Up The Crick Without A Paddle

First off, I need a big shout out to my home girl Kitty Kat for giving me the wicked blog title.  She is also up the Crick without a paddle..... and so it begins

I finally got to meet my direct supervisor in the Land Management Department today.  We finalize the courses that I am going to be teaching this coming semester, which starts on Tuesday of next week.  I'm teaching Spatial Information Systems Level 2 and Remote Sensing Level 3.  This is all very exciting, however Remote Sensing has not been taught in the previous years so I am responsible for deriving the course curriculum, lectures, assignments and tests all on my own.  The reason why Kat is also up the crick with me is because she gets the honour of building her own course in the Forestry department.

I know that it will be a great opportunity and such a challenge, but I'm just a little uneasy that I have to have course material ready for July 3rd.  Not to mention I am heading home for a week the following Tuesday so I have to develop lectures for about 10 hours of class for two courses that I will be missing.

It is really exciting to be getting this opportunity, because I diving back into to all these great textbooks that I haven't opened since I was finished University and College!  I have all these great ideas, but it just comes down to developing a good way to present it in a building block sort of way!  It is awesome that we can use these awesome new projectors that we brought for the department. Hello Power Point Presentations!!!

I haven't been blogging lately, because there hasn't been that much happening.  I have tried some fried plantains which are also known as cooking bananas.  Cut them up really thin and fry them up with some salt, they're not bad.  Nsima is this maize dish that looks like mashed potatoes, but I'm thinking that I would rather stick with my potatoes.

This weekend is Canada day, and the roommates and I are heading back up to the lake at Nkhata Bay for some relaxation and dance parties!! Our friend Alice who owns the Butterfly Space is going to pick us up in town in the late afternoon.  We get to go on another Malawi truck bed adventure! This should be interesting.

Might I add, my birthday is in 7 days today!! That is all  :)

EmJ

Meeting the Land Management Department

Today was pretty successful.  After getting up and finally having a hot shower/bath, Tracey and I decided we would go and say hello to the Land Management department.  We took a shot at whether or not anyone would actually be there, but today we got lucky.  We got to see Dominic the head of the department and Lucky, one of the professors here at Mzuni.  My direct supervisor Felix unfortunately wasn't there, however he had given Dominic a couple course syllabus' that he thought I might like to teach.  One is a second year Spatial Information Systems, and the other one is a third year Remote Sensing class.  I'm super pumped about the Remote Sensing class, but the second year class should be interesting as well.
I felt really good about getting that information, because now at least I can sit down and start thinking about how I will develop my lectures and the way I want to present the class.

We will be popping in all through the week hoping to catch Felix.  Once he is back we will be able to figure out for sure exactly what I will be doing, and how I might be able to fit into some other classes.  I'm interested in doing a unit in his cartography class, I think that would be super fun.  Other than that we have just been relaxing at home, recovering from our exciting weekend in Luwawa.

I'm not sure if I'm going to go away this weekend, I might stick around to watch the university football (soccer) team play.  Last weekend it was a draw, so we're hoping this week might be a win.

I missed father's day on Sunday, but I'm sure my dad had a great time, and I was definitely thinking about him!

That's all for now, but at least it's something productive!!!

Luwawa Forest Lodge

This weekend, we decided to head to Luwawa Forest Lodge.  We woke up Friday morning, got ready and headed to meet Kelly at the bus station in downtown Mzuzu.  We each paid 1200 MK to get from Mzuzu to the Luwawa Junction.  The interesting thing about the public buses is that they only leave once the bus is full. We hopped on around 12:45pm but didn't actually leave the station until about 2:20pm.  It was a beautiful drive, however it took about two hours to actually get to the junction.
We got off the bus on the side of the highway and waited for Nicole and her friend to pick us up.  We hopped in a 4X4 and had to go down these crazy dirt roads.  It's was pretty terrifying, but a lot of fun!  The lodge itself is beautiful and has a main area with the bar and restaurant in it.  Throughout the area there are various chalets, areas to camp and the dorm hostel.  We are staying in the dorm hostel.  It has 10 beds, but so far it's just been the girls and I in the room which is nice.
Last night we ate a delicious salad and spaghetti bolognese, before having a dance party in the bar area.  We also went and checked out the "Tree Fort".  This thing is  not a tree fort, it's probably the coolest thing I have ever seen.  It looks like something out of Harry Potter.  The weasley's house or something.  It's just three levels that are built into the tree and you have to climb up this ladders to get there.  Once we were at the top we decided we should probably play our new favourite game called slap shots.  How you play is each person goes one at a time.  You have to take your shot and then the person to the left of you slaps you in the face.  You continue until everyone in the circle has finished their shot.  It's actually quite hilarious, and it takes your mind of the terrible taste of the sachets.  I can't remember if I've told you about sachets, but they are 43% alcohol and they come in little plastic sachets.  You can buy about 50 for 1000 MK. It's amazing.

