I got me a fancy pants bloggy blog for DC and beyond…

To hold you over

2011-08-19T08:44:00.001-07:00

So now that I've caught you up - in one efficient post - on all that has transpired in the past two and a half years, you're probably checking the blog religiously. You want more! And I can't blame you.

I'm heading to Red Square tomorrow so a post is on its way. In the meantime, I wanted to share with you something personal. Many of you may not know this, but I really like Conan Obrien. So to hold you over, I am posting one of my favorite skits ever. You're welcome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zWNJHS9PBE

Back. Oh, and Cat Theatre.

2011-08-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been two and a half years since I last updated this blog. The pressure for this post to be epic is overwhelming. But how can I be funky and fresh while at the same time playing catch-up? Perhaps we'll keep the latter to a minimum through an exciting list. We shall call this list "Top 4 Awesome Things that Have Happened In My Life Since 2009". In the spirit of a Wayne's World Top Ten List, this shall be in order of awesome to most awesome:

4. I hesitate to rank this 4th because it was SO awesome. Did someone say SHS Class of 99 ten year reunion? Unreal. Below is a snap shot of me and one of my best friends during the Alumni Day Parade. Yes, they do shut down the streets for this and we did have a float. And yes, for international holidays we chose St. Patrick's Day. And finally, yes, at the end of the parade, the tradition states that the float must be burned in a bon fire. (*a note to the reader on this, I found that tradition somewhat shocking - just goes to show that this is a cruel world with lots of adult lessons).

You can see I'm trying to play it cool with the float on fire in the background, but it's very awkward (even more than usual).

3. We moved from Lilongwe to DC. I really miss the warm heart, but it had to happen as Andrew wished for further education in the study of disease transmission. We almost moved to Atlanta, but at the last moment on Zomba platueau, Andrew had an epiphany so now attends school in Baltimore. And I work in Washington, but travel a good amount. Overall, a nice gig, but had to be number 3 because I love Malawi-wowi and our friends there so much. Fortunately, many live in DC now too which worked out very well.

2. Leaving OBall in Malawi was devastating. While we knew she was a jungle cat who needed to be in Africa, I was like "but she's so political" and really wanted to bring her to DC. I was heartbroken until Andrew relented and said the six most magical words (that I long to hear again): "we can get a new one." So we adopted a kitten in July of 2009. His name is Iwe - Chichewa for "Hey you!" It works very well as I often wish for him to come running in my direction. Photo from day of adoption. Man, talk about pure joy.

1. We got married! And it is fantastic. I strongly recommend (especially to friends from whom I may get an invite) getting married. The celebration is unreal and then life as a married couple also rocks. You may not know this, but once you're married, no more additional driver fees for a rental car! And you have a fantastic partnership supported by all of your friends and family as well as the IRS. I give it a total A+.

I think that is sufficient catch up. I really did provide you with the highlights. Well, save, a very fun bowling party and some amazing travel. More on that stuff later.

So as I mentioned, my new job has me traveling quite a bit. To keep you reading my blog, I'd like to provide the following video of the Cat Theatre I recently visited in Moscow. As if I need to tell you - it blew my mind. Also of note, I was the only person over 5 years of age. I could not be deterred and pushed with the rest of the kids to touch the cat on a pole that was passed around. Pure magic, my blog readers. Pure. Magic.

I'm not dead

2009-02-11T10:59:00.000-08:00

True story! I know a few of you had your doubts, but, my friends, please. In fact, just took some family photos last night - proof.

As you can see Oball is as cute and lovable as ever - AND I picked up a twin giraffe statue over the holidays. That's right, one carving x2 giraffe. Andrew said it was "dumb" but I think you'll agree that he doesn't think it's so dumb in the photo.

Note, the sheer number of carved, wooden animals in this country sort of boggles the mind...but how often is there a BOGO (dad, that means, "buy one, get one") opportunity? Not to point out the obvious here, but I have a real eye for the handicrafts.

So we did a lot of traveling over the holidays - stay tuned for some photos and stories.

Garden + Red Couch + Plumber + Department of Energy =....

2008-11-12T10:39:00.000-08:00

Yet ANOTHER blog post! How excited are you that I'm back on my bloggy blog horse? Yeah, that's what I thought.

