Sights and smells that remind you...

You know those moments that you smell a perfume that you havn’t worn in ages and it reminds you of moments in life when you were wearing that perfume, or the smell of fresh cut grass or you hear a song that reminds you of things… does everyone get that? or are some people more susceptible? more nostalgic than others? or maybe there are just times in life when you think of these things more? I heard a song the other day, its called “the tide is high” tacky girly pop stuff… don’t even know who sings it…. anyway, It was on the radio REALLY loud the first time that I drove on my own after getting my license. I drove from our house in pearcedale down to the local milkbar 2km away for bread that we didn’t even need. I remember laughing hysterically and bouncing in my seat at the total exhilaration of that moment. That song will always remind me.

I wonder what the smells and sounds of Malawi will be. Sometimes you can’t even guess. That’s whats so fun about it, all of a sudden without any warning you have this overwhelming " i remember moment" I love those moments. That’s why I love cameras and journals… they help you catch some of those moments so you don’t just have to rely upon running into that same smell again or hearing that song.

Recently I had dawn and wekha over for dinner, and in the middle mrs likagwa asked me to come and help her fix something in her house. she is just staying in the guest house for a few days before moving to blantyre. The guest house is bland and empty. And it has a certain smell. It smelt exactly like my house in the first week I was here. it nearly knocked me over, that first week all came flooding back. Everything about it, the apprehension, the nervousness, the shock, the excitement, the sadness and the empty weirdness of this new place, and then as I walked back into my house I was hit with the warmth of my house, the colour, the voices, the music, the laughter, the mess and the smell of garlic from dinner and chocolate cake cooking. The contrast was awesome. It smelt like home.