We Are in Malawi!

We are in Malawi at short last! We have arrived at the hottest time of year. The heat can be crippling. I walk 35 minutes to the market in the midday to get food and then all the way back home (uphill) and I think I must drink 16 cups of water on the journey! The short rainy season is due to start soon. The coolest times are early mornings and evenings.

Blantyre is nice. It is a small city and the hospital Nigel is working at is on the outskirts of the town. The roads are rough and the best vehicles for the terrain seem to be the Landrovers 4x4's. It is a 30 minute walk to the city centre. The centre itself is bustling, but not somewhere I would hang out for long. I prefer the long dusty roads a bit out of town. Malawians walk everywhere (as do I) and rush hour is more people crammed on the roads than cars.

The Market is close by and there is an abundance of fresh produce, live chickens, dried fish, slabs of hanging meat, woven baskets, fabric, spices, handmade furniture, and really anything you can think of. You can buy bananas just about anywhere you go from women carrying large bushels on their head.
Malawi is very nice. Red earth. Wonderfully friendly and kind people. Dusty heat. Crammed minibuses. Little tables under trees along the dusty roads with a telephone on it and a person there to help you make your call on mobile phone units for a small price.

Life in Blantyre begins very early in the mornings...at least 6am. "Malawian midnight" is about 9pm. The sun goes down at 6pm and it is not advisable to be out after dark. The heat starts at about 7:30am, so the earlier you get up, the more of the day you have not bathed in your own sweat and then caked in red dust!

Nigel has started work at the hospital and I am sorting out a regular painting schedule as I have brought my art supplies with me. I have sourced canvas and gesso, but have been told that artist oil paint is not available in Malawi. We are housed in a guest house off the hospital with 3 other housemates. It is airy and simple.

I have found an art gallery on the way to the market that has a cafe, small library, and wireless internet (for a fee). Internet here in Malawi is slow. I have yet to try the country's wireless system, Skyband, as you have to buy a card with time on it which you can use in any hotspot.

We hope to get out of Blantyre on weekends and explore the rest of the country before the rains start.