So here are 4 aspects of my life that I've been meaning to share with the world through the internets.

1. We have a really nice garden. In this first shot I'm playing with an African Wildcat in this very said garden.

Anyway, every night we go out and pick basil or arugula for salads - it rules. And something(s) really nice have "bloomed" in the last few days - check it:

Yeah, that's a big eggplant. I'm really excited - we're going to make some eggplant parm this weekend with that sucker plus a little basil, onion, and some tomatoes from the market - you get the picture.

2. We have a really red couch. I'm not even just saying that - it's completely true.

This is where and how I do most of my blogging in case you were curious.

3. So I was walking around our neighborhood last weekend and I found out that we live right near an expert plumbers office. Perhaps I missed the sign in the past, but fortunately for you, I had my camera with me: (despite sign's claim, plumber somehow missing)

4. In my former life I worked at the Department of Energy. In many ways the DOE was a truly magical place. Never in my life have I been in the presence of so many white walls, fluorescent lights, space heaters, photos of kids playing with coal, and really, truly awesome folk (I'm looking at you PA&E). Anyway, in many ways I feel that life is very far away...that is, until I walk into the market in Lilongwe and see this:

That's it for me tonight. More sharing in the near future because, my friends, sharing is caring.

America, you decide

2008-11-09T11:52:00.001-08:00

So I'm really making up for my non-blogging behavior these last few months.

But I think you'll agree that this subject warrants a post...

So we found out last weekend while looking at a safari animal identification book that Oball is an African Wildcat. Don't believe me? Well, you decide:

I don't think there's any question here..

History...just wicked earlier in the morning

2008-11-09T11:15:00.000-08:00

How could I not utilize my massive online popularity to make at least a few remarks about last week's historical event? For those of you unfamiliar, Malawi is 7 hours ahead of EST. This means, my friends, we got up at 3am to watch the results come in at a local bar that had CNN (not normally, but they set up a projector for the big night). There were about 40 people there - Malawians, Brits, South Africans, Americans, etc. I'm going to be up front here - not one person, not one, was pulling for McCain.

The following photos are organized from the announcement through the jubuliant response. Apologies for the blurry camera, but it's actually a good lens in terms of our own dizzy, happy, tired eyes...

Go to an island in Lake Malawi? Yes please.

2008-11-09T03:06:00.000-08:00

So for the 28th birthday of yours truly, we went to the best place ever place - an island in Lake Malawi that seriously rules. I took a lot of photos because really, no words for this amazing place. Not even the photos do it justice though...

Read: Come and visit Andrew and Emily. Do it.

A high tech solution for explanation - here's our trip:

View Larger Map

So we took off Saturday from Lilongwe for the romantical weekend. Hit a bit of traffic and thought you'd like to see it (also better in person):

But we took a really nice route over an escarpment - I took some more photos for you:

Once we got to Cape Maclear, we had some soda (because we drink A LOT of soda in Malawi) and kayaked 10K to the island. It took over an hour but well worth it when we saw this:

Just a short time later, Andrew did this:

And here are some photos of our room and its sweet arse views of the water:

Did you see the fish in this last one? Yeah, we swam with them everyday. And got horribly sun burned.

During the evening we hiked up to a rock overlooking the water and took these photos for love:

You're welcome for those.

Obviously, this trip falls into the wicked fun category.

Also obvious, RIGHT ON OBAMA!

Word.

VIDEO POST! HOLY MOLY!

2008-10-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

Oball Loves Roller Coasters

2008-08-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

Hughes at work

2008-08-15T03:14:00.000-07:00

So I never really say where I work because I figure it's probably best that I don't (for security purposes - my own, yours, Oball's). Anyway, I got an email today that they're starting a staff directory and I realized that my photo (taken by a summer intern-I'm looking at you Mike) provides a unique perspective...of my cubicle. Pasted below for all to enjoy:
A few notes on the photo:

1. I actually have a "window office". As you may notice half way up on the left side of the picture, there's some serious light pouring through.

2. I go for bohemian professional in my work wardrobe.

3. That cell phone was actually purchased THIS YEAR - a real collector's item of a nokia.

Rock and work on my friends.

Longest bike ride ever bike ride

2008-08-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

So I'm not going to go through the same rigmarole where I say "I'm so sorry I haven't blogged, but it's this person's/cat's pregnancy scare/job/internet going down's/etc's fault." I respect you all too much for excuses.

