Friday Morning Big E and I were heading to Lilongwe. I had to renew my visa (which was ridiculous for saying only 1 week more) and Big E had a few things he had to do. The ride took just over 2 hours.
We left at 6 in the morning and headed to town. There is still a fuel shortage going on here so we kept that in mind as we made the trek.
As we reached Lilongwe we went to the immigration office and there were lines of people everywhere. Great, I thought, we are going to be here all day.
We exited the vehicle and headed up there and just kind of walked in and talked to a guy, got the form, went and paid for it and left. It took no more than 45 minutes and I was very happy about that. The lack of organization and management was not around today.
So we headed and finished a few other things and then went to Teresa's house. Teresa is a long time friend of the Priests and she has 4 children. Jessica (13), Veronica/Vera(11), Lucy(9) and Olivia(7). When we got there not much happened, we had lunch and Big E went to rest.
As Teresa and I were talking, I mentioned to her how I liked to cook and she immediately asked me to cook dinner. I could not say no.
So we went to the market and went to buy different vegetables and meats. While there people were asking her if I was her husband. We laughed, and left. Although while there I saw a guy with a Texas Tech t-shirt but I feel if I threw him the Guns Up he would think of it as an offense or something.
Olivia
We finished the night with my meal. It was rice along with sausage and different vegetables. And we called it a night. The next day (Saturday) we hung out at the house and I had quite a time with the daughters. They could not stop asking me questions, I mean non-stop. Father Stephen came at 3 and we left for Bowe.
When we returned dinner was ready and we ate and then slept.
The next day we went to mass and then I had to decide what to do. Well there is a nice little mountain just outside Bowe I decided to climb:
Well I headed off for this quick journey....which turned into not quick at all. After figuring out how to cross a river I was then guided by the governor of a collection of villages for about an hour walk through the bush and brought to a road. I had my GPS with me from the start recording my movement so when I returned home I would have no problem finding my path.
I finally reached the base of the mountain at 1:34:45 and I started climbing.
I passed to boys on the way as I was going up.
I finally reached the top and took my shoes off and laid down and enjoyed the view. It was truly a view, mostly sky which was very enjoyable.
On the rock
My View
I started to pack up and looked behind me and those two boys had followed me up to the top and were sitting down. So I went back to them and motioned it was time to go down, so they led me down.
They took me down a much easier path than I had used before all the way to the base. I felt obliged to give them something for helping me and luckily I had two candy bars in my bag so I gave them over and the boys were delighted.
Here are the boys which helped me
I made my way back and I pulled out my GPS to find my way and.....crap.....I realized that it froze almost at the beginning of my trip. "Well," I thought, "how are you going to get out of this one? You will get home but you need to figure out a way."
So I sat there for a few minutes and came up with a great solution.
I looked at the pattern my boot made on the ground, luckily it was sand. And I tracked myself back to Bowe.
It took a lot longer as I had to check multiple paths and sometimes double back because I missed a path. But I successfully used tracking to find my way home. I just needed a cute girl around which I could have impressed.
I finally made it home after 4 1/2 hours and was quite relieved. I could barely walk and was more than happy to see a beer.
I took the rest of the night off.
This morning Little E and I celebrated mass at 5:30.
There is not much going on this week as I am preparing to fly back to the States on Friday. Just organizing and cleaning and preparing my drawings.
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