Pat in Malawi

2005-08-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

Thank you for reading the blog. I hope you've enjoyed it.

Pat

2005-08-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

1 Aug 05

Adelphi MD

Its funny. towards our last days there, the talk seemed to return to what we had missed from the states.

Ice cream.

Milk.

Pizza and red wine.

It seemed like an exclusive club of absences to which I wasn't a member.

Ice cream, we could get in Mangochi.

Milk, at the PTC.

Red wine and pizza, thats right at the end of the beach.

what did I miss? I must have missed something.

I missed my evening walks with JB and the boys. The easy uninterrupted conversation and the playful clowns running in between and into us.

now, in MD, I miss a sycophantic gardener. A powerful, fun, manipulative night watchman. I miss a cook turned man servant turned uncle and protector.

I miss mud walled groceries lit by kerosine lamps made out of hollowed out up turned light bulbs.

I miss the darkness of the nights, the straining, dwarfed sound of the Malawi news and kwasa-kwasa from small portable radios.

I miss seeping, oily, cracked jars of tambala peanut butter now replaced with extra smooth PTC peanut butter featuring a fat white kid on its label. I miss orange marmalade that tastes like burnt orange peel.

I miss the freedom of my defeated fatalism which is now lost.

I miss the easy sleep of the hopeless, exhausted and malnourished.

4 capitals in 2 days

2005-08-30T08:03:00.000-07:00

30 July 05

4 capitals in 2 days.

the vertigo comes in waves.

I was feeling good through customs @ boston. I got through early relative to the rest of the crew. I sat outside customs and waited for everyone else to come out. the international terminal is clean and bright and I plied myself with diet cokes.

by 4, I hadn't seen anyone leave customs and I needed to go catch my next flight. I had to walk to a different terminal with all my bags and recheck them through to baltimore.

I regret not being able to say thank you and good bye, but as it was I just made my connection.

I would have thought that checking my bags would not have been difficult, but the American Eagle staff were a bunch of Ricardo Montalbans.

and for the ladies:

then through security, grab a burger to the gate. the walk was long enough for me to start to dislike America already. Fat americans in sweat pants. Dirty crappy airport. Logan is a shithole in a marsh.

Get to the gate, out the door onto a bus across the tarmac to a smaller, crappier terminal. sit down, stand up, get on a 3-seat-across twin engine jet. in any given row, there are 2 aisle seats and one non-aisle seat. I beat the odds adn I tuck and fold myself into my seat.

I'm sitting next to the pleasant Saudi dude who is asking me where his bags will be when he gets off the flight.

what?

I don't know what the fuck he is talking about. yeah, ok, nod.

Put my headphones on.

The flight attendant, Missy, has skin which is an unnatural orange, bleached straw like hair, pink lipstick, and dark eyeliner triangles in the corners of her eyes.

where the fuck am I? What the fuck is going on here?

2005-08-29T16:53:00.000-07:00

Rated R for deviant sexual references.

29 July 05

The Game

we're waiting to board our first flight. DH has been upgraded to business class, rotten cocksucker, so he got a free pass to the business class lounge. I walk in with him. A determined walk will get you a long way in Malawi. we go in and sit down. The receptionist asks to see our pass. DH shows his,I say I'm with him. She asks again for my pass.

I said I'm with him.

that was good enough for her. they don't pay her enough, I guess, to give a shit if I have a pass. we order some chips and cokes.

AH, R, and TK follow us in.

we begin discussing the game. on the way to Lilongwe, AH, DH, and I thought it would be fun to play a fun little game on the plane rides home. to help pass the time. We'd say one of our mantra's and we'd get points. Whoever had the most points by the time they get home wins. The phrases and point system is as follows:

I really want a good solid pickle : 15

I am a gentleman(woman) scientist : 10

Malawi gay : 50

(FYI I determined that I was, in fact, Malawi gay*. private enquiries will be provided with an explanation. AH was also Malawi gay, you need to ask her about it)

punya punya : 25

The Girl from Ipanema : 20 (75 if you could get someone to sing part of it)

Amanda (sung): 75

Shocker : 10
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shocker

My caress is the last you will feel : 200

SIT DOWN! : 45

I dreamed about your voice last night : 50

OOOOWWWWW : 50

Master Nido : 20

Captain Nali, the ring burner : 35

When I was in the RAF, old boy : 80

Aqualung Fun and Boozing Club : 35

Do you want to see my underwear: 80

I'll give you a good price : 25

I'm coming (as one walks away) : 80

My nemesis, Fossorochromis : 80

buckets of weirdness : 50

vociferous : 15

ameliorate : 15

what the crap : 20

I don't have any dollars : 20

I'm gonna stomp a mudhole in your ass : 100

Its shameful to say that I was the only one who played the game. I won with 60 lousy points.

I told a Norwegian couple that I was a Gentleman Scientist. They no longer spoke to me after that.

I screamed OOOOWWWW when they sprayed the cabin with insecticide.

TK was very happy not to be sitting near me while I was kicking everyone's sorry asses in the game.

another phrase was considered for the game:

'bring out your guns" accompanied by pulling two make believe revolvers from two make believe hip holsters and followed by the onomatopoeic representation of a child firing an imaginary revolver.

given recent security concerns, this phrase was taken off the list

* this revelation was accompanied by one of my favorite moments on the trip, when AH asked me if I was fisted (story available on request)

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fisting

2005-08-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

29 July 05

The food and the caffeine perks us up and we begin to chatter on the road to Lilongwe.

The 3 of us mix well. We laugh, point out cool shit to each other. comfortable, excited and sincere.

the drive drags on and we quiet down again.

run into traffic in Lilongwe and things slow.

I'm impressed by the evidence of greater wealth in the city than I expected. Women with long braided and/or colored hair. A huge new mosque on the corner near the market.

We get to the hotel. this place is crazy. Its a huge compound with shops, a gas station and hotel behind gates. Its patrolled by security guards with muzzled German Shepherds. Its new and its nice but its not what I am expecting. very ritz-y. very unlike the Lingadzi Inn where we've stayed in the pats. As TK promised, there was no prostitutes hanging around the hotel bar. I'm a bit disappointed.

We unload the truck. DH's fucking fish have leaked formalin on my and AH's bags. Porters carry the bags to our room and we go out to find the internet cafe in the compound (it seems like we've been moving between compounds).

I try logging on to my gmail. no luck. The server can't be found. Its a bit unfair to blame the server as I'm 90% sure that there is nothing wrong over at Google and probably a hell of a lot more wrong in this shitty little Mailboxes etc/Western Union/Malawi Post/DHL/Internet cafe. I try to log on to the blog. No luck there. I give up and head back to the room.

I run into Yohane on the way.

'don't forget that certain thing we have to do'

fuck

I need to exchange those shoes for Joseph's daughters. fuck. I don't want to go and try to ask/explain that he can do that for me after I leave.

its not working. ok, I find TK, tell him I need to run an errand, be back in 30 min. run down the street to the bata store. we go in. Yohane starts talking to the manager in Chichewa. there seems to be a problem but I'm too tired to get up and see what it is.

The shoes he bought were unisex. no they only have girls shoes. fine. get them the girls shoes. ok, but they are not the same. ok, get them the girls shoes. but they cost differently. whatever, I'll pay the difference. She says that they cost less. whatever, lets just get the shoes and go.

ok, they trade the shoes. Yohane wants a new bag. forget, lets just go.

head back to the room. it stinks like formalin. I move DH bag to the bathroom.

