Malawi is a culture of interruptions…and no one seems to mind…well, other than the expats. If you arrive in the middle of what someone else is doing, they will immediately stop what they are doing and start to help you (if they are Malawian). And if someone else comes in after you they will start to get helped…this is so frustrating…and I feel causes many of the inconveniences and hold ups for getting anything done…I’m not one to really start and finish one thing before starting on another task (I’m currently in the middle of about 4 books) but I think that when it comes to people it is much better to help the first person then the next, etc.
I notice this in clinic…as I’ve written before—I don’t understand the hierarchy thing…or who is supposed to get helped first…but it also happens at school. I can be in the middle of teaching or a conversation or whatever but as soon as someone arrives I’m supposed to stop what I am doing to deal with the new arrival. Not only do I finally have the attention of the kids (sometimes) but they are so ingrained that I lose their attention right away because I am supposed to deal with the person who arrived…so I can’t finish what I was explaining because I have already lost their attention. And usually it isn’t that earth-shattering what I have been interrupted for…one of those culture things I just don’t get and find it hard to change in myself for their culture…something I should be trying to change? Or integral to the Malawian image?
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