Advent!

It's been a while since my last entry to I apologise to all of my avid followers for the delay!
It's been a pretty busy few weeks down in Nsanje as Christmas looms ever closer! I still haven't quite managed to feel particularly festive while sweating in the Malawian sun (and not feeling Christmassy is quite some feat for Chloe). Unfortunately my epic catalogue of Christmas music has remained in the UK and I fear that my family will not have made the most of it as I do throughout December. I am however, feeling a bit more Christmassy after a chocolate advent calendar arrived in the post (doting mother missing daughter, check) and really chocolate is so scarce here that it has become my little daily luxury. Apparently Malawian post is relatively effective, I think the majority of letters have made it to their destinations which is very exciting and I have received a total of three pieces of post from the UK! I still wouldn't call it 100% reliable but there's definitely hope.

Nancy and I head off on our travels on the 10th December which is incredibly exciting. There's so much we want to see in Malawi and these are probably the longest holidays we'll get. Nsanje Secondary School's first term is coming to a close and they have 2 solid weeks of exams which is pretty intense. For once I am invigilating rather than partaking although I'm not sure which one I prefer because invigilating is deathly boring, luckily I only have to do it twice! It gives Nancy and I more time to sort out the school library. Now, I don't /hate/ the library persay but it's very hot and stuffy and dusty and I usually come out covered in dirt from the ancient novels sent over from America ten years ago. However, despite all of this it's very satisfying to see the progress we have made over the past month or so and we're pretty much half way now. 'Life skills' is the next section, waheyyy.

We finally have bicycles of our own which Project Trust have invested in for volunteers over the years to come. It's crazy to think that we have been the first of many. I think it's going to be really difficult leaving this project to somebody we've never met when we've put so much of ourselves into setting things up. The bicycles are beautiful and red with little baskets. They make life so much easier and we have people constantly telling us that they saw us riding around. I don't know if that will ever get old. The rain is a bit of a hindrance at the moment though!

We have moved our youth groups to a different location so that more people can get there but it means that we have to cycle for about 20 minutes of road and then a couple of minutes down through a village. Now, this journey is perfectly fine in the sun, if a little hot, but in the rain it is horrendous, as we found out on Tuesday! We could see the big angry cloud coming during our drama group so we went into the nearby church to continue in the dry. The rain came thick and fast, thunder and lightning and wind whistling outside. It was so windy that our bicycles blew over despite some pretty sturdy kick stands! After about 30 minutes we decided that it wasn't going to stop any time soon and if we wanted to get back in the light we should just go for it...so off we went. We were soaking within minutes and the mud was insane, I am still incredibly impressed that I managed not to fall over although there were a few close calls! I'm sure it's bound to happen any day now but hopefully it won't be anywhere too public! To get to the road we had to wade through a river which had formed down the side, the water came up to me knees! I think Nancy nearly lost a shoe but luckily we managed to get to the road in one piece where we started cycling back. The wind was like nothing I've experienced before - the rain was pounding and it hurt on my arms as we ploughed along. I swear it slowed me to half the speed I had been going on the way and Nancy's bike chain kept falling off. The whole journey home took around 45minutes and I don't remember ever being so wet in my life! We pretty much flooded our house when we walked in!

I was a little scared about my phone and camera but luckily they have dried out now and are both working perfectly again. However, I do now carry a big plastic bag in my handbag at all times lest we get caught again! I don't think I had realised how much I would use my raincoat but it was definitely lucky I brought it (not that I had it on Tuesday, that would have been too convenient!).

Today is the first day in a long time that there has been a clear sky so Nancy and I have been doing our washing this morning. Hand washing is turning out to be much less hassle than I expected. It takes a bit of time but the real issue at the moment is making sure that you have time and good weather to dry it! In the midday sun it won't take any more than an hour or two but two minutes of rain can have everything soaked once more! We haven't yet managed to leave washing out in the rain but I fear that might be another inevitability.

When there is a clear sky, the night is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Last week we were walking home (accompanied by a guard of course, not that I think anyone would ever do anything in Nsanje, but better to be safe and all) in the evening. It gets dark before seven pm here so it feels like the middle of the night just after dinner. There was a blackout and it was a new moon so everything was pretty pitch black but the stars were just amazing. They stretch all the way from horizon to horizon and it was the first time I think I've seen stars twinkle properly the way you imagine them to. I also now understand how people started coming up with constellations! When there are that many stars visible, the bright ones are so obvious that I couldn't help but notice the plough beaming at me from up above. I think I almost tripped a few times on that way home because I was looking up rather than ahead!

There have been a fair few blackouts recently and we had one for about 24 hours on Friday which was a bit intense, luckily it wasn't too hot so a night without a fan was perfectly manageable! Last night Nancy and I were invited for a drink with some of the teachers from the secondary school. Well, I say last night, the time they gave us was 3.30pm so it was more like afternoon but we carried on for a fair few hours! I stopped at 3 beers which was very restrained but they just kept coming, I'm sure some of them were on number ten before we left! The teachers are really lovely and it's great to get to know some of them outside of school as well as chatting in the staff room. We are very upset to be missing the staff Christmas party which is on the 18th but yesterday we decided that we would have to have a new years party instead, and maybe a party to celebrate February as well. So long as there are some beers I know we'll have a few of them there! Yesterday they also wouldn't let us pay for any of the drinks which must have mounted up and I'm pretty sure their salaries are by no means high. We'll definitely be paying for some of them in January!

I can't believe there's snow back home! I'm sitting here sweating in my Tshirt with a fan blasting into my face and drinking litres of water. I planned to get very tanned over Christmas at the lake - I can't wait to swim and sleep and relax with no obligations of visiting or organising other people. Holidays are gonna be goood.

I'll try to get onto the internet over the holidays and do some Christmas updates but I'm not promising anything! I might just be partying too hard.

Lots of love to you all,
I love hearing from everyone (Snow days?! Crazy. Maybe a white Christmas?)
Chloe xxxxxx