'dude, you suck'

'whatever, it could be so much worse'

my head is pounding.

we go to dinner at Tony Nune's cousin's place within the compound. I have a standard Portuguese dish. it has a name I can't remember, but its a piece of steak with fried eggs over it. I devour it. we sit outside, and I am freezing and exhausted. We go for ice cream afterwards. I'm so cold.

I go back to the room and jump in the shower. it reeks of formalin, but I feel disgusting from the trip up there.

There is no wash cloth, so I take a hand towel and lather up. I was myself 2x. The water pouring down my legs and into the basin is the color of the water that comes off my dogs during their baths. it feels soooo good to take a hot shower.

Watching TV, we get news that the SA air strike has passed. We'll be able to fly out tomorrow.

2005-08-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

I feel worse as the day progresses. I'm dehydrated, hungry and exhausted. we're driving over horrible roads to Liwonde across the Shire in hopes of seeing hippos.

we don't, so we turn around and head for Dedza. Its not clear when we will get there but we climb and climb and climb up and out of the rift and onto the continental plate.

Its an incredible drive. Above the rift seems subtly different that on the lake. more green, different colors, cooler.

its too hazy to see the lake from the road, but the openness, the expanse of large granite outcrops make up for it.

we drive along Mozambique. The road runs along the boarder and splits the two countries.

The buildings on the left (west) side are burned out hulls. On the right, in Malawi, business is booming. The businesses in Mozambique were raided and burned during the civil war and they are just now beginning to recover.

we drive through several small towns. in front of the market at each, leaves, garbage, etc is raked into a pile and set on fire. it smells like a Dumpster set on fire with a burning tire.

We reach Dedza and head to the pottery company. Dedza is like a little artist colony in the middle of nowhere. A pottery shop, hand made paper, carvings, weird.

dedza pottery makes good pottery......and cheesecake.

we tool around in the gift shop for a bit and a couple of things catch my eye. we place our order for lunch.

I find the driver, Harvey, and let him know we're ordering lunch. I encourage him to come and eat. We sit at a tabel outside, and he is visibly uncomfortable sitting at the table from me. He pulls his chair about 3 feet from the table and sits down.

we're cold so we move inside and sit with DH And AH. The coffee arrives and AH claps and giggles. its the little things.

we each lunch, but I'm still hungry. It seems like some cheesecake may be ordered. I ask them to order another piece of quiche for me.

I head back to the shop and start placing an order as the quiche is warmed. I pick out a tea pot I want and place the order. the pot on costs about $10 but the dude keeps filling out lines and lines on the order form and with each line the total increases.

(he adds each line with a painfully meticulous handwriting. it takes a solid 10 minutes.)

after all the extra lines, the total comes to $50? what the crap?

"ok, I don't want it"

'what'

'i don't want it if it costs 5500 kw'

'well, lets see what we can do about this'

my stomach stinks. I'm sitting in a shop with price tags, I'm going to pay with a credit card, and now I have to haggle for this? I'm not up for this after spending yesterday afternoon and this morning showing people my dirty underwear to lower the price.

I sigh. 'ok, what can we do?'

he looks over the shipping and by reworking it, he can knock $30 off.

great, I tell him I will take it.

he considers filling out another form.

I say a little prayer that he doesn't.

Instead, he will cross the old shipping information out.

he starts looking for a straight edge to make a nice straight line. the only thing he can find is a 3 ft long 2x4. Are you kidding me> the order sheet is like 3 in x 5 in.

he lines up the board and draws a diagonal line through the shipping information and individual lines through the pricing information.

This takes and additional 5 min and because the order form is still in the order book , the 2x4 can't lie flat. none of the lines are straight.

he fills out the new order info,

another 5 min.

on to the shipping info. I have to fill out the top half of a shipping form. name, address, etc etc. The bottom half of the form is exactly like the top. The dude meticulously re-writes everything I wrote in the upper half.

another 5 min.

OK, I go to pay with my visa.

that will be an extra 5%.

whatever

ok you need to go to the payment office.

4 people line the office walls chatting and leaning on the office furniture.

I hold out my payment slip and visa card.

blank stares.

in woman moseys out of the office.

nothing

the woman returns with another woman. this must be the payment official.

She fusses with her desk and turns her attention to me. She, too, fills out the necessary forms with a painful precision. Chunk, chunk. she makes the imprint. She looks for the security code on the back of the card. its rubbed off.

She calls over the manager. He takes the card to the window and tilts it in the sun trying to divine the security code. 'i'm sorry but I can't see the security code, I will need to speak to a manager before I can approve this purchase.'

DH, by now, has come looking for me. My egg pie is getting cold.

I tell the dude to come find me when its all sorted out.

10 min later he returns. 'i'm sorry, we can't take the card. do you have another?'

'just forget it'

2005-08-15T15:26:00.000-07:00

I sit on the wall and wait for the sun to rise on otter point.

AH seems a bit groggy as she walks out of the house and down to the steps.

'its pretty, isn't it?"

the sun is peaking over the hills behind us and is lighting up Otter Point.

"um, what?"

"the sunrise"

"um, I don't see it"

I point to Otter.

"Isn't it pretty?"

" I may be retarded, but I don't see the sun"

I nearly choke laughing. I explain the position of the sun (behind us) and that I think Otter, with the sun hitting it, is pretty. we both laugh.

we finish packing up and make off for the carving market. We stop to fuel up across from the market. DH and I sit in the cement box of a gas station, drink a coke and eat a dinner roll (breakfast was pretty meager).

He walks off to the market. I linger behind. I'm none too eager for the carver's assault and I neither need nor can afford anything else. I have a bit of business to finish up on a commissioned piece, but that should go quickly.

the carver finds me and asks if I have anything to trade.

I tell him, "I'm coming". he leaves and I dig out my suitcase from the back of the truck and pull out some boxers, a linen shirt and some art supplies.

I walk across the street and inot his yard.

I'm feeling worse and the guys goes into his speal. he can make more stools. he can ship them to the US. he'll give me a good price.
he can give me his bank #. he wants to see my shit forthe trade.

the heat, the smell and the sounds of his yard are overwhelming in my current condition. his wife asks me, in chichewa, "how is your morning?" I respond "my afternoon is fine, how is yours?"

I start to correct myself, but I give up half way through.

I try out the stool. Its clear that it won't support my weight. Its huge, and I don't know how I will get it home.

He offers to make other stronger legs if I leave him a deposit.

his chickens and ducks scratch the dirt in front of me.

his duck, like all the ducks I've seen in malawi, has, what appears to be, an infected face. from he beginning of its bill to up around its eyes, is red and swollen.

we continue to discuss the price and I think I might throw up on his fucked up duck.

I have to get out of here.

OK, you keep everything and I'll wire you the money for the new legs and the postage.

they're waiting for me in the car, we hoot, scream "shocker" out the window as we leave. we're all excited to be out of the market and on our way.