Anyway, today I'm just relaxing.  It was the international bike tournament today so that kicked off at 10 am. There is a huge barbecue that's about the start and they even have a band that has come to play.  I'm pretty excited because it's a Malawian band and I love the music over here.  I have a feeling that tonight is going to be another party night.  At least all I have to do tomorrow is get back on a bus and head home to Mzuzu!

Malawi Address

Here is my address in Malawi

Emily Jarrell
Land Management Department
Mzuzu University
Private Bag 201
Luwinga, Mzuzu, Malawi

Saint John of God

Today, Kat, Tracey, Mike, Rachel and myself decided it would be a great day to go and visit Kelly at the school that she works for.  At the school there is a pre-school, primary and post - primary programs that are offered at the location.  The buildings are super beautiful and well maintained.  The purpose of the school is to offer education to mentally and physically disabled children who don't "fit" into the regular school system.  The kids ages range from 3 to 17 and are put in various classes depending on their abilities to interact and respond to cognitive development.
Kelly is really focused on the pre-school aged children and would like to work with the teachers to develop a proper curriculum that allows the kids access to information and educational development.
We had the opportunity to visit all the different classrooms.  I especially like the post-primary kids who got to do exciting this like wood-working, cooking and maintaining an agricultural garden.  Andrew who is the head teacher was taking us around and explaining that the reason they have this garden is so they aren't just explaining to the children the importance of growing vegetables, they are actually showing them how to grow their own vegetables.  From preparing the soil, to watering and maintaining the produce as it grows.
The teachers all went to specific post-secondary education to be fully trained in special education needs, and they are very determined to provide their pupils with everything they can.
If children progress very well, it isn't unheard of that they are integrated into the regular style schools that are offered around the area.
The children come from Monday - Friday from 7:30am to 2:30pm.  Buses are provided to take them to and from their home areas.  I'm especially interested in coming on another Thursday to see the afternoon dancing and singing!

Mzuni University Students - Peaceful March

Yesterday, about 50 students from the Mzuni Campus that are here right now marched from campus 6km to the town to deliver a petition and have a peaceful demonstration to deal with issues that are happening at the University.  I've attached a link to the Nyasa Times, which is an online Malawi newspaper.

Have a look
http://www.nyasatimes.com/malawi/2012/06/12/mzuni-students-march-peacefully-petitions-president-banda/

Nkhata Bay, North of Mzuzu, Malawi

This weekend my Mzuzu intern mates and I decided we should do a little exploring and go check out this little beach town right on Lake Malawi called Nkhata Bay.  We hopped into a shared taxi just outside of Mzuni (Mzuzu University) and paid 800 MK each (a little less than $4), to be taken all the way to this little backpacker's haven called "Butterfly Space".  We had been told by the previous interns that this is a great place to go and relax.  There is a nice little restaurant at the haven where we could get delicious meals.  It was important to be a little open minded because not everything that was on the menu was actually available, but when you got your food it was amazing.  I had some homemade baked beans and some eggs on hasbrowns when we first go there and it was delicious.  Every night they have a dinner special that you have to order by 5:30pm to eat at 7:30pm.  We lucked out and the night we got there was Lasagna!  It was pretty exciting to have a meal with some cheese on top of it.

Right when we go there we met a bunch of American people that were in the Peace Corps, working in little villages all around the Mzuzu/Nkhata Bay Areas.  Very shortly after talking to them we learned that they actually knew the last interns, and some of the other workers that we have met at Mzuni know them as well.  Jay, one of the Americans was celebrating a birthday so we all got to participate in that.

All day we just lazed around the beach, catching some rays.  Everyone had a little swim and we got to enjoy the beauty of the lake.  It is a huge lake, you can't see the other side.  It's almost like an ocean, reminded me of the lakes in Canada, however the ones at home are not nearly as wonderful!!!

