Our group had basically taken over Doogles and on Thursday morning we woke up early to order breakfast, knowing it would take an unreasonably long amount of time for our food to arrive because we’re living on Africa time here. All 27 of us walked down the road to a random petrol station with our backpacks and suitcases in tow, navigating the bumpy roads, cars and crowds of people. We were picked up by the Project Everest group leaders and experienced our first ride in the small mini buses which we crammed too many people and their bags in to. We drove down the main road until we arrived in an area called Namiwawa and pulled up to the house we were to call home for the next 4 weeks. The 27 of us were split into 4 rooms, making us pretty comfortable with each other fairly quickly. The induction sessions familiarised us with the format the next few weeks would shape and enthusiasm heightened.
We experienced our first traditional Malawian dinner and loved every bite of it. A spread of rice, beans, cooked zucchini and stewed veges left us craving the next night we would be cooked for at home by our local chef. Cards followed dinner including an almost brutal game of spoons between half the house, providing a nice end to the day before we all collapsed into bed.
Friday had us break up into our project teams to go over what we’d be doing for the month and catch up on what stage our projects were at. It was a great morale boost and made us realise why we’d ventured to Malawi for the month of February and got us all really excited for what was to come.
cavillstravels 