2005-08-11T16:39:00.000-07:00

At Thomas's, we pull a bunch of tables together, order and get some drinks. It seems a bit awkward and richard and flaxson often leave to hang out with their friends.

we wait and we wait and we wait for dinner. I'm working on my third beer and its sitting like acid in my empty stomach. I'm so hungry that i can't focus on any conversation. I get up and leave the table. I go sit down in an empty carving stand with some other guys from the bar. I can see the tables in the circle of light cast off by the restaurant. its weird to watch everything from the dark of the stand.

"hello patrick"

"hello"

"how are you"

" I am fine, thank you, how are you"

"fine, thank you thank you..............maybe you could buy me a minerals?"

"yeah, maybe later"

I lay back in the sand that lines the stall.

"Mr. Patrick, I thin your food is coming"

"what?"

I must have fallen asleep.

I look up and see more activity around the tables, I can't make out what is going on, but I don't see any food and I lay back down.

"Mr. Patrick, your food is just there"

"Zikomo zikomo achemweni"

I return to the table and devour my kampango and chips and eat the rest of richard's nsima. I was done eating 10 min before everyone else.

TK pays the bill and leaves. we sit at our separate part of the bar for a while then gradually drift towards the music and the other people at the bar.

The night starts slow and I'm not really into it. we're fucking around outside the entrance to the bar screaming "shocker" and attracting the attention of the 4 other azungu in the place.

I move in and out of the bar drinking kuche kuche.

DH seems to be enjoying himself inside dancing to the kwasa-kwasa. he dances with a relaxed, un self conscious abandon that I kinda envy.

I sit at a bench outside and enjoy being alone for a bit.

DH comes outside. "what's up?what's up?"

he sits down and we start talking to another dude at the table. We're talking bullshit, trying to explain the concept of white trash and some random dude comes up behind DH and starts giving the 2 of us a hard time. we shouldn't be using such bad words. it makes people in the village look bad if we teach them bad words.

he's drunk and he should have dropped it. Instead he leaned further over DH and continued to give us a hard time.

DH asks him if there is a problem.

DH is clearly done with this fucking dude.

The guy looks at me trying to gauge the situation. I can see where this is heading and I stare blankly back at the rotten fucker.

"no, its not a problem, but you shouldn't talk like that"

DH: it sounds like there is a problem

I stare.

I think DH and I have both reached a point in the trip, during this night, with this dude, that it would be good to beat this fuckers ass. Tired of the harassment. tired of the placating.

DH: If there is a fucking problem here, maybe we should fucking take care of it.

The dude looks at me, like I'm supposed to help him out here. fuck him. wrong table, wrong night. DH's eyes never leave this fuckers face.

No, there is no problem and he walks off.

He comes back later to apologize. I wonder if richard said anything to him.

Later in the night, some other dude comes up behind AH, grabs her arms (and a bit of boob)and dances with her and moves off.

Another dude finds me and goes off about all the researchers he knows that work on fish in Malawi. did I come half way across the fucking globe to listen to some random fucker drop names? I move away from him but he finds me again and again until I drop off his radar.

Later on the 'young son' of Thomas (whatever the fuck that means) chastises me for pissing on the grass wall of the semi-destroyed former unrinal.

'go to the bathroom in the back'

while we launch into a discussion of where one should piss, 3 more guys and one of the bar women piss on or behind the wall.

In between DH is dancing, I dance a bit, but mostly make funny gestures to people inside to make them laugh.

Our driver shows up and we cheer and talk about climbing the ruft to leave the lake in the morning.

I've switched from Kuche Kuche to greens in order to improve my mood (greens > Kuche wrt ETOH content). Some dude walks over to tell me that only women drink greens.

Richard and I move outside to talk about his work this month. He;s really busted his ass and I was greatly impressed. He's quiet, not ready to kiss some ass, but rather knows his shit and works hard.

the bar has run its course and we're ready to leave (there was another near fight somewhere in here, but its lost).

we pile into the car and Patricia follows us out. we cheer. I left up my shirt and shout 'mazungu gone wild'.

we drive home and hit the beach to finish the remaining greens and gin.

The night doesn't end well and I stay up until 2.30 drinking gatorade and eating coconut cookies in an attempt to avoid a hangover.

my attempt fails and I'm up at 5.30.

2005-08-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

29 July 05 Flight to Jo'burg

Its kinda a bummer. I've had a lot of fun with people here. we're all just silly and stupid. We've all laughed ourselves to tears (AH >20x). though the trip has not been all fun and giggles.

the night before we left, all of us went to Thomas's for dinner and drinks. It could have been alot of fun, but I was feeling burned out on the whole scene.

I'd spent the better part of the afternoon either buying carvings or walking through the village.

the purchase of a carving is a fairly involved process. both parties negotiate for the price, often one or both walk away from the table. as the price lowers, a discussion of bartering begins. Do you have shorts? How about a t shirt. a knife.

outside of Malawi I don't think I've ever asked someone if they would like to see my underwear as part of a business deal.

once the price is established, in Kwacha and goods, the seller often says "ok, you add 200 kwacha (looks down and to the left)"

more negotations

if a price can't be reached, one moves on to another vendor. this inevitably leads to a scowl from the first vendor and a "my friend, I've walked all this way and you are not buying anything"

ugh. "yes, thank you, zikomo zikomo"

sometimes one might get "but you told me you would buy this"

thats always fun.

so this continued for most of the afternoon as vendor after vendor descends on the compound to make some final sales. somehow everyone know when we are going to leave.

I had to get away, take a walk. AH hadn't seen the village during the day. So AH, DH and I decide to walk to Fat Monkey's bar. Along the way, more vendors and hangers on. Pass Thomas's "HI GIRL, HI GIRL, NOT BOY, NOT HI BOY.............HI GIRL". keep walking.

"yes my friend"

"Hello, hello", keep walking.

Drunk "yes my friend"

"hello hello" keep walking, but so does he, right next to me.

"you know, people are suffering in Africa. In the Sudan, you should see Dakar, but not in Malawi"

"Ok but I'm talking to my friends now"

a dejected look

"In Rwanda, the boys can't play football in the street like this"

ignore him

"hey my friend, do you know....?"

"yes, thank you, but I am talking to my friends"

He stumbles along next to me head down eyes unfocused.

The interruptions come at 5 min intervals.

I consider throwing AH to the dogs and move between her and DH, putting her next to my new friend, but I don't.

I see my friend Patrick and stop and talk to him. Mr. Geopolitics wishes me well and walks off.

We make it back by half 3 and back to the negotiations.

this continues until 4.50 when I tell the last dude that he has 5 min before he has to leave.

I trade him a dirty t shirt, dirty boxers, and a clean pair of socks for a 1961 Southern Rhodesia and Nyassaland penny. Its cool and I'm glad I could pick it up for some dirty clothes.

He leaves. TK is meeting with the staff for their evaluations. I don't want to go inside, but I'm dirty and smelly and I need a beer.

I go in, move quickly to my room, change into my trunks, grab 2 beers and head out again. I give AH a beer (she didn't want to go in either), set mine down next to her and run into the lake.

I swim for a bit to rinse the stink off me and go back for my beer. the lake is so calm I wish I would have brought over an inflatable lounge chair. it would have been perfect.

R and DH show up. the evaluation ends and its greens all around. I send Flaxson back in to fry up the usipa I bought this morning. I feel a bit badly making him go back in while we all relax, but he's done a crappy job this month, plus I've helped him out a good bit this month, plus its his job.

he returns with the yummy fried usipa goodness.

