Greetings from Malawi!
The past 3 days have been one of the biggest adventures of my life. Thursday, my friend Katie and I decided we should skip the first week of class and go to Malawi. It takes a bit of finesse to get to here. A 12-hour bus ride across Tanzania, a night in the world's smallest hostel room, a daladala ride to the border, a ride on the back of a bicycle across the Malawi/ Tanzania border, a taxi ride with 6 people and a baby in a sedan, another 5 hours in a bus smushed between two veluptous African women and another baby, and an hour in another daladala and you're there! It's like teleporting, only opposite.
Despite the fact that the journey here took two solid days, it was pretty cool. I got to see some amazing scenery and parts of rural Tanzania that I've been missing in Dar. You don't have to get too far out of the city for the landscape to become very lush and green and dotted with tiny villages and mud huts. We drove through some beautiful mountains and a few rain storms (too bad our bus was one of those water resistant, not waterproof types).
When we finally arrived in Mbeya (still in Tanzania) where we would stay the night, it was freezing. Everyone told us it would be cold in Malawi, too; how did we not know this?! The first thing we did was buy jackets, but being confined to the bus station, our options were limited. I ended up with a fuzzy red one that looks like a newly skinned cow hide that hasn't been washed. Katie got an extremely oversized puffy jacket fit for the arctic that swallows her completely. We looked like fools. Lucky for us, it's not at all cold in Malawi. It is in fact the perfect temperature.
Crossing the border was an adventure in and of itself. The daladala dropped us off nearby, and we were escorted by a parade of about 50 men to immigration. They convinced us that it was 2 kilometers between TZ and MW immigration, so we ended up each riding on the back of a bike with all of our luggage for a distance much shorter than 2 km. It was one of the more ridiculous moments of my life. It could have been scenic; we were riding along with tropical mountains on either side. But don't forget, it's Africa. So here I am on the back of some stranger's grubby bicycle with a giant pink bag hanging off the edge. I'm carrying my cowhide-like jacket (it's scorching hot now), and I can't see Katie or her giant marshmallow coat anywhere. I'm trying to peek around the "driver" to see if she's in front, but every time the bike almost tips. Meanwhile she is using her knockoff gucci glasses as a spy-mirror to see if I'm behind her. The guy I'm riding with explains to me that the distance is 2 km if you walk, but if you're on a bike it's actually only 1 km. So luckily, it wasn't a long ride.
After two days we arrived in Nkhata Bay. It's beautiful! My room has a balcony looking across a small cove to a village nestled in the tropical hills on the shores of Lake Malawi. I can actually look across the entire lake and see the mountains of Mozambique! The people here are immesley friendly. Last night at dinner we met a group of Rastas that are the happiest people I've ever come across. They have crazy names/ nicknames like Captian, Chicken Pizza, John Banana, and my favorite, Cheese on Toast. I'm not even kidding.
So in summary, I'm in Africa on a gorgeous lake in the mountains with people that ooze happiness. Life is pretty good right now.
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