malawi

This week I journeyed to Malawi so that I could not only visit some of my fellow interns, but also so that I could attend Lake of Stars, one of the most talked about music festivals in Africa – and possibly the world.

Getting to Malawi was pleasantly uneventful. Well, almost… I spent just three hours on plane rides (I flew from Kimberley to Johannesburg and then from Johannesburg to Lilongwe) and 14 hours in waiting in airports. Yep, that’s right, I had a 12-hour layover in Johannesburg. It wasn’t too terrible. I used my backpack as a pillow and clutched my carry on to my chest while I caught a couple of zees. And in the morning I had breakfast with the Malawi Prime Minister's personal assistant. Yes, you read that right – the Malawian Prime Minister’s personal assistant and I had breakfast together. I was standing outside of a restaurant in the Joburg airport at some ungodly hour in the morning. I must have definitely been looking out of it because this older gentleman approached me and asked if I was all right. After assuring him that I was fine, he began asking me a bunch of questions - where was I from, why was I in South Africa, what was I going to be doing in Malawi, etc. After a brief conversation he invited me to have breakfast with him! In most cases I would have declined but I’ve definitely adopted an, “I’m in Africa, let’s do something crazy” attitude since coming here (disclaimer to my parents: don’t worry, I promise I am still being careful).

We had a really good conversation over breakfast. I told him all about Grassroot Soccer and how I got involved. He in turn told me quite a bit about the Malawi’s social, political and economic history. It was so interesting learning about the history and state of affairs of a country from somewhere other than a textbook. I just wish I had been a bit more cognizant during our conversation (for those of you who know me, I’m a huge struggle-bus early in the morning). Towards the end of our meal he actually gave me his contact information and said that if I needed anything while in Malawi that I should not hesitate to call. Pretty cool story, huh?

But the coolness doesn’t stop there. After a quick flight I landed in Lilongwe, Malawi and waiting for me at the airport were three of my fellow interns; Matt (stationed in Malawi), Bilas (in Lusaka) and Bryan (also in Lusaka). It was so great seeing them. Right away we started swapping stories and sharing our experiences with each other. The coolest part about meeting up with the other interns is that we are all living in such different places and having our own unique experiences. I would definitely encourage all of you to check out their blogs as well (you can access them via the Grassroot Soccer website).

After voracious hugs and much wild jumping into people’s arms, I got my first taste of Malawi: the market. At the market tons and tons of street vendors just erect wooden hut things right next to each other from which they sell everything from fruits and vegetables to Nike sneakers. These markets do not exist in Kimberley so I loved weaving in and out of the narrow asileways and haggling with people. Okay, so I’m was actually a terrible haggler because I’d see something I liked and just go ahead and buy it (bear in mind, the most I paid for anything the entire trip was 1300 Kwache – the equivalent of $7.50), but I did get a lot better at bartering by the end of our trip.

One of the most interesting parts of the market was the section where clothes were being made. I saw Malawians making jeans and dresses and I also saw Malawian's sewing the insignia of professional sport teams onto cheap jerseys into to make knock-off paraphernalia.

Road side potato stop.

After thoroughly exploring the market, we had a very important stop to make; we had to go to the Shoprite (that’s a grocery store) parking lot and meet up with a very kind businessman so we could exchange USD for Kwache on the black market. In Malawi it is more economical to exchange U.S. dollars on the black market than to use a legitimate exchange agency or withdraw cash from an ATM. On the black market I was able to get 195 Kwache for 1 USD, whereas I would have only gotten 160 Kwache via a legitimate transaction method. Why this discrepancy? One word: petrol. In Malawi there is almost always a petrol shortage. As a result, petrol prices are astronomical (it’s about 10 USD/ gallon). Petrol is always scarce because Kwache cannot be used in international markets (they are that worthless). As a result, petrol stations have to use U.S. dollars to buy petrol. So average Joe’s are willing to exchange Kwache for U.S. dollars at high exchange rates so that they can then go buy petrol and sell that on the black market. It’s an amazing world.

My first sunset in Malawi.

That’s where I’m going to leave it for now because this blog entry is now incredibly long and I’ve only told you about my first five hours in Lilongwe. Stay tuned – I have even better stories up ahead!