GRE count down, 6 more days

Hey all! Sorry to anyone who has been trying to phone and hasn't been able to get through, my new phone SUCKS. I don't know what else to say but keep trying.

I am still studying for the GRE- I feel like I am going to do ok- apparently the hardest part for most people is the verbal section, but due to my extreme nerdiness I have never had a problem with words, so I'm not stressing on it- I'm worried about the Math section. Math, my lifelong nemesis- my Achilles heel, my Everest... you get the picture. I'm at the point in my studying now where I am just deciding which questions to just skip.

Life in Chintheche is nice- Hector is delightful, as always, though I'm worried that she is becoming a woman now, if you get my drift, and I'm looking for a solution to the possible puppy problem. This is why most Peace Corps volunteers get boy dogs, but she showed up at my doorstep shivering from the rain in the arms of one of my students, how could I say no?

The form 1 students are learning to use the library! I have started to poll students about which books they do and don't like- it turns out that they would like more books about sports, history, science, and animals. They tend to like folktales and other types of stories, but little kids books aren't as popular. Their reading levels are still developing, so things that are too difficult aren't really great, but anything with lots of illustrations and easy to follow readings are great.

Finally, anyone who has sent me a package since my break-in, they haven't arrived quite yet, but since I just got my birthday packages sent in early September, I'm sure they're coming. I did, however, get a letter from my Uncle Kenny, aka 'The Dude', about his golf game that was sent September 20. As always, it was a classic.

Love to all,

beeb

Study Time!

Hey all!

Things here have been normal, though I have been spending all of my free time studying nonstop for the GRE. Suprisingly, since there isn't anything else to do here, I don't actually mind- but this time next week, I'll be done done done, and I won't have to worry about it anymore, I can just get back to my normal schedule of... wait, what is it I do again?

So, I'll be in Lilongwe at the end of this week to take the test on Saturday. I'm nervous about the logistics of it all (getting to LLW, lodging, etc), but I'm sure it'll all work out.

Here's to me getting 700s, right?

Hot Season, Status, Hot.

Hello friends, family, well wishers and enemies. It is hot as hell. I know that it will get hotter, but as for right now, it is difficult to get any work done, luckily the library is cooler than the rest of the school, so I have a coolish place to retreat to.

I had an awesome weekend, it was basically exactly what you would imagine a weekend in the Peace Corps would be like: a bunch of people sitting around on someone's porch chatting and drinking homemade wine, sitting around on the beach, singing songs while someone plays guitar- we are such dirty hippies.

Life is good- I got two birthday packages, one from Carrie and one from the Rothwells, both were AMAZING, and Carrie, I read all of the books you sent in three days.

That's about it,

Beep

Is it November yet?

Hey all!

This week was relatively uneventful- I had some form 2 girls over for tea on Tuesday, which was nice, they had a lot of questions, and are excited to do some dramas for the Form 1 Life Skills class. I'm hoping that their little group will help give them confidence that will influence the Form 1 girls.

The Form 1s had their first week, it was really sweet how shy they were, I wonder how long it will last. My plan for my first two weeks with them was to orient them on the library and get them reading in their spare time, it caught a snag when I walked into the library to find that once again it was being used to store broken and useless lab equipment. I had to explain to the deputy head teacher (vice principal, basically) that our school is too small to use any space for storage, and if anything is in storage, it isn't being used, so we either have to get rid of it or fix it up and organize ourselves and that the library is not a closet. In the end we shifted some of the lab equipment into the middle of the room, but the rest is still blocking our fiction section.

I also went to the police station to try to get a copy of my police report, which was useless, because they never filed one, and said I didn't want one to be filed. I couldn't help it, I ended up yelling at the police officer in charge of my case- I forgot what his title is, but it must be synonymous for 'lazy guy who does nothing', because that's exactly what he is. Ugh. He said that I needed to specifically ask to file a report, and that I hadn't done so, to which I replied that: yes, I had asked, and that even if I hadn't spoken the exact magic words to get him to do his job, he should have explained the procedures to me. He laughed at this idea, as if everyone in Malawi knows how to file a police report (they don't, I asked), and said that I should have just known or 'asked my friends'. Around here is when I lost it and yelled at him.

