On Saturday, December 20th, I am leaving to spend Christmas in Malawi. It will take one full day to reach there, heading straight north. I am traveling with Marina and Laura, and we've all agreed not to get each other presents. Lake Malawi is said to carry bilharzia, but we only wish to sit and look at the water, not necessarily lark in it, so it should be okay. The following Saturday I will come home.
Malawi has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world, but I am not going to dwell on that here. I may, however, become a midwife in the near future, which is exciting to daydream about. Perhaps next to my Christmas blood fluke-laden lake?
I've been saving all my vacation days since May because my parents are coming to Moz on January 15th, direct from Hong Kong. They'll stay for three weeks, half of which time I'll continue to work, and half of which we'll go traveling somewhere else.
My only requirements for where we go are that it be: 1) out of Mozambique, 2) an English-speaking country, 3) someplace very beautiful, 4) someplace with menus that resemble the menus of countries that aren't Mozambique, and 5) named South Africa. We have two years of catching up to do, so it really needs to be good. And it will be.
Don't forget me. Posts may be sparse the next two months, but hopefully I'll come back refreshed, able to do life and work here with a little more gusto, until I leave. That's the idea.
Also please pray for rain. People are starting to die of starvation here. That happens when you're already immune-compromised (such as with HIV) and then go 3 or 4 days without eating. We need rain for the harvest.
My December rose, the only bloom. Paula sadly picked it the next day, but then she put it on the table, and surprise guests popped by, and it looked lovely, so pink and fine in dry December, and I was glad.Merry Christmas and much love in the New Year.
6 comments:
Random comment, I know. But just in case you were wondering we studied schistosomiasis last semester in my Zoology class. Very interesting stuff those parasites are. Yep that's about all. I hope that your break goes wonderfully.
Kristen
Hey Brooke,
Kristin and I are thinking about you and enjoyed reading the blog over the weekend. Hope you have good travels in malawi and then w/ your parents in south africa. merry malawi Christmas.
trip and kristin
you probably have bilharzia anyway. I'm gonna wager that you'll not be able to resist going for a dip in that lake... someday when we're together in a perfect house in Minneapolis, which is much more of a possibility than in Bairro 4, we'll assar a galinha and I'll eat both legs and we'll make party rice and chips and you'll long for Mozambican menus.
"Merry Christmas Brooke"
We DO miss YOU!!
Aunt Marcia
if you have the opportunity you should spend some time in sabie, south africa. it's a tiny and cute town with lots of sweet lodges, and it's surrounded by mountains and waterfalls. loved it. should have spent much more time there. when i was in mozambique, it rained the whole time... probably not surprising to you considering your previous post. anyway we were on a jellyfish infested island in leaky tents that didn't zip, in the rain... so it could have been a bit more ideal. we had fun anyway =).
hope malawi was wonderful. much love.
mikhal,
that is so great to hear, that is where my parents and i are going in SA (for at least part of the time)! is there a particular lodge you loved?
sorry about the dismal moz portion of your holiday... it's a great country, but not necessarily at its peak in terms of tourism yet.
love you lots. thanks for all the emails lately. hope to catch up more later - haven't had internet at home for over a month (still broken) and only getting to cafes every couple of weeks. way behind.
lots of love from me to you.
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