The First 48

The first 48 hours in Malawi have been rather interesting. It is amazing how once you enter into a new country how much you do not know of the way things function. For instance, my two classmates and I made a stop at the local bank and had trouble entering the building. We pushed the door open, but it appeared stuck somehow. The sign on the door clearly stated, “push”, but we could not get in the building. We kept pushing and then we pulled the door and then we pushed again. We wondered…hmm…is it closed or are the staff out on lunch break or is today a holiday or is the door jammed. So many thoughts ran through our minds as to why we could not enter the bank. Soon after, a security officer noticed we were having trouble and told us that we had to enter in one person at a time. Then, we looked up and saw a green and red signal that gave indication on if it was clear to enter in or wait your turn. Only one person could enter or exit the bank at any given time. It was hilarious that we kept trying several times to enter in the bank and had no clue as to why we could not enter. Due to security reasons, the bank did not allow multiple people to enter or exit the bank at the same time. Once the security officer gave us that instruction, then we each entered the bank one at a time. We laughed about that incident throughout the day.

 

After the bank, we went to a nearby store to purchase cell phones. We entered in the building and there were people sitting and appeared to be waiting. One of my classmates asked the people waiting, “Is that the end of the line?” There were no responses. We then asked one of the staff and he directed us to which window to go to for help. We went to the available window and asked about purchasing a cell phone. The employee responded, “5000 kwacha” (nearly $13 US). We then paid an additional 200 kwacha (.50 US) for the sim card and 1500 (nearly $4 US) for the prepaid card in order to get minutes on the phone.

 

Next, we went to check internet in a hot spot area and ordered dinner. This is another funny incident. We found an area to sit and waited for service. The waiter came to our area, provided menus, and asked us what we would like to drink. We ordered soft drinks and asked for menus of the surrounding restaurants. We were sitting in an outdoor patio that provided shared seating for all customers of the surrounding restaurants. We had options of chicken, pizza, hamburgers, sandwiches, and Indian cuisine all from various eateries in that shopping complex. One of my classmates asked if we could have menus from the surrounding eateries.  However, the waiter appeared confused as to what she was asking. I interjected in order to clarify. He replied by stating we would have to go over to the other eateries to order from there. He apparently worked for only one of those eateries. My classmate stated that she was there a few days ago and was able to view all menus then. The confusion remained. He later came back with our drinks and took away the menus he provided earlier. We then waited, waited, and waited more as we were quite confused. We spoke among ourselves and thought, hmm…is he coming back? Will he bring us additional menus of the other eateries? What is happening? We proceeded to have conversation, enjoy our soft drinks, and check our email. The waiter continued serving the neighboring customers.  Eventually, he came with our bill and we paid for the sodas. Soon after, another waiter from the other eatery greeted us, brought us menus, and we ordered dinner from there. I ordered chicken biryani with rice and butter naan from the Curry Inn Indian restaurant. It was delicious. My total order came up to 2950 kwacha plus 200 kwacha for my sprite. This is equivalent to nearly $8 US…not bad at all.

 

One major adjustment to living in Malawi is walking everywhere. Here in Blantyre, I have yet to see a taxi. However, there are minibuses that transport people around town. I have yet to ride in one. Instead, we have walked to the grocery store, bank, cell phone store, restaurants, and hotspot internet areas. It is nearly  4 miles round-trip to walk to these places and back home. Therefore, when we go out to run errands, we try to make a whole day out of it to make use of our time. We usually plan to be at home by 6pm (at the latest) because it gets dark and we want to be safe. Considering, we are three American females that stand out as it is and we do not want to draw unwanted attention to ourselves, especially in the evening.

 

Well, those are some highlights of the first 48. I will update you all soon.

R: )