Usipa is a cyprinid the size and shape of a sardine. they're gutted, rolled in flour, salt and peper and fried whole. they look kinda gross (head, fins, eyes etc) but they taste awesome. The staff, DH, AH and myself pound through them. TK and R abstain.

We walk to Thomas's in the dark. We're (DH and I) loud and laugh.

2005-08-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

27 July 05

Rated R for Sexual Content

Up before dawn. THe night watchman was moving what sounded like a huge wooden desk past my window. Yesterday he started w/ a loud radio @ 5.30, followed by a long distance conversation across the park grounds.

I got up out of bed 2x to ask him to keep it down.

A pasty, sleepy azungu in red boxers stumbling out of the house to ask him to keep it down and move off.

I asked him last night for no radio or conversations at 5.30, but I failed to ask that he not move large wooden objects before dawn.

I threw in the towel and got up. I was having some crazy dreams and wasn't sleeping well anyway.

---

a car was blown up in the intersection of Larch and Maplewood.

it was unclear of the cause but the government suspected terrorists.

the army flooded the neighborhood and the FBI was interviewing each household.

Later I was hanging out with DH @ TK fish house that was located on a broad shallow river. TK &KC showed up to look at the installation of something that KC had built. It wasn't going well and they could only get 1/2 of whatever it was into the warehouse -like fish house. A shipment o f fish was arriving via a pipeline. there was a leak and cichlids were getting loose in the river and the drainage system of the city.

the water was too cold, though, so most of the fish died.

There were dead cichlids everywhere. A BB zebra was in a tree 2 stories up, eye level with where we were eating. A puddle of dead OB's in the gutter on this side of the bridge.

Some survived in the river and became enormous, greater than 2m.

A huge C. moori
was cruising around with a Labidochromis with a beak the size of my fist.

DH and I were walking across the bridge and we see a buddy of his, Justing (no resemblance to any known person). Justin wanted to know if he'd missed the Xenopus session and tour of the Xenopus facility. I told him that he'd missed it and derided Xenopus for a bit. Just fucking around with him.

the president of the Society for the Study of Xenopus was sitting behind Justin. He took my comments overly seriously and began a lecture on the wonders of Xenopus as a model system.

[Dawn just broke. the first light hits Otter Point. It's black brown and guano white rocks glow a rosey orange against the dark water and layered purple-pink-orange-blue sky]

DH Justin and I walk across the bridge

[baboons are fucking w/i 20 ft of me, between me and the house. its kinda weird to be watched by these 2 primates as they shag in front of me. the male stands on the backs of the female's legs, his prehensile big toe grasping her ankle. The female reaches around and steadies the male's left foot as they both stare at me. weird.

shagging again on the front porch 4 feet from the living room door.

the shagging doesn't last long. shortly after the female begins to steady the male, she gives off what sounds like a startled hoot and runs off.]

As we're walking across the bridge, we get caught up in a crowd going to a carnival of lights across the river.

A terrorist threat alarms sounds. the government suspects a bombing to occur at the carnival.

[I have to stop and look over my shoulder to keep an eye out for the baboon troupe. they scuffle and trot across the yard 20 feet from my back. I've developed the baboon's nervous habit of continuously glancing over my shoulder. a conserved primate nervous tick.]

We're reminded to keep an eye out for suspicious looking individuals. I spot some, but they turn out to be Anti Bush protesters that are wearing mocking Bush costumes.

[more shagging]

I point out that mocking the government during a time of crisis is poor form [weird] and DH shouts fuck yeah and joins the protesters.

We cross the bridge and enter the carnival.

later, my dinner is interupted by a fish. I leave the table and go to the back door.

he has some beautiful fried kampongo fillets, as long as my forearm..

I ask him how much, bwanji.
1.2 million kwacha.

Is uggests 200k kw.

1 million kw.

400k kw

ok, 800k kw

I try an angry approach: thats too much. I paid only 200K kw for much better fillets yesterday.

he won't budge.

Please, achemweni, give me a good prie.

800k kw.

I go back to dinner

2005-08-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

2005-08-05T06:59:00.000-07:00

25 July 05 continued

spent the morning setting up some recordings in the lake w/ Justin and checking out my caves.

some of the caves are occupied and the recordings are sounding good. I'm really pleased with t eway things are going. It feels good to be watching fish again.

2005-08-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

25 july 05 continued

We went to MB today. it was the first time AH had left the compound. that is kinda sad, but she seemed to enjoy seeing a bit of the country.

We stopped at the carving market along the way. I went to check out a stool I had ordered. Its fucking huge, but cool. I'm not sure it will support my weight, but it would be a kick in the ass if it did. great for benchwork.

as I begin to leave the dealer asks me to pay for the stool.

Apparently the fucking dealer hadn't paid the carver any of the deposit that I had given him and the carver wanted some cash.

I told him I would pay when I took the stool.

Nobody was happy with that.

I repeated it and they (the carver and the dealer) both said "no, you should pay us now, you said you would pay us on Monday, pay us today"

I'll pay you when its finished and I take it

ok, fuck it, give me my deposit back and keep the fucking thing.

a nervous laugh

oh, no, just pay us.

no, fuck this, give me my god damn money.

ah, no

a nervous laugh, the dirt to their left catches and holds their attention

ok, either I fucking pay you when I take it or you give me the deposit back

empty silence for 30 seconds

I wonder what is so cool about that dirt there, just apo

by now there is a crowd

chabwino, its ok, pay us when you take it

ok, bas, see you

we head to MB to meet with Fisheries.

We'd met with them earlier this week to discuss getting some fish off the trawler.

It seemed pretty iffy at the time. A lot of talk about following proceedure and memorandums of understanding (who says memorandum?), the exportation of genetic material.

I give it 50/50 that we'll get anything.

we meet and get permission. I was kinda floored.

we were told to come back at half 4 or so, when the trawler would be in.

we did.

they unloaded about 40 50kg boxes of fish and let us pick through them on the wharf, before they let the rest of the fish buyers and general public buy fish.

we got some really crazy shit. DH was like a kid in a candy store (or, more accurately, a toy store) on xmas morning.

"WHAT THE CRAP? HOLY SHIT!!!! WHAT IS THIS THING?!?!?!?!"

and he'd turn around and fucking show a Malawian this crazy fish with this crazy jaw and head and body. he'd pop the fish's mouth open

"Arrrrhhhhh"

giggle

and the fucking malawians would look at him with bewildered amusement. They've never likely seen someone have some much fun with their dinner.

"this is such a fucking coupe"

it was awesome.

2005-08-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

25 July 05, continued.

Later, this drunk motherfucker is asked to leave by the manager. the dude is no more than 20 something. the manager greater than 60. the punk grabs the manager by his shirt and tosses him to he ground.

people break it up and pull the kid back, but he still hangs around the bar.

Some other motherfucker comes up to me and tells me that what I did with the bottle is "not good".

I ignore him, but he pulls this shit 3-4 more times.

I finally look at the dude and ask him whats the fucking problem here?

what you did is not a good thing

its none of your fucking business.

its not a good thing

ok, lets fucking take care of this

alright lets step outside then (which is kinda a silly thing to say since we are drinking al fresco at wooden benches. the only thing that makes it inside is the presences of the benches, the people and an awning).

richard steps in, chichewa, chichewa, the dude walks away.

