thursday

Back to the lake for the day. Since I’m on holiday and haven’t figured out what to do or how to get out of town yet I went in with Reinette and James and some workers to do some work at the CCAP (Presbyterian church here) houses at the lake. In the truck with 9 people (3 in each seat and 3 in the back) and lots of furniture off we go. Call along the way so that the caretaker is aware that we are coming and yet when we arrive (3 hours later) he is not there. The houses he is supposed to take care of are in a state and really need to be cleaned and aired out. I don’t know how people would stay there other than it is right on the lake and a very pretty spot. Had nsima and relish for lunch (nsima is a kind of paste made from maize flour—thicker than mashed potatos that you eat with your hands). The relish was made of cabbage and tomatoes. The mzungus were served first and on plates and the Malawians sat around the bowls and ate communally. It was a good meal and quite filling. There were 2 types of nsima-one had been pounded to a very fine flour and the other not. Most prefer the pounded one but I thought that it didn’t have any taste at all. 3 of the workers had never been to the lake before so after lunch we finished up our cleaning and had some time in the water. About 4:30 we had to pack up and head home.