...But really, it is the fault of those things. No doubt.

Okay, on with a long overdue post. Let's start with a few updates:

1. Oball's not preggers...turns out it was just worms. After a lot of cat vomit and other such good times, she seems to be back to her old self. And look, here she is RIGHT NOW as I'm composing this on our computer:
2. And you may notice I cut off the majority of my hair.

3. Andrew and I will be back in Springer for Thanksgiving. Tickets are purchased and I encourage anyone looking for the BEST TIME OF HIS OR HER RESPECTIVE LIFE to join a gang of fun loving SHS Alums at KJ's - word.

Right so the bike ride! As many of you know, Lilongwe, while a relatively sleepy capitol, is only an hour and a half (by car) from Lake Malawi (which is really beautiful). Anyway, Andrew and I had this great idea - "why don't we just ride our bikes to the lake!" Note that this was said with one (1) bike ride under our belts SINCE WE GOT TO MALAWI. Also of note, the road to the lake, not flat.

But we thought, ahhh, let's do it. Here are some photos to give you a sense of how pumped up we were before the trip:
Wahoo! Look how excited we are! Lifting up our bikes, big smiles under snug helmets - let's hit the road!

*********

...SEVEN HOURS LATER we arrive at the lake. I should add here that we honestly thought it would take 4 to 5 hours. Holy my moly, it's hard for me to think of a time when I've been that tired, thirsty, hungry and really, almost numb.

And here's the real kicker - we hadn't made reservations at a hotel (the plan was to spend the night) and the two hotels we tried (how predictable) had NO VACANCY. Perfection.

So there we are in Senga Bay at 4pm - the sun will go down in an hour and a half, we're so freakin tired, hotels are full, what are we going to do? Then we see our good friend, the lorey conductor and a plan comes together:
Right so we'll ride to the next town in the back of this truck and then find a matatu/minibus back to Lilongwe. There was a nice group already in the truck with their respective goods:

Man with plastic bottles...

Man with some nice fish. He offered us this one for 1000 Malawi Kwatcha which gave everyone a good laugh - that's about 5 times as expensive as it should be, or about $5 dollars. But what got people laughing even more was when we said we were vegetarians - always a crowd pleaser here where NO ONE is a vegetarian (certainly not by choice).

And this lady definitely looked excited to be seated next to Andrew...uhh...
I actually enjoyed the open aired lorey, but like all good things, it had to come to an end. The best part: we had to ride to the taxi park. Getting back on my bike was excruciating on the rear, but when I saw our ride to Lilongwe, I knew it was well worth it.
As you can see from the shot below, we had to buy some extra seats for our bikes, but the ride itself was lovely.
We made a nice big dinner at our house and hit the hay early.

Then came the next day which I think is well wrapped up in this photo (literally taken as I walked out of bed the next morning).
All in all though, a really fun day and nice to meet all those muscles in my rear that I had no idea even existed.

Guess who's preggers??!?!

2008-04-24T11:46:00.001-07:00

Oh, to you die hard fans--I do appreciate your patience and love and really, our collective bloggership. And here's the thing...

I'm back!

And guess what the big news is?

That's right (bet you were thinking the big news was the computer with a camera, right?), but no, it's true, Oball is preggers. We have no idea (well, let's face it, we have some idea) how it happened, but now we've got a teen mom on our hands. This isn't a huge problem with the internet - everything we need to know about cat birth we feel we can pick up on the world wide web. Not to worry though, we're really happy for her and it hasn't taken away from family time:

Anyway, things are indeed going very well. There's so much to update on life (job, home, etc), but let me keep you hanging on through the rest of this week if that's okay. For now, just know that I have a few comforts from home that arrived in a huge box last month...

Okay, I'm back in business on the blog - see you this weekend!

Oh yes, the stuff

2008-01-19T08:04:00.000-08:00

So I'm down to my last few days in the US and A, trying to get some things done that would be difficult (if not impossible) in Malawi.

The first has to do with a little something I saw sitting on my shoulder the other day:Do you see it? As it turns out that's my hair. Yup, not brushing it for, uhh, a while has really caught up with me. Have no fear though, in big city Philly, I got seriously trimmed up. And it wasn't cheap - think, over 8000 kwacha.

