Some ramblings from Malawi - mostly about minibuses

So, my time here is fairly flying by now. I feel totally settled in to the routine and ways of working on male ward and learning so much every day.

After a busy week on the ward last week, we spent our couple days off duty up in Blantyre. In order to get there we have cram ourselves and our bags into the minibuses that run through Mulanje up to Blantyre. This wouldn't be a problem were it not for the other 27 or so other people (and chickens - usually live!) who also want to be crammed into the same minibus. However, this is no problem for the Malawians! The first time one pulled up, I very politely said to the 'conductor' that because the bus was full I would wait for the next one. This was met with a look of disbelief before herding Hemy and I in between the other passengers. Put it this way, in future, my morning commute on the Glasgow underground, squashed under some guys armpit, will feel more than spacious! If you haven't lost circulation to at least one of your bum cheeks and don't have the beginnings of a pressure ulcer by the time you get to your destination, things are going well!!After being 'seated' on the minibus, my next concern was how we would actually manage the 40km or so journey considering every single warning light on the dashboard was lit up and the petrol gauge was way below empty! But, despite not stopping once to put any petrol in, we somehow made it. Maybe turning off the engine while going down hill helped......might try this the next time I'm going downhill in the golden bullet.

A view over Blantyre.

Despite all this, we made it to Blantyre.

Blantyre itself is pretty standard. But, after being in them middle of the nowhere for a  couple of weeks, arriving in the hustle and bustle (and paved streets!!!) of Blantyre made me realise how much of I city girl I am now! The one thing I didn't count on when arriving in the city was to come face to face with the biggest spiders I have ever seen (not that was plural, not singular spider!). Mulanje has its fair share of wee beasties but these were on a totally different scale. I was even slightly concerned for the wee cat, sleeping peacefully below the massive spiders webs, I'm prettry sure they would devour the poor wee thing for a mid morning snack! See photo evidence below.

As Saturday night approached, we were looking forward to finding a nice bar in town, getting some food and relaxing after our busy weeks. But all the 6am wake up calls were obviously taking their toll and after a few beers and a curry (yes, curry! It was sooooo good!) we were ready for bed. I think actually we were tucked up in bed for 9pm that night. Poor effort I know.

After our 'big night on the tiles' it was soon time to squeeze back on to the death mobile back to Mulanje in time for our shifts on Monday morning. Unfortunately we were so busy playing the game of human tetris in the the minibus to realise we had boarded the scenic route bus, added a nice 30km to our journey. This on top of the hlaf hour stop in some random town while the driver had his tea. We made it home just as it was getting dark.

Nalice preparing our dinner

Back on duty on Monday morning was a slight shock to the system after our weekend away, but it turned out to be another good week. One of the nurses form Hemy's ward invited us over for tea one night, and not one to turn down a hot meal, I was there in a flash. Nalice (the nurse) showed us how to make the Malawian staple, nsmima, on her chakoban (no idea how to spell it). Its basically a charcoal based cooker thing on three legs which doesn't look to dissimilar from a cauldron. She prepared the nsima, an egg and tomato relish and some veg. After taking a tiny portion for herself, she proceeded to pile the food on to our plates. I'm not known for my small appetite so I was happy to tackle the huge portion with gusto. I was, however, defeated and actually think my stomach has stretched to a point of no return as since then, nothing I eat seems to fill the black hole! The food was delicious though.

This week also saw the introduction of a new animal to our commute. Last time I wrote about our daily walk past all the chickens and their endless trail of chicks. This wee though, we were met at the hospital gets by a whole gang of monkeys. Not something I would normally see on my way to work/uni in Glasgow.

Nsima action shot

New addition to the morning commute

Best weapon ever!

I think I mentioned before about our security guard. Anyway, he arrives every evening at 6pm and keeps us safe and sound until 6am the next day. He goes above and beyond his security guard duties though, and unlike some people I know, isn't shy to some domestic pastimes. For example, every morning usually around 4am, he starts his daily sweeping. Its actually quite a soothing soundtrack at that time in the morning and we always wake up to a leaf free garden. Plus the sweeping noise is a massive improvement on the racket he made on our first few nights. Maybe it was some sort of 'Welcom to Malawi' thing, but I'm not convinced tapped loudly on the outside wall to your bedroom is that welcoming. I also wasn't impressed when he started chapping my window at half 5 in the morning, although I think he was just letting us know that was him off. He does do a grand job though and I'm always interested to see what weapon he will leave behind each morning. He started off with a good old machete - a pretty standard weapon for the modern day security guard, But now he is gone old school, and the other morning I found this beauty on the porch. I'm thinking ti would just be rude not to crack open my best Maid Marion impression.