The halfway point

Tuesday was my birthday – the first one I have ever celebrated in Malawi and it was fun.  Our friends from University of Washington left in the morning and we hitched a ride with them to the northern regional capitol of Mzuzu.  I was sung the happy birthday song at breakfast by John and the Washington ladies and on the phone a bit later by Flemmings. 

It was a treat to go to town and have a great cup of coffee at the Mzuzu Coffee Den and Internet café.  At one point there were 10 laptops sharing the connection so it was painfully slow, but nice to get caught up on email although I didn't catch up on my blog that day.  We had a nice lunch at my favorite A1 Indian restaurant.  Fish Masala – a nice change from all the stewed chicken, rice and veggies.

It is officially halfway through our time here and I have mixed feelings about that.  When we were here in 2008 for 6 months I think I remember going through a time where I really missed home, but knowing we were going to be here for a long time I got past it.  This time it is either because the time is shorter, or that our work is still up in the air, but I find myself wishing we had not booked 5 weeks here.

I have spent some time online at the Coffee Den on Tuesday looking for a safari or something at Lake Malawi while we are here and think we will do that after we get to Lilongwe.  Yesterday I went to bed aT 8pm and slept until morning so maybe I am just tired.

Here are a couple of scenes from everyday here.  The first was a herd of cows passing us on the walk path next to the main road here in Ekwendeni.  I said to John this is someone with some wealth if they have this many cows.  The second is a typical shot of someone working their tail off - in this case carrying a piece of furniture in a wheelbarrow like set up.  The loads people carry here over long distances are amazing.