Update

We just got back from a trip to Mozambique. That was exciting.

Mozambique surrounds Malawi on most of three sides but the differences in hotels between Malawi and Mozambique is comical. We have options when staying in hotel rooms. In Mozambique the rooms were either 600 Mozambique Meticais or 900 Meticais. We asked to see them both. The 600 Meticais ($26.08 USD) room had a double bed and a tv, no bathroom. (There was a shared bathroom in the hotel courtyard.) The 900 Meticais ($39.13 USD) room had a bed, a tv (with only 1 station which spoke Portuguese) and a bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower. Guess which room we chose -- the room for 900 Meticais. We actually had hot water in our shower. It was great and only the 2nd hot shower we have had since moving to Malawi. The other hot shower was in a hotel in Lilongwe we stayed at back in October.

In Malawi we also had a choice of rooms. The standard double was MK3900 (Malawi Kwacha) ($28.26 USD), had two twin beds and a bathroom with a toilet, shower (no hot water) and a sink that you could only wash one hand at a time it was so tiny. Ray asked what the difference was in a standard double and a deluxe double for K5400 ($39.13 USD) and they said the only difference was that the deluxe double had a television. We looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and said the standard double would be fine. (We can’t get used to watching tv two nights in a row then go home to our house in Blantyre and not have a tv.)

What did you do on the Saturday before Christmas? If you are like me (when we were in the US), this would be the “crazy weekend” for me. I would be purchasing last minute gifts, crossing items off my list, wrapping the remaining gifts, purchasing food for Christmas Eve dinner, purchasing food for Christmas dinner, cleaning the house, making sure the house was decorated and running a million miles an hour until Christmas night.

This year is different. First of all, it does not feel like Christmas. We are sitting in the living room with all the windows in the house open and we are in short sleeves. It’s probably 80 degrees outside and humid. We also have no tree, no decorations, no gifts, no lists to cross off (ok, that’s not completely true because I am making food baskets for our staff). It is strange to go into a store in Africa and hear Feliz Navidad – not what you expect to hear. Anyway, we got up this morning and drove into town to the internet café to check our email. We then came home and ate lunch.

I decided it would be a good day to defrost the refrigerator and freezer because the door would not even close any more since there was so much ice in it. When we purchased items for our house we purchased a used refrigerator from someone someone’s friend knew – you know what I mean. The area of town we went to was having a blackout so we could not even test the refrigerator but they said it worked so we took their word for it – big mistake. We paid our K50,000 ($362 USD) and took the refrigerator. It took about 2 days to get cold but the freezer worked. The fridge never did keep things cold. Drinks would be cool and we’d have to put them in the freezer for about 15 – 30 minutes if we wanted something really cold. This was NOT a $362 refrigerator. In the US, they would have been lucky to get $50 for it. The philosophy in Malawi is that cheaper is better, which we know is NOT the case. Part of the problem is the quality of products. We did purchase a new stove when we furnished the house and it is a piece of junk too but at least it’s a new piece of junk.

So, when I went to defrost this hunk ‘o junk refrigerator, I should have known something was going to happen. I spent 5 hours defrosting it, mopping up our concrete kitchen floor about every 10 minutes as water was draining out of the refrigerator onto the floor. Well, I should have known -- when I plugged it back in, it would not come back on. The freezer got cool but not even as cold as the refrigerator used to get and the refrigerator is now just a storage container. Ray and Evance worked on it for quite some time and at one point, most of the refrigerator parts were on the kitchen floor. So, until we get money to purchase a NEW refrigerator, we’ll live like true Malawians – purchasing perishable items daily.

Then Sunday, Evance asked Ray if he could plunge the kitchen sink (which is a common thing). The problem is this time, they could not get it to unplug. Ray, Evance and Ben worked on it and worked on the line outside for probably 45 minutes with no luck. Guess we gotta find a plumber tomorrow too.

Enjoy the rest of your Christmas week and hopefully, you will have a stress free Christmas week like us and be able to focus on the true meaning of Christmas – the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!