Some Things We've Learned This Week

As you may know, we’ve dedicated the first year of our stay in Malawi to settling in and learning how to thrive in this culture. Absorbing the differences between Malawi and the United States within the first week of our stay has been a bit like taking a drink from a fire hose. The following is by no means an exhaustive list, but some things we’ve observed that you might find interesting.

1. Water is limited. It takes a long time for it to go through a ceramic filter for drinking, so it’s important to remember to keep the filter reservoir full at all times. In the shower, it’s best to put a bucket under the runoff to later use in the garden. Only flush the toilet when it’s necessary. Electricity is water generated so during the dry season, there isn’t much of it, which brings us to my next point. 

2. Electricity is unreliable. We have already spent seventeen hours at one time without it, and it goes off unannounced every day for hours at a time. To get electricity in your home, you pay at a kiosk in the local market. They give you a receipt with a code, which you then punch into an electrical unit inside your home. It’s prepaid, so when all your units are used up, the electricity goes out until you buy more. We have to think strategically when we have power and remember to charge our electronic devices, and (because the well pump is electric) to wash dishes and take showers during that time as well. Ben and I were in the grocery store when the lights went out. The funny thing is, people kept right on shopping.

3. The Internet is spotty and there is seldom a very strong signal. We’re learning to make notes regarding what we need to do when we have a signal. In order to use the Internet, we also need electricity at the same time, because that powers the router. We have survived almost three full days without internet, so I’m here to tell you it’s possible. 

4. Mosquitos carry malaria and are worst between 5:00 and 7:00 in the morning and evening. If we’re out at those times, we use repellent. We sleep under mosquito nets and close the closet doors at night, because they seem to like to hide out in there waiting for nightfall. A new ritual for us is checking the rooms by flashlight for mosquitos at bedtime. For this reason, I realize I will probably not paint the walls any colors other than white to keep mosquitos as visible as possible. 

5. There is no trash, but three different types of discards: the burn bucket, the non-burn bucket, and the compost. I had considered myself somewhat of an expert on compost, but this is the first time I have ever composted cooked foods. It seems to work, as there is an enormous crow the size of a chicken who picks through the pile each morning for his breakfast, leaving nothing behind that will upset the balance of the fertilizer. While we’re on the subject of waste, public restrooms are few and far between, so we (especially me, being a girl) have to plan ahead for bathroom usage. While women here seem perfectly comfortable squatting on the side of the road, I am not. I try not to drink much at least an hour before we leave the house—something I never gave much thought to in the States. 

6. Security is a bit different here. We have so many keys to the house that we build in an extra twenty minutes to lock all the locks each time we leave. To give you an idea, I just counted over fifty keys in our possession. There are more, but you get the point. We lock the rooms in the house, then lock the doors to the house, then the bars on the doors, then the gate to the yard. It takes some time. On top of that, we have a concrete wall around the house with razor wire on top and three vicious German Shepherds and a part time gate guard. Is it all necessary? I don’t know. We just got here. I guess we’ll see.  

7. Money handling is going to take some getting used to. Malawi uses the Kwacha, and the exchange rate is about 720 to 1 U.S. dollar. The largest bill they make is worth 2,000 Kwacha. To put that in perspective, if our rent is $1,000 per month, and we pay for three months in advance, which is how it's done here, using the least possible amount of individual bills, we still need to carry 1,080 bills to the landlord. While many places accept credit cards, the electricity and internet have to be working for them to function, so it’s no guarantee. We walk around constantly with an enormous roll of bills. 

8. Everyone expects communication to be different from culture to culture, but it can seem invasive if you’re not prepared, and even, apparently, if you are. Personal space is much less than we are used to in the States. If you try to leave a space between you and the person in front of you in line, someone will step into it. People show up to your house unannounced and you are expected to invite them in-and feed them if it’s mealtime. The official language of Malawi is English, but Chichewa is the most-spoken tribal language, and we intend to learn it well. In English Malawians confuse Ls and Rs, so the landlord’s initial inspection on our house included “lust” in the bathroom. As you can imagine, I was less than comfortable signing that. 

9. Driving. Wow! It seems crazy, but I’m sure we’ll get used to it. Of course, because Malawi was a British colony, they drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. The lines on the road seem to be more of a suggestion than a rule. The police can stop you at any time for any reason. If your documents are not in order, they will fine you on the spot—and sometimes, I hear, for whatever other reason they choose. We have been stopped and the officer was perfectly cordial and simply checked the stickers on the windshield, asking what we were doing in the country. Night time driving involves a bit more expertise, as many cars don’t have headlights and there are people and animals crossing the road. We plan to avoid that as much as possible. 

10. And last, but not least, is something John and I have both noticed and appreciate very much. The people seem very modest (other than the occasional necessary bathroom usage on the side of the road) and there is no visible pornography. As the mother of three boys, I am always aware of inappropriate images of women. I have only seen two suggestive advertisements, and those would be considered tame according to American standards. 

So, that's what we've learned this week. I'm sure you can appreciate why we're taking the first twelve months to learn how to live in Malawi. This is going to be an adventure.