A time of travelling

The Malawi Blog is taking a break while I am travelling for the next few months. I am off to Australia, the US and the UK and will be back in Lilongwe in the New Year.

The rains have come, the generator is operational and Andrew and Limited are looking after things while we are away.

It is odd this 'going down the wormhole' when one leaves one 'life' and pops up in another. But we have been doing it for 25 years and should be used to it.

The Black Mambas of Malawi

It is snake season in Malawi. 'Mamba' means snake here in Lilongwe and the Black Mamba is the biggest of them all. It is actually the biggest and deadliest snake in Africa. And it seems that one was found in our carport last year.

I hadn't actually thought much about snakes until this week although I figured that they might be around. We are used to being careful about snakes in Australia in summertime and I probably should have put a bit more effort into informing myself about Lilongwe because it is in the wet season, the hottest season, which is just upon us, that the snakes are most active.

My Danish neighbour Birgitta found that out last week. She was sewing at her dining table when she felt something on her lap and looked down .... it was a snake. It fell to the floor as she jumped up and probably got more of a shock than she did because she was not bitten.

She showed me a photograph she had taken, before it ended up in more than one piece and I looked it up on the web later and think it is a harmless Vine Snake (see above).

It is now a very dead Vine Snake because Fred the gardener came in to dispatch it. Birgitta was left with a very bloody floor but no other damage.

She thinks the snake came in through the open doors and I had been aware that one must be careful about just this possibility but Birgitta is new to Africa and she also does not have air conditioning so keeping doors and windows open is a must for her. Well, now windows; the doors remain closed unless she can watch any comings and goings.

It was when I was talking to a friend who lived here for some months last year that I heard the story about the Black Mamba in the carport. He warned us to be careful early morning and at night and I have to say, I hadn't really thought about it until he mentioned the earlier unwelcome visitor.

Black Mambas (see left) can be as long as 12 feet and are nervous, unpredictable and lethal which is an unfortunate combination.  From the look of it they also have a very big mouth and very big fangs.

No doubt the paranoid nature is what makes them so aggressive. They have been known to attack cars. Apparently they like dry places and dead trees and rocky areas are a favourite. I suspect that means they also like getting under the roof of houses.

They live on rats and other small animals so the less there is for them to eat the better. Our Black Mamba visitor of the past may have just lost his way but remaining aware of the possibility of a return visit is important at least until the Wet Season finishes.

I have asked Manuel to put some very bright lights into our genset shed because the open breeze-blocks and the cool interior are going to be 'snake heaven'. And I am thinking we need the switch just by the door so we can reach it before stepping inside.

Manuel laughed when I said the snakes would love the shed and I wanted bright lights.

He said: 'No, this isn't Australia.' But when I told him of our Black Mamba moment  in the past and Birgitta's experience last week he quickly admitted he had it wrong and that the lights would be very bright.

Fortunately for me I will be out of here for most of the Wet although it is summer in Oz and already there are reports that the snakes are out in force because we had a very wet Winter and Spring. But to put things in perspective we have had only half a dozen snake encounters in the 14 years we have had the farm so it is not as if we live in snake central!

But as part of my snake education I will study the list I found of Malawi snakes and will share my new knowledge with Birgitta and my other neighbour, Pawadee, who are coming for coffee tomorrow:

Black Mamba:

The beast of the Malawian bush. An aggressive snake that has been know to attack cars driving along the side of the road. If you see a long, big black snake - get away from it!

Green Mamba:

Green mambas are more common, and are not aggressive snakes. Bright green in appearance they will spend more time trying to get away from you.

Puff Adder (and others):

Short, fat and poisonous. Adders are short and very well camoflaged on the ground.

Tree Snakes:

Poisonous and normally found in mango trees, which is apparently something of a mouse 'supermarket.' There are range of tree snakes in Malawi of which the Vine Snake which foolishly curled up in Birgitta's lap was one.

She thinks it must have been curled around the table leg and decided, once she was whirring away at her sewing that her lap looked much warmer and more inviting. It won't do that again!

Interestingly Birgitta showed me that she wore a silver snake bracelet and she smiled and said she wondered if it meant something. I am sure it does. I do believe that 'like attracts like' and the snake energy would have been more powerful around her because of the bracelet. She is still wearing it but keeping doors closed.

I actually like snakes although not necessarily ones I don't expect to be where they are. We have friends in Hahndorf who keep snakes and I remember the first time I held one, being surprised by how smooth, cool and calm it felt. But snakes in this situation are very different to snakes in your lap, your carport or your house or your path.

It is a salutary reminder to be careful. Just as we are at the farm in summer where brown snakes, also very deadly, are active and I never go into the garden or paddocks without high boots, my mobile phone and a great deal of attention on where I am walking. And we teach the children to freeze if they see a snake and preferably not to go out without a dog. I know it seems awful but better for the dog to be bitten than one of us.

We have had two cats bitten by brown snakes in previous years and luckily found them in time. A few days and quite a few hundred dollars later they were completely recovered and back home from the vet. I think they might have been bitten by baby browns with whom they were looking to play.

We also lost a yearling to a red bellied black snake which is even deadlier than the brown but rarely seen. So it is not that I am not 'snake-aware' but I have to say, having seen some photos of Black Mambas I prefer never to meet one in person. I am not sure the 'freeze' approach would work with them. Most snakes are more scared of you than you are of them and will slither away quicksmart as long as you stay still and don't threaten them. From the sound of it the Black Mamba would be tempted to have a 'go' at you just because you had the audacity to enter it's 'space.'

However, like all things including malarial mosquitoes and insane drivers on African country roads the snakes are all part and parcel of life here and there is a lot of fate and destiny involved in whether you are 'brought low' by any of them.

Some steps forward and a few backwards

Well, we have made progress on the genset shed (see pics above and below) and with any luck the generator should be bolted into place before we leave on Friday.

Apart from differing views on which way the roof should slope to cope with rains in the wet season, which is nigh upon us, the process has been relatively drama-free. The circuit board turns out to be about ten times bigger than expected which means we lose more storage space than we thought but I am not sure how effective it is going to be for storage given the breeze-blocks in the walls and the wrought-iron doors we will need to ensure ventilation is adequate for the generator.

When Manuel appeared with the circuit board it was clear that my instinct to make the shed as big as possible was a good one. Still, it is  a serious sort of generator and once up and running should remove the uncertainty factor from my cooking and put an end to double dinners.

We are going to have the roof sloping away from the house, the back wall of which you can see in the pic above. The door to the right leads out of the courtyard which previously contained a three-line clothesline but which has now been swallowed, well, half of it, by the generator shed. Our laundry is on the other side of that door/gate on the right-hand side of the pic above.

And talking laundries - on the 'steps forward ledger',  a young man called Griffin Khonje arrived on Saturday morning to sort out our washing machine. It was a bit of a joint effort with my reading of the manual to eventually discover that the support bars which he thought he had to re-insert were actually stabiliser bars which must be in place before the machine is moved and which the removalists clearly inserted and which now had to be removed in order for the washing machine to work properly.

