There is, apparently, a reason you're not supposed to wear contacts here.

I am now in Lilongwe for a couple of days, on medical hold on account of conjunctivitis. Yay! But this gives me a LOT of time to do the stupid internet things that I do in the States, and to post on this blog.

Since my last post, a couple of us have traveled far into Malawi's southern region, to the mysterious lands of Mwanza and Blantyre. We saw a MOVIE. In a THEATER. We also saw huge vats of Carlsberg at their brewery, delicious Indian food on our plates, Jordan's site and his new house, the termite tunnels at Jordan's site in Jordan's new house, and my glasses at the bottom of his pit latrine. Yes. I dropped them down the chim. Actually, they fell off of my face, bounced off the side, and into a 12-foot hole full of poop.

Malawi is full of miracles, however, and Jordan has actually recovered them! I don't really understand how this happened (I hope it didn't involve spelunking of any kind) but soon they will be back with me, never to enter a chim again. For now, though, I am blind, since I can't put my contacts in (conjuntivitis) and my glasses are in Mwanza.... it's definitely a challenge leaping over the Azungu Traps (read: gutters full of trash) around Lilongwe. At least if I fall in, I can blame it on my vision, and not on sheer stupidity. Unless dropping my glasses in the chim in the first place counts.

So! Being in Lilongwe means I missed the northern GAD (Gender and Development) meeting last night in Mzuzu, which was a bummer. I'm excited though, that we've decided to produce a Malawian Rosie the Riveter shirt to sell at 4th of July with the aim of raising funds for various projects. Right now I think the goal will be on a weekend camp(s) for both boys and girls which will focus on gender roles in the village. I personally am brainstorming on a Take Our Daughters to Work Day situation -- assigning village girls mentors in the city and getting them lodging/food etc. for a couple of days so they can see a professional woman in her environment. Still, obviously, in the idea stage, but I think it would be a lot of fun. What we really want now is to get GAD going, so our projects will be more sustainable -- if every year, PCVs have a bank account and an email and bylaws and all that stuff - the infrastructure - then they won't have to be reinventing the wheel every time they want to do a region-wide project. Hopefully! We'll see.

My eyes hurt from looking at the computer... more later!