"don't worry"

"oh, I'm not fucking worried. I'm gonna beat that fuckers ass."

"no, its ok just forget it"

I do, but I keep my eye on that dude the rest of the night.

we keep drinking.

The crowd starts to thin out.

By this time, we've had several drinks and go in to dance some kwasa kwasa.

first, its just DH and I. then some other dudes in the bar start dancing with more lining the benches along the wall. AH and R start dancing.

DH's girlfriend, Patricica, who is now fucking shitfaced starts dancing with DH.

He continues to scream every-time she touches him.

Patricia moves away from DH and her and Chrissy sandwich and grind on AH. The creamy center to their oreo.

R thinks it might be fun to join in an starts to rub his nutsack against her (he later clarifies that it was his wang).

AH doesn't think this is such a good idea.

its midnight and we walk home.

TK has locked us out and we wake him to let us in.

As I write this, the whole night seems flat. This is too bad. This was probably one of my most enjoyable evenings in Malawi.

The fucking chaos, DH screaming, the smashing bottles, bar fights and near bar fights. The bare bulbs the outdoor tables the cement floors, dirty walls, the bartender in a cage DH and AH dancing with prostitutes. It seems less exciting, real and vital as I write it.

2005-08-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

25 July 05

Rated R for language, violence, and sexual content.

The Aqualung Fun and Boozing Clubwent to Thomas's again last night. It was fucking crazy (I noticed that I say this alot).

I love this place, I go to the bar with less than $2 and drink all night long.

So DH, AH, R, and I are sitting around the living room last night after dinner. We were all quiet and I was bored. We ran out of beer and gin. I had just transcribed my slate and was considering listening to my fish acoustic tapes.

(which, fun as it may sound, is pretty fucking boring. And to be perfectly honest, it was rare for me to be able to listen to an entire tape without falling asleep. It gained me the unusual nickname of sparky (thanks MH) for a bit and there was general concern about my career objectives given that I couldn't stay awake long enough to collect data).

Does anybody want to go to the bar?

DH: Sure

R: I don't know, are you going A?

AH: I don't know, this is all so sudden!

we decide to go to the bar.

we walk down to Thomas's and DH buys the first round.

We drink for a while. things start picking up.

AH and I decide that DH should have a girlfriend for the evening.

I pull Richard aside and make arrangements with one of the bar ladies. I bought her a green (with AH's money) and she agreed to to wait 5 min before coming over to be DH's girlfriend.

She sidles up to DH and slides her hand up the back of his shirt.

"OOOOOWWWWW"

his response was to scream as loud as he could, above the conversations, above the kwasa kwasa.

(this was a stroke of pure fucking genius).

the woman recoils in laughter, giggling in her own lap. we're all laughing.

she makes another move.

"OOOOOOWWWW"

Each time she touches him, he let's out another scream. The bar stops, and looks. DH is smiling, the lady is giggling, Richard is laughing into his hand, tears squeeze out of my eyes as I laugh. I can't catch my breath and my sides hurt. This repeats itself 20-30 times, each time we laugh.

I get up and dance a little kwasa kwasa, which is a bit weird becasue only men dance in the bar, but whatever, Danny buys me a drink and I go back to the table.

AH is cornered by some Malawian dude. I run a pick and sit between them after coaxing the dude to move over. he wasn't pleased.

I fuck around with him a bit. I give a "cheers" and tap the bottom of my beer against the top of his. I hoped to foam over his beer. Instead, mine foamed over and I chipped the rim of his bottle.

He was pissed and I felt bad so I traded him beers. After we switched, richard pointed out that his beer was essentially empty. I grabbed my beer back as he was taking a swing, beer splashed on to his pants.

This, again, didn't please the dude (Christopher). and he and Richard start arguing in Chichewa with Richard stopping occasionally to tell me that I shouldn't give him my beer etc etc etc.

I'm looking to just cool everything out and I tell the dude to keep my beer. I gather t hough that he is all pissed off because he will loose the deposit on the bottle.

Richard, blank faced and stone cold, takes the bottle and smashes it on the table in front of us. It shatters into thousands of shards of glass that litter and pock the wooden table. The bar comes to a halt, everything stops. All eyes are on us.

It is the most badass move I have ever seen in my life.

The manager comes over and he and Richard begin to argue. eventually the manager leaves and richard tells me not to worry about the deposit.

fucking bad ass.

2005-08-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

23 July 05

yesterday we dove the deep reef. We dropped anchor right on the motherfucker so it was easy to find.

It was a fun dive to dive head first 77 feet to the rocks. Its not often that one can drop through 77 feet of space head first and hope to come out alright.

though not everything went smoothly.

at 85-100 feet, my regulator started to feel a bit funny. I felt like I was having to suck a bit too hard for a breath. I grabbed my pressure gauge to make sure I still had a good fill.

With every breath, my gauge would go from 2500 psi to 0 psi and back to 2500.

That's weird. does that always happen at this depth? no, probably not.

Ok, something is fucking wrong here.

Should I ascend? yes, but that would seem like something of a waste of time.

(Listening to Gillian Welch right now, she's great).

So I get TK's attention. I point at my gauge and he looks at his and he gives me the "OK".

I point at my gauge again and he looks at it between breaths and gives me the "OK".

I give it back to him and point to it again. He holds it for 3 breaths and a lightbulb goes off. he reaches behind me and opens my air valve all the way.

I guess it was only partially opened.

its weird to realize that my life was so, well, TK fucking helped me out alot then. There is a lot of trust there.

We caught an ass load of fish in 10 min, ascended with 2 safety stops and got back on board. I fucked my sinus again, but it was a cool place to collect.

We went to the next island. Were were going after a number of species and really only one was there. fucking plenty of chambo and kampango though. So I swam about 1/2 mile to get to the right habitat to find the other species.

(I was really glad I did. this place was pretty crazy. little holes in these giant boulders. it reminded me of what I imagine reef species to be like. plus, these species are generally found in crappy bedrock cracks, which are only a bit different in structure from these really kick ass caves, may explain the use of the bedrocks).

I had less than 1000 psi left, but I got all that I could, drained my tank empty and swam back with 20 or so individuals of the species we needed, partially just to show those fuckers on the boat that it could be done.

I was fucking exhausted by the time I got to the boat. I crawled up on the roof and collapsed in the remaining light. I didn't feel like moving. I felt like just lying there in the sun getting warm and dozing.

I think I pushed it a bit too much yesterday. my lungs hurt when I went diving today.

We went to Monkey Bay today to meet with the Fisheries people about getting fish from the trawler. We met with 6 fucking people, 3 at their homes (drive, drive, drive, ask some questions, drive drive drive).

we finally get to the home of __ and have a long drawn out discussion on procedures, permits, proposed research, memorandum of understanding, ongoing exchange of students, exportation of genetic material. it went on and on. in the end, he said he would call the university and he was sure we could work something out. We (DH and I) are to return Monday at half 2 and we should be able to get shit straight off the trawler.

I appreciate what he was trying to but it seemed like political bullshit. He could have just said, Ok, well, I want to help you but let me make some calls first.

DH thought I did an amazing job though. that was cool.

2005-08-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

21 July 05

My pants are falling apart around me. I've been wearing the same pair for a week and both knees are blown, so is the crotch, and both legs below my ass.