The Butterfly is right beside this other backpacker's place called Mayoka.  We went there to have a dance party and play some pool.  Kelly and I were asked by some of the locals to join them in a game of pool.  Good thing Kelly and I weren't on the same team, because we definitely ran into some pool sharks! My team ended up winning one of the games though so I was pretty excited about that.  I have to thank my Fernie roomie SJ for helping get a little pool playing abilities!

On Saturday everyone just hung out playing cataan and Euchre.  I actually ended up teaching a few people how to play so I was happy, I'll be able to play one of my favourite games over here.

Saturday night was much more of a party than the night before.  We ended up having probably 15 of us in a group so wherever we went it was a party.  Our friend Hassan cleaned out the bar's supply of "Green Beer" which is Carlsberg green label.  Once we drank all of those beers, we had to go up to Mayoka to find some more.  We all ended up catching a ride in the back of a pick up truck.  We must've had ten of us in the back of this thing!

We partied until the bar closed and then had to head back to our dorm room to have a rest.  We all hung out on Sunday and our new friend Gina, who was Jay's sister knows how to do henna tattoos, so she gave us all these great floral band designs on our arms and hands.  I've never had  tattoo so it's really cool to have one of these non permanent ones.  I had never seen henna done before.  It's like a mud mixture then you make, then draw it on the skin and leave it for hours until it dries up and leaves an ink stain on your body for a few weeks.  I really tried to keep it on long so my tattoo will last longer.

We had so much fun, that we actually brought the Americans back to Mzuzu to stay with us because we could host them for free.  Gina made a birthday cake for Jay and I got them hooked on Degrassi Junior high!  

All in all it was a wonderful relaxing weekend and we now have some more new friends that we will get to see a lot while we are here.  They have weekends off so we should be seeing them lots.

We didn't really explore Nkhata Bay, but I know I'll be there many times so I can spend other times going into town, shopping and getting to know the village.

We met some European woman that have opened a nursery in Nkhata bay, so I will be going to visit their building once school starts up in September.

That's all for now, but I'll be keeping up to date on this thing.

P.S. We were supposed to start work today, but our people weren't at the University.  Maybe tomorrow???

Mzuzu, Malawi

We left Lilongwe on a Sunday morning at 11:30 am.  We caught  a deluxe coach bus which cost 3,500 Malawi Kwacha.  Currently the conversion from Malawi Kwacha to the Canadian Dollar is about 260:1. The bus was about $14.  It was quite comfortable, and the windows opened which gave us a nice breeze.

It's actually winter here, and you would think it's still super hot, but we have actually had quite the breeze during the day and at night it gets quite cold.  Pants and sweater weather.  One of our interns had her laptop bag stolen, but we managed to get it back.  Apparently word of mouth is quite something here in Malawi.

We are staying on the Mzuzu University Campus, which is where we are going to be volunteering as University Lecturers.  Some of the interns have started working.  For example, Kelly who is the Education intern is working at St. John of God which is a primary school for disabled and developmentally challenged children.  She is the only one who isn't working directly on the Mzuzu University Campus.  To get to work, she takes a shared taxi that comes just outside the main entrance to the University and drives her up a few kilometres toward the centre of the town.  One way costs about 100 or 150 MK (Malawi Kwacha), depending on how the fuel shortage is.

Here in Mzuzu, we are quite north and away from the large hubs, so there are fuel crises every once in a while, although it seems like it is more of an issue than not.  Coming from Canada, we don't have issues like that.  People here are very patient, waiting hours and hours to be able to fill up at the pump stations.  Gas here is sometimes sold on the black market for up to double the price, however there are protocols in place to try and minimize this issue.

To do daily shopping there are many stores that you have to go to.  Household items are sold at a store called PEP or RK plastics, depending on what you need.  A lot of the food that isn't fresh is bought at Chipiku Plus which has the cheapest rates.  For all your fresh veggies and fruits, it is good to just go to the market and bargain with the people selling there.  Some examples are a bundle of tomatoes are 100MK, a scoop of peas 50MK, a small bundle of garlic is 100MK, bananas are 10 - 20 MK each depending on the size.  They also have very large papayas, apples, mangoes (not in season yet). Onions, cabbage, yams, carrots, etc.  We have been told for a week's worth of fresh veggies and fruits you will spend about 800 - 1000 MK which is about 4 Canadian dollars.

