Mighty wanderers vs. Bullets

It was the semi-final at the Civic stadium in Lilongwe today between the Mighty wanderers and the Bullets. The stadium was full. I don’t go on football matches often but I can imagine it is somehow similar. It was a lot of people everywhere.  

Supporters

People were selling all kind of food and drinks and accessories for the teams. There were of course the cheering sections, one blue and one red. Some of them where dancing and playing. I wander if they were there for the football or for showing off. But it was fun anyway with the music and the dancing. 

Venders, music and dancers

There were so many things happening outside the football field and so many people to look at so I almost forgot to watch the game. 

Mighty wanderers vs Bullets

Zikomo bus stop

When leaving my office you see people waiting for the bus on both sides of the street. On the right hand side it is a “normal” bus stop. Not a bus stop with a bus stop sign of course. When getting on the bus you pay around 50 cents. On the left hand side is the Zikomo bus stop. Zikomo means “thank you”. When getting on the bus from the Zikomo bus stop you just say “zikomo”. 

Zikomo bus stop

Kitchen garden

It is winter here but still you can grow vegetables. They say it will grow much faster starting from September. We just arrange the kitchen garden so that birds can't eat the strawberries.

Net over kitchen garden

In my garden I have strawberry, different types of salad, eggplant, tomatoes, sugar cane, coriander, mustard, onion, dill, parsley. I also have a compost. The compost is not a container as we have in Sweden. It is just one part of the kitchen garden that works as a compost. At first I thought rats and other animals would come but I haven't seen any.

Lettuce

Apart from my kitchen garden I also have papaya, mango, lime, avocado, and tangerine trees. For now it is only the papaya which have fruits so for the rest I will have to wait until next year.

Papaya

Nightlife in Lilongwe

Last night I visited three of Lilongwe’s bars and clubs. The night started at Alexander’s sports bar. There you warm up…. Then we went to The Living room. The Living room has different events every night like poetry, live music, movies, and DJ’s. A lot of expats were there. Next door is a club that reopened last night. It used to be called Zanzi but now it is called Amazon. The club has two dance floors and soon one more. The music was really good, especially the Malawian music.We danced all night long.

I got another nice compliment last night. “You are the first Muzungu I know that knows how to dance!” Can 

it be better?

A long night, that ended early in the morning at the best food place. 

Meet at a food place

First month in Malawi

It is exactly one month since I came here. Before coming here I was preparing myself that the first month might be difficult. I was thinking about everything that would happened. I would have a new job. We all know how lost you are on your first day. I would have a new house but no friends. I wouldn’t know how things work and where to go. But I have survived the first month. So far it has been very good. At the beginning it was a bit lonely but slowly I'm getting to know some people and to move around. Work is very good so far. I like the fact that I need to be on top tof a lot of things; procurement, staff guidelines, admininstration, vehicles management, accounting, IT, etc. I actually think I would have had done a much better work in Sweden if I knew what I know now just after one month here. But at the same time I think I wouldn’t have been able to contribute much if I didn’t have had the experience I have from Sweden.

My impression of Malawi is still that it is a very friendly and beautiful country. People always greet you and help you whenever you need it. My colleagues have been very helpful and are always ready to guide me right. The security is not a big problem. Of course I have the guards at the house but in general I feel safe. Yesterday someone told me, when driving at night I need to lock the doors and not stop at the traffic lights. I would never do that in Sweden even if there were no car as far as I could see.

As I have said before, Lilongwe feels like a very small city. Even Stockholm feels like a big city compared to Lilongwe. But Lilongwe has a very nice charm. I’m starting to find my way around in the city. In one way I feel life is easier when you don’t have a lot of options. Every day is dedicated to something. It is jazz on Sundays, movies and Hash on Mondays, poetry on Wednesday, etc.

So far so good. I’m looking forward to see what the next month will bring.  

Independence Day – 50th anniversary

Malawi was ruled by the British until 1964 when it became a free country. The country used to be called Nyasalanda. In the 1950s, Nyasaland was joined with Northern and Southern Rhodesia (Zambia and Zimbabwe). They formed the  Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The Federation was dissolved on 31 December 1963. After the independence, it took another 30 years before the country became a democractic country.

People waiting outside the stadium

The celebration took place at the Civic stadium. The president was there. The military were marching. There was traditional dancing. The whole day ended with a football match between Mozambique and Malawi. I went there but unfortunately they didn’t let us in. We should have been there at 6 am to get in. But looking at all people outside was not too bad either. 

Fortunately the dancers were practicing outside the stadium

Hash house harriers

Are drinkers with a running problem, or runners with a drinking problem, or how was it? It is perfect for me, don’t you think?! Anyway, it is a good way to meet people and to run all over Lilongwe. This group exists all over the world. I bet that those who knows about them have a lot of stories to tell. But here it is a “beginners” group. 

After running, everyone was going straight to the bar. I must say the run was very nice as it was in the wild life centre in Lilongwe. Then the show started with singing and animal sounds. As I was new, I had to be inducted. It was not too bad. I had to present myself. Then people started to sing and when hearing down down down down down, I had to drink a glass of beer as fast as I could. I bet that you who knows that I usually don’t drink and especial not beer, are probably laughing now. Well, some sacrifices have to be made. So every Monday, you know where to find me. 

View from the trail