Mea culpa. I really should have gotten in touch with Miele before the packers came in to find out what needed to be done to move the washer and dryer safely. Anyway, all's well that end's well and I know more about my washer than I ever did. My father-in-law, Roy, always said the first thing you do when you buy something is read the manual. Of course I never do. I tend to approach things from a needs-based perspective; if I need to do something then I find out how to do it. I wonder how many people ever read the manuals unless they need to?

The process took about four hours and we were two hours into it before I realised that Griffin needed to be doing the opposite of what he planned.  He hadn't read the manual even though I handed it to him when he arrived. I did notice that he sat down and read the manual for the dryer before he started on it. Lesson learned. I heated up some soup for him and Limited and Andrew after the washer was sorted and before he got started on the dryer.

That however constituted a few steps backward. No lights on the dryer and no insight from the manual and nothing from Griffin's efforts. Eventually Limited came to say he really did not think he could do it and we should get someone else.  I had begun to think the same thing myself but Griffin, apart from not reading manuals, had seemed to know what he was doing with the washer and I respected his skills.

However, shortly after even he admiteed defeat and I said I would get in touch with Miele and ask them for advice on what to do. I am wondering if some water got into the wiring en route and that is why we have power to the machine but no further than the contact point. An email has winged its way to Miele and I await their advice as to what one does in Malawi when the nearest service agent is in Joburg.

And another step backward on the electrics front is that our little B&O sound system has also become 'lightless' and refuses to work. It was fine a few nights ago but when we tried to put on our dinner music last night it was as dead as the proverbial dodo! Sigh. I doubt that there are many B&O service agents in Africa beyond the borders of SA so I am not sure how we are going to get that fixed.

Then again, Malawi has managed to produce most people for most problems most of the time so I shall see what I can find. One job done and another one appears.

One major plus this week was getting our pictures hung. Manuel who is doing our generator and who did the air cons and who is extremely efficient recommended a young man he knew and Andrew arrived with his drill, masonry bit and screws and plugs on Tuesday. Five hours later we had 30 pictures hung.

The huge painting of somewhere in Russia I think,  (see below) although that is a guess, took three goes to get up so we shall have some holes to fill when we take it down. Then again it took the two picture hangers who did the job in Perth the same amount of tries to get it right so he is hardly an orphan.

It looks great hanging over the dining table and it is the first time I have had it hung where I can sit and look at it from the lounge. In both of the Perth houses it was so big it had to go in the stairwell.

The other two 'hard ones' were more of a weight than size problem; the South African painting and the mirror but they went up with no trouble at all. It seems odd to think that we got these things in Cape Town and now they are back in Africa for a time. As are quite a few things in this house.

The mirror, (see above) has gone up by the front door and the painting (see below) as you walk through into the kitchen. When I think that these two have travelled from Cape Town to Adelaide to Perth and now to Lilongwe, along with the huge Russian painting, I can only be grateful that they have made all of their journeys without damage.

Then again, the early settlers carried valuable pieces of furniture and art and crockery across the world from Europe and England to Australia, Africa and the Americas long before removalists packing became something of an art form.

These big pieces were also packed in wooden crates for the move and I am sure that helped. Those wooden crates have now gone to make chairs and tables for Limited and Andrew. All in a good cause.

I am not sure what Andrew and his helpers, Limited and 'my' Andrew as we had to call him on that day, thought of the photo of my Russian goddess shaman figure which we hung in the dressing room; all feathers and bones and beak but I have found the Malawians to be pretty pragmatic and they did not seem too phased.

 I told them she was a Russian mother goddess and they just nodded. They are all pretty christian around here but, like a lot of Africa, the christianity sits on top of far more ancient and still revered shamanistic and animistic beliefs.

Some people are repelled by what looks like a decaying body but I think it is wonderful. Greg took the photo when he was in Khazakstan years ago because he knew I would be interested. I liked it so much I had it framed and usually hang it by a door so she can be a guardian at the 'gate.'

She represents the 'death' aspect of the Goddess and reminds me of the Indian Kali. Such images are meant to show us what is beneath the illusion of 'form.'

The ancient mother goddess was always seen as a trilogy: Mother, Maiden, Crone and Creator, Protector, Destroyer.

She has been with me now for about ten years and has hung in many of our homes. We have pictures here from all over the world - places we have lived for months or years - including Russia, India, England, Canada, South Africa and of course Australia.

Few of them have any real monetary value but all of them are important to us. They are memory, memento and decoration. They are 'things and stuff' but the 'things and stuff' which help us to re-create a 'home' time and again.

There is no doubt that pictures 'finish' a room and it was the last big job on the list. I can now say that we really have moved in. Although the painters have to come in tomorrow and touch up where repairs have been done to the wall so the television set should be moved for the 40th and last time which really signals that we have moved in!

So, eight weeks on from arrival and a few days before we return to Australia ... Greg for a week and me for a few weeks, we are pretty much organised in our Lilongwe home. It could have been much harder than it has been and it could not be any more delightful as a home than it has turned out to be. I feel very fortunate to have such a nice place to live and to have the opportunity to spend time discovering another country - in between my editing work, my writing, my reading, my cooking and my being.  It is all good.

NB. In the spirit of 'reading the manual,'  after writing this I decided to have a more careful look at our B&O and on doing so thought it might be wise to experiment with the adapters as opposed to just changing power points as we did the other day and voila! Le musique et bon! Greg has had Keith Jarret returned to his world and we have one less job on the To Do list. I then tried the same exercise on the dryer and found that yes, a light did flash on for the first time .... we must have some dodgy adaptors.. but did not stay on. This leads me to suspect that the dryer can work but does not because there is not enough power available at the socket. Another job off the To Do list but replaced by one for the electrician: increase power to the laundry sockets.

The move has been made

It will come as no surprise to anyone that this week has disappeared without any updates on this site. Moving in proved to be as expected except for the Africa factor where jobs which were meant to be done before we moved in have been done as we moved in, as we unpacked and not only have they been done they have been re-done.

It has been a lesson in patience and a reminder of Malawi time! Although I have to say, compared to Indian time the Malawians are pretty punctual.

It was great to unpack our things and put them in place. As I learned long ago and have said before: familiarity does not necessarily breed contempt but it does breed familiarity. It is the familiar which makes us feel secure and comfortable. I suppose it is why people are reluctant to leave homes, lives, jobs or relationships; when we feel secure and comfortable we are better able to believe in the illusion of certainty.

But, it is a comfortable illusion and I for one am grateful to have our things around us once again. We are in, as they say and apart from pictures still to be hung we are pretty much organised. However, the past week has been a haze of air conditioner technicians, plasterers, painters, telephone installations, internet installations, curtain hangers,  DSTV technicians, gardening jobs,  generator deliveries, bricklayers, alterations and installations in the guest-house, guest-house guests and a heavier than usual load of editing work.

We are nearly there. One of the dumbest things we did was put an air conditioner above the HUGE television set which was Greg's choice not mine; the size of the television set that is.. there wasn't much choice about where to put the air con. The .....thing has been pulled out and pushed back two dozen times in five days because of issues with the air con. Yesterday was the third replacement of parts.

