More on Mum & Dad
I still have more to tell you of mum & dads trip, so far the stories have only covered the first week!! So… After our safari we headed home to recover and wash clothes (which mum & I did late into the night outside by candlelight while drinking G&T’s - lots of fun!!) The following day we enjoyed more trips to markets and I took them to my local Saturday spot at the bohemian café. It was some of these things that were the best to show them!! I dropped in at the chemist and surprised mum at how easy it was to buy antibiotics over the counter! I also made my first mistake of letting mum & dad loose in a tourist market without supervision… they really really took some time to learn the art of bargaining!!! We then headed up the northern coast of lake Malawi to spend a few days relaxing in the paradise of lake Malawi and visiting my friend Robyn in Kande. We stayed at Makuzi beach which was an absolute paradise!! The first night we were the only guests, and sat on a balcony looking over the water for some lovely dining… so spoilt!!
The following day I took mum and dad to meet Robyn and see another style of life & ministry in malawi. We took loads of food up to spoil Robyn and mum & dad fitted in awesomely! we spent time chatting with Robyn, Mum played cards with the kids and Dad did some maintenance & building that Robyn needed. It was that night over dinner with mum & dad in the warm night air of makuzi that I had my favourite evening!! We spent time talking about my future, talking about some of the possibilities, talking about some of my dreams. The three of us shared ideas, options, and dreamed a little together. Was fabulous! That net morning we were woken just before 4am by an earth tremor… I’m used to them now, but mum & dad were a little nervous! I got up to watch the sun rise over the water and had some excellent journaling time followed by a refreshing morning swim. We headed back home and spent hours at the salima craft market buying lots of fun things!!
The last week of mum & dads trip was spent in the village. We caught minibuses, went to markets, visited friends, went to church with morgan and ellie, played with the kids, dad made swings up at work, dad made me an awesome veggie garden, mum cooked a roast (which was interrupted by a power outage) but mum was a pro at finishing it off over the fire! Yum yum! Collected water from the bore hole, washed clothes, sat on the balcony, and had a lovely time relaxing and doing life like normal.
The funniest day by far was early one Monday morning when we were given a gift of a live chicken, which was hysterical. I stood in my pj’s holding the chicken after Agogo left not entirely sure what to do. This is a massive massive gift, especially from Agogo who has so very little to give. Culturally, what had to be done was to kill & eat the chicken. So we decided that we had to share this with them, so we invited them for a meal… still leaving us with a problem… I was still holding the chicken. I ran up to one of my favorite mums and stood at her door with the chicken under my arm begging for some help. She laughed. Anyway… gory details aside…. About 5 hours later we were sitting with agogo and the girls eating a lovely meal that really did take us all day to prepare! i managed not to eat any of the chicken…!! Our last few days were fantastic, lots of chatting, packing, a few early birthday celebrations going out to dinner at my favorite place and then mum cooked my favorite birthday meal – lasagna and banana cake! it was just the best!! Only would have been better with AJ there!
There is so much more I have probably missed!!
They both not only coped amazingly well, but infact loved this country and enjoyed every moment of observing, exploring and learning more bout the people, places and lifestyles. which of course, was the greatest part of the trip for me! Not that I am surprised….as they are not foreign to such an environment as they have both visited friends of theirs on mission and in developing countries before. My parents are both amazingly giving people, they will do anything for anyone, often putting others way before themselves. This is something I love about them! often they are very quiet about their motives, and about their gifts to others. Most of the time no one would ever know what they have done or what they have given. I have an immense amount of respect for them!! My parents are an amazing support, they not only understand why I am here, but support me fully, so it wasn’t hard for them to see what I see here. And for that, I am most excited!!
The following day I took mum and dad to meet Robyn and see another style of life & ministry in malawi. We took loads of food up to spoil Robyn and mum & dad fitted in awesomely! we spent time chatting with Robyn, Mum played cards with the kids and Dad did some maintenance & building that Robyn needed. It was that night over dinner with mum & dad in the warm night air of makuzi that I had my favourite evening!! We spent time talking about my future, talking about some of the possibilities, talking about some of my dreams. The three of us shared ideas, options, and dreamed a little together. Was fabulous! That net morning we were woken just before 4am by an earth tremor… I’m used to them now, but mum & dad were a little nervous! I got up to watch the sun rise over the water and had some excellent journaling time followed by a refreshing morning swim. We headed back home and spent hours at the salima craft market buying lots of fun things!!
The last week of mum & dads trip was spent in the village. We caught minibuses, went to markets, visited friends, went to church with morgan and ellie, played with the kids, dad made swings up at work, dad made me an awesome veggie garden, mum cooked a roast (which was interrupted by a power outage) but mum was a pro at finishing it off over the fire! Yum yum! Collected water from the bore hole, washed clothes, sat on the balcony, and had a lovely time relaxing and doing life like normal.
The funniest day by far was early one Monday morning when we were given a gift of a live chicken, which was hysterical. I stood in my pj’s holding the chicken after Agogo left not entirely sure what to do. This is a massive massive gift, especially from Agogo who has so very little to give. Culturally, what had to be done was to kill & eat the chicken. So we decided that we had to share this with them, so we invited them for a meal… still leaving us with a problem… I was still holding the chicken. I ran up to one of my favorite mums and stood at her door with the chicken under my arm begging for some help. She laughed. Anyway… gory details aside…. About 5 hours later we were sitting with agogo and the girls eating a lovely meal that really did take us all day to prepare! i managed not to eat any of the chicken…!! Our last few days were fantastic, lots of chatting, packing, a few early birthday celebrations going out to dinner at my favorite place and then mum cooked my favorite birthday meal – lasagna and banana cake! it was just the best!! Only would have been better with AJ there!
There is so much more I have probably missed!!
They both not only coped amazingly well, but infact loved this country and enjoyed every moment of observing, exploring and learning more bout the people, places and lifestyles. which of course, was the greatest part of the trip for me! Not that I am surprised….as they are not foreign to such an environment as they have both visited friends of theirs on mission and in developing countries before. My parents are both amazingly giving people, they will do anything for anyone, often putting others way before themselves. This is something I love about them! often they are very quiet about their motives, and about their gifts to others. Most of the time no one would ever know what they have done or what they have given. I have an immense amount of respect for them!! My parents are an amazing support, they not only understand why I am here, but support me fully, so it wasn’t hard for them to see what I see here. And for that, I am most excited!!
posted by tj-in-malawi @ 8:37 AM
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