June 11, 2008
We are in Lilongwe, and it has been so busy and emotionally draining that I didn’t get a chance to finish the last blog beofe I published it. We ran around all day yesterday saying goodbye to people and taking phone calls from people. I called David to say how sorry we were that we didn’t see him before we left, and he said he saw the car pulling away as he was coming up the hill. I really felt bad then and said that I had wanted to give him a hug before we left – something that is somewhat unMalawian as people tend to be more formal than that – and he said he had wanted to do the same thing. I really wanted to cry when I heard him say he saw us driving away. Than he asked us to call him to let him know we got to Lilongwe safely and to let him know when we get back from Zambia safely.
Atusaye called us too – John had given him some of his shirts and a book at lunch yesterday – and he wanted to let us know he had bought a shirt for his younger brother and given it to him telling him it was from us and that we had asked Atusaye to tell him that when he wore it he should remember that we loved him even though we were going to be far away. That one made John cry when he was on the phone and me cry when John told me after hanging up. He also wanted us to know Dr. Mkandawire let him observe a surgery yesterday – 4 days onto this volunteer job. He was so excited. We are so excited that Dr. Mkandawire has seems to take a liking to him, and has taken him under his wing
Then we went to dinner with the Principal and Bursar from the College of Nursing, who bought dinner for us at an expensive restaurant(which I know they can’t afford), and brought us a carved table to take home as their gift. We enjoyed working with them so much, and John is really hoping that he can get a partnership going between them and the Nursing College at the U – and maybe get the Principal to the US to visit as well. Another sad goodbye
It was an emotionally exhausting day, and I was completely shot by the time we got home around 9pm. Didn’t sleep all that well, getting a cramp in my calf around 4:30 this morning – which hasn’t happened for ages. We needed to be up by 5:30am to have breakfast at yet another persons place and then head off on the 5 hour drive down here.
It is so strange, and disorienting to think about going home, and I’m so glad that we have this safari in Zambia to look forward to. I’m trying to approach this as though we were now on vacation, and even had a beer for lunch when we arrived around 1:30. I’m sure it will take awhile to process all that is happening in my head and heart, and it all feels pretty unreal for the time being.
This photo is one of the last sunrises we saw before we left with the rays coming through the clouds onto the lake and the mountains in the background. It’s hard to believe I won’t see that again.
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