Seventh letter from Africa
April 08
Hello Everyone,
We just got back on Friday from a very busy but most enjoyable 10 days in Mangochi, Blantyre and Lilongwe (check out a map of Malawi on the internet if you are interested - we live in Karonga right up near the Tanzanian border). The 13 hour drive down to Mangochi was pretty grueling but it was certainly worth it to have the time with Rina. We went on village visits with her on Wed 19th (most informative) then early next morning left for Blantyre (2 1/2 hr drive) to start shopping for our house.
The hardest part was ordering cane furniture from a big factory (bewildering choice) and purchasing the fabric to cover all the base cushions and scatter cushions! Ideally the material had to match the walls and two tone lino tiles, lighten the room, meet our colour tastes and also be suitable for other Paladin personnel using the house after we leave. We finally selected the fabrics only to find the shop didn't have enough of the main material :(. Fortunately we were later able to get suitable fabrics in Lilongwe and post them back to Blantyre. (I hope I won't ever need to go through that ordeal again!) Rina was such a help, not only with the shopping, but also arranging accommodation and telling us the best places to eat - quite an international food fest after Karonga where restaurants offer fish and chicken with rice or chips. Easter Friday was a much needed day of rest before we hit the shops again on Saturday.
Sunday we left early to go for a 45 minute boat ride up the mighty Shire River (pronounced Shirree) to a Safari Lodge for a road safari, a delicious smorgasborg lunch then the boat ride back again. We saw lots of animals - impala, water buck, wart hogs, monkeys, baboons, hundreds of hippos on the river and lots of different birds, but the huge male elephant at close range was definitely the star of the show! A most memorable birthday for me.
Monday was a day of rest back at Rina's before we headed off to Lilongwe on Tuesday morning. Our car service was booked a day later than we requested and took two days to complete so it was Friday before we got back home to Karonga.
Talking of 'home' our house rental has hit another delay when we discovered the American missionary family were being kicked out of 'our house' two months early and have to move into alternate accommodation. After telling the owner not to put any pressure on the tenants, we were not happy to hear this but the landlord was adamant. So it's been arranged that Paladin will take over the lease on April 8th and the tenants will stay on until June 8th paying Paladin their usual rent. We start using their extra shed space for all the freezers we have parked in several locations and hopefully move in on June 8th! There is a two bedroom granny flat we want to fix up as well as 4 bedrooms in the house, so feel free to plan a visit once we are settled!
We've enjoyed getting to know the American family and we will be buying quite a bit of their furniture making it easier for us setting up and for them moving out.
I kept my fingers busy while we were travelling and only need to crochet about 18 more squares to complete the total of 85 for our bedspread. In Lilongwe I also purchased some wadding/backing and beautiful African print fabrics to make bedspreads, a wall hanging and table runner. It's fun making things for our 'new' home and helps make the delays easier to bear. I have been also been establishing potted herbs and ornamental plants in readiness for the move - yes, I'm looking forward to having a place to call 'home'!.
Chris has been very busy with the food supply line and Mr Kaluba, our Agricultural assistant, did an excellent job organising it in our absence. Chris ' phone still rang hot as there were a few things to sort out most suppliers were used to contacting him. Chris also got the pedestrian suspension bridge completed the afternoon before we left so there are lots of happy workers up at th minesite who can now count on getting to and from work regardless of how much it rains.
My language lessons are going well and I've discovered some interesting and encouraging things about the Chitumbuka language:
- all Citumbuka words end in a vowel
- almost everything introduced into the culture with the coming of the British is described in English, sometimes with a slight adaptation (vowel on the end) but usually still recognised by an english speaker eg sekerti (skirt), tabula (table) and trouseri (trousers).
- there are no words for hands and feet.
- fingers and toes are arm 'digits' and leg 'digits'
- there are Chitumbuka words for the numbers 1-5 but after that it's english all the way!
