Three Villages, Two Days

I will forever remember Africa as a brush stroke of brick red, emerald green, and deep blue. The ground is dry and brilliant red, often used to make bricks which in turn become tiny houses that dot the landscape. Since the livelihood of Africa depends on agriculture you can image just how green the landscape is. Where there is no dirt or drought you find green farms, forests, and hillsides. As if the green forests in Africa aren’t enough, the blue skies are some of the best. Depending on where you are and whether or not it is rainy season the blue sky is dotted with magnificent white cloud specks of all shapes and sizes.

Today we set off to another village near Kasungo to deliver 150 more surveys to farmers. Thus far we have delivered over 400 surveys, which is quite the accomplishment. We are ready for a peaceful weekend after all those bumpy roads and long meetings in Chichewa where we don’t understand very much…

(Below: Andrew’s post)

We woke to the sound of a buzzing alarm this morning. It was 5:30am. We were scheduled to get picked up by Gibson this morning so we could make our way out to Lasasadzi, a small village nearly 2 hours from Lilongwe. 
Early mornings have been no problem for Kylie and I. We sleep early, around 10pm or so, and wake up early. It’s been a good adjustment for us, or at least a healthy one.

We hastily got ready for the day and left with Gibson who was waiting outside. Africans in general aren’t very punctual, but Gibson breaks that stereotype by arriving early each and every time. It’s nice to have something consistent.

As we made the long drive to Lasasadzi Kylie and I discussed some things she’d been learning in a book called ‘Poor Economics.’ It sparked a conversation about saving vehicles we could take advantage of when we got back to the states. Two came up, taxes and housing. Even though we’ve been based here in Africa for nearly 2 months now, I still find we often talk of the future, our plans, our goals, etc. it’s nice since it keeps us well prepared for what comes after. But don’t take that as we hope the adventure ends, because we most certainly don’t! 

Our visit in Lasasadzi with the AEDOs went well and we were able to distribute the surveys quickly. We boarded the van and were on our way again stoping only to buy 10kg of potatoes for Gibson and 4kg worth of oranges for Thwango.

Back at the office Kylie and I tackled a mountain of things we’d hope to do. The majority of which consisted of research for the next couple weeks. Since our time in Africa is short we’ve looked at doing a number of activities – and that takes careful planning here. We’ve found Africa to be both safe and fun, but also quite expensive if you go into a situation blindly. Well, off to the next adventure! Tomorrow, Singah Bay.