Challenges & Difficulties
- Missed flight in Milan – hassle to rebook the flights at an extra Euro100 change fee but luckily there was a economy seat and I didn’t have to pay a higher tariff. - Washing. Mostly I only washed my face – which was fine – I don’t like washing in a bucket – so I didn’t. - In Malawi public transport is random, minibuses have no timetable, leave when they are full and stop on request anywhere on the way so getting to the lake was a challenge. Coming back to Mangochi, the 8 a.m. minibus from Cape Maclear to Monkey Bay has been a phantom, so I had to take a truck and a bicycle taxi; from Monkey Bay went to Mangochi on a shared taxi. - The problem at the lake: I hired what I thought was a boat taking me around the islands for the day, but then I found I was just left on an island for 4 hours. I was not a swimmer so it was important for me to travel around the islands. I felt bad I was cheated and I felt I wasted my time and my money. This was sad. - Much colder in Blantyre than I expected especially in the evenings. It was winter. Hot in the day though. - I arrived with a heavy cold and then it went to my chest making me tired and sleepy even in the daytime. - I found getting up at 5am with the families sometimes very early for me and I got tired in the evenings early. - Not enough work for me to do @ CFMS. - Time is not seen in the same way in Malawi as in Europe and everyone seems to go slowly and not be punctual. This was a bit frustrating for me because I was ready at the time I was told someone would come and then I sat and did nothing for a long time. NEXT TIME I WILL DO SOME WORK WHILE WAITING “ When in Rome do as the Romans do or, in this case, the Malawians do.
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