I was lucky enough to bring my bug net from home.  Although it costs a bundle more than the ones you get here, it wasn't as easy as we thought to find one.  At the Chipiku (not Chipiku plus), we managed to find some good ones that are treated with the mosquito repellent for 5 years.  The one I bought in Canada is a lifetime, but it's a little less "Malawi" of me.

I share a room with Tracey, who is the Surveying intern here at Mzuzu University.  She is from Calgary.  Nicole is an AUCC intern, she will be leaving at the end of August and she is doing Water Resource Management, as well as working to get the online distance learning done.  Kat is working with Eco-Tourism and Forestry, while Michael is the Urban Planning intern.  We have an extra person here, Michael's girlfriend Rachel and she is also going to be working with the online distance learning sector of the University.

So far everything is great, and we are starting to settle in.  I think it will really sink in when I meet with my supervisor next week and start developing my classes to teach!!

Lilongwe, Malawi

Lilongwe, Malawi is the country's capital city.  For those of you who don't recognize Malawi, pull out your world map.  Find Africa, look to the South Eastern part and you'll find a small country that runs north to south with a large lake in the country's boundaries.  It is surrounded by Tanzania to the north, Zambia to the east, and Mozambique to the Southwest.

It is quite a large bustling city.  The city is broken up into what they call "areas".  The areas are numbered based on when they were created.  for example, the interns that are living in Lilongwe are living in "Area 44", which is a very new development, but it is located beside "Area 12".  The Mzuzu interns (which is what i am), were staying at a backpacker's hostel that was called the "Mufasa's Backpackers".  I was really quite nice compared to some of the other places I have stayed in in South East Asia.  All of the interns stayed in one of the dorm rooms, which had bunk beds.  The bathroom and the showers were located just outside the room across the way.  The showers had hot water, and good water pressure.  The breakfast was delicious, I opted for some French toast for the morning we ate there.

While we were in Lilongwe, we visited the "palace" that the other interns were staying in.  There is 11 of them for 3 months, before the AUCC (3 month) interns leave.  It is a beautiful house that's walled in, and they have a guard that protects the door at night.  The floors were made of marble and they had 7 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. Some of them were even en suites.  Their accomodations are quite different from ours, but truthfully, I feel more comfortable in ours, considering where we are.  The reason they are living in those quarters is because it is located close to Kauma village where a bunch of them are working.

We had the opportunity to walk to the village and meet some of the interns supervisors at the Youth Development Centre which is also a school.  They have some students that pay, and those who do, the money is used to go directly back into the school for improvements.  It was quite nice to get out of the bustling city and meet people that were living the village lifestyle.

Some of the interns brought boxes of supplies that went to local village clinic which would help the people in the community directly.

We were only in Lilongwe for two days, and we were there mostly to do logistical things like get our phones, go to the market to by some things that we may not get in Mzuzu, and have a chance to hang out with the Lilongwe interns a bit before we took off to Mzuzu, which is about 6 hours north in the mountains, close to Lake Malawi.

Travelling to Malawi

Well, I have been here for about a week now, and we have so busy I haven't been able to get internet, let alone make a post on my blog.  I don't even know where to start, I have experienced so much in such a little time.  I guess the travel to Malawi itself is a good place to start!

I left on Wednesday night and arrived in Lilongwe on Friday morning.  It was a long haul, but we managed to have some fun on the way.  We lucked out and got to spend a little more than half a day in Amsterdam, which was a surprise to me.  I didn't realize we would actually get to explore the city until the day I left.  It had been 8 years since I was last in Amsterdam, and it was as fantastic as I remembered it.  The architecture, the cobblestone roads, the quaint little restaurants, the abundance of bicycles and of course the coffeeshops.

We spent much of the day walking around just looking at all the nice features the city has to offer, but we ate a small pizzeria which had delicious spicy pepperoni pizza, and we visited a lovely coffeeshop called "The Bulldog".  That day trip definitely took some energy out of me, so I managed to get a little sleep on the plane ride from Amsterdam to Nairobi, Kenya.

The whole journey started in Toronto, had a stopover in Amsterdam, continued to Nairobi, Kenya and finally to Lilongwe, Malawi.