Ah yes, the "after" photo:
Second, and this is really good news for you dear reader, I got me a fancy pants camera in the NYC. Yeah, check out some of the artsy shots taken thus far:
Holy moly, these are so inspiring.

Lastly, I've been doing some clothes shopping. You know, I want to look GOOD in Southern Africa. I thought, where better to go than The Gap (for further explanation, see: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/gap_unveils_new_for_kids_by_kids). Shopping, however, seemed a bit overwhelming and I quickly became frustrated with all of The Gap Crap (not to mention getting stranded/lost/separated in the parking garage and freaking out).

Andrew, however, did quite well and was super psyched to find a sweater perfect for after lacrosse game wearing in Baltimore.
Anyway, after dropping some serious cash on food (black beans, dark chocolate, other luxurious items), I feel well prepared for the next two years. In fact, I'm really, really looking forward to going back to work (read also: credit card maxed out from US and A "non-negotiable" pricing).

So the next time I write I'll be in Malawi. I promise to be a better blog master this year. Hey, maybe I'll even make a contract with myself (shameless product placement only for you D-man)

Right, but before I sign off, let me send a very big yooo to the peeps at the DOE. After a visit to the old office I was greeted warmly by all my co-workers and perhaps my biggest blog fan - you know who you are Mr. Nuclear Energy Performance Management.

Word out folks.

Home of the Simpsons

2008-01-16T18:24:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is the statue erected in the center of my home town, Springfield "Springer" Vermont. I especially like the contrast with the quaint New England church in the background. I am unsure of the permanence of this sculpture, but based on my systematic assessment above, it appears to be made of fiberglass and is most certainly signed by Matt Groening (in black marker).

I would recommend a visit to see it for yourself. Perhaps in the summer--as you can see the snow compromises one's view. If you do visit in the winter, wear snow pants (see hot black pair above).

The opposite of Malawi is...

2007-12-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

Yup, Springfield "Home of the Simpsons" Vermont (photo taken out of bedroom window at Chez Hughes)

It's true. I'm home and in addition to a new sculpture of Homer Simpson's "hand holding doughnut" (photo to be posted) in the center of town, it has snowed approximately every single day since I arrived last week. I mean I was hoping for some snowshoeing, but holy moly. I couldn't even get out the door the other day because the snow fell off the roof right outside our front door (I could have shoveled, but opted to take the side door). I would also add that I can count the number of hours I've felt my hands on, uh, one hand. It is frrrriigggiiddd.

But it's great to be home and now I know that global warming IS just a left wing conspiracy.

Okay, okay, I know I can't get out of at least a small explanation for my blogosphere hiatus. I hope that bloggers would agree that once you get a bit behind, it's hard to catch up. I mean the amount that has happened in my life since last posting this fall...wow. Shocking amounts of developments--new food made, yet another new house, hiking, new job. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The beginning of my non-blogging started for one reason:

Yeah. No doubt. The BF came to visit and my blogging took back seat to:
Okay, sorry for this (I would totally barf if I were me a year ago when love stuff made me grossed out). But Andrew came for a visit from Uganda in October and it's entirely his fault that I didn't blog.

Now that we've got that out of the way, here are some updates:

1. My 6 month internship is up (July-Dec), but I'll be going back to Malawi for 2 years as a Global Health Fellow. I'm really excited. In reality, I was interviewing during Oct/Nov and everything was very up in the air which was a bit stressful. At any rate, it all came together and I'll be working in health (mostly HIV/AIDS) for the next two years. Details to come. Overall though I am SO glad that I went out to Malawi--I learned a lot about the country as well as public health as a whole--and I'm really looking forward to the next two years. The big difference will be my switch out of Malaria work to programmatic management in HIV/AIDS. More to come on this as I begin my work...

2. When I return in January I'll be living closer to the city (not in embassy housing, but one I picked out myself). Here's a very uninteresting photo I took of the new place in the dark:
It's nice though - I mean, look at all of the plants. I'll take some photos when I get there. Things that the house came with: 5 bedrooms, a pool, a dog.

