Veg Delight Night

Dosa at Veg Delight

So come Friday evening we set off to Veg Delight.  It's a vegetarian indian restaurant in the centre of Blantyre and the food is pretty good and reasonably priced.  I had a dosa, but a different one to the one I had last time, and it was really good.

After that, Nataša and Nishi wanted to go for a drink somewhere they hadn't been before, so we drove to the Blue Elephant.  At lunchtime, Rob at Mustang Sally had been a bit disparaging about the place, saying that it was a bit rough - I hadn't been aware of any problems there before, and I've been there with a mixed group, so clearly Rob was being a bit unfair.

So what happens when we walk through the door, but both Nataša and Nishi are approached straight away by a youngish Malawi male (a bit the worse for wear) who looked as though he was about to make an improper suggestion.  The next thing was that several unaccompanied young ladies came into the bar clearly looking for business.  Just goes to show how aware of things I am!  We finished our drinks and left.

Back to the office

This morning I went in to the offfice, and what a pleasure it was to have the network up and running again.  It was great to see everyone after my few days working elsewhere.

We had our usual Consultants/Apprentices meeting, where we review the week, and discuss any and all issues that the group has had over the previous five days (from now on I'm going to refer to them as junior consultants [JCs], because they have made great strides since they first started, and I don't particularly like the term "apprentice" in this context).   It's a useful opportunity to pick up early any concerns that they have so that they can be readily dealt.  Overall, this week has been a good one for them, because they're working on a project to organise a seminar for the hospitality sector.  A new consultant, Julie Stuart, is coming out from the UK this week, and she's an expert in the hospitality sector, so the seminar is being arranged as a marketing device to raise interest from hotels, lodges, bars, tourist locations and others.  It will also allow the sector to get some European insights into how to boost revenues and profits going into the future.

The JCs seem to have really enjoyed themselves on this project, because they've had to work hard to produce good ideas for the seminar, as well as learning about how to develop and market an event of this sort.  Nataša is the "owner" of the project, and my contribution has focused on helping the JCs with understanding the marketing aspects, especially with things like brochure design.  It has also been a good exercise for them in working together as a team, and as such has been a very useful activity.

Alas, I'll be gone by the time the seminar actually takes place, but I'm sure it will prove to be a success.

Nataša and I went to renew our visas this morning - quite a moment for me because it's my last visa renewal in Malawi.  Time seems to be flying by so fast right now as my stay in Malawi comes towards its end.  Every day something happens that brings it home to me that I'll be leaving soon, and that just gives me a whole heap of mixed emotions.  I desperately want to see Jan and David again as soon as possible, but at the same time I know I'm going to miss all the friends I've met here.  I know in a couple of weeks time I'm going to be an emotional mess!

Mustang Sally Club

Still, when the office closed at lunchtime, Nataša, Nishi and I repaired to Mustang Sally's for a quick libation. Rob was desperately keen that we should come back in the evening as well, but we are planning to head off to Veg Delight for dinner, so probably won't.

Global Freezing

You can forget this global warming stuff.  It's really cold here.  Really cold.  Very cold indeed.  And I don't want to hear how hot it is in the UK, thank you very much.

Last night the wind got up, and it started to rain heavily in the early hours.  It carried on raining just about all day.  It stayed cold all day. What is more, my cold/flu/man-flu has worsened significantly.  So both Nataša and I stayed at home all day whilst Nishi took herself off to the office.

Nataša confined herself to bed with her computer and phone, surfacing from time to time for some tea and lemon.  I sat in the lounge on the computer desk, with pills and tissues never far from my side.  You may have gathered I am now officially feeling sorry for myself!  Still, I got a lot of work done again, and there are indications that the office comms situation may now be resolved.  I'll wait for confirmation of this in the morning before I actually venture in, but fingers crossed.