When they left they said it was fixed. It wasn't. Surge protectors on the air cons have not been able to cope with the surges and have had them switching off and on. At least that was the story.

More work today and we think it is finally fixed.  We have a higher amp surge protector and the electrician found a fault in the circuit breaker for that section. Fingers crossed the problem is finally solved.

The television set gets dragged out once more on Friday, well, probably twice because of painting, so the peeling plaster and paint can be repaired properly.  And all of the furniture will have to be covered in sheets because of course they now want to scrape and gouge it out again before putting a plaster-lime mix onto the wall and making it flush.

I thought that was what they were doing in the first place but clearly not. They plastered and painted the repairs too soon and within a day our plaster was bubbling off the wall in massive blisters.

I did get a story, and this from the expat in charge, that they had wanted to get it done quickly for me.......... I replied, I wanted it done properly. If you had told me it had to take a fortnight to dry I would have said fine. I can't see the point in doing a job quickly if it won't last.

I do think that some people don't think and want to please so much that they do what they know they should not do; or refuse to think about what the results are likely to be, hoping, against all experience they have ever had, that this time, miraculously, the plaster and paint will adhere to 'wet' cement and lime!

He is a really nice man and works in Malawi building health centres and I am sure he did just want to please me but he should have known better. Maybe I scared him! I can't believe that. Maybe Texans are just programmed to be nice even when they don't want to be?

Given my absolute lack of expertise in plastering and painting - growing all the time - I am (or was) reliant on those who know more to tell me what is required not what I would like to hear. It has been, I am sure, a lesson for my American friend as well as myself. But it is hard to know the questions to ask if one has never encountered the situation.

I am making a note that in future I will ask: 'Tell me everything that you know about this situation, this process and how it should be done.'

It is a reminder that we make better decisions if we have as much information as possible. It is I am sure, more common than not, that we make decisions based on little or no information or experience and then wonder why things go wrong. The Virgo in my pushes me to research things and I should have done some 'net searches' on wall repairs so I knew what was involved. Note to self: if you know nothing about something then find out something about it before making decisions.

The curtains arrived  on Tuesday and were too short - measurement from top of curtain instead of hook line being the reason - and went back and returned Friday. They look great except one set was made to sill level instead of floor level and not what I had requested so they were sent back and the new ones arrived today.

Peggy and Rose who have done the curtains have done a fantastic job. When 'mistakes' have been found they just go away and fix it without quibbling or asking for more money... it just gets done. Given that it has cost just over $200 to make and install curtains in the entire house it is excellent value for money. However, while it isn't much in dollars for us it is a lot in Kwacha for them. But the standard of work is excellent.

The only remaining hiccup is a 'flaw' in our bedroom curtains. This is so slight that it is not worth finding new fabric and remaking them but there is a 'lighter' line which runs through the curtains at the same level. Peggy was disappointed when she saw it. It was the sort of thing which would only show up when the curtains were hung against the light. She had been very careful at Akbanies to check for flaws but she said in future she will have to check even more carefully. And I am sure she will.

I went out yesterday to inspect the 'house' being made for the generator and asked them to make it a foot wider. We lose one clothesline but given that they have begun laying bricks better to do it now than decide later. As the shed 'stood' someone of a skeletal shape - definitely not Greg or I -  might have scraped through on either side but that was about it. Luckily I went to look or we might have been tearing down walls of greater height.

And following a later inspection that evening and more discussions about access, putting in diesel, doing repairs and heavy rains we have made the 'shed' another foot wider, thus losing another clothesline and leaving us one which runs close to the razor wire.  I doubt we can do much with the razor wire so shall have to string lines across the courtyard vertically as opposed to horizontally.

We have also decided to put in a concrete base which is the slab we thought we had to install in the first place but which will now 'seal' the first layers of brick - locally made - which look pretty porous, from the heavy rains which are imminent.

We had hoped to avoid doing the slab because the concrete was found to be nearly four inches thick and strong enough to bolt the massive generator securely in place. However, having learned from my wall repairs I put more specific questions to the builder and made it clear we wanted one good job which would cover all possible problems, needs or catastrophes.  This adds to the time but, having done without the generator for this long it matters not a whit how long it takes as long as it is done properly.

The 'shed' should be finished by the end of the week and should be connected soon after but it probably won't get its roof and doors for another week.

The telephone technicians came this morning and scrambled around in the roof to get the phone and internet modem connections where I wanted them - next to my desk. They knew they had to get up into the roof because we established that when they came yesterday but they had no torch.

Neither would we have had one except we found that our new electric drill came with a torch, very sensible, and we had charged it up at the weekend.  I must have known.

Four hours later we were all set up without too much dust or drama.  Except that the 'house connection' is still too weak, despite being told it was much better than what was previously installed so I still have to use an internet dongle for reasonable access. I am hoping that whatever else needs to be done to make it work as it should does not require changes here.

Then again, it may have taken three times as long as it usually would but all is looking good. The washing machine is not working.... drum has come adrift I think ... but Manuel, who has organised the air conditioners gave me a number for someone who does all the work for the American aid agencies here and so Griffin Khonje will be here at eight on Saturday morning.

Looking back I should have gotten in touch with Miele before we packed it for the move. Then again, that is what the removalists are meant to know. However, fault is largely irrelevant at this point and here is where we are at.

More finger-crossing that he can repair the Miele front-loader otherwise it will be an insurance claim and need to be replaced out of South Africa.  Luckily we have the washer at the guest-house to use while we wait.

The move was relatively breakage-free although I had a few moments of 'horror' when the De Longhi coffee machine would not work. While we might be able to get our washer fixed here I would say there was Buckleys chance of finding a coffee machine repairer in Malawi. With some tinkering and cleaning on my part and Greg's we finally had it operational. It was my first decent coffee in two months.

Beyond the washer breakages have been minimal: one wine glass broken by Greg as he unpacked and a small piece broken off my pottery dish. They ignored my packing instructions so I should be grateful that it arrived in as good a shape as it has. Then again, I can always make another one when I get back to pottery classes.

So, as things stand, my picture hanger Andrew who was due at 9 this morning did not come but may come tomorrow and hopefully by the end of the week; the wall repairs will be completed by the weekend; the washing machine hopefully will be operational; the genset might be connected by the weekend; the genset shed should be completed by next week and apart from a few minor repairs like cupboard doors which won't stay shut (quite a few of them); or drawers which won't open (few of them too); aluminium doors which require herculean effort to lock and unlock; missing taps (only one); crappy showerheads which need to be replaced; the odd broken tile .... we are, as they say, pretty much set and the house is a lovely place to be.

As we enter our ninth week in Lilongwe it is probably not a bad effort! The frustration levels have been minimal which probably says that my 'inner work' has worked to some degree and that 'patience as a virtue' is becoming my middle name.

My desk on the landing is a great place to work and with less people roaming around the house I plan to get my two edits completed before we return to Oz at the end of next week.

Patience is a virtue

This has to be the slowest move I have ever made; ironically it is the one with the most helpers.

Here I am, still waiting, to get to the boxes. Greg has gone to Monica's wedding and I am holding the fort hoping the plasterer will arrive, but knowing he probably will not and waiting for Andrew to finish cleaning the house.