I'd change, but I have only one other pair and I need them for the flight home.

2005-08-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

21 july 05

we just got back to Cape Maclear after our boat trip. Its kinda sad to be back. The boat was really nice and seemed less confining than the field station.

We tried to go on a late afternoon dive at a deep reef today. the top of the reef sits at about 80 ft.

I was kinda surprised at the rxn of most people on the boat. they didn't want to go that deep. I just thought it would be super cool. what the fuck is going on down there and what crazy biogeographic story those fucking fish can tell given the lake level fluctuations.

I don't know. It never really occurred to me that it could be extremely dangerous. I mean, sure, its dangerous, but you breathe, watch your bottom time, come up slowly and you'll be ok, right?

The other day I went to 110ft just to check shit out with less than 500 psi left. That probably wasn't too smart, but I never thought that I was in serious danger. I was sucking hard on my tank by the time I reached the boat, but it was all good.

(AH once said that I'm one of those 'it won't happen to me' people.)

anyway, we never made it to the reef. the dive was rushed to begin with. we didn't get out there until 4.30 or so and the light was already at an oblique angle.

I jumped in the water and Adrian was to toss in my tank and bc. before he did, he fucked around with my bc inflation hose. he disconnected and reconnected it. he told me it was leaking.

yeah I know it sticks. so he throws it in and we head down.

At 60 feet, I was dropping faster than I would have liked. I reached to fill my BC and the hose wasn't connected. I probably could have reconnected it, but we were over potentially 300 ft of water and I didn't want to fuck with a high pressure hose.

Anyway, we followed the anchor line down to 100 ft and there were no rocks in sight.

We came back up and the fucking boat had driven off. They were still looking for the fucking reef.

They said they found it again and TK and I went back down after I reconnected my BC line.

I reached 30 ft and still couldn't equilibrate my sinuses. TK didn't notice that I stopped and he kept going.

I couldn't go much further down without my face imploding.

TK came back up & I told him that I needed to go back up. We bobbed up and down between 20 & 50 feet until I felt and heard a pop followed by a whistle. I blew my sinus, but man did my head feel better.

We headed down. It was really dark and empty. I had to watch my depth gauge to know that I was going down.

At 120 feet we were both getting warning messages from our dive computers. We weren't going to reach the reef today.

We came up with decompression stops at 30 and 15 feet.

We're heading back tomorrow to find the reef and collect those rotten fuckers.

2005-08-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

20 july 05

it was a cold night on top of the boat. I couldn't find my long sleeved shirt, so I piled on 3 dirty t shirts.

I have a sleeping bag liner, but its polertec so it didn't break the wind much. Luckily my ass was to the wind so it never got that bad. though I was up every couple of hours arranging my blanket, clothes, and a towel I was using as a blanket. it was nice to sleep on a cushion, though,

I'm lying on top of the boat watching dudes on the island walk past on their little path. I'm not sure if its exhaustion, malnourishment, or the relative calmness of the people, but for several moments this morning, I had nothing on my mind. It was empty and quiet. I can't remember the last time that happened at home. it was so quiet, in fact, that 1/2 way through this paragraph I decided to do a little fishing and hucked some doughballs off the boat.

I felt guilty about having nothing to think about. How fucked up is that?

It didn't last long before I began to get pissed off at how long it was taking to get breakfast, when we'd start diving.

I'm not sure if it was good or bad that the moment was so fleeting.

2005-08-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

19 July 05

Arrived at Mbenji Island after steaming from Salima (dropped some fish off and grabbed some COLD beer. awesome).

It took 3-4 hours to get here. we (TK, DH, AH, R, Lighton, Flaxson, Ruben, Andrian) arrived after dark.

this place is fucking crazy. 2 main islands full of fishermen. They have a little market set up and generators. These two islands remind me of the scene from Apocalypse Now at the bridge.

We cruise op to these barren rocks, probably no more than 200 m long, in the middle of the empty fucking lake and fires and lights and light-bulbs are burning in these two little patches on adjacent islands.

The music and the shouting can be heard above both our diesel engine and the compressor.

I was fucking blown away. it was the craziest thing I have ever seen. I couldn't wait to get on land and check shit out.

Finally the tender was loaded with the parafin, stove, beans, ufa, water, etc etc. I hop in, Who's coming?

I knew TK wouldn't go and I doubted AH would (though, as it turns out, it would have been illegal) or should go. R just looked at me and DH, that nancy, pretends like he's working.

D, you coming?

No dude, that's too crazy for me.

Shove off and me and Adrian start walking around.

There's a narrow rocky path, this place is basically nothing but bedrock and large boulders/cobble, that winds through the smallest market I've ever seen.

I don't know why, but even with just one rocky path, the market seemed like a warren of narrow paths. Dimly lit shacks, a tailor, a dude selling smokes, soap, matches and coke. Some dude selling pants and shirts.

The roofs of the shacks almost meet across the path; i have to stoop to get through. The smell of drying fish pervades the air.

Adrian explains that this is just a temporary village. Come November, they pack everything up and leave until April or May to manage the fishery. No booze on Mbenji, no woman either.

the music is blaring.

I get looks as I cruise through the place. empty stares. I can't quite get the feel of the place. Not exactly welcoming, but not exactly aggressive either.

there is a video shack. I buy coke (me) and Fanta (Adrian) and pay the 10kw ($~0.10) entrance fee.

We go through a curtain and the place opens up into a fucking huge outdoor auditorium. 75 guys are sitting on a rocky slope watching some cheesy American action movie (submarines, guns, SCUBA, Russians & a heartwarming father/son reunion, in english with Japanese subtitles) on a 36 inch TV with huge speakers and a DVD player.

fucking crazy.

watch the movie for an hour, head back, wait for dinner, eat, now camping on the roof of the boat.

its a beautiful night, gentle breeze, a bit cold. people are still milling about on the island. At 10 clock, the lights go out and the island is off like clockwork.

time for me to go to bed, this place probably gets up early. booo.

2005-08-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

19 July 05

The lake at sunset has an opalesence that is more beautiful than I can appreciate.

steaming to Mbenji.

Its beautiful. the sun has set the moon is up and the lake is calm.

2005-08-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

Dove at Nakentenga. it blew my fucking mind. so many different fish. well the same fish, so many different colors. it was fucking awesome.

We're camping on Maleri again and some fucking dude stopped by to tell us that basically we are camping on his friend's island. His buddy bought the "consession" rights (whatever the fuck that means) to the island and is paying for the game warden's salary and the game warden's boat.

He basically bought the island and told all of the Malawians to fuck off and he wants us to fuck off as well. apparently, its difficult to tell the Malawians to fuck off if we are here and fishing with a permit.

He wants to build a hotel and a campsite on the Maleri's. He can suck my balls.

Talked (while drinking copious amounts of gin) about setting up a full time research station. I said to put me down for $10k towards the purchase of some land and some ponds (note to self: no business deals over drinks). It would be awesome to come here 3 mnths a year.

Dive tomorrow and kick ass.

2005-08-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

17 July o5

The boat trip started yesterday. Off first to QR and caught the shit out of mz and mb.

cool.

steamed to Salima to drop off the fish.

got in late and spent the night at Staurts.

its kinda expensive but it was nice to sit at a good bar and have a hot shower in the am.

it was weird to look in the mirror for the first time in 2 weeks.