I don't know what's wrong with me, but after my break in, everything seems to bug me. Kids chasing me, drunks hounding me telling me that I am a 'foreign shit', disobedient students who hack up my bushes in my yard even though I told them not to. Other volunteers agree that they feel the same way right about now too though, so maybe its that I'm at my one year slump, or that it is the beginning of hot season. I don't really know why.

Anyway, I'm going to my friend Meg's for the weekend to cool off. Hopefully I'll feel better after the weekend is over.

Mzuzu day 2

Woke up in a tent, it was freezing outside. Dragged (drug?) myself into the zoo, drank a cup of coffee. Zombie walked with other pcvs to the 'chipatti lady' in the market (pi, did I take you there?) stumbled around Mzuzu in jeans and sunglasses. Climbed into the internet cafe.

I. Love. Mzuzu.

Mzuzu

Hey all!

I'm currently at my favorite place in all of Malawi, well, top five at least, Mzuzu. Unfortunately, I forgot my phone at home, damn, so don't worry if you can't get me until Sunday night.

As for today, I'm going to go to the market to replace the shoes and jeans that were stolen to get me through until all of your lovely packages come in. I'm happy to say that I'm feeling much better.

Love to all!

Beeb

Livin' without soap (and towels, a radio, shampoo, shoes...)

This week has been emotional, and so I wasn't really fair when I wrote last Monday. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about Malawi, or especially my community. Yeah, it sucks when half of your belongings (the useful half, mind you) gets stolen, but I was never directly threatened or harmed, and my dog was unmolested. Maybe amongst the burgled, I can be considered a winner? My neighbors have been awesome, the night I discovered the break in happened, one family let me use their phone to call Peace Corps, and another even brought over a pile of papayas and dinner for Hector (usipa and nsima- alias minnows and starch patties). The Peace Corps community has also been really helpful, I have had two friends call me at great expense (phone time here is expensive), and the office has helped me out a lot too. Hector, our safety and security officer, and my dog's namesake, even called the police station to yell at officers. Oh Hector.

So how am I? I've been better, but my mom has been mobilizing friends and family over in America to help send over replacements for things I lost and, more importantly, give me phone calls so I can catch up on gossip, and have someone to cry to. My cousin Gracie and I talked for an hour, running her a bill of about $250 before she called the phone company to sort it out. That's some cousin love right there, but I advise skype or phone cards- I don't have skype, but you can use it to call me on my cell phone, my number for the time being is (011265991334472) until I recover my old number, I'll let you all know when it changes back.

This week I've been down, so I've just been reading a lot. It took me a while to clean my house (or leave it for that matter), so on Tuesday when my APCD (associate Peace Corps Director) came over when I was expecting him on Wednesday, I was surprised. I just opened my door in my pajamaed glory and was like 'oh hi- um, usually I don't leave garbage all over the place- and normally I shower... and wear professional clothes... and brush my hair'. He was cool about it though, and he brought me goldfish crackers and oreos. We went to the police station, where one of the cops was named 'major'- which made me think of Catch 22, and made me laugh, which was the first sign that my sense of humor was coming back. I don't have much faith that my stuff will come back, but who knows?

I'm getting back to my old routine though, today I sorted papers in the library (and yes mom, I apologized to Mr. Simkonda). I'm just going to relax this weekend, and then get back to things on Monday.

So for any Peace Corps Malawi recruits out there reading Peace Corps Journals- please don't worry, you probably won't have a break in, but if you do, it's still worth it.


****Well-Wishers' Wish List****
-macaroni and cheese (the kind with the powder- you can even just send the powder to save space)
-coffee
-chocolate
-oreos
-books
-jeans (last I checked I was a size 6 in Gap, but you know how sizes go- if it is stretchy, go with the 6, if not, the 8)
-a yesterdog shirt
-any MSU shirts
-Sunglasses
-shoes (size 7.5 or 7 depending on the fit- and some cheaper tennis shoes would be cool- flip flops are already here)
-shampoo, soap, deodorant (yup, they stole that too)
-summer sausage and beef jerkey
-protein bars (why you gotta steal a girl's protein bars?!)
-velveeta cheese (doesn't need refrigeration, so what if it isn't technically 'food')
-a towel (yup. stolen)
-stuff you think will make me smile
-a letter from you (the best part of any package!)

My address is still:

Melissa Small
Box 44
Chintheche, Malawi
Central Africa