After the air conditioner technicians had finished, much of it was covered in brick dust, plaster and concrete and the walls were dirty from the marks of ladders and dirt from drilling.

But, before we can start unpacking we have to go shopping. Stocks are low and it has been such a busy week we have not had time to get to the supermarket.

At this stage I am thinking it will be 2p.m. before we start and there is no way we will be sleeping in our own bed until tomorrow night. However, having waited this long it is largely irrelevant.

Andrew and Limited are going to work this afternoon and we will pay them some extra. We should be able to make a dent in it but we still need plastering and painting where work has been done (see right hand side of pic below) before furniture can finally be put into place. The television has to go underneath the air conditioner in the living room and ideally all plastering and painting should be done first.

Ah well, so much for ideals. It might be Greg's great love but it is after all just a television set.

Where does all this stuff come from? Here we are in a country where people are excited about getting some packing crate timber and cardboard for their homes and we are surrounded by boxes of 'stuff.' Useful stuff but stuff all the same.

Still, I am sure some of this stuff will be left behind when we move back to Oz  in a few years as we have done a number of times in the past. We have left things behind, and no doubt 'set up homes' in India, Angola, South Africa and Zambia. And still we have all this stuff!

We always 'set up home' as much as we can to make it comfortable whether we are living in a hotel room, flat or house and whether we know it will be for six weeks, six months or six years. The fact is, one never knows because six weeks can easily become six years as it did in Perth and six years can easily become six months as it has elsewhere.

This was a pattern established when we moved from Melbourne to Perth for six months and I demanded we pack up and take everything. Luckily we did because we were there for six years.

Actually, we didn't take everything. I foolishly left some things in the storage area under the house .... including a wonderful train set Greg had had as a child ... and when we sold the house a year after moving we forgot about them. I have no idea what else was there but we have always been sorry about losing the train set.

Still, here's hoping it went to a good home. I am sure if we had been meant to have it we would have remembered it was there.

We used to set it up on the lounge room floor... generally late at night after we had been drinking copious amounts of wine with friends ... and watch it run around the track. It even had a light at the front.

Such is life; you have things and then you don't. Well, you have life and then you don't so why should things be any different?

I like to think that if things are lost or stolen or given away because they cannot be carried then they help others. In truth, everything we have in this world is 'borrowed.' It is just that some of us can 'borrow' more than others.

When we left Zambia, after living in a hotel room for six months, we made a 'gift' of a lot of our things, including a small fridge, to one of the maids. She was the one who worked the hardest but it was difficult because, given the hierarchy of such places, it was clear the hotel housekeeper was most unimpressed at her windfall.

We had to oversee the removal of the goods - she brought her brother to help - to make sure it was not taken from her downstairs. Then again, the Zambians have an interesting 'take' on good fortune; they believe it is an indication of evil forces at work so I am not sure we did the poor girl much of a favour.

I have to say I like the unpacking part of the moving process because it is the creative part. Setting up the house and arranging things is fun. I used to do this as a child. I would grow tired of my bedroom and spend a day moving everything around so that I had a 'new' room.

It was always so exciting to sleep that first night in my new room. As an adult the excitement is not sleeping in a new room but decorating the new house. Then again, as a child, there wasn't much decorating done just furniture moved and room cleaned so the going to bed at night in the 'new' room had to be the most exciting part.

Perhaps I knew even then that this would be my life! If practice makes perfect then I must be close.

Containing excitement and exciting containers and crates

It is all here and while boxes are not yet unpacked, it looks like everything is intact. I gave the picture and mirror boxes a bit of a shake and heard no tinkling which augurs well.

Stuttafords came back this morning to put the dining table together; they had no alum keys yesterday and to unpack the glass. No glass breakages and Greg's mammoth television has also arrived unscathed.

The removalists arrived about 2.30 yesterday afternoon and by 5.30 we had everything off the truck and ticked off the list.

It was hot and sticky but it went fairly smoothly. I made sure Andrew gave water to the removalists and I kept a bottle by my side.

The furniture was unwrapped but we have left the boxes until the air conditioning people have finished, thus avoiding unpacking with half a dozen people wandering around and taking the risk of large air conditioners being dropped.

The air conditioning guys arrived late this morning and were expected to finish around one but it is now after twelve and I have just checked and would be very surprised if they are out of there before four or five.

Which is why I have the time to be writing this.  With people in the house it is wiser to keep everything boxed up as opposed to unpacked and littered around the place until things can be properly put away. But there is no rush. We can unpack at our leisure with the guesthouse perfectly comfortable and easily accessible until the other house is set up.

As is the way in Africa, before they left I had to hand out a bit of Kwacha but first I had to count how many there were. With people milling around, upstairs and downstairs, it took me a while to count heads. And then I had to count Kwach and stuff a wad of it in my pocket until the time came to distribute.

It ended up at about fourteen lots of 500K because Andrew and Limited had been helping as well but also Fred the gardener and Stephen the guard had pitched in and so had Duncan the night guard.

Duncan did quite well actually because he had been helping for barely half an hour but I couldn't leave him out. The only one who missed out was Charles, the night guard, who had arrived late.

My preference was not to have the 'cast of thousands' and the inexperienced hauling things around the place but what do you do? I am sure lugging our furniture and boxes was more interesting than gardening or guarding and I am also sure they just wanted to help. And no doubt the possibility of extra kwacha played a part.

But it all went well. We had only one 'breakage' and that was the newly installed switch for the overhead fan in our bedroom.

It was an exciting day for Limited in particular. He asked if he could have some of the timber from the crates - five wooden crates in all - to make chairs and tables. It looked like good wood, pine I think, but thick and strong and probably better than anything they could get around here, if they could afford it which is unlikely.

I think the Stuttaford's people were hoping to take it away but I said, well, we paid for this didn't we so we can decide what happens to it. Well, the company paid for it actually but I am sure they would not mind making a lot of people happy instead of the removalists. So the timber was shared between the guard, gardener, Limited, Andrew and Stuttafords. I suspect the foreman got to decide what happened to the timber beyond our gates but our lot were very excited about it all.

Limited also asked if he could have some of the wrapping and some of the cardboard boxes and they left him three boxes. I asked him what he wanted them for and he said for storage and he could make things out of them. It's a reminder of how little people have despite the fact that compared to many in Malawi, Limited is quite well off.

So the cardboard boxes and wooden crates were an exciting windfall for more than just us. We were interested in the contents but the containers themselves were valuable.

We actually had two cardboard box 'coffee tables' for the four years we were in Angola. They were covered with sheets to look like tables and we had our lamps on them. We never got around to replacing them; partly because there were no side tables to be had in Angola from what we could see and it wasn't worth hauling something in.

It is great to have everything here and exciting to think about getting it all put away; furniture in place and pictures on the wall. It normally takes us 2-3 days to set up a house but with Limited and Andrew helping we should do it in half that time. There's a half a days work hanging the pictures if it is done by someone who knows what they are doing and a day and a bit if we do it ourselves. We did invest in a good electric drill before leaving Perth so if we must do it ourselves, we can.

