More things for which I am grateful

·      Washing machines – there is an amazing amount of red dirt still coming out everything I wash by hand here, even on the 3^rd rinse so I can’t wait to put it through the washing machine. Plus hand washing and wringing is so hard on things,.

·      Fast reliable internet connections

·      Predictability

·      Good friends

·      Long summer days – I am really noticing the 12 hour days here, and am ready to go to sleep by about 8pm most nights.  The sun has already been down for 2 hours.

·      Street lights – this is kind of a love hate thing since I do love seeing all the stars, but I am totally night blind and can’t do anything without a flashlight at night here

·      Paved roads – not only because they are smooth, but I remember the mud during the rainy season, but now I have grit in my teeth all the time from road dirt being kicked up, and my clothes and shoes are all a different color from all the dust

·      Water pressure – this morning we had some in the shower and it was heavenly

This morning we took the “Deluxe Coach” from Mzuzu to the capitol city of Lilongwe.  It left from a much nicer location than the bus depot, which can be a scary place, not to mention confusing.  And it had reserved seats, plus we understood that they only sold the seats not standing room on this one.  We were impressed that the 7am bus left at 7:03 and only had a few people standing.  We were told it would take just over 4 hours, making it the fastest trip we have ever made if it happened.

It didn’t make the stop that other buses make in Mzimba, another northern town off the main road so I’m thinking “Wow”. But then at about the 2 hour mark, we stopped and picked up enough people that the aisles were totally packed.  And about 20 minutes later packed in a few more.  John leaned over and said “there’s always room for a few more, but at least we don’t have chickens this time (which we remembered from our 2008 bus trip), and just then he looked over and saw one of the women in the aisle cradling a chicken – to which I said, but no extra charge for the chicken or the children.

We still managed to arrive in about 4 ½ hours, which was great, and for which I am truly grateful as they had really loud music playing on the sound system the whole way.  Checked in to a lodge we found on line, which is not quite what it appeared to be in the web site, but both fell on the bed for a short nap.  The internet is painfully slow, so I’ll have to hold off on the picture of the chicken.