Club Mak

Well time is ticking away and it's almost time to come home. What an awesome experience!! :)

We are currently at Club Makokola on Lake Malawi. This is a true vacation! I just finished watching the sunset into beautiful purple and blue skies. We are preparing for dinner and traditional dancing in about one hour. This place is the most "touristy" place in Malawi. I'm not allowed to swim in the lake because of "parasites" so I had to settle for a pool! I guess that will do for now!! We arrived here at about 1pm after touring a small village in Mangochi. We were greeted with fresh juice and then went to our rooms to put down our stuff. We all immediately changed into our swim suits and hit the beach!

The past few days have been very busy!! Yesterday was our last day in the schools and it was an emotional day for all. Saying goodbye to my kids was so hard. They were so great, and I'll miss them very much. After class the teachers held a goodbye meeting for us in the office. Everyone said tearful thank you's and shared experiences. After everyone who wanted spoke, they presented us with gifts. This was very unexpected and unnecessary. We all were so surprised and grateful... we each received a traditional chitenje... except Jeff of course! A chitenje is a long wrap skirt that most women in Africa wear. Our's are a teal blue color with large brown circles. I can't wait to wear mine at the beach!

I also wanted to share one day in Mr. Chitenje's class. Each day Mr. Chitenje and I agreed that I would teach a lesson on science and technology. Last Friday the lesson was on indegenous technologies. I brought in pipecleaners to allow the stuents to create a 3-D version of the techonolgy of their choice. They worked in groups to create 8 different technologies. (hoe, morter, bow and arrow, and my favorite... cell phone!) I cannot even begin to explain how excited these kids were. They had never seen a pipe cleaner, but I think they were even more blown away that they were allowed to do it by themselves. The sculptures turned out so amazing and I hung them up in the classroom. One thing that blew me away more than anything was when I brought the objects into the teacher's office. The teachers were astonished that the kids were able to make them by themself. Frankly, I don't think they did believe they made them. It was a big shock to me that these people had so little faith in the talents of their students. I truely think this simple lesson made a big impact on these kids, and I hope it boosted their confidence in their abilities quite a bit!

Tomorrow we will head to Lilongwe and then Friday we will fly home! We are all tired and worn out. I think everyone is a little tired of each other as well because there has been a little bickering... but I guess that is expected when 18 people have to spend so much time together with no break. I'm excited to go home, but will defienently miss Malawi!

Anyone who misses me... I really, really, really miss American food... especially Matt's Dad's ceasar salad ;) I would love other food as well! :)

Love, Beth