And the good news is that Greg thought he might be away for a week from tomorrow but has been able to delay his trip for a week. What a novelty for me; not setting up house on my own!

Of floral art, fire ants, furniture and razor wire

There is a beautiful hibiscus in the garden (see above) but it is no good for putting in a vase because it wilts very quickly.

I am also struck while taking photos of the flowers in the garden that the most ubiquitous 'garden art' in Africa is razor wire. I remember reading once about a man who collected barbed wire as a hobby. I did wonder, if I looked at it long enough, whether or not I would see the beauty in its vicious blades.

You have to live with razor wire and electric fences to appreciate how lucky one is to live without them. They are not a requirement here in Malawi as they are in South Africa and other places but they are common all the same. I suspect Be Prepared is the motto. Given how quickly African States implode and how violently that can happen, it is not surprising that locals and expats alike put up the security they might need one day even if they do not need it now.

It is a sad reflection that African presidents often do very good things in the first term of office but fall apart in the second. There seems to be an impetus in the first term to actually bring about positive change for the people and in the second there seems to be an impetus to bring about positive change (as in money and power) for a more select group comprised of family and friends. No doubt it falls into line with the 'tribal nature' of many less developed societies where instinct demands that Self and immediate family are protected first; extended family is protected second and everyone else comes a very distant third, if at all.

I'm not sure how those cultural 'values' can be changed unless the people themselves demand that they change and that can only come about when they categorically reject any nepotistic moves by their government or leaders.

Things can change very quickly in Africa - hence the razor wire and electric fences even when governments appear to be relatively benign or are in their first term.

I don't think it is possible to live with such 'garden art' and not have it trigger a level of unconscious 'fear' or at the least, discomfort. How grateful I am to be able to call a country home where it is neither seen nor necessary.

However,  turning aside from razor wire, there is a wide assortment of flowers and greenery in the garden which is good for floral display and I have discovered, as I suspected, when he gave us a bouquet the other week, that Limited is a natural when it comes to floral art.

I asked him to do two arrangements this week and I am most impressed. He has talents for which I can only wish. He laughed when I said he should be a florist. Not that I have seen any florists in Lilongwe and from his perspective, such a career, even if he should want it, would be sheer fantasy.

He is however talented as the photos below show.

When we move across to the other house Limited will remain at the guest-house but I will ensure that his skills are still utilised. The bouquets are so much better than anything I can come up with and I have a sense he enjoys putting them together.

It is another reminder of how many more choices we have in the First World in ways beyond imagining for those who live in the Third. For most of us, if we have skills, we can act to develop them or to at least express them creatively and privately. Not so for people here.

The other excitement of the week was being invaded by hordes of very large, red ants when I decided to take a bath last night. Having done a search I think they are 'fire ants' and therefore I must ponder the symbolism of fire: perhaps it is as in 'baptism of' in terms of getting organised in Malawi. Synchronistically we watched a movie last night, a detective thriller, which had the ongoing theme, 'born of fire.' Little did I know that when I went up to take a bath the theme was ongoing.

It really was quite odd. I filled the bath and hopped in. Within an instant of doing so a horde of huge red ants poured over the side of the bath. The tiles in the bathroom are white, the tiled ledge surrounding the bath is white... there was absolutely nothing to be seen before I got in the bath and nowhere that they could hide.


Needless to say I was out in a flash as legions of these ants continued to pour along the side of the bath. They just kept coming.

Against all of my better nature I did resort to insecticide. I hate killing things and even catch blowflies if I can or usher them out through doors and windows; ditto for cockroaches  and spiders although Perth was the cockroach capital of the world and I rarely see them here. Come to think of it I haven't seen spiders either.

Anyway, with a bathroom awash in huge, red ants which could inflict a very toxic and nasty bite - some even triggering anaphalectic shock in the vulnerable - as I discovered this morning after doing some research, I felt we had no choice but to 'stop them at the bath' as opposed to having them flood over the floor into the bedroom.

The mosquitoes are bad enough without having ants crawling all over us in the night. So, murder it was, much in the same vein as the detective thriller we had just watched. God I hate the way their little - actually quite big but little comparatively - bodies curl up.

I always feel so guilty. I know I should have tried to meditate them away but I don't think I am quite as advanced along the spiritual path as I might wish to be. So it was instant death instead of gentle ushering out of the room. I would say, it is easier to catch a cockroach than a horde of huge ants and easier to usher an idiot of a blowfly out of a window or door than a rampaging horde of ants.

Even more strange was the fact that when I looked later I could find no cracks or holes from which they could emerge. Neither could Limited when he cleaned up the bodies in the morning. I had thought they might have nested under the bath .... apparently they move nests just before the rainy season which is where we are at now ... but I cannot see how they could get out even if they had set up Ant Central under the bath!

And now I have to ponder the symbolism of 'fire' at work in my life. It is certainly getting hot around here but I suspect it is more esoteric than that. Fire is a symbol of change; of transformation which can involve destruction.

The only destruction around here seems to be the inverter which appears to no longer be able to cope with power cuts and starts to gag and scream after an hour or two. We are meant to have enough power to run an air conditioner for 15 hours but that is clearly no longer the case.

Fire can also symbolise rebirth another theme in the movie we had just watched; the phoenix rising from the 'ashes.'  Our once lost and now found container is something of a phoenix rising from the 'ashes' of doubt, incompetence and the Third World.

And it is also a symbol of purification which fits neatly with the bath ... not that I got to spend enough time in it to be washed let alone purified.

I could have used the other bathroom but I was prepared to admit defeat and go to bed without my relaxing bath and with my dust-blackened feet still dusty and black.

More than anything I remain amazed at how the legions of these little-big warriors simply appeared in a red-black flow which tumbled out of nowhere on a quest which could only end in death. Although I figure they didn't know that until they started falling into the water and I started spraying them.

But enough of ants, those busy little workers whom I hope have sent the message out that messing with my bath is not a good idea.  Things are pretty busy around here at present with half a dozen or more people working on electricals and air conditioning units and generators. The holes in the wall have been repaired and now just await plastering and a painting touch-up.

And, supposedly, the container has arrived in Lilongwe and just needs to be cleared and then our goods will be delivered. Maybe this afternoon but probably tomorrow morning. However, the important thing is that it is here. In a process which involves a series of steps this is an important milestone; no matter how long it takes for the container to actually arrive at the gate.

Update: The goods will arrive today, just as the Tarot said. We had hoped for first thing in the morning but the removalists have another big job tomorrow moving furniture from the old parliament house to the new one, so today it is.

It just means we will unpack furniture and put it in place and stack boxes to be unpacked later. There is no way the removalists will be able to do more than unpack and place furniture and stack boxes in just three hours; unless they plan to work into the night! It could be a long night.

The interesting thing about possessions is how attached to them we get and how fast that attachement is put in place. Apart from practical things like washing machines, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners and the like, many if not most of the things we have are neither useful nor necessary.

My life lacks nothing, except kitchen equipment, as it is - and a regular power supply. There is no doubt that our 'things and stuff' will help to create a more harmonious and beautiful environment, but they remain 'things and stuff.'

