Robert Frost describes his courage by saying "... and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference." (Frost 18 -20).

i have had what the doctor thinks to be the flu since tuesday...i have been on med's since then and i thought i was starting to feel better...this morning i woke-up feeling better than yesterday but by mid-day i have found myself back in my bed...i have spent the majority of the week in my bed and this morning when i washed my pj's that i have been wearing all week and my sheets i was feeling positive that i was also washing away this sickness...the only positive outcome of this is that my pj's and sheets are clean! i had already planned-on going to the hospital on monday for my last full blood test so if i'm not feeling better by then hopefully the doctor can figure-out what's wrong with me and give me some meds for it...i had hoped i would be able to enjoy my last two weeks here but with one week down and one to go i'm not so sure...i have a really long flight back to the US and hope to be as healthy as possible before i get on that plane!!

i have started writing my final report...i hope to have it finished in the next few days...since i have been in my bed all week i have had some blurred time (because of the medicine i've been taking) to reflect on my experiences here...for some reason my ALL TIME FAVORITE poem popped into my head...it has been my favorite poem for as long as i can remember...


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

...Robert Frost

i  think the reasoning behind this occurrence is the missing puzzle piece we all sometimes struggle to find...to me this poem weighs heavy with truth when making life decisions and to have the courage to be able to be an individual and look back and understand why we made the decisions we did...

meeting the families

The preschools were still closed last week so we decided to spend Thursday and Friday visiting the supervisor’s homes and meeting their families. I went with another preschool DI on Wednesday afternoon to Vomba Market to get stuff to make lunch for both days. The DI’s and I had agreed that we would need rice, beans, avocados, tomatoes, onions and, bread for both days. We felt it would be nice to bring stuff so that we could make lunch with the supervisors and their families…the supervisors have become like family to the three of us…we always say that they are our new grandpas’…both days were incredible…we enjoyed being introduce to their families and learning a few cooking tricks as well…the first day we went to Shake’s house….

this was a cool building that we passed on the way to Shake's house

Shake's wife showing us how she cooks beans and tomatoes

Shake's family minus his 14 year old daughter...speaking-of, while we were there a man came up to his house with 6 goats...all the goats started going into Shake's house...I started to walk-over to stop the goats from going-in his house but I looked at him and stopped...after the guy walked away I asked him "why are there goats in your house" he explained to me that they have to keep them in the house or someone will steal them at night...he then showed me the 'goat's bedroom...I asked him where his daughter slept and he pointing to the living room...so I was joking with him that afternoon about him having a bedroom for his goats but not his daughter...

relaxing after a great lunch with the other preschool DI's and Shake's wife

 on Friday we went to Fredison's house and met his beautiful family...

if the world had more Fredison's in it...it would be a much happier place

one of my favorite pastimes in Malawi, sharing stories with each other about our cultures to everyday living

I have been waiting to give these two shirts to two special people in Malawi...Fredison and his wife were the perfect two...my fiance and I are huge rivals when it comes to college sports in the US. I'm a UNC TARHEEL fan and he is a NC STATE fan so we have what you would call a "divided house"

magnificent day...

easter sunday at manyea orphanage

I spent Easter Sunday at Manyea Orphanage learning about the Malawian culture and playing soccer...

passing out the donated soccer equipment from Eurosport's "PASSBACK" program

headman of the village loved his "PASSBACK" shirt

magical day...

learning how to cook traditional Malawian food

organizing our soccer teams

the soccer match was tied so we had to take pks (thank goodness mine went-in)

everyone from the neighboring villages came to watch our soccer match

easter lunch

these dancers were awesome!

an Easter i will never forget!

TTD Part 2

i taught the teachers a very common game from my mother country (USA) i taught them the hokey pokey...it's an educational game that allows the children to dance around (literally)

 

at the end of the day, we were all exhausted but it gives us a deep sense of contentment...

TTD Part 1

We had an awesome teacher training day last Friday…It was a religious holiday (Good Friday ) so we only had 65 teachers out of 90 show-up…we were hoping all of the teachers would be able attend but understood why the 28 didn’t…having the new DI’s there made a world of difference…one of the DI’s is still recovering from malaria so she didn’t teach a lesson but helped us tremendously throughout the day…

DI sandra from chile

it's always nice to be able to spend time with the teachers outside of the preschools...it gives us all a chance to get to know them...many of them bring their small children with them to TTD because they are to small to be without their mothers or the mothers dont have someone to watch them...the babies and small children are very well behaved here in Malawi...i have a feeling that if we were holding a TTD in the states the children who accompanied their mothers might not have been so well behaved...

the cooks on campus preparing the rice and beans for the teachers

 i have always wanted to see what it felt like to carry a baby on my back like all of the mothers and even children do here in Malawi...i told one of the preschool supervisors about this and he immediately went-up to one of the mothers (who had twins) and told her about my desire...she happily brought one of her twins to me and wrapped him in a (chitenje) on my back...she used two different chitenjes to secure her 3 month old son...

he was so precious and didnt cry once...

i carried him on my back for about 45 mins

i graciously gave him back after he peed on me

lemon grass

I am pleased to say that the two DI’s that had malaria are both feeling much better now!! J

This week and last week the schools have been closed because everyone is harvesting their maze “what we call corn”…so i have been working with the other DI’s and the preschool supervisors to organize meetings…we have been traveling to each preschool and meeting with the headman or headwoman of the village to arrange a meeting with the community…our plan of action is to get the community, preschool teachers and, students’ parents to all come to these meetings…our objective of the meetings is to discuss income generation for the preschools… we used this month’s preschool budget to buy seeds for each preschool to have a vegetable garden…these gardens are to be prepared and tended to by the community in each village…after they have prepared the gardens we will then give them seeds to plant…our ultimate goal is  for each  community to grow these vegetables and take them to their village markets and sale them…with the money they make they can buy porridge, sugar, soap and  school supplies…

Also, this week we have been working on preparing the TTD that is going to be held on Friday…we were unable to have it in March on account of the students being on campus taking exams…so we will be having two TTD’s this month…we have been doing everything from making budgets, sending invitation letters, finding cooks, shopping and preparing the lessons …I have to say it’s very nice having the other DI’s here to help with all of these task!!!!

The weather has been amazing this past week…it started getting cooler on Sunday and has been raining every day since…the last two days I have had to wear my Patagonia fleece, long sleeve shirt, long pants (I wear them every day anyways) and socks and boots…I woke-up two nights ago shivering from the cool air…the cool air has given all of us a much needed break from the heat…I asked one of the supervisors how long this nice weather will last and he replied “you must be crazy this is not nice weather” he then explained to me that next week it will start warming-up again.  All of the DI’s and I have been enjoying making lemon grass tea during this weather. We have lemon grass plants by the papaya trees (which I have become obsessed with, I eat a fresh papaya every day) right next to where we all live. My roommate and I use fresh honey in our tea that he bought in a village he passed through last week. The honey is still in the honey comb and still has bees in it (dead bees)….the citrus aroma from the lemon grass has filled all of our apartments for the last few days…

they too are huge, just like the avocados