Peanut butter and Jam Sandwiches

 Living in a hotel room isn’t all that grand. It’s rather dull but at least my work in Blantyre is going well. It’s great to meet farmers in rural areas, interview market vendors or just hang out and look over data in the office, but once I’m “home” there isn’t much to do.

My fabulously tacky hotel room with a bed to spare. This spider guards me from malaria.

Also the anti malarial drugs and mosquito nets help for that too.

I really can’t complain too much but I will say that doing laundry in a sink or only being able to make peanut butter and jam sandwiches to eat loses its appeal pretty quickly. There are, of course, other options. For one I could just pay someone to do my laundry. Last week one of the hotel maids noticed that my clothes were looking pretty grubby so she took matters into her own hands and washed my shorts while I was away. I never knew my shorts were that white. Washed, pressed and folded they looked like they were brand new. Throwing clothing into a sink, sprinkling soap on top and letting them soak just isn’t cutting it. I smell fine, which is always important, but the clothing still looks dirty. Maybe it should be left to the professionals. Trouble is, they charge hotel prices, dollar for almost every article of clothing. That adds up quickly. 

On the trouble of only eating peanut butter and jam sandwiches. It’s not really a huge issue. They’re still enjoyable but making them a meal replacement might cause some nutritional deficiencies in a couple weeks. Compared to eating at a restaurant in Canada a decent meal here isn’t very expensive. It costs two dollars for my lunch and three to five dollars for my supper. It’s not the cost that’s the issue it’s the time. It gets dark here fast and early; 5:30 to 6:00 pm and hello darkness.

Lamp posts are everywhere, but where are the lights? 

Planning for the future, or relic of the past?

 It’s not advisable to walk around after dark so my supper takes place at a nearby recreational centre that I go to immediately after work. It costs me three dollar to take the taxi home at night. Besides the obvious increased risk of crime after dark, tripping hazards might be one of the biggest dangers of walking out late. There’s holes everywhere, pot holes, man holes, sink holes, without street lights they’re just there waiting for unsuspecting prey, a naive foreigner that takes a wrong step perhaps.

He fell through the hole in the middle of the sidewalk and was never

heard from again. Drainage ditches are pretty hazardous for pedestrians too.

There’s also a gym at the Blantyre Medical University sport centre. It’s a crowded little gym and it only has one squat rack that doubles as a bench-pressing station. Everybody LOVES to bench press which leaves little opportunity for squats. In fact I haven’t seen anyone perform a squat yet. Bunch of guys with huge upper bodies and little chicken legs.

got to do squats today!

All is fine in Blantyre. We have another five weeks together before I return to Bunda College at which point there will only be one month left in the internship. Time is really passing quickly but six months is still a long time to be away from family and old friends. Will be looking forward to Winnipeg at the begining of August. There couldn't be a better time to return home.