Week 2: New Experiences

Well, we are well into week #2 here in Malawi. We have recovered from jet lag and have mostly set up our house so we can move into the language learning phase of our time here.

I'm sure our entire term will be one of new experiences but we've had a few memorable ones this week. The first is an addition to our family--a dog. Many families here have dogs--they function as pets and watchdogs. We heard of a family that had 3 dogs but didn't have room for all of them in their new house, so we were given a 4-month old puppy that the kids have enjoyed. They have named her "Anna" and we have started to try and train her. To be honest, she's not the smartest dog on the block, but she's still a puppy.

Our 2nd new experience is driving on the left side of the road. Mike has taken to it quickly, but my 2 practice driving session were a little scary. First of all, driving a manual transmission takes a lot of concentration. Add to this, the stick is on the left side, you are driving on the left side of a narrow road, and the road is crowded with bicycles and pedestrians--it will definitely be awhile before I am comfortable driving here.

Driving led to our 3rd new Malawi experience. The Jansen's have let us use their car to get around. We were on the way to pick up Sydney at school yesterday, when we passed a routine traffic stop. To our dismay, the insurance on the Jansens car had lapsed as of October 31st and the officer informed us we had to go to court. Needless to say, we were a bit nervous. The officer was very polite and after explaining our situation he let us go get our kids and then we met back at the police station with the Jansens and the officer. The officer kept Mike's drivers license until we met with him. So today we went to "court", but not surprisingly the "court" time didn't happen and we get to try again tomorrow. Apparently in the past, one just paid a fine if your insurance lapsed. So the Jansens and us are a bit puzzled at this turn of events, but it's Malawi and nothing should surprise us. Thankfully, today Mike got his license back and we are still able to drive the car.
Welcome to Malawi!
God has been so good to us. Thanks for your prayers.