3. I went to Zambia! Kate, Amy and I took off in late October to see some animals and enjoy a little relaxation in a national park. I didn't take many pictures, but here's one I took of Kate taking a photo of the ants (there were a lot). Oh, and I'm getting a new camera. This is going to improve the blog a lot.
4. I hiked Mulanje and it was amazing. Andrew and I took off for a few days to hike the 3rd highest peak in Africa. It was one of the most difficult climbs I've ever done--day 1: 2000 vertical meters. What? But we didn't die so it's fine. There's a lot of mystique that surrounds the mountain--i.e. people have disappeared on Mulanje and there is some rumor that the mountain "took them". Anyway, I think this photo may capture some of this said mystique:
Here's me at the peak reading* the map:
*this photo is totally and completely posed.

The most difficult aspect of the hike was the straight up rock cliffs we scrambled with nothing but the liken kept up upright.
It was a great hike though and we had a really nice time. On our way home we stopped by Cape Maclear (see posting #2 for photos) which was a nice spot to unwind after the hike.

Anyway, this has gotten very long (I know I ran out of juice to tell you about all of the food I've been making/eating which I'm sure is very disappointing for you, dear reader). At any rate, things are going very well. I'm home until mid-January and I hope to catch up with some cats in NYC, Philly and DC during this time.

BUUUTTTT keep checking the blog because I'll be writing fresh from the US and A.

Word to my peeps in Malawi--I'm eating nice cheese and thinking of you.

Zinger!

What happened to me?

2007-09-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

Seriously. The length of time between this posting and the last is completely inexcusable. I can only imagine the readership I've lost because of this poor form. Not that you, Precious Reader, are looking for excuses, but let me at least note that I have been working pretty nonstop (even Saturdays, and, are you ready for this, Sundays). For those of you who knew me in my former life at a certain department of fuels, you probably don't even believe me, but I am not someone who's going to lie on my own blog. For real. Please believe, and forgive, me.

Okay, in addition to work (which I luuhhoovvve by the way), a lot has happened since I last posted. Let's start with the fact that I moved(!). The new place is, if you can imagine, even bigger. We forgot O'ball, but she found us.
In all of my non time I didn't take a great sequence of photos, but I have a random assortment so you can get a feel of my small mansion house. Let's start in the place where all the magic* happens--my bedroom. I have a few closets for the 3 outfits I brought:
*magic =sleeping
I thought I should clean up a bit before I took a picture of my room...but I didn't.
I have two new roommates I should tell you about. The first one you've seen many a time before - John Face! Here he is preparing for our language lessons (which we have in the living room).
And here's the second one - who John killed
True story. That thing was in my bathroom and I felt like I was suddenly on safari. I felt badly killing it so I gave John a yogurt container to trap it and then let it back into the wild. He took the container and then one of my shoes and, well you can imagine the rest. Obviously, there was a breakdown in communication which is a real shame for the once giant spider.

Anyway, back to the tour. The kitchen is quite large. We labeled all our food with Chichewa names in a desperate attempt to learn (which is proving to take a while).
Sorry, that's the best photo I have of the kitchen, but if you look closely, you'll also see the coffee (khafi) maker that came from Uhhhmerica.

One other new thing--in addition to working all of the time and the crib change is a small SUV sitting in the driveway. Owner = car model (pictured below).
On this note, see the title of my first blog entry.

Okay, I also have a lot of photos from a work trip and I promise a "what do I do besides travel and live in big houses and eat" posting soon. Overall though, things are going really well. Malawi is a beautiful country and the people I'm working with are inspiring (as is the work).

However, it's after 9pm now so I must sign off--get off Amy's couch and go home.

Village Peeps

2007-08-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

Holy my moly, was I so excited when Joe asked if Colette and I would be interested in seeing his Peace Corp village and family. We decided to make a day of it and drove an hour or so south of Lilongwe.

We parked just outside of the village and walked in. I thought it important to take a photo of me as we set out.
Although not shining through in this photo, Joe's family was quite happy to see him.
They invited us into their home to talk and catch up. This was especially interesting for Colette and me who still have some work to do in terms of our command and comprehension of Chichewa.
As we were sitting there, more and more people crowded around the house. I took a picture through the small window as I nodded and smiled (not having any clue what was being talked about).
After a while, Joe's family invited us on a walk to check out a village forestry project. I thought, "Oh that will be nice to go for a little walk, see some trees". Right, this was no small walk and after about 10 minutes we had to forge a stream. Good thing I'm so steady on my feet.
Okay, that's a complete lie--I did a terrible job crossing this stream and fell in on the way back. Anyway, let's move on.

