Phone Calls and Gas Stations

We've gone to 40 organizations with a goal of hitting 50. Whenever we get a contact, we call or email them and set up a meeting. And then we try to get directions. ...try.....There's been a few we can't find and one we went all over town. There aren't any street names, so usually directions are "Go down the main road until you see ___ sign and then turn left. Go right at the first dirt road. When you see the red building called ___, turn right and there will be a guy with a blue shirt outside the house." That's about the best you get. And when they have an accent and can't hear you, or a call drops, or you randomly intermix wavelengths with another call....ever Malawian call is an adventure.

But today, amidst not finding one of our organizations (and then realizing we're not even sure what it is), we had to get diesel for our trip to Mozambique tomorrow. Now there's been a fuel shortage going on (which happens once a month). So we get to the gas station at 9:30 and surprisingly there's no line! But an hour later, everyone comes and the line goes down the street blocking traffic. Crazy stuff. But we get gas after waiting 4 hours for the tanker to arrive! Only in Malawi :)

Don't Worry, It's Just a Flesh Wound

We realized that our only chance to go to Lake Malawi was this Saturday so we woke up, got all packed and left that same morning. And it was BEAUTIFUL. Lake Tahoe's still better, but this was absolutely amazing! It's like the ocean, only warmer and fresher. We ate by the shore and then hoped in for a swim. JP and I saw some rocks that we could jump off into the water so we walked down over to them. We climbed through the rocks by the shore--it was just like all the creek hiking back home, so good--and then jumped off our target spot. On the way back through the rocks, something went wrong and I slammed my head into a rock and blacked out for a second. I put my hand on my head and blood was everywhere and I had a fat bump above my eye. It took awhile to wash off the blood and then we went for some first aid (some alcohol wipes and a wrap was all they had haha). Don't worry mom, no stiches neccessary on this one. But I will have a nice scar to bring back with me! And when I have kids, I can tell them I got it in Africa fending off the wild crocodiles trying to attack the team :)