Budget Lodge (Dreads)

Local Time: 9:05 pm
June 22, 2009
Budget Lodge

We have finally made it to Lilongwe. Charles, our new beloved, and trusted bus driver picked us up at the airport after Pat Kelly (the lady in charge who's been 27 times to Malawi) told them they were not allowed to search our bags. She said they would try and tax the things we brought in to give to the schools. We drove about 20 minutes to our budget lodge. How would I describe this? Uh, down a dirty dirt alley, right off the main road where the vendors sell. I'm already sharing a room with Beth, and I do believe we weill be just fine together for four weeks. After we settled into our twin beds, we got back on the bus to go change our money. $100 USD to $17,200 Kawcha. Pat says this is the best exchange rate she's ever seen. Next we went to the American Embassy where they checked our bus for bombs. This really surprised Ann. But we were cleared and sent through. Then we met with Peter Brodde, the Ambassador to the U.S. He was extremely nice and told us, bottom line to make good choices. He invited us to the 4th of July party at his house. But we will be unable to attend because it's too much in fuel for the bus to drive back and forth to Zomba. After our appointment we stopped at the grogery store to buy water. When we got back to the hotel we went straight to dinner at a place called the Pizzaland. I had chicken breast (bone-in) and chips (like our french fries). It was delicious. Although I would have eaten anything, I was so hungry. Tomorrow we are going to freedome garden. We've been told it's amazing.

Local Time: 8:15 am
June 23, 2009
Day Three

We have just finished breakfast at the Pizzaland. The same place we had dinner last night. We had eggs, toast, cornflakes, and fruit punch to drink. It was very delicious. Rough night's sleep last night, Beth and I had to listen to the wild dogs bark all night. We're leaving for Freedom Gardens now. I have no idea what to expect.

Local Time: 9:00 pm
June 23, 2009
Day Three

What a long day! We went to Freedom Gardens this morning, which was a 45 minute bus ride, all down dirt roads. "Tidkondwe (which means Be Happy) Freedom Gardens" is own and operated by Mrs. C and her son, Daniel Chinkhuntha. Moses, Daniel's best friend is his right hand man and does a large amount of work on the farms as well. When we arrived the three of them greeted us and gave us a "talk" about the gardens, how they came to be, and some of their goals. Some of the things they spoke about were how 75% of the profits go back to the land in some way or another, the other 25% is for home consumption and workers pay. They showed us how they make and use integrated pesticides from different bushes including aloe vera, garlic and indian leaves to scare away the bees and ants. Daniel and Moses told us they planted banana trees by the river because they have tough roots to prevent the beds from erosion. Food sovereignity was one of Daniel's favorite terms, meaning that whenever the village needs or wants food you can provide. Unfortunately most of the time they only have food sufficiency which means if there is an absolute need for food they can find it, but there is no extra for pleasures. At Freedom Gardens they grow many different crops such as maize, legumes, carrots, squash, strawberries, bananas, papaya, oranges, lemons and green beans to incorporate permaculture. The ladies of the village made us lunch of banana sausage, pinto beans that were better than any I've ever had (sorry Mom), rice, chicken and pumpkin leaves. We were all so hungry by the time we ate, that they could have given us anything and we would have been happy.
The weather was so warm here, (Matt, if you read this I have not yet said "I can't handle the heat") not hot, standing in the shade with the breeze made me want to have on long sleeves. On our way home we stopped at a local market to buy cooking dishes for 100 Kawcha, which is like .60 USD. They are so cool, I hope they make it home in one piece, we were told that they are known to crumble in luggage. After we were dropped off at the hotel by Charles, a group of us went to an internet cafe, it was only 5 Kawcha per minute, but the computers were very slow and we had to be at dinner at a certain time. We went to dinner at Ala Ababis, where I had a fantastic hawiaiian pizza with no tomato sauce. Dinner takes so long to get served, so we were ready to get back to the hotel when we were done. (Side note, it gets dark here about 5 pm) Beth and I took hot showers, which no one else seems to be able to accomplish. Lucky us!
The group of 18 students had gathered outside one of the boy's rooms after our dinner with three locals. They had been hanging around the hotel since we got here. Jeff and Todd made friends with them right off the bat. Beth and I thought they were sketchy from the beginning. Ann and Pat Kelly bought everyone a beer to try and we sat around on the steps for about an hour with the locals. Jeff got his dreads re-done by John Banana after some heavy trading of goods. Todd talked with Respect, and Fantastic tried to make everyone feel bad about not buying his paintings. I was chilly and cold so decided to come in early, but Beth went back to purchase bracelets from John Banana who just gave her one dread lock too. He got upset with her because she didn't offer enough money and so she came back very quickly! Then from being out of sorts she brushed her teeth with the sink water. Oops!