As we continued on what turned out to be an hour or so hike, Colette and I grew a bit concerned--where are these said trees?
This kid didn't seem concerned.
Anyway, we had to turn around a bit early to get back to Lilongwe. I took the below (albeit, cliche) photo of our send off party.
All in all it was a great little village visit and I'm looking forward to seeing some more rural areas through work.

Not to end on a sad note, but Joe headed back to the States last week. This leaves me a bit concerned as I stay alone in my mansion house. See, Joe and I had quite the security system--see guns below.
These things happen and rumors are I'll have a new roommate soon--check back, details coming. We out.

I heart food stuffs

2007-08-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

While I take nsima and beans everyday at lunch (post on its way...), here's a little peek into what I cook and eat at my small mansion house. Let's start with this really delicious veggie and rice combo I made the other night.
Doesn't it look so good? And 100% vegetarian--right on.

Even though I make my own food so well (proof above), I really like to cook with other people. Most of the time, Joe (my roommate) and I cook together. We made apple pie last week, see.
And while we're on dessert, this is my favorite...
I make it from scratch and here's the recipe: one banana, nutella spread on top and almonds (place like you would for ants on a log). If the recipe and above photo isn't tempting enough, check out the pure joy it brings.
The other night we made my absolute favorite meal: veggie dumplings. We made the dough from scratch and then forced the dinner guests to make their own dumplings.
The whole process takes a while, but learning is what really matters. Aussie John made the worst ones because he's used to only working with knives and crocodiles. Not surprising, mine were 100% awesome. In the picture below you can probably tell who made which ones (hint: John's is that second one from the bottom).
I actually felt badly for making fun of Aussie John's freakish dumplings so I gave him the biggest dessert.
Oh and to leave on such a great note, I found tofu in Lilongwe! I've been eating a lot of beans and veggies, but craving some other options.
Three words: pure tofu joy.

Not a long way from Lilongwe...

2007-08-05T23:16:00.001-07:00

So I've been wicked excited to find out that just outside of big city Lilongwe there's a lot of nice hiking. Even though I don't have a car, it's not hard to hitch a ride out on the weekends--this Saturday being no exception.

I went with a couple folk from a microfinance NGO that sort of combined the hike with a site visit. Those of us who were not part of the NGO waited outside of this gas station where speakers underneath the roof blared Michael Jackson's "The way you make me feel" (I really like that song, I mean profoundly so).

Across from the gas station was another one of their microfinance projects--a small small grocery. We got some food stuffs for the hike.

That's Claudia on the left--she lives here with her husband--and Debra who is visiting from the NGO's headquarters in the UK (small world, Debra is also Kate's roommate...Kate went back to the UK which is very, very sad).

Apparently, Ntchisi (where we went) is the last patch of rain forest left in Malawi (I haven't double checked that factoid). Anyway, it definitely did have that rain forest feel from the start.

That's Arthur in the front and Mike, Claudia's husband on the far right.

So we hiked through the rain forest (I was on constant snake patrol). We had to stay pretty much on the trail because apparently there are traps set to catch antelope (another unchecked factoid). The trees were amazing, however, and we did step off to take a closer look.

After about an hour of hiking we hit a clearing that overlooked the lake (although it was hard to see because there's so much smoke from people burning crops).

We had some lunch on a big rock.

My favorite part of lunch was the name of the crackers.

It was a really great hike and I can't wait to go back.

We rode home in the back of the pick-up where we made some small friends.

When I got home I was really dusty from the back of the pick-up and very tired from all that fun and excitement so I just ate some fruit and went to bed.

Good thing hippos only eat marbles

2007-07-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

Before I tell you about my weekend in Liwonde National Park, I'd like to take a moment to show you the biggest bug bit I've ever had:

Note the difference in size between my left (normal) hand and my right (freakishly large) hand. This notable change in appearance of my own two hands kept me occupied for most of the car trip--note that it takes 2.5 hours to get to Liwonde.

