From the Warm Heart of Africa

Moni! Muli bwanji?

It's been just under four months, but oh my, it seems so much longer than that since I last posted.
I'm still in Malawi, working for a small grass roots organisation that works in conjunction with the UN and the Malawian Ministry of Health in trying to combat and educate people about HIV/AIDS. Work is incredibly rewarding and there hasn't been a day that I have woken up in the morning and wished I didn't have to get up (yet). The people I'm working with are awesome, but a lot of them are volunteers who come to us for a few months experience and then pack up and go away. In the past two weeks we've said goodbye to four of our volunteers, some who have been there for a month, others who have been here way before Septmeber when I arrived. Goodbye's are so hard, especially when working so closly with people who, in reality, become your family.
Those goodbye's are nothing like the goodbye that we had to say about a month ago to Joseph, a young Malawian who had been working with the organisation since 2007. He was knocked over by a truck one night on his way home and killed. I had only known him for 3 months but he was an amazing young man who always had a smile on his face. He left a massive gap in not just our lives, but in the whole world.

We miss you greatly my friend.

Goodbyes and a hello

Goodbye to that bench outside SOAS that became my regular smoking spot.
Goodbye to the SOAS library, my regular haunt.
Goodbye to my room that overlooks Cartwright Gardens.
Goodbye to Russell Square, where on the sunniest days London had to offer I spent sprawled on the grass.
Goodbye SOAS. When I decide to take up my PhD, I'll return.
And goodbye to the people who have allowed me to become a part of their lives for this year. With any hope, life wont keep us apart for too long, and with no doubt we'll keep in touch.

And hello Malawi...come this Thursday that is.

Nice weather is not good, not good at all when you're trying to write a dissertation that wont write itself! It's tempting, this nice weather, it's distracting. Because everytime you look out of your fully opened window and then back down at your laptop you get the urge to throw the laptop out of the window and go smothering yourself in sun tan lotion and bask in the sun.

Been back in London for a while now.

I've been looking over the photos I took in Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentia, Uruguay and it seems like a life time ago. But with every photo I recount the days and find myself smiling.

And then I look at the photos of Aimee and Angela all crinkly and pink and think of the next generation of this family. I look at the photo's of Auntie Susu with her arms wrapped around me smiling brilliantly and I think about a generation who has lost their homeland. I look at the pictures of Dana, Lamees, Adam and me laughing hysterically in a restaurant and think of a generation that is trying to cope with two worlds.

Anyway, I have my dissertation to grapple with now...

peace out!

In Detroit

My South American came to an end yesterday. I didn't do as many Latino countries as I had hoped but hey...

My cousin Dana gave birth to healthy twins, both beautiful girls, Aimee and Angela (don't ask me why she gave them English names - so much for conserving our Palestinian/Arab heritage!)

Was in Uruguay

I LOVE Argentina! (now that's not the right way to start a post about Uruguay!) But anyhoo I Love it! Love it! It's hustle and it's bustle! Maybe I would have loved Brazil but becuase either I was confined to the four walls of my hotel room being sick in to the toilet or walking around groggy and feeling like shit that it didn't leave a nice impression on me.



Anyhooo, I got talking to a couple of uni friends who I met at a cafe in Buenes Aires and they told me to come along with them for an excursion to just over the border to Uruguay. And so we did, to the coatal town of Colonia to be exact. We took the 'fast ferry' from Puerto Madero which took us just under an hour.
A guy at the port told us to go straight to the historic touristy section which all about 5 minutes away. Compared to BA it's so quiet and quaint with cobblestoned streets. There are many shops that sell hand-made pottery, wood-carvings, and original jewelry.

After lunch we climbed a lighthouse which stands at the corner of the old historic city next to the ruins of a convent, which we climbed and had an amazingly beautiful 360 degree view of the city, ocean, and across to Buenos Aires. Stunning views, but by that time my camera had died!

In Argentina

Got over the illness that had plagued me during my stay in Brazil and am enjoying Buenas Aires. I keep singing different songs from Evita in my head. Hehehe.

I've been wandering around the port area and historic area in the centre of town the last couple of days. Viisited the Casa Rosada where famous people have stood on the balcony to address the crowds, namely Eva Peron and Diego Maradonna!

Today I discovered the neighbourhood of San Telmo which was once populated by aristocratic families. After the yellow fever ourbreak the big mansions that belonged to high class families became squats where large numbers of people lived. I wandered the streets looking at the crumbling mansions and walked through an antiques market and watched some people perform a tango. Was fabulous. I wish I could dance like that!