midterm break

Friday night was the beginning of our first term midterm break. The hospital has recently gotten a Malawian doctor who I believe has just finished training and some work at the hospital in Blantyre (Queens). He is 25 and seems vry nice. There are also 2 malawian medial students here and so we had them over for dinner. Floor (Dutch med student) and Anthony (Aussie med student) and Maria (Swedish nurse) came as well. It was great fun. We served egg fried rice and of course there was a power cut and so we ate by candle light and shared stories. They seemed to be surprised that the children at the hospital were scared of us azungu. Couldn’t remember ever feeling that way themselves but then I’m pretty sure they didn’t come from the village. Told them that we were planning to leave and climb Mount Mulanje on Saturday and they warned us that people get lost there often and that we should really come back. Stories that the ancestors take the people and that they don’t come back. We assured them that we would get a guide and be back probably on Wednesday night.

After dinner and everyone leaves we start/finish packing. Stuff had been laid on my bed but none of it near finished or sure. Well the tennis shoes for hiking have to go so I pick up my backpack, go to put my shoes in and it (backpack) squeaks! I don’t believe it but it has been living on the porch since we got back from Nyika and sure enough there is a nest in the bottom compartment. I got rhona’s attention when I found it and took it back to the porch. Turns out there were 2 baby mice living in the nest. Very cute but what am I supposed to do with them?! Took some pics and then took them downstairs and tried to set them out with the nest…returned to the wild and they weren’t there in the morning…finished packing with no more excitement.