Enough for now, warm regards,
Chris and Anne Mattinson
2/04/08
April 08
Hello Everyone,
We just got back on Friday from a very busy but most enjoyable 10 days in Mangochi, Blantyre and Lilongwe (check out a map of Malawi on the internet if you are interested - we live in Karonga right up near the Tanzanian border). The 13 hour drive down to Mangochi was pretty grueling but it was certainly worth it to have the time with Rina. We went on village visits with her on Wed 19th (most informative) then early next morning left for Blantyre (2 1/2 hr drive) to start shopping for our house.
The hardest part was ordering cane furniture from a big factory (bewildering choice) and purchasing the fabric to cover all the base cushions and scatter cushions! Ideally the material had to match the walls and two tone lino tiles, lighten the room, meet our colour tastes and also be suitable for other Paladin personnel using the house after we leave. We finally selected the fabrics only to find the shop didn't have enough of the main material :(. Fortunately we were later able to get suitable fabrics in Lilongwe and post them back to Blantyre. (I hope I won't ever need to go through that ordeal again!) Rina was such a help, not only with the shopping, but also arranging accommodation and telling us the best places to eat - quite an international food fest after Karonga where restaurants offer fish and chicken with rice or chips. Easter Friday was a much needed day of rest before we hit the shops again on Saturday.
Sunday we left early to go for a 45 minute boat ride up the mighty Shire River (pronounced Shirree) to a Safari Lodge for a road safari, a delicious smorgasborg lunch then the boat ride back again. We saw lots of animals - impala, water buck, wart hogs, monkeys, baboons, hundreds of hippos on the river and lots of different birds, but the huge male elephant at close range was definitely the star of the show! A most memorable birthday for me.
Monday was a day of rest back at Rina's before we headed off to Lilongwe on Tuesday morning. Our car service was booked a day later than we requested and took two days to complete so it was Friday before we got back home to Karonga.
Talking of 'home' our house rental has hit another delay when we discovered the American missionary family were being kicked out of 'our house' two months early and have to move into alternate accommodation. After telling the owner not to put any pressure on the tenants, we were not happy to hear this but the landlord was adamant. So it's been arranged that Paladin will take over the lease on April 8th and the tenants will stay on until June 8th paying Paladin their usual rent. We start using their extra shed space for all the freezers we have parked in several locations and hopefully move in on June 8th! There is a two bedroom granny flat we want to fix up as well as 4 bedrooms in the house, so feel free to plan a visit once we are settled!
We've enjoyed getting to know the American family and we will be buying quite a bit of their furniture making it easier for us setting up and for them moving out.
I kept my fingers busy while we were travelling and only need to crochet about 18 more squares to complete the total of 85 for our bedspread. In Lilongwe I also purchased some wadding/backing and beautiful African print fabrics to make bedspreads, a wall hanging and table runner. It's fun making things for our 'new' home and helps make the delays easier to bear. I have been also been establishing potted herbs and ornamental plants in readiness for the move - yes, I'm looking forward to having a place to call 'home'!.
Chris has been very busy with the food supply line and Mr Kaluba, our Agricultural assistant, did an excellent job organising it in our absence. Chris ' phone still rang hot as there were a few things to sort out most suppliers were used to contacting him. Chris also got the pedestrian suspension bridge completed the afternoon before we left so there are lots of happy workers up at th minesite who can now count on getting to and from work regardless of how much it rains.
My language lessons are going well and I've discovered some interesting and encouraging things about the Chitumbuka language:
- all Citumbuka words end in a vowel
- almost everything introduced into the culture with the coming of the British is described in English, sometimes with a slight adaptation (vowel on the end) but usually still recognised by an english speaker eg sekerti (skirt), tabula (table) and trouseri (trousers).
- there are no words for hands and feet.
- fingers and toes are arm 'digits' and leg 'digits'
- there are Chitumbuka words for the numbers 1-5 but after that it's english all the way!
Enough for now, warm regards,
Chris and Anne Mattinson
2/04/08
Labels: News fm Africa.
posted by Chris & Anne Mattinson @ 4:42 AM
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