hospital to go to graudation with me and Lace!!!! Thank you to Jennifer for being such a kind friend to me (and Deliwe too!). Thank you to my TC girls who inspired me and supported me and did not laugh at me and my novice concerns. Thank you to my cousin for always commenting on my blog and to Kelly for sending me silly emails that made me laugh at my various situations. Thank you to everyone in Malawi who helped me.

Thank YOU for reading.