Busy busy

Hello all! I'm sure you've been wondering, "Gee, what's Allison up to? She got that fancy schmancy smartphone yet still disappears for weeks at a time!"

I guess it's sufficient to say that I've been busy. After I got back from my surprise 2 week trip to Lilongwe, I've been trying to work hard and still be able to visit with friends on the weekends, some of whom are leaving soon. It's part of the PC/volunteer expat culture that there's a constant rotation of people entering and exiting the country (cue "Circle Game"), but it still bums me out that some of my friends are leaving, so I want to see them as much as possible!

Other than that, I've been busy at site. Term 2 is nearly over, which means we are already in a whirlwind of preparing forms 2 and 4 for their national exams in a few months. I've been trying to come up with creative ways to teach such riveting subjects as organic molecules and the phylogeny of organisms to non-English speakers (first step: not using the word phylogeny). Aside from that, I still have the odd Mothers' Support Group and PTA meetings to attend at school, and have been having more meetings to get involved in a local HIV community-based organization and the Catholic Relief Services project in my area. Recently, I've gone over a grant proposal they were preparing to submit and prepped a few activities for a training they want to do with primary school prefects (confidence, effective communication, teamwork). It's nice to get involved in projects I'm interested in after all the stress that comes with working at a school that lacks teachers, resources, and often motivation.

That being said, exciting news at St. Mary's CDSS! We have a new female teacher! The head teacher was so excited to tell me that I won't be alone anymore because there's another lady teacher. So far, she seems very nice and chatty with me, so I hope I can get to know her better.

In other news, it hasn't rained in about a week, and even though it's been sunny, it's slowly starting to get cooler. Amazing! Maybe one day in a few months I'll get a blanket. Also, my local market has been having more and more vegetables, like carrots, green peppers, and green beans! It's amazing. Although I still miss mango season, these veggies, plus avacadoes, guavas, and the occasional pineapple help a lot.

Most exciting, though, is the news that in a few months, I am officially travelling to meet my parents in Paris! I am sososo excited to see them and drink coffee and wine and pretend I remember my high school French. It's mostly been replaced by Chichewaat this point.

For now, I leave you with the following conversation which happened a couple weeks ago in the staff room:

A form 3 student wearing a blazer walks into the staff room and chats with another teacher for a few minutes.
Malawian Teacher: That's a nice jacket. Why are you wearing it?
Student: Because it is swag.
MT: What?
S: Swag. Ask Madame, she knows.
And that's when I nodded and explained the concept of swag to some fellow teachers.

That's right, my students have swag.

Tiwo, nonse!