Kenya Airways to Malawi
We arrived in Lilongwe, Malawi. The first thing I noticed was that Malawi is much dryer than other parts of Africa that we have visited. When we left Tanzania, we left Eastern Africa, and now we are in Southern Africa.
When we arrived at the airport, NuSkin CBF (children’s brighter future initiative) sent their driver, mike, to pick us up from the airport. Mike has lived in Lilongwe his whole life with his family. On the ride from the airport to the city center we asked mike what he likes about Lilongwe, what his favorite Malawian foods are, and how to say many words in Chichewa.
My goal is to speak fluent Chichewa by the end of three months. Mike dropped us off at the CBF office where we met Moses Kombe, the country director of Nuskin’s initiative here in Malawi. We chatted for a few minutes, set a time to meet later this week to go over my research schedule, and then we headed off to the home of Professor George and Mrs. Flossy, our host family during our time in Malawi. Professor George and Mrs. Flossy have four children, two in the United States, one in Malawi, and one in South Africa. The daughter from South Africa is home renewing her Visa so she can return to South Africa to work. Due to all the problems that are occurring in South Africa right now, they are tightening regulations on foreign nationals who want to work in South Africa. Speaking with their daughter was very interesting, an we learned a lot about practicing law in Southern African countries.
The family owns a bakery in the North of the Country, where Mrs. Flossy is currently stationed for the next three weeks. From professor George’s opinion, his wife is the best cook and baker in all of Malawi — we stumbled upon a good family to live with…
The family made us spaghetti for dinner, because they knew it was a dish that we would both enjoy as foreigners. Laughingly we confirmed with them that we love local food and that we are excited to try all the local dishes in Malawi while we are here. As foreigners, locals think we want everything to be as it is back home, but really all we want is a local experience. We are very excited to stay in their lovely guest wing (pictures below) and become a part of their family and learn Chichewa. Chichewa is very similar to Swahili, as they are both Bantu languages, so the words that we learned in Eastern Africa will help us as we learn Chichewa here in Malawi. Who knows, maybe one day we will return to serve a mission here. I am very excited to spend the next three months in this country and learn about how their economy is controlled by the agricultural sector.
It’s strange to think our adventure has only just begun. We woke early this morning (3rd straight day in a row) to get to the airport for our flight to Nairobi, and then Malawi. Tom and Mariam were very sweet at parting and continually offered to have us back and that if we ever needed a friend in Dar, we could count on them. The two of them really embody the spirit of the people we’ve met, kind, giving, and happy. While I know that’s not true for a large percentage of people in Africa, it’s been eye opening to see how people in ‘poverty’ really have everything. They spend time together in families, they share with their neighbors, and they extend kindness to strangers. As I’ve seen the unity that exists here, not only in families, but also in communities, I begin to wonder if modernization would only hurt the delicate relationships that are preserved here. If I contrast Hong Kong for example, people are busy and fast paced. Rarely will you have time as a working individual to have down time or time with relatives/friends. Here it is quite the opposite, time is not money and so people are willing to give of their time and themselves in an astonishing way.
Just some thoughts. As we got through some minor check in hassle (machine didn’t print out tickets at first), we found our flight delayed. Interestingly enough, two Americans (I believe a mother and daughter) approached the counter to complain about Kenya Airways always having delayed flights. Even though Kylie and I were worried about our connecting flight to Lilongwe, I felt confident after a prayer that everything would be just fine.
It’s interesting that our society brings us up to be fast paced and timely, where here in Eastern Africa, ‘hakuna matata’ really is a guiding principle (no worries).
Our flights all worked out smoothly and we made our connection without any issues – the power of prayer!
We arrived in Lilongwe and were picked up by Mike, the CBF driver. As we drove Kylie and I bombarded him with questions. We asked him nearly everything we could think of, from the price of fruit in the market to words in Chichewa. After a brief stop in the CBF office we left for professor George’s home, our home for the next 3 months. The accommodation is beautiful. They have a lovely garden and a lovely home. It’s actually pretty incredible for Malawi which is the second poorest country in Africa. We have our own wing of the house with a bedroom, bathroom all of which are impeccably clean (yes!). After a long 3 weeks of backpacking in dirty clothes, we were able to hang our stuff out to dry, organize our things and unpack our bags. What a strange feeling to be unpacked after being on the move for so long!
We’re finally here in Malawi, and we’re staying with a wonderful family. Both Kylie and I are excited for the next leg of our journey.
Flying with Kenya Airways, “The pride of Africa”
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