Tuesday, 10th April 2007

Within Lilongwe

One of the things I love about Malawi is the proliferance of bottle openers. They are everywhere, attached to posts, on key chains, everywhere! You are never at a loss as to how to open a bottle. Here is an example of one in a chibuku bottle store. You see it there, attached to the counter, very conveniently placed?

Then, if there is not an official bottle opener, most Malawians have great bottle opening talents. Like, for example, using one bottle to open another. Or, for example, just opening with your teeth as Honesta's husband is doing in this photo. Honesta and her husband have been long time neighbors to Martha, from Dowa. That story is for tomorrow.

I decided to spend the day looking for my old friend, Colins, a.k.a Swivle Hips, who used to work as a radiologist at Kamuzu Central Hospital. Colins got the nickname Swivle Hips because of his great dancing ability. One time, Colins and I and Nimia and 2 other old Peace Corps buddies, we were all at the lake (Lake Malawi) for the weekend. We were sitting around at a bar, having some beers and chatting. An old man came by and wanted to sell something. It took a lot of deciphering to figure out that it was supposed to be a carving of a boat and paddle. It was very, very bad! In our good-spirited mood of the day, however, we decided, well, at least he's not begging. Trying to actually "earn" a living. So, Colins and I paid 1 kwacha each, for a total of 2 kwacha, for this carving. The others (Nimia and the 2 Peace Corps buddies) laughed at us. This was shortly before I left Malawi. So, we decided that Colins would keep the boat and me the paddle. That way, we'd always have a connection. A couple of times, we wrote letters and always asked, "Do you have the paddle?" "Do you have the boat?" Once, in 1998, I came to visit and Colins showed me his display of the paddle.

So, I went to where he used to live but he wasn't there any more. So, I started snooping around the hospital where he used to work. People said that he wasn't there any more, but most of the people I talked to hadn't been there long so they didn't remember him. Finally, I found another medical guy, named Mcpherson, who was nice. He hadn't been there long either, but said he'd ask around for me. When he came back, he had one of Colin's old classmates with him, who looked at me and said, "I'm sorry, sister. Your friend died. He was in a minibus accident, up north. It must have been shortly after you were here last. He died in 1999." I wasn't expecting this, but right there in the hospital, with lots and lots of people around, I started to cry. Only briefly, though. Then, I said, "I guess that's life, isn't it?" He said, "Yes. I'm sorry." Mcpherson gave me his e-mail and phone number. Somehow, I feel like keeping in touch with him, as though he can somehow be a replacement for good ol' Swivle Hips, which he can't, of course.

---------------- TODAY -------------------- TOTAL

Cycled (in LL)--- 24 km (15 mi) ------------- 4,300 km (2,694 mi)

In Saddle -------- 1 hour 45 min ------------- 281 hours 14 min

Ascended -------- 280 feet ------------------- 74,790 feet