The fortnight began in a very warm Malawi, and has ended sitting in a rainy and fortified Athens apartment. Two weeks ago, we had no idea we would be here. And yet, here we are!
We spent the last days in Malawi making a study sheet for our students and taking individual photos for the teachers and printing them out on the tiny printer. They were beyond excited, and we tried out many poses and lightings with each one. One of Sasha’s students came by with a letter that she wrote which was very charming. It appears that when we announced we were leaving, it wasn’t made obvious we would be returning in January to everyone. Sasha pulled out the watercolors for the first time since inktober to make a little card as well.
In more bug news, we found our first scorpion on a walk to town. Fortunately it was already dead; though it served as a good reminder that we do not want to ever meet a live one. In pursuit of a clean dish Ryan went to the kitchen and was astounded to find no less than 19 live cockroaches in our sink. Who needs clean dishes anyways? We dropped the cat in, who promptly hopped back out.
Francis who often comes on Saturday mornings to work on Chemistry stopped by after class as well, Intermolecular Forces are still outside his grasp. We spoke for awhile, he asked if there are indeed black people in America other than Obama. He asked about what their lives are like, to which we didn’t have a good answer. How does one explain American Racism to an African? We brought out a few pennies and American money for him to look at. “How much is this $1 worth?” (enough to feed you and the family for a day) “around 750 Kwacha!”. We asked about the history of each of the Kwacha bills, which he only knew a few of. It is in the past, and so it does not matter. A few other students from the soccer team saw him sitting with us and so came to talk as well. We don’t know them as well because they often skip, but they were nice boys outside of the classroom. They too were entranced with the USD and coins. There are Kwacha coins, but they are rare as the largest one is worth about $0.00002 USD. We have never seen them on the island, only as change on the mainland. Before he left, Francis looked Sasha in the eye and begged her not to hate him. He explained there was a Chemistry textbook in Yofu, for 2000 kwacha. It was only him and his mom, his dad had died at 6 years old and so he did not have the money. We ended up giving it to him on the terms he tell nobody else, and keep studying hard. He brought it by the next day, and it had a note from a previous student written on the inside explaining how this textbook helped him get into university, to try hard, and a few bible verses.
The Form 2 mob came by to work on math. They did have one chemistry question, and Sasha apologized we couldn’t do the experiment as we had no Acacia leaves. “yes we do! That’s one over there!” one piped up, and then collected some leaves. As they worked on math Sasha prepared the indicator and hoped it would work. Unfortunately, it did not but it looked cool. When everyone understood math a little better, we went to the cathedral and took photos of everyone. Each sheet is 50c so we told them we’d give them only one, or it was 1000kwacha each, or 2 apples (which are impossible to find though the students claim they know where to find them). They told us it would start a fight, so not to print out only one photo. When we come back we should have a steady stream of apples from students wanting photos.
Maryfaith, a fellow teacher, came by with her boyfriend Thomson for us to meet. They posed all over the cathedral, and got some very handsome photos. Whenever one didn’t turn out, Maryfaith would accuse Thomson of being too black, and we would blame the suns location. In the end we got some nice photos, and went to drink cordial on the porch as the sun went down. Thomson is a private teacher on the mainland and was horrified with stories of our students laziness and sassiness.
We spent the evening packing up the last of our things. The Headteacher has been promising to stop by and get to know us since the first week of school and finally stopped by at 9 pm on our last night to talk. It was somewhat awkward as we had been about ready to go to bed, but he said when we came back we should go on trips with the bishop to see other parts of Malawi. This does sound like a lot of fun, and so we hope we can do it. Unless services all over Malawi last 4 hours.
We spent our last night under the mosquito net, and the next morning got up early and carried everything to the Mothers Union. Ryan gave the last of our expiring food to passing students who, after an initial polite confusion, attacked it with a ravenous passion. Sasha made her last cup of coffee, and a few girls that love to work on anything except Chemistry during class came by. They appear not to take being yelled at personally, and said they will miss her. They grabbed a few mangos from our tree in very clever ways, took a few photos, shared some hugs and they hurried to class.
Maryfaith and Thomson walked us to the airport. We bought our last mandazi and some crackers. We wait at Yofu, and took more photos. The plane comes in, and we say our goodbyes. Nobody has ever ridden a plane, so they request photos from the air. We get the big plane- the 12 seater and with only a 7 kg backpack each we leave behind the island we spent so much time in. It was an interesting change in perspective to see our tiny spec of an island shrink in the immense blue of Lake Malawi.
