Category: Travel

  What to cook for dinner, an age old issue.  I decided to cook chicken in peanut sauce.  I found a great place to buy chicken near the house.  You can get any pack of any parts you want frozen.  The lady who runs the store is named Beatrice.  She has the same name as…
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Toil Took all day to wash and dry all the laundry by hand.  The washer was the appliance I missed the most the last time I was in Africa and no surprise it is again.  This trip it involves 4 people.  I worked and the electricity went out so I washed and rinsed and when…
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Garden When you are white and live here you are expected to hire a gardener.  We hired the brother of the gardener across the road.  We like him very much and no surprise we like his brother too.  So if you have a gardener who cuts the grass and waters the flowers and plants the…
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Architecture Appropriate architecture uses local material where possible and meets the needs of the local people.  Nice appropriate housing here is made of a red brick that is locally made.  The ceilings are high for the heat and the places are usually one room wide for ventilation. The windows are metal. Courtyards are common.  People…
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We have a Malawian singing dog named Mishak.  He is an outdoor dog.  He barks when folks come to the gate and wakes up the guards did I say wakes up?  I should say alerts the guard.  He sometime sings and the neighbor dogs sing too and they sound like coyotes in an old spaghetti…
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I had a house in Africa, with 3 bedrooms, 2 ½ baths a car port for a car we do not have.  Most people in Malawi do not have cars or a cooker (stove) or concrete floors.  This house is a mansion by Malawian standards.  We spent the day moving in, hanging curtains and mosquito…
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Jacarandas are large trees that are all abloom with purple flowers that line Kamuzu Boulevard near our new house.  They were falling off the trees on Mount Pleasant street, where we had been living, leaving a carpet of purple petals. Last week we went to the Jacaranda orphanage on the outskirts of town.  You may…
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Leaping Lizards In the tropics there are lizards everywhere.  You will find them indoors and outside.  They tend to blend in to the background colors outside and you can see them when they move.  Mostly they are a tan color here this time of year.  We saw a big one with a blue head climbing…
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  In Malawi football is soccer and it is big!  The guys here follow the local Malawi teams, the teams of Africa and the British Premier League.  Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool seem to have the largest following.  There is a big game this afternoon and another tomorrow.  The guys like to get together and watch. …
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  The main food stable of Malawi is a corn flour that is cooked by boiling and resembles grits or polenta.  It is plain and served with something else to add flavor and nutrition.  It is a source of carbohydrates but does not provide all the needed amino acids or protein.  It tastes a little…
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