Okay, to the weekend: It was amazing. My roommate/workmate/former peace corp volunteer in Malawi/excel master (our trip was in a spreadsheet) Joe organized an awesome excursion down south to Liwonde National Park. Here's Joe in living color as we're leaving Lilongwe.

On our drive down, you'll never believe what I saw (and fortunately for you, took a picture of)--how about Mozambique.

And if you think that picture is poor in quality, you're in for a real treat throughout this blog posting...(something is wrong with my crappy camera and I would like a new one please).

So we arrived at Chinguni Lodge and it was amazing--it kind of felt like you were hanging out at some guys house or something. Here's John and Joe at dinner:

Right so the next day we woke up 5:30am for a morning walk/safari. I really enjoyed just being outside, you know, with the elephants and buck. If you are thinking the same thing I was thinking, yes, there are tons and tons of snakes. I did not see any but I knew they were all around.

Since my friends took much better pictures of the animals, I opted for two different approaches in safari:

1. The safariers become the safaried

2. And even more so...

Since I'm not that into Safari, the morning walk was my favorite because I could sort of run around, etc. During the afternoon we went out on a canoe ride WITH HIPPOS EVERYWHERE and I was feeling both SCARED and antsy. This picture doesn't show it because it was only hour one.

Oh, and do you like the hat? I was feeling very British Safari in the 1800s in that thing and couldn't quite break out of character, see:

But the reason I was so scared about the Hippos is check out how close they were: At one point I looked out and saw this which really made me wonder if I'd made the right choice coming out here: Yup, I'm down with my decision.

Here are the ladies from the weekend--that's Kate on the left and Marva on my right. As you can see the roads were a bit bumpy...

Right after we took that picture, check out what we ran into:

We left pretty early Sunday morning so we could stop along the way. John made lots of friends through his strong command of chichewa.

I made one purchase.

So all in all a great weekend. Oh, and the bug bite is much better.

Happy birthday to you, America

2007-07-18T04:59:00.000-07:00

Right, so the first week I was here happened to coincide with America's birthday--and for those of you who don't know, that's July 4th (I can really only imagine the international attention this blog attracts). Anyway, I went to the Ambassador's house for what I thought was a little picnic. Here he is, Ambassador Alan Eastham, speaking (at what is clearly a bit more than a picnic):Note the sound system in the background--the national anthem played shortly after. Also the flower arrangements are red, white and blue (this was no accident).

I felt a little funny at this event. First of all, I was very much under dressed--most everyone was in suits or the traditional Malawian garb. I, however, opted for slightly different attire with a sweater that my friend Kathleen once observed "looks like my grandma knit." Here's what I looked like:

I think the best part of the entire event was what I took home:
If you can't tell, that's 2 American paper napkins (one festive, the other official), an American flag pencil (for all of my pencil needs), and a pin depicting the unity of Malawi and America.

Anyway, I was a little under dressed, but I think all in all I carried myself well. I can't wait for Labor day.

Pancake face

2007-07-15T05:37:00.000-07:00

Boy, do I have a lot to write about Malawi today. Let me begin with pancakes. This morning Anne left our little home to head back to South Africa, but before going she made pancakes.
And not just for me--we had friends over (yesss)
That's Kate and Amy, and in the middle is my newest friend John. He's from Australia and we met last weekend at the Lake. Then when I was walking to the market to buy a bike yesterday (more on that soon), I ran into him again (on his bike).

So back to pancakes. I was in charge of fruit salad and syrup--see:
And, I ate all of my pancakes--check it.
Then as Anne was leaving, we took one last photo of the four of us:
Can you see the pancakes in my stomach? I was wicked full.

Signing off for now but I promise there's a good blog coming up. Sneak previews: I got a bike and it's red; Lilongwe's market rules (O-wee-no); long overdue America's birthday.

Going to the what? To the lake.

2007-07-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

So as it turns out, I'm a part time worker here in Malawi (sort of like a "part time student" - Mr. Lavin, Springfield High School, 1999). But it's not because I'm pretending to be sick, rather I just happened to arrive during a 3-day work week. Wednesday was America's birthday and Friday was Malawi's Independence Day--all in all, sticking it to the Brits, bam. Anyway, a few new friends of mine and I decided to hit up Lake Malawi for the long weekend--I mean, let's face it, I deserved a break.