We arrive in Lilongwe, then head off to Ethiopia. It was a trek, but the airplane food was delicious for once. The Addis Abbaba airport is huge, and Ryan confidently tried on a pair of jeans that he hadn’t worn in months. He had recently told his mom that he hadn’t lost any weight in Malawi. He found hubris when the jeans comically didn’t fit and easily fell to his ankles. We bought a nice new leather belt and searched for Ethiopian food. Unfortunately, the only food was 3 London Cafés.
We landed in London. It is strange how such a strange city can feel like home. We went to the hostel and enjoyed a huge free breakfast, with disappointingly instant coffee. After freezing our way through the very creative Tate Modern Art Museum (and admiring the best free view of London) we go straight to the Primark and purchase 2 jackets, a scarf, 2 hats, 4 gloves, some underwear, a belt, a pair of jeans, and a shirt for only 30 US and are instantly far more excited and cozy. We splurge on delicious dim sum and Phad Thai, and go to sleep at 8pm along with 3 other hostel mates. Turns out they were simply napping before going out for a crazy night, as they were gone at 2am when Sasha somehow got food poisoning.
The British museum was massive, and we listened to the dulcet tones of Rick Steves and wandered through Ancient Egypt. We visited the 4 story M&M store, and resisted the temptation to learn our m&m color. We found cheap tickets to a show and enjoyed some very British humor with the “man in the white suit”.
We set out for Amsterdam, and found a beautiful city with many bikes and very few cars. We dropped our stuff off at the very fun “Flying Pig” and went to explore the city. We get up early to book tickets for the Anne Frank house. After a very somber visit, we enjoy a coffee and cake overlooking flowery bikes and canals. We listened to Rick Steves again and found hidden free art museums, silent courtyards were single women used to live and help the poor, armies of pigeons (causing pooptastrophes), and many, many marijuana coffee shops. Ryan had an early bedtime while Sasha talked to an Indian man working in a German scientific lab. She lamented the lack of books in Likoma, and he suggested reaching out to Anglican churches and schools around here, to see if they could donate. He also said there’s no problem with the current research environment, as everyone thrives only on competition. The next day we reached out to an Anglican church in Madrid and got a quick and excited reply!
In not nearly enough time, we head to Venice in a $21 flight. It took a long time to find our hotel in the dark and web-like streets of Venice. We woke up to a warm croissant, orange juice, and a foamy cappuccino made by a deeply Italian woman who silently watched us eat from 3 feet away. We wandered the beautiful and decrypt maze that is Venice, finding many dead ends and picturesque squares. St. Marks square was not underwater, as the media had led us to believe, and we peacefully strolled through. We learned about the bell that rings up to 100 times a year calling Venetians to hurry home and roll up the carpets on the first floor before floods come. The pillars as well of St. Marks Basilica are all different types of marble from their vast trading empire. The Doge’s palace is a huge pink and white building, and we decide to go in, for $25 a person. But luckily, we still look like students (and Sasha still has the student ID) and so are able to get in at half price. Inside was a gorgeous gold art museum in each room, with more than a few sculptures that made us both think we could do that ourselves. We crossed the bridge of sighs- twice. The bridge is the spot that the convicted would pause, “ponder their future in the dark, dank prisons; look out and got one last view of joyous Venice… and sigh”. Everyone from Casanova to Byron to Hemingway looked upon this bridge as they visited Venice (the “Las Vegas of Europe”).
We have enjoyed the pizza of Venice, and have had it for almost every meal. Its an excellent price, is very diverse, and so, so, delicious. The next day we excitedly sleep in, then went for a walk over another famous bridge through a very rainy Venice. We got a photo of ourselves (the man we asked was excellent- taking about 15 photos at different angles) before Ryan succumbed to his cold and returned to sleep for the rest of the day. Sasha continued to admire the Frari cathedral, (saving a staggering 1.5 e with that student ID) and saw some fantastic art in its original location. It was extremely tempting to try to borrow a single chandelier to bring back and adorn our own cathedral but figured that wouldn’t fit in her carry-on.
We got up early and flew out of Venice- this time with our passports! We arrived in Athens, and bus out to our hotel. It was an apartment with a bedroom, full kitchen, small bathroom, living room and patio for only $26 a night. And as a bonus it came with 12 deadbolts on the door, pulldown metal grates on the windows and very solid walls. We’ve never felt so insecure in such a secure place! We’ve spent these past 2 days recovering, doing laundry, venturing out to gather food and cooking for ourselves for the first time in 4 months. We are excited to see Sasha’s family tomorrow!
Ticket to Anywhere 