The Flames

It was apparently very busy in the Chichiri area (where our office is), because we are close neighbours with the national football stadium, and Malawi played Botswana this afternoon in a qualifier for the 2012 African Cup of Nations (Malawi are known as the Flames).  Sitting here with the sniffles, wearing the thickest clothes I've got, I felt a pang of sympathy with the football fans sitting in an uncovered stand as the rain bucketed down.

The match, I gather, ended in a 1:1 draw, but I gather that many of the Malawi supporters were less than pleased with the result.  The other teams in Malawi's group are Chad and Tunisia.  Alas there isn't another game before I leave, so I won't get to see the Flames play.

This evening I'm "looking forward" to watching the England v Hungary match, and just hoping that there's an improvement in the performance from the rubbish served up in the World Cup.  At least it can't get much worse (..... or can it?).

Happy Birthday to Clem and Jen

Due to problems with the office network and internet connection, I worked from home today.  It's not ideal to be away from the office, but as my big project is finishing this week, I can't afford to be out of email communication with the project team, some of whom are in the UK.  So until it's sorted, I'll have to sit it out in the house.  On the upside, I managed to get loads of work done today, and made good progress, including getting another consultancy proposal out.

Towards the end of the day, Arthur came out to the house to pick me up as I had to get some kwacha, because I was rapidly running out. Nataša, Nishi and I then popped up to the supermarket to reprovision the house with water, and for Nataša to pick up something from the pharmacy to help with her developing flu symptoms.  I have a great deal of sympathy with her because I'm feeling a little under the weather as well (sigh).

But there was no time for self-pity, because at 5.30pm I went round to Clem and Jen's house for a sun-downer get-together to celebrate their birthdays. They'd prepared various nibbles and dips, and there was plenty to drink as well.  They've got two dogs that were so well behaved - didn't even try to take a sniff of the food, and just wandered around looking for people to stroke them.

A good crowd turned up and we chatted outside (while the wind started to get up).  A number of people there had gone to Mulanje last weekend and walked up, staying overnight in a hut at the top.  Apparently a fine time was had by all, except for the porter who got to carry Kevin's bag (the one with all the booze in it).

Doogles

Eventually we moved on to Doogles for another beer, and then homewards.

Good news too that Kevin invited me to his party on Saturday night, so that's the weekend sorted!

Is winter coming to an end?

Today was the warmest day since I've been in Malawi.  Absolutely lovely.  I had a very nice stroll into town to pick up something for my lunch, and it was so nice to feel the warmth of sun.  I'm told that we're likely to see some unsettled weather for the next couple of days, but I'm assured that it will then start to warm up again (hopefully in time for me to have a bit of sun before I depart.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart

24th one of these - the girl deserves a medal and an OBE.

Two Lovely People

I've just finished a Skype call with Jan.  She'd had a really nice day with lots of phone calls with friends, and then was invited round to neighbours Bob & Barbara - I gather there was a delicious steak & kidney pie on offer, so I'm now really jealous.  I've been so pleased that all our friends have taken the time to look out for Jan, so thanks to one and all.  Cheers Bob & Barbara.  I'll be round for my slice of pie in a month's time!

Happy Birthday, Bro

It's my brother's birthday today - Happy Birthday, Rob.

Another new face arrives....

This morning I went up to the Malawi Sun hotel in Blantyre to pick up a couple of scones for breakfast from the really good bakery in the hotel's food court.  Then back to the house for a spot of work.

At around 11:15 I headed off in Daisy to the Blantyre Lodge to pick up Nishi who has arrived to start her time here on the project, having got a call from Lilongwe to confirm that she was on the 7am AXA coach.

I've no idea what the ladies are doing wrong, but just as with Nataša, Nishi's luggage didn't arrive in Lilongwe with her flight.  They say that the bag should arrive in Lilongwe today, so hopefully we'll get a call to go and get it from the airport tomorrow.

In the meantime, Nishi is now getting some rest, and the three of us will head off for a bite to eat later on this evening.