I’m embarrassed to admit this, but in the back of my mind I was totally picturing that Lilongwe (our new city) would look like a scene out of the Lion King. In case you had that misconception too, let me confirm for you that it is vastly different. There’s dirt, for starters. Lots and lots of dirt that gets all over everything (there go the white towels I brought). There are no exotic animals roaming around (unless you count the rat I saw in our yard today though). There are, however, loads and loads of people walking or biking and they always seem to be carrying strange things. Baskets on their heads, big piles of sticks strapped to their back/bike or a dozen dead chickens hanging off the back of a bicycle. You never know what you’re going to see, which makes it quite exciting.
Take these two, for example. They were peddling puppies at an intersection! What?! So random, right? Suffice to say, there are lots of fun surprises here.
I’ve got LOTS to say, so I’m going to start by backing up to the flight. It was quite arduous, but not horrific. Nia loved the presents, her favorite being the Unicorn sticky mosaics. She started getting a little greedy though and would say, “I want another present”, open it, play for 5 minutes, then ask for another. That was a bit frustrating, as I had budgeted for her to play with each thing for an hour. Why can’t children just follow the plan?! It worked itself out though and in the end I was grateful we had the surprises.
Our layover in Ethiopia ended up being a highlight for 2 reasons. One was that we ran into a foreign service friend stationed in Ethiopia. It never amazes me how small the world can be. The second fun thing was that while we were waiting for our flight to Lilongwe, we met another expat couple who was also arriving and an expat couple that had been there for nearly a year. We passed our 3 hours getting to know each other and exchanging phone numbers. Gotta love expats. Instant friends. My only complaint was that there was not a single coffee or food option inside the terminal and Nick forbid me to exit, for fear that I wouldn’t get back in. That latte would’ve tasted really good after 13 hours in flight. :(
We arrived around 1 PM Lilongwe time, which was about 7 AM EST. We managed to get about 4 hours of sleep en route, but we were still pretty out of it. We were met at baggage by an Embassy official who helped us collect our bags. Upon exiting, we met our social sponsor, and we all got in the Embassy cars and headed to the house. At the house, we were greeted by 5 or 6 different people who were there to show us things about the house and property and security. While slightly overwhelming, I was blown away by the attention and service we received. Our sponsor had the house stocked with some basic food and household goods and she had also made us 2 fabulous meals that were waiting in the fridge. I can’t tell you what a huge difference it makes having a good sponsor. It ensures you get started off on the right foot. So after everyone left we did some unpacking, ate our delicious dinner and went to bed by 6 PM.
Unfortunately, we had a bit of excitement the first night. We tried setting the alarm for the first time but it went off for some reason (we later found out a sensor had a cobweb on it) and despite our attempts to turn it off quickly, we ended up with Embassy security at our house. Always fun answering the door in your pajamas… whoops.
Jet lag hit around midnight and kept Nick and I up until 2 and Nia up til 4 AM. We enjoyed a midnight snack and played some legos before attempting to return to bed. I have loads more to write, but that will have to wait until tomorrow, as bed is calling my name. We have internet at home now, so assuming it keeps cooperating, you should be hearing from us more frequently. Thanks to all those who’ve been thinking/praying for us these past few days. It’s great to be loved. :)