High winds (mwela) in the morning. Sat them out until 9 then steamed to the Maleri Islands.

Get in the water 2-3 new species fo Metriaclima (to me). fucking way cool.

there was some debate as to which female go with each male.

I got it sorted out for 2 species, but I need to work on the rest tomorrow. It makes for sime fun diving. something new.

one of the new to me species was M. patricki. A very handsome and clever fish.

spent the evening processing the fish on the boat. boo.

but the wind started up and we had to paddle to shore in the tender. I grabbed an oar, stood up in the back and TK and paddled us to shore (TK kneeling in the front).

it was crazy, wave wise, and I was impressed that I could stand and get that boat back to shore. the malawians cheered and told me that I was a real malawian. ccol. I don't think I would have ever done that in the states.

DH fucked up his toe pretty good. he cleaned it, wrapped it in duct tape. "I'm part cyborg now". the dude is fucking crazy. He refers to it as robo-toe. now we all do too.

I grabbed and lost a bivalve for JC today. I need to get him over here next time. great mind, JC.

the boat is not so much fun w/o TS. People are pretty quiet and DH and I are loosing our steam.

Camped out on the island. Its windy and the ground is hard. Camping here is cool in theory. Staying at Stuart's is cool in practice.

2005-08-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

Dear reader, I have returned, safe and sound. At this point, the naraative is taking a serious deviation from linearity, but in the interest of assuring you that I did, in fact, make it back I thought I should resume at the end. Some of the activities got quite hairy, and I didn't want you to be overly concerned.

Additional author's notes: it occurred to me while writing this, that many of the entries are not suitable for the PG13 crowd. My mother, I'm sure, would be mortified by the language, and some of the activities, well, those under 13 should not be exposed to. I will try to remember to label such entries as such.

It was a good trip and I have a lot to share. Nearly 250 pages of notes. It will take a good bit of time to get them editied and written out. So for those of you who may be interested, you may want to check back in over the next days.

For those of you who could give a shit (which I couldn't blame you, its like looking at a slideshow of someone else's vacation photos, snooze), I will cut to the chase: it was a great trip, it re-invigorated my desire to do feild work, it (re) introduced me to some of the great minds working in cichlids these days. I met some great people, made, what I hope will be lasting freinds, did some great work, and had a lot of fun.

For those of you who were on the trip, the blog has a section for comments, I would encourage those with the desire to use this to expand, revise, round out my version of events.

Pat Danley
College Park, Maryland
2 August 2005

Malawi travels

2005-07-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

5 july 05

fuck of a day. spent most of the day trying to build these fucking caves.
they started to look good @ Mark¹s suggestion I moved them to the water to
harden (they¹re made of concrete).

within 10 min the cement from the side of the buckets fell completely off.
I was fucked. the whole day down the fucking drain.

some carvers were around and they said I should get some wire meshto whole
the fucking cement in place.

so the dude told me there was tons of fucking wire mesh in the village.
so we go there. stop at like 4 fucking places. zero, zilch.

ok. no problem. there is tons of mesh in Monkey Bay. ok. we¹ll go there.
why don¹t you just tell me where this place is? no no my friend I have to
take you. no problem.

we go to monkey bay.

1st shop. out.

2nd shop. out.

we go to like 10 shops/shacks & all the fucking places were out.

I couldn¹t believe it.

so we start heading home. I tgell Johanni that we¹ll stop at the Nankhwali
mission to see Joseph¹s children.

Its supposed to be fucking 2 km from the cape maclear turn off. 7 km later
we show up.

I find a nun. I talk to her. I ask her about Lucy. She says that suzanna
is also here. Suzanna is J other daughter. his third, fiona, is at namwera
secondary school. I ask if the girls are good. yes. were the girls good
in school? yes. were the girls good? yes. its getting awkward. she sent
for the girls and they should up.

I felt, I dunno. they seemed very sweet and beautiful and I just wanted to
protect them and get them out of here.

I asked how the school fees were paid. Another American, Erica. she pays
for all the children¹s fees.

I should have felt good and happy for that.

I didn¹t.

I felt guilty and jealous.

I should have been the one to take care of these girls for the past fucking
10 years. I felt like a big piece of fucking shit.

I felt guilty and heartbroken.

I asked if they needed something. they were shy. a little mouse whisper.
the nun says, they say yes, they need something. I ask what. they say
they need shoes, size 4 leather school shoes. leather, not plastic.

I need to find them and buy them.

I also need to find his other daughter, Fiona, at Namwera.

heartbroken.

there was so much I felt needed to be said but it was awkward and
uncomfortable. I got up and said good bye and left.

I talked to karen tonight about joseph. she didn¹t really know who he was.
I explained. At some point, she suggested something like I had done a lot
for him and I repaid him for his kindness. I told her that I don¹t think I
ever could.

I walked into the village, got some chambo and chips and spent the night at
the bar, sitting in the dirt, just outside of the circle of light given off
by the bar, drinking $0.50 beers.

Some dude just called me bambo. it made me happy. not azungu, not can I
have 500 kw. bambo.

7 july 05

I got the buckets moving. not sure how well they will work, but I feel like
they are moving along. I¹ll have 7 made by tomorrow. and hopefully 14 by
the next day, etc etc.

I feel better having gotten stuff moving plus I have a group of guys working
on it so I can go diving tomorrow.

in the am, for eth pre breakfast dive, I ll be ccollecting some sand
dwellers for Todd and Darren.

In the pm, I should go scouting for places to put the caves and for the
hydrophone. get that shit out and test it see if any of it works.

heard some cool crickets. chirp--------chirp chirp, chirp--------chirp
chirp, chirp--------chirp chirp. I should see if I can record it.

8 july 05

9:48 am and not in the water yet. the plan is moving pretty slowly today.

I would have thought that I would have been used to the waiting here.

sometimes while I¹ve been here I feel like I am loosing it a bit. too
anxious, too negative, too frustrated.

but I¹ve got a good crew working on the houses. but the work is going
slowly.

I need to get a regular pattern down. I¹d like to get up and know what I am
going to do. I don¹t like trying to coordinate with some very different
schedules. I don¹t like eiether that I am kinda a guest and I feel like I
have little room to direct activities.

off to the lake.

10 july 05

a fucking baboon broke into my room the other morning. it came in and shook
the bed and took off. I never knew it wasa baboon. just thought that Todd
or Darren was fucking with me. Richard came in the door and asked if I
wanted the door closed. ³there was a baboon².

crazy.

I¹m still not making the progress getting good recordings from the fish. I
may need to bring them back here and try to do the recording here.

15 july 05

Todd left yesterday. I tree fell on his house and he had to leave malawi
sooner than he thought to get back home and help get shit together.

his absence is already felt. its always good to see todd, but it was great
having him here. he ran as a buffer btw the younger, goofier, jackass kinda
people and the older a bit more reserved group.

we have something of a weird dynamic going on here. I think a lot of the
people tgruely enjoyed darren and my antics. a notable person or persons
visibily did not. at one point it was suggested that I take it down a
notch. we decided to take it outside instead. with todd, who kind served
as a good buffer btw the goofy and the straight, gone now, there is an even
greater pressure to not have fun and goof off during down times (meals,
evenings). it kinda sucks.

darren and I are pretty determined to have a good fucking time over on the
boat. some people may not be too fucking pleased with it, but you know,
there is no reason not to have a good time, right?

right fucking on!

spent the day checking out my caves. mapped them out and got habitat and
abundance data. feels good to have some data down. no real interest in
checking moving into the little houses, but there is hope. I set up some
more recording shit. maybe I will start getting some good info. who knows.
when I get back from the boat I think I¹ll just set my shit up on the rocks
and let the tapes play out. I might get lucky. who knows.