Right, so we took off...
That's Kate on the left--she's a Brit researching sanitation at primary schools for her thesis. The driver is Amy and she absolutely rocks. Amy's my neighbor and I'm actually at her house as I write this--yeah, she's getting A LOT of Emily time. In the backseat is me (not shown) and Anne (also, not shown).

Don't worry though, I took an artsy picture of my shadow when we pulled over.
It's like I'm becoming a hipster...

Okay, not really because I still like non-urban areas and trees. Check out this Baobab we saw on the side of the road (see Kate and I for scale).

Further distancing myself from hipsterdom, I hugged it...

At the tree we made some friends...

It took us nearly 5 hours to reach Monkey Bay/Cape Maclear, but it was seriously worth it. Below is a photo of the porch off our room--I'm missing the olden days and Kate is pretending to do work for her thesis.

Oh and this was on the other side...

After a long breakfast on Saturday we went to an island for some snorkeling. As you can see, I did a really good job hiking--I'm fast and athletic.

Then came the snorkeling. I think I look prettiest in this shot--nice to publish it on the internets.

Here's a picture Amy took of us before dinner, but clearly, after sun (see my raging red face as warning for prolonged sun exposure).

Right, so I hope you all enjoyed this explosion of culture and all of the insight I'm bringing you on Malawi--you're welcome.

"There are no cats in America and the streets are paved with cheese" - Fievel and Mouse friends

2007-07-04T10:08:00.001-07:00

The first person I met when I arrived at my new home was Victor . He's great. He told me where to run in our neighborhood (area 43) as well as the visual differences between sugarcane (pictured below) and bamboo (not in picture, but growing in yard). Note: he didn't tell me all of that right when I arrived, but we've had subsequent conversations.

After meeting Victor I saw the house I'll be living in for the next 6 months...and almost peed my pants.

Granted, it doesn't have the b-ball court down the street that the old place in Columbia Heights hosted, but I figured it will do. If fact I think the yard makes up for its sporty shortcomings.

And guess what I found inside? How about some small, small roommates?

The woman in the front was just over for dinner, but the one in the middle is Jamila and next to her is Joe. Jamila is only here until July 7th--she's on a visit from headquarters. Joe did Peace Corp in Malawi a few years ago and is currently working on a survey. Sadly, he leaves in August. However, when Joe leaves I'm going to take his room. I mean, mine's cool, but I think it's mostly just because I live in it.

Oh, and I forgot to mention our other roommate. She has no name so I'm calling her O'ball (like the gorilla Coco's kitten--"Coco loves O'ball"). She's no Benjy, but she's cuter than the alien picture below.
So each of these pictures took roughly 6 hours to upload which forces me to end this posting now--I'm camping out on someone's couch...and I've been here for 3 hours! yikes.

But before I sign off, I should say that so far so good. I'm finding the work really interesting, and I feel fortunate that they're giving me a lot of challenging projects up front. I think this line of work could be a really good fit...but more on the job soon. And I can't wait to explore more of Lilongwe--I've gotten permission to get a bike which will really open up the city. Man, the hipsters will be so jealous because it looks like the only bikes are single speed. Right on.

My life = big, fat hypocrisy

2007-07-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

It's true. I mean not only did I say I wouldn't have a blog, I even poked fun at them in my departing from US mass email (and that wasn't the first time). And here I am, blogging it up. But before you pull out the stinging words, please take a moment to read my following hypothetical conversation with you and I think you'll see, I truly have you in mind:

Q1. Me: Do you really want your inbox accosted by mass emails? (keep in mind that while informative and illustrative of my time here, these may become lengthy--particularly with photos).
You: Wow, Emily thanks so much for keeping my best interests in mind. While I disagree that your emails could ever be lengthy because they're just so interesting, I appreciate that my inbox will not reach full capacity with large files. You're truly the greatest.

Q2. Me: Do you want to know what's going on with my incredibly interesting life here?
You: Do I?!?...I only wish you had started one of these earlier! When I think of all that I missed out on with your life in DC, it hurts.

So as you see, this is for you, all for you...

I'll try to keep my postings brief and photo heavy--even this one, I managed to put a photo of myself blogging (how clever!).

Note that none of these opinions reflect, um the opinions of anyone else...? (I don't know, I feel like I need a disclaimer)