There are some paintings to which I am attached but they have not always been in my life and my life was no less for the lack of them. But we do get attached. Perhaps we are more like less-developed societies than we think; where possessions equate with power.  And these are only some of the possessions because we in fact have two homes.

So many possessions; so much attachement. It wasn't my choice to have two homes although I have for most of the past twenty years and I can only wonder at those who choose to have two, three, four or more homes because they can.

In reality one is more than enough and two more work than one needs. Then again, here in Africa most people would be grateful for just one well set up house (as opposed to hut) in which to live.

I wonder if we use the word possession because instinctively we know that our possessions possess us?

At last we're truckin!

This morning we received a note saying the truck had been found and we actually had a number for it. Departure from the Port of Beira was not October 18 but October 22 but who is quibbling. It should have arrived at the border yesterday.

Mid afternoon we received word that the truck had arrived at the border. That was the good news. The bad news was that the queues were long, which is commonplace in Africa (see pic above) and they had no power at the border. Join the club!

But, according to our agents we have the paperwork done to clear the goods and it is only a couple of hours from the Mozambique/Malawi border to Lilongwe so the truck should be here in the morning.

At this stage it looks like a Thursday arrival of goods. I did ask the tarot yesterday for an arrival date and got Thursday so I am impressed, yet again, with the accuracy of my oracle. However, at this stage the crucial thing was finding the truck and that has been accomplished.

LEFT: It is a couple of hours from the Mozambique/Malawi border to Lilongwe.

The queues at the border crossing are said to be legendary although that is par for the course in Africa I am sure. It is however, significant progress.

And we have made progress on another front. The electricians employed by the air conditioner supplier arrived yesterday and have been hard at work. The work has been surprisingly speedy and neat. The holes have been knocked in the wall for outlets; electrical cables have been chased into walls where required; they have installed the ceiling fan in what will be our formal sitting room and I have asked them to put another in the bedroom and they have replaced some ugly bare bulb light fittings with attractive glass shades.

All we need now is a plasterer/brickie to do the repair work and a coat of paint applied before the electricians can finish the work and the installation. If the goods arrive Thursday or Friday we should be set up by the weekend. Fingers however remain crossed in regard to getting the electrical work done.  But, around here it amounts to impressive progress!

And apparently the generator is not too far away. We need to have a little 'house' built in the courtyard where the clothesline is to protect the generator but they have already begun placing the cables to connect it up. What a novelty it will be to cook with some certainty of completion!

The 'dinner stress' and yes, I know it should not exist but who is perfect and of course it does, will be gone. We had a guest last night, a young American woman who works in the field of human rights and I wasn't sure until 7p.m. that we would actually get our meal.

As it happened, the 3.30-5p.m. power cut was the only one and we did get hot food, albeit overcooked as it always is because there is so much pre-preparation to try to circumvent loss of power but Kendyl didn't mind. She had been out and about in Karonga and other less salubrious climes for the past week and was excited to have something to eat other than maize meal, squashed into edible dollops with her fingers.

I think it must be the Virgo in me which agonises over the prospect of 'wasted food'; although not much is wasted here. And it is the Virgo cook in me who agonises about over-cooked food when a lot of our guests are happy to just get home-cooked food.

The lesson no doubt is; 'laugh more, agonise less,' and I do try to do that. It is however harder than one might think. It is one thing to tell yourself it doesn't matter and quite another to believe it.

The term 'control junkie' springs to mind but then that part of my character is hardly news to me. It is not that I get angry, mid meal preparation when the power goes out but that it is irritating; a sense of being thwarted. Now that's a Virgo word: thwarted!

One solution of course is to just serve cold. Cook when you can and plan meals which are eaten cold. But there's something cowardly about that, or perhaps it is just a tad boring. Whatever the answer, it is cold salad tonight and I must admit I feel much more relaxed.

Land of hope and story

It is Monday and, as of this morning, word is that the truck has not yet arrived at the border. Not a lot has changed really. We live in hope as the story changes constantly.

Well, the electricians who said they would come today to start work on the power points and air conditioner installation have not yet arrived and the guys who are sorting out the internet cabling at both houses came this morning and hope to have something done by the end of the week.

However, we have sourced a generator and the air conditioners and someone to install it all .... it remains a matter of when. They came on Saturday to talk about it and have said the end of the week. A lot seems to be happening at the end of the week. A lot or nothing.

Greg's office receptionist, Monica is getting married on Saturday. Saturday is wedding day in Malawi and the festivities begin early no doubt because of the heat. The wedding will be at Kauma City Wide Assemblies of God church at 8.30a.m. with a reception at Kauma Primary School from 13.00p.m. Unless we have a container at the door on Saturday morning we will be there.

The wedding invitation is blue, with a small blue ribbon and photos of the happy couple. It says:

Two lives, two hearts joined together in friendship united forever in love. It is with joy that the Maziya family of Khanganya Vge, T/A Kamenya Gwaza, Dedza and the Mombera family of Ndadzadala, Vge, T/A Nsabwe, Thyolo request the honour of your presence.

At the bottom it says:

'He who finds a wife, finds a good thing, and obtains favour from the Lord.' Proverbs: 18:22.

One presumes that the same applies to a She finding a husband but in the misogynistic biblical days women did not get much of a look-in and gender equality remains something of a novelty in much of the world including Africa.

From what I have seen of the photography sessions at Buchanan's on a Saturday, Malawi brides seem to favour the 'white meringue' look which is so traditional in the West. And they do look gorgeous. The one difference is that a lot of the men wear white as well. Smart white suits seem to be traditional wedding gear for men in Malawi.

And, Andrew just tells me that the air conditioning people have arrived. They said Monday; it is Monday and the time is 1.41p.m. I am impressed. Something I was told would happen has happened.

More importantly, the frangipani tree in the garden of the house we will move into looks set to blossom soon. These divine flowers symbolise protection and nurturing and are wonderfully appropriate for weddings.

Then again, I carried lilac for my wedding. My aunt Jessie gave me a bunch to carry on the day. We were getting married on the cheap and I hadn't budgeted for flowers but the beautiful purple lilac suited my burgundy outfit and I have loved them ever since.

I didn't want to wear the traditional white. Probably because we couldn't afford it and so I opted for something I could wear later: burgundy blouse, long skirt, big burgundy hat and lace-up black patent leather boots. The only thing I did wear again was the boots.

But I never regretted not having a 'meringue moment.' It was not me and I was more than happy with the way we celebrated our commitment to each other. When the lilac is in blossom I only ever have fond memories.

We have a number of trees in the garden at the farm; flowering as I write to herald the Spring. The lilac symbolises Love so, without even knowing it, the flowers my aunt chose were perfect.

Not that frangipani would grow in the Adelaide Hills anyway but they do grow here in Malawi, like weeds and of course they grow well in other parts of Australia where winters are not so frosty.

The frangipani is also symbolic of love and its oil is said to ease anxiety, fear, insomnia or tremors... things not uncommon around the wedding day. I didn't really have much time to think about getting married; we were determined not to do the traditional thing in terms of months of agonising preparation.

We set a date, two weeks ahead, on a Friday night after work. It was one of the better weddings I have ever been to although I didn't think that at 4a.m. as we walked around our house looking for something to eat.

