Arrival!

Filled with excitement and sleep deprivation we finally arrived in Malawi. Now I shouldn't say "finally" because it suggests that our trip went out of the ordinary and took extra time and heart ache. In fact, it was completely opposite. Much to our surprise and I'm sure yours too, we made it with no major hiccups along the way. The only delays came in SFO when the departure screen read "waiting for a plane" and departing at "12:38 am" instead of 11:11 pm, and a 2.5 hour delay on the tarmac in Addis Ababa. We boarded the plane on time in Addis but came to find out there were some British folks that wanted a ride as well. 27 of them to be exact. With the ground control's watch set to "African time" we sat for a little while and waited for their arrival. 

Customs in Lilongwe couldn't have gone any better. My passport was physically abused as two enormous and powerful pounds came slamming down with the 'Seal of Malawi' stamp.  Continuing around the corner 25 ft, we came to baggage claim and found all of our checked luggage rushing around the corner on the carousel. Our bags were there within 5 minuets of deplaning. Beat that Alaska Airlines with your 20 minute delivery promise! Maybe the western world can begin to take lessons from Africa? Even the carry-on duffle I had to check in Dulles because it was over 15 lbs (it was 42lbs hahaha) arrived safely. 

From the airport we rented a cab "in style" as we walked with Amurican Swag out of the terminal and into the cab. Well, thats not how it occurred through our eyes but to the 250 other taxi drivers and other locals waiting it probably did. 500+ eyes gazing on us, we stuffed the small toyota to the top and squeezed in for the 30 minute ride to the bus station.

From the bus station we boarded a coach bus bound for Blantyre. The hostess treated us with some "Fanta orange water." It wasn't just Fanta to her. It was "Fanta orange water" hahaha. I thought it was entertaining as she asked each row up and down the aisle. The ride soon became dark as the sun did not set at 9 as customary in the states but rather 5:30. Dark=6:00 sharp. And I mean dark. 

For the rest of the ride I sat and watched out of the large windshield as we came barreling down the narrow, shoulder lacking, paved road. With every passing car came a short panic attack as the oncoming vehicle looked to be in our lane. However, remembering that Africa drives on the opposite side I was overcome with sufficient comfort for the time being. We drove through at least 8 police road blocks during the 4 hour 45 minute air conditioned trip. With each road black came a flashlight waving us through. Thank goodness. Who knows what they would have tried to tax us for. (The local physicians have told us the Malawian Police look for any little thing to tax on; i.e. the length of a reflector sticker on the bumper of your car. Yikes!

 

Settling into our studio for the night, we dosed off for 12 hours and 50 minutes. Yep! Completely missed First and Second Serve as well as Sabbath School. Our alarm clock came via knocking on the front door by our neighbors. We had a 1:00 potluck appointment and he wasn't about to let us miss that too. 

This afternoon we socialized with a few of the local adventist families and their students and reflected upon some of the past SM's here. Hahaha... 

School begins at 8:00 on Monday and there is much lesson planning ahead.

From Blantyre Malawi, good evening and good night!