Before all these entries I have to apologize for their lateness. I do recognize that the idea of a blog is it is updated as things happen. In my defense I will simply point out that my blog is titled Conor In Malawi; and well, I haven’t been in Malawi. Anyways, before I left on my travels, my parents visited Malawi…
I went to pick my parents up at the Lilongwe airport on a Sunday. Unfortunately for me, they showed up on a Monday. (Their flight was overbooked and they lost their seat). Luckily a day spent at the airport waiting for them to get off, did no permanent damage to me, and it made it all the more exciting when they got off the plane on Monday. Amazingly my parents made it with only one lost bag, (one with cleats for the football team), and so we drove straight to Mangochi. The next day we spent the morning at MCV, and then drove to Cape Maclear for a couple days of walking on the beach, snorkeling, kayaking, etc. Then it was back to Mangochi.
My mom spent Friday at the MCV nursery, while my dad and I drove to Blantyre to retrieve the lost bag, since the airline told us that it had been sent there. The bag was of course not in Blantyre, but in Lilongwe. We asked them to please leave it in Lilongwe since we would be heading up there again in a couple of days.
Saturday was MCV’s long awaited 10th anniversary celebration. It was awesome! Many people came for the gathering: 100+ members of staff, 72 village volunteers, 130 students, 37 village headmen, 2 members of Malawi’s Parliament, various other government dignitaries, and many many more. It involved a lot of singing, dancing, and speeches. (Kind of like education day, but much better organized; it only started about an hour late). The dancing groups were really amazing; you’ll all have to see the DVD that the studio made when I get home. Some of the speeches were also great (though most were in Chichewa). Jonathan (a former MCV sponsored student who is now an employee) made a really touching speech about how MCV has made a difference in his life. After day long ceremony, there was a party at a nearby resort with much more singing and dancing. My parents and I left at 11:00, but we were told that the party lasted until 6 the next morning.
The morning after the anniversary we headed back to Lilongwe where we made a last attempt at claiming the lost bag before heading to Zambia for safari. Sure enough, it was in Blantyre.
I went to pick my parents up at the Lilongwe airport on a Sunday. Unfortunately for me, they showed up on a Monday. (Their flight was overbooked and they lost their seat). Luckily a day spent at the airport waiting for them to get off, did no permanent damage to me, and it made it all the more exciting when they got off the plane on Monday. Amazingly my parents made it with only one lost bag, (one with cleats for the football team), and so we drove straight to Mangochi. The next day we spent the morning at MCV, and then drove to Cape Maclear for a couple days of walking on the beach, snorkeling, kayaking, etc. Then it was back to Mangochi.
My mom spent Friday at the MCV nursery, while my dad and I drove to Blantyre to retrieve the lost bag, since the airline told us that it had been sent there. The bag was of course not in Blantyre, but in Lilongwe. We asked them to please leave it in Lilongwe since we would be heading up there again in a couple of days.
Saturday was MCV’s long awaited 10th anniversary celebration. It was awesome! Many people came for the gathering: 100+ members of staff, 72 village volunteers, 130 students, 37 village headmen, 2 members of Malawi’s Parliament, various other government dignitaries, and many many more. It involved a lot of singing, dancing, and speeches. (Kind of like education day, but much better organized; it only started about an hour late). The dancing groups were really amazing; you’ll all have to see the DVD that the studio made when I get home. Some of the speeches were also great (though most were in Chichewa). Jonathan (a former MCV sponsored student who is now an employee) made a really touching speech about how MCV has made a difference in his life. After day long ceremony, there was a party at a nearby resort with much more singing and dancing. My parents and I left at 11:00, but we were told that the party lasted until 6 the next morning.
The morning after the anniversary we headed back to Lilongwe where we made a last attempt at claiming the lost bag before heading to Zambia for safari. Sure enough, it was in Blantyre.
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