Our wedding guests had eaten us out of house and home including the wedding cake and the icing and probably some of them were drunk enough to eat the plastic decoration. We found glasses sitting on fences days later along South Terrace where we lived.

Unfortunately our friends also drank the three bottles of French champagne we had received as a wedding present.  We were all so young, barely into our twenties and discretion was not a part of the vocabulary.

The champers had been pretty much our only wedding presents because we had, perhaps foolishly, said ' no gifts,' not wanting to be landed with things we did not like. Then again, having absolutely nothing, it was only later we realised that having things one does not particularly like can be better than nothing at all. I do also vaguely remember a fold-up chinese table which has disappeared from the possessions long ago - something we did not like but which served a valuable purpose for a few years anyway.

There was more than one who 'didn't think it would work,' and I'm not sure either of us were convinced but there you go. I do believe there is a lot of luck, fate or destiny involved in marriages which last.... yes, you have to do the work but that in itself is no gaurantee of anything.

At the age of twenty-one I told myself if it didn't work I would leave. The naievete of youth where we have no comprehension of what marriage will mean, particularly when children are involved.

And of course, that was a view which would have been inconceivable for my parents or grandparents. It was probably fairly controversial for anyone then and  for some even now but it did make me feel better to think that marriage did not have to be forever. I don't think I even thought about forever; it just seemed the sensible thing to do at the time. Living together is common today but it was not in 1970.

I do vividly recall feeling horrified, at the age of 21, at the prospect of being married for ten years and yet it all passed so easily and I grew up, that by the time we got to ten it seemed hardly anytime at all and twenty and thirty came and went in the same simple manner. As did forty. We really do live a succession of moments; a never-ending sequence of Now.

I only hope that Monica and her man enjoy their wedding as much as we did and get to celebrate a Ruby wedding anniversary in 40 years from Saturday.

Chasing containers and pondering possibilities

There has been a flurry of emails over the past few days between the removalists in Australia and Malawi and the shipping agents in Mozambique.

We have gone from, 'we don't know where it is;' we 'do know where it is;' 'it is on its way;' 'it is not on its way;' ' it left yesterday;' 'it did not leave' and 'we don't know where it is.'

Somewhere, in a pile of containers, like those in the photo above, is ours. It might arrive within a week or it might not. The container chase goes on and we continue to ponder the possibilities of actually getting things organised here.

LEFT: Beira is in the centre of Mozambique's coast and due south pretty much from Lilongwe.

Such is the way of things in Africa as often as not. It is an exercise in 'trusting the process' and 'trusting the process' and reminding myself it is 'things and stuff.'

I am eternally grateful for the fact that we are very comfortably set up in the company guesthouse and not in a hotel room!

I have spent months living in hotels with Bombay being the longest stint of a year and while one does what needs to be done it is a challenging exercise.

But far less challenging than a lot of things with which people have to contend. Perspective is all and remaining grateful for the positives is important.

Counting blessings I think it is called. Greg drove five hours each way to attend a funeral yesterday and that is a reminder enough of how fortunate we are.

Barely 31, married a matter of weeks and now lying in the red earth of his village. It seems it is the women who have to place the flowers on the coffin and it is the women who sit in the dirt around the coffin while the men sit on comfortable chairs.

I am sure there are all sorts of spiritual reasons why women sit in the dirt but I am sure there are all sorts of misogynistic reasons why men don't sit in the dirt. Africa is always a reminder, as was and is India, of how far women have not come in the world.

It has been a week of funerals. I asked Limited if it was his younger or older brother who had died and he said it was his younger brother. He left three small children as is so often the way. One can only hope, as is also so often the way, that the children do not also lose their mother. Malawi is a place of orphans. The possibility of losing a container as opposed to losing one or both parents pales into insignificance.

Otherwise there is no progress on a variety of fronts. I am assuming, having heard that Peggy has collected the fabric that the curtains are underway. And Lawrence, who will set up the DSTV when our television set arrives did call to ask if it was here. He is the only one who calls back to check; on every other count we have to make the call.

Mr Das the electrician, as affable as he seemed to be, doesn't seem very interested in doing the work. He was asked to prepare a quote for an air conditioner and I have been chasing him since. Three times he said he would drop it off and didn't so Greg sourced them elsewhere.

When I rang to say he only had to do the power points he said: 'But I have done a quote for the air conditioner and the power points.'

'Yes but you did not bring it to us," I replied.

'But now I will have to do another quote for the power points.'

'Yes, you will. Can you bring it tomorrow?'

'I will do that,' he said. But of course he didn't anymore than he delivered the mythical quote for the air conditioners. We are now hunting up another electrician. But we do seem to have sourced someone who will supply and fit air conditioners. At least I think we have!

So, five weeks on no container, no air conditioners, no curtains, no DSTV and no generator. That's what I call progress!

I probably care mostly about the container and have pondered our attachement to material things. Would it matter if it disappeared? Well, there are some paintings I really love and some of my own paintings and pottery but otherwise everything is replaceable.

Not that I really think it won't turn up but it is interesting to ponder one's reactions to its disappearance... because it has, for the moment disappeared. Or rather, it has not yet been found amongst the thousands of containers littering the Port of Beira, see pic below,  in Mozambique.

Or is it on a truck winding its way up from Mozambique to Malawi?

 The journey is said to take two to three days and then we will have another couple of days to clear the goods.

Apparently the agents here have someone at the border who can let us know when the truck crosses into Malawi. But first we have to find the container!

And the wet season is on its way so dry roads will always be better than wet ones.

And in four weeks we will be on our way heading out of Lilongwe. The plan was and is to be set up in the house before we go. However, as the saying goes:

'Life is what happens when you are busy making plans.'

It doesn't pay to be too fixed in regard to plans in this part of the world. It probably doesn't pay to be too fixed in regard to plans in any part of the world. Making the most of the bit you are in is the best we can do.

And I think I do that. The tomato chutney turned out well yesterday and I made another batch of strawberry jam this morning along with a fruit slice with lemon icing. In between power cuts of course.

N.B. This morning we received an email saying the container had been located and was on a truck heading for Malawi and is expected to arrive Monday! Here's hoping.

Turn left when you get to the guys with guns

It is a simple enough set of directions. We were heading for Kumbali, a lodge (see pic above)not far from where we live. It is in fact cheek by jowl with the Presidential Compound. Hence the guys with guns.

We left Buchanan’s which is a part of the Four Season’s nursery complex after having coffee and cake and I just kept driving. There were police strung out along the road so it was clear the President was heading out shortly. But of course I missed the turn which is just before the compound and had to use the turning circle in front of the presidential compound gates.

 Busy with gears it took me a minute to register that four men with machine guns were set to surround the car and wanted me to stop; as did Greg who was muttering at me to stop. 

 Rampaging through gears I did just that. I didn’t think for a minute there was any danger. The guns weren’t cocked or aimed at us... the guards looked as confused as I am sure I did. Crazy muzungu!

Guns lowered I completed the circle and took the first turn to the right. It didn’t take long to reach the real Africa. A little village strung out either side of a bumpy, red-dirt road, with thatched rooves and solid huts built of the local red bricks.

