6 - Thursday

On Thursday we drove miles through Lujeri tea farm and them a good 5 miles over really rocky off road terrain to get to a really remote village site. The people there were some of the worst off we had seen, and I just pray they really use the nets. I am really glad we made it there, but it was a huge gamble. After finally reaching the destination our driver said "if it rains there's no way any of our trucks will be able to get out of here. We were a good 20km from any civilization, and it had not rained for 2 days, not good signs, but the rain held out. We finished our work and stopped at Aisha's house on the way home, one of the local nurses who worked with us. Her parents invited our entire group into their living room, and you could tell by the heightened respect the otherwise screw off local guys gave to her parents, that this was a big deal. After introducing ourselves and washing our hands in bowls of water the traditional way they served us a dish of nsima, beans, and cooked collard greens with tomato. They mentioned that now I have a story to tell at home, and I then told them this was all the more special because of a huge holiday called Thanksgiving in the US that was on that same day. I didn't want to be there, as I was sick that day, and the meal was horrible. But as I sat there picking up soggy green stuff and beans with my bare hands, looking up at the ceiling that didnt exist and exposed the rafters and roof of this home, I thought wow what a way to spend Thanksgiving, and what a reminder of what I have been blessed with. That evening we had our Thanksgiving dinner at the mountain lodge, which consisted of overpriced beef kabobs and baked macaroni and cheese. Still good though. I stayed after with Mike and we sat outside the bar drinking the Malawian brewed Carlsburg beers and taking in the evening mountain air, discussing what an interesting Thanksgiving it had been.