I got the girls shoes today and 2 pair of socks (each). I can check that
off. I still need to contact Fiona and see what I can do for her in the
short term. I need to talk to the sisters to see what I can do in the long
term.

on to jo'burg

2005-07-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

leave for jo burg in a couple hours. an hour there, then on to
lilongwe. we hope to get to the lake in tomorrow afternoon.

its going to be a long smelly ride. no one has had a shower in a
couple of days (all the showers in heathrow are out).

london notes

2005-07-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

everyone in london looks hung over, puffy and tired. I feel downright
attractive. I think I may move there.

went to hoxton square. like dupont circle, but square.

ate lunch with a bunch of vision people. not really engaged in
conversation, too tired.

the sodas in london are REALLY small.

its fing crazy in london today. Live 8 concert (americans, uglier
than me, all over the place) plus Big Gay Out day parade. bizarre
costumes.

sat across from a dude on the underground. his head was shaped like a
gigantic light bulb. it was really weird. his eyes were crossed, and
he sat there mumbling, and alternately picking his nose and scratching
the stubble on his chin. the car smelled like used motor oiled. i'm
sure it was the line (i was told that it was really deep?), but i had
this gut feeling that it was this dude. the smell persisted after he
got left

on to london

2005-07-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

made it to boston through thick fog. barely made the connection but
talked with tom and karen and am feeling better about the trip.

thick fog. wait on runway for 1.5 hours.

i have a great seat right in front of the toilet. i can't push my
seat back, each flush sounds like a hole is being punched into the
fusilage, and A-holes kick me as they get to the bathroom. awake the
entire flight to london.

sitting next to a nice social worker from boston. (small world fact
of the day: she knows c. castillo davis) she's going to london, then
a 3 week yoga retreat in helsinki. who the hell goes to helsinki for
a yoga retreat.

2005-07-02T11:20:00.000-07:00

I walk away as she begins to lecture me about showing up for a trip to
africa 30 min beofre the flight.

go to the 1st security gaurd

my flight departs in 20 min can i move to the express lane?

he doesn't even look at me, just jabs his thumb in the driection of
the decidedly non express line

sweat it out through security, have a couple min beofre take off, jog to gate.

everyone is waiting there to board.

take off is delayed for 1:10 because of local weather (is it too sunny and warm)

from the 1st plane

2005-07-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

written on the first plane:

I just boarded my first flight BWI - Logan. its a twin jet, 3 seat
across job. i'm on the single seat row both a window and aisle seat.

all i could think of as i squeezed trhough the door and galley was: i
don't really want yo be here. i don't want to go. i want to go home
and crawl back inot bed.

i was up late last night packing, woke up at 8, showered and into work
for my check.

no check for me.

i track down a 60% 'loan' check on the $$ they didn't pay me.

i make it to the airport 45 min before my flight

i'm sorry sir, you cant make your flight

your sign says i have 30 min

sigh

type, print, label bags

your bags are checked through to lilongwe.

you know you need to show up 2 hr before an international flight

no, i didn't know

and so it begins

2005-07-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

I went to ick up my pay check Friday.

It wasn't there. I asked F^2 how I could get my money. she said
@that woman in payroll is so mean, i make one typo and she doesn't
even fix it'. right thanks.

run to payroll. get a 'loan' check cut, run to the bank that issued
it and cash it to buy some little things like my anti-malarial.

at least i was prepared for them to screw it up.

2005-06-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

I'm off.

From Malawian poet David Rubadiri, published without permission.

-----------

An African Thunderstorm

From the west
Clouds come hurrying with the wind
Turning
Sharply
Here and there
Like a plague of locusts
Whirling
Tossing things on its tail
Like a madman chasing nothing.

Pregnant clouds
Ride stately on its back
Gathering to perch on hills
Like dark sinister wings;
The Wind whistles by
And trees bend to let it pass.

In the village
Screams of delighted children
Toss and turn
In the din of whirling wind,
Women-
Babies clnging on their backs-
Dart about
In and out
Madly
The Wind whistles by
Whilst the trees bend to let it pass.
Clothes wave like tattered flags
Flying off
To expose dangling breasts
As jaggered blinding flashes
Rumble, tremble, and crack
Amidst the smell of fired smoke
And the pelting march of the storm.

-- David Rubadiri

Map and Places of Interest

2005-06-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

You'll need to zoom in on the southern part of the lake, but you should be able to see where I'll be this trip, some of our likely collecting locations, and where I lived in 1995-1996.

2005-06-30T05:10:00.000-07:00

Went to the Dr's yesterday. I'm all set to go, health wise. My Hepatitis A & B vaccines are still good. So is my rabies. I don't think yellow fever or typhoid is much of a risk, so no need to get those shots. I've got scripts for my doxycycline for malaria (the Dr. wanted to put me on Lariam, no thank you), some cipro for any stomach difficulties.

I heard from the electric engineer here. My hydrophone should be all set when I leave here this afternoon. I didn't think it would work out, so I'm happy he's been able to pull this together so quickly.

Work-wise, I think we've solved one of the difficulties that has been troubling the creation of the cDNA library. We need to order a new oligo, so, unfortunately, I won't be here to see it work. That's a bummer, but at least I can leave feeling like the project is no longer stalled and headed in a good direction. I've also got some tissues for the undergrads to work on while I am gone. I've also just got back some comments on a ms, so I should be able to get through the re-write and get it out today.

All in all, everything for work is not exactly how I wanted it before I left, but its not too bad either.

I'll need to start packing tonight, though I hope to spend some QT with JB and the boys before I leave. I've been putting in some long hours at work, so it will be good to spend some time with them before I'm gone.

From Toothpaste for Dinner

2005-06-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

Less than a week

2005-06-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

Its 11:13 on Sunday night. I have less than a week before I leave but
I still have so much to do. I'm scrambling like mad to get a cDNA
library constructed before I go. I don't think its going to happen,
but I need to get it as far as I an before I leave.

I've got a couple of undergrads working for me, and I need to get them
enough material to work on for a month.

I've started shopping for the trip. I think I have most of the
materials I need, but now I need to get the medical crap taken care
of. I see the Dr.'s on Weds to get my malarial pills, my
schistosomiasis (sp?) cure, etc etc. I shouldn't have put it off
until 2 days before I leave.

I've spent the better part of the weekend either here (work) or
getting ready for the trip. I've been working on constructing some
concrete prototypes that I'll need to build when I get over there.
I've never worked with concrete before, so it went through a couple of
revisions. I'm happy with the way the last one turned out.

I'm not sure how much access I will have to this site once I get to
Malawi. I doubt that internet is available at the lake, but I will
keep it posted as I get ready, perhaps in London for my lay over. I
think I can call in messages, too, so I should be able to at least
call from the lake.

Time to head home.