They are quite attractive these bricks and most of the high walls around homes and businesses in Lilongwe are made of them. They also surround the presidential palace.

LEFT: Kumbali village

Africa is a place of high fences and brick walls. No doubt they derive from the ‘boma’ the grass and branch enclosure behind which one slept at night, safe from wild animals. Africa’s ‘wild animals’ these days tend to be human and while there is less need for high fences in Malawi than in many other parts of the continent, no doubt there is some need.

We bumped our way to Kumbali Lodge ... it must be a hell of a drive in the Wet Season ... and arrived about ten minutes after leaving the pristine bitumen road which led to the President’s Palace.

LEFT: Local bricks

This Lodge is where Madonna stays when she is in town. It is quite pleasant although nowhere near the best of such things in Africa ... but clearly as good as it gets in Lilongwe which is why, I am guessing, that Madonna stays here when she is in town.

We had a look around the main lodge where dinner is served at night and open to non-guests... unless Madonna is in residence in which case it is open to no-one except the lady herself and her entourage.

We had a look at a couple of the rooms and it seemed very pleasant. Simple but spacious were the words which came to mind. Madonna gets one of the two ‘best’ rooms, (see pic above) as one would imagine, and while nicely done, it is nothing special; upmarket motel really and simple and reasonably roomy as opposed to elaborate and enormous. Greg asked if he could ‘jump up and down on Madonna’s bed’ and the guy who was showing us around laughed. He didn’t of course but I am sure he was tempted.

The guest rooms have patios which look out over a large lawned area. The Main Lodge has a huge roofed deck with chunky sofas and coffee tables in the ‘safari style.’ Leaning back, gin and tonic in hand, wasn’t hard to imagine.

But, it was a brief visit and we were soon on our way to buy some tomatoes from the roadside ‘stalls’ near home.

LEFT: Great tomatoes in Malawi

They aren’t stalls really, just artistically arranged piles of produce set up by half a dozen vendors outside the shopping complex where Blue Ginger is and the Standard Bank, which we prefer, because there are no queues and it spurts out clean notes when we do cash withdrawals as opposed to grubby ones.

The tomatoes are fantastic here and I know I have said that before. But we are ruined and will just have to grow our own once back in Oz. My plan this week is to make tomato chutney and I have been saving jars as and where I can find them.

Limited came back on Friday and was effusive with his thanks for help in getting him home for his brother’s funeral. The sweetest note, and most unexpected, was when he brought in two ‘vases’ – actually glasses – of flowers; one for my desk and one for Greg’s. They really were beautifully arranged with flowers and leaves found in the garden and it is clear he has an artistic eye.

He is coughing today and said he got sick on the journey home from the funeral. I am not surprised. He is grieving and the lungs are symbolic of grief.

ABOVE: Malawi's Parliament House. You can't take photos of the Presidential Compound but the country's Parliament House, built by the Chinese is not only impressive it is very attractive.

And here we are, two weeks on and Peggy has finally collected the fabric for the curtains. Purchase orders did not arrive because printers had broken down and holidays, lunchbreaks, non-functional telephones and all the contributing factors of life in Africa means that it is all happening weeks later than expected.

Not that it matters. To date there is no progress on air conditioners or generators or extra power points although I am hopeful this week will see something eventuate. More importantly we have no idea where our container is and I have written a severe note to Grace Brothers to that effect.

We were told it had been cleared in Beira and that it had left but it seems the ‘powers that be’ or rather, the individuals to whom we talk when we can make contact, which is not often, and who are actually powerless, are not sure the container has left Beira or where in fact it might be. Not to mention now having no idea when it might arrive.

It is not surprising and I have spent so long in Africa it is not even disappointing but it is time-consuming in terms of ‘tracking’ and not knowing when, or if, we will be able to set up the house before it is time to leave.  We have four weeks. Fingers crossed. It seems to work better than anything else around here.

I am sending positive thoughts into the cosmos for a container arriving on the doorstep by the end of the week. With that and finger crossing who knows? Since I know nothing anyway it probably doesn’t matter.

I could take the Indian approach where, ‘it is enough to wish that something is true to say that it is.’ We call it lying but I suspect it is resigned pragmatism. That and some ‘puja’ (prayer) might do the trick.

On a more mundane level the Visa machine was operating at Foodworths on the past two visits so I have had less of a Kwacha load. We found a whole beef fillet which turned out to be tender instead of the usual tough so we look forward to a beef fillet future.

And we got together with the our Thai and Danish neighbours to discuss how best to organise supplementary payments for the guards and Fred, the gardener. First of all we have to find out exactly how much they are paid so the hierarchical nature of things here is not upset. We’re not sure if guards are lowest in the pecking order or if it is the gardener but clearly house staff are at the top and since we control what they earn in a way we cannot with guards and gardeners we have to ensure that whatever we give the others does not come too close to what they are paid.

The basic wage is 5,000K a month; about $A1 a day. This is probably what the guards and the gardener get. But it might be more.  The house staff get four times that amount but also have their accommodation, water and electricity supplied. We pay for it as part of the rent. But they do work hard and have far more responsibility than trimming shrubs and sweeping leaves or sitting by the gate, letting cars in and out.

It is about finding a balance between what they earn; what is a reasonable wage in Malawi and helping out if one can – without throwing the system into chaos. We leave and they stay and whatever system operates here will have to be something which fits with their ‘culture’ not ours. There is a hierarchy and that must be respected.

Otherwise, things do improve even if it is slow. The telephones and internet have been working for most of the past week and I am now a two-mobile phone person as one needs to be in Africa. My Malawi mobile is up and running which gives me double the chance of someone actually getting in touch with me should they wish to. And it is cheaper than having local calls go from Malawi to Australia and back again!

I have a couple of manuscripts coming up to edit which will keep me busy and keep my mind off missing containers and the power has not gone off today at all which is rather spooky I have to say.  I am however planning to cook dinner so Murphy’s Law says I know what to expect.

Then again, why send negativity out into the cosmos? There is enough of it around at the best of times. Here’s to a first: 24 hours without a power cut!

N.B. The next day started with bad news and possibly good news. Greg had a call to say that one of the Malawians he deals with died overnight. He was 31 and only got married four months ago. Although it may have been a second marriage or a second wife. They said he died of malaria but a lot of Malawians die of ‘malaria’ when really it is HIV/Aids or their systems are weakened by HIV, or for that matter weakened by malaria when they were children. Whatever it is he is just as dead and it is very sad. The funeral is tomorrow and Greg will drive to his village to attend.

And it seems the guards get 9,500K after tax which is actually not bad in local terms so if we top them up by 2,000K each they will be getting 15,500K which is actually pretty good and will not nudge the top of the hierarchy too much.

And, on a potentially positive front, my severe note to the removalists in Australia brought an email response from them and then an email from their agents in Malawi so progress of sorts. It is not that the agents here know where our container is but one presumes with head office jumping up and down we might find out sooner, not later and we might actually even see it arrive sooner not later.

I have uncrossed the fingers. It is what it is. Things happen when they should. All is exactly as it is meant to be.