24 November, 2004 - 08:11

Today was the first day that Mustafa and Hussein haven't swept the back and front yard. It makes sense, the rainy season has arrived and logically sweeping wet dirt would not make sense. It's raining and I'm filled with the same mixture of euphoria and flatness that I felt during the rainy season in Japan. Somehow, it is equated with not having to do work, although I know this is really not the case.

Shannon, Jessica and I are leaving for Zambia tomorrow on a four-day safari. I wonder how it will be? It was very expensive (300US$) but every safari is very expensive and to do a safari on one's own would be 1) stupid because you have the great potential of being trampled by a herd of elephants whilst sleeping and, 2) expensive anyway because you would need a car and to bring a lot of petrol from the lack of filling stations.

So we are doing a tour. I just got a text message from Roger who said that our guard, Mustafa, and our cat, Gorbachev, saved us while we were sleeping from a big, brown Cobra that was sitting on our side patio. When Pernille and I left this morning, we also noticed a white snake, coiled up in the rock garden enjoying the rain. Now, I'm asking myself if the Cobra will still be there upon our return. And if it is there upon our return and it was on our side patio, would it make sense that it might decide to sneak through our windows and into our house? Once, again: welcome to Malawi. Another welcome to Malawi story: I have been calling and faxing the immigration department to get my visa extension. Everytime I ring up, they say that Mr. Mulkodhya is out of the office. Finally today I have spoken to Mr. Mulkodhya and it seems that he has lost the three faxes I sent to him and to please, "re-fax" it. When I went to the immigration office here in Lilongwe, they needed to use my phone to call the Blantyre office because they didn't have a phone. This country's government is fucked.