A Year in Africa!!!

Back to where I left off (The last time at Grace)…

Before leaving Grace, we had one more thing to do. The day before, Ben and Jonny had dared me to eat a mouse on a stick. Ben said that if I ate one, he would eat two and Jonny would eat four. Or something like that. Jonny had already shared one with Ernest a week before, but I had missed it. On Wednesday during school I got a text from Jonny saying he had the goods… let me tell you, I was super excited. HAHA.

A little background on the delicacy that is “mouse on a stick”. During the dry season, mice are caught out in the fields, either while fleeing as the fields are burned or by poison. Now, it’s said that their stomach are removed right away so that the poison “doesn’t seep into the rest of the body”, which could make the eater sick. The mice are stuck on sticks and grilled up into a tasty roadside treat. Malawians love them.

So, after the dancing ended at Grace, Ernest brought the two sticks full of mice over to the truck. Yuck they looked so icky. Feet, fur, tail, eyes, teeth, it was all still there. Ernest just pulled one off the stick and crunched off half of it into his mouth. The kids had gathered around to see if I would really eat it. I watched Ernest eat another mouse and a half, and then he handed a piece of one to me. I looked at it- fur, bones, innards, and handed it right back to him. Um, no. He broke off a smaller piece, but there was still hair on it. So finally he just pulled some of the meat off it (there was actually meat!) and gave it to me. That I could handle. I took a little nibble and then put the rest of it in my mouth. Holy cows it was so salty. It pretty much tasted like jerky, which was better than Jonny had described it- furry breakfast sausage. Yummy.

So then Jonny and Ben had to eat some too! HA! Ben complained for the rest of the night, blaming it on me, but he did learn that I don’t usually chicken out when dared to do something—I at least tried it! And don’t worry, we have lots of pictures.
Friday, the fourth of July, was our last day of school at Sir Harry’s. The day went by so fast, ending with a final assembly. The younger classes did some songs and poems, then we said a goodbye to the graduates. Simon then called me up on stage and said another thank you/goodbye as I sat there and cried. The kids gave me a beautiful painting of the field trip with the older class up the plateau, the only inaccuracy being me drawn as much taller than the kids. Then it was hugs and more tears, and that was that. How awful.

I had to leave Simon’s bike at school, so I walked back to the Jones’ house. I walked down the shortcut road one last time, past the river and my house, along Mulunguzi Road. I had walked all around that town, that country, for a year. I had seen the changes of the seasons, the growth of plants and trees, the growth of my kids, the growth of me.

I was obviously feeling super sentimental and thoughtful as I heard a rather loud truck pull up. It was Jonny and Ben, which was great because I didn’t feel like climbing the huge hill right before the Jones’ house. I hopped in the back of the truck…

At the house the boys made lunch and gave me some of their grilled cheese sandwiches. I was planning on spending some time that afternoon packing and emailing, but they took me out to the Africycle shop instead, which turned out to be the best thing ever. I got to help them put up plywood to block the view of the bikes from the road, for security. First I only got to measure the wood before Jonny sawed it, but then I got promoted to sawing 2×4s with a handsaw and then I got to climb up into the attic to help nail in the boards. It was great fun and a good distraction from the fact that it was my last day in Zomba.

The sun began to set at 5:00 as we finished up the two sides of the shop that faced the road. So we headed over to Masuku Lodge for the sunset. Vi, Sam, and Miriam were there already, so we sat around and talked until it was pitch black (5:30, hehe just kidding).
Saturday morning we got up super early because Ben had the bright idea of going on a guided nature walk on the plateau. Maryann and Vi came with too. It was a really nice hike, but ended up being 3 ½ hours long instead of the 2 hours we thought. I was a little worried because the Holtz family from Lilongwe, plus Terri and Josephine, were coming through to pick me up on the way to Blantyre. We ended up getting back to town just as they were sitting down to eat at Zomba’s finest restaurant, Tastey Bites. HAHAAH. So I went back to the Jones’ and packed up my stuff. I said my goodbyes and cried just a little. I sat in the back of the Land Rover and got to look backwards as we drove out of Zomba. Oh sad.

Saturday afternoon was spent with at the Wendlands in Blantyre. It was great to have the crew from Lilongwe there for the weekend too. On Sunday Jo and I went along with Rob out to the village church one last time. I only cried twice during that- I was impressed! Sunday afternoon we watched Wimbledon, and Monday I flew out of Malawi… Tuesday I landed in Chicago and have been in Wisconsin ever since.