This is how kids travel here. No joke.
One thing I have gotten used to is that whenever I hold a baby, I inevitably end up with pee all over me. The sacrifices I make for a picture. I wonder if politicians would still "hold babies" if I passed them one of these kids with chronically wet pants.
I am pretty sure that I pay more in tip for a five minute NYC cab ride than this guy makes in a 30 km trip.
Let's hope the middle finger is not universal.
So I went to the car, the door was open, and next thing you know, 25 kids are squeezing themselves in the door to talk. You cannot get a clear view of how many kids there are, but I am sure you can hear them. I had the best time making videos of this.
As you watch this, keep in mind that these kids do not speak any english.
Where the Malawian carbon footprint is about the size of Bigfoot due to all the exhaust from old cars and trucks, they make up for it in recycling old materials. Everything that is used has two, three or even four lives. I am pretty impressed with how inventive they can be. Do you know how many toys an empty water bottle can be? They can make the coolest toy truck out of old wires and cans for tires. Now I don't know about tetanus, but the toy sure looks cool. Here is a picture of a kite made out of a garbage bag and shopping bags. I am willing to bet that this garbage bag had another life in between carrying trash and catching wind. Maybe our new recycling policy should be to send all of our trash to Malawi. They could probably come up with some really cool inventions.
It has been a long time. Sorry sorry. I have been busy living life here and have not had a chance to get online. My bad.
Sometimes I forget that I am in such a foreign place, and then there are others that is glaringly obvious. Here is a picture of us just hanging out in a friends front yard in a bus this weekend. At first, it seemed so random and funny to me, and then I thought, if I was hanging out with a group of friends at home and there was a bus in the yard, this might happen as well. I don't know anymore. I cannot tell what is normal and what is bizarre. I will say I do know I am not at home when hanging out and my friends get a plate of meat to eat. When I ask what it is, they nonchalantly tell me that it is a dove. Whoa. This might be pushing it for me. Should I tell them that a dove is the sign of peace and love? Or when they cook up a chicken and eat every part of the chicken, feet, nails and all. Gross. Now I can appreciate eating all of an animal, I actually have a lot of respect for that, but I think I draw the line at the long, dirty, crusty nails.
A lot of people have asked what the night life is like here. Outside of the fact that they can move their bodies in ways that we could not even dream of, it is not that different. Just imagine hanging out in a dive bar. They dress the same, listen to the same music, and drink just as much. The only thing that gets a little annoying is that I do not think they make toilet paper, soap or hot water in Malawi. That is not that easy to get accustomed to. Oh well....TIA.
