Today has been a bit discombobulated.....

So today I had a meeting with a client booked for mid-morning in Blantyre, so stayed at home instead of going to the office so that I could stroll up into town, and then pop in to the Malawi Sun hotel to order a cake for Friday, my last day in the office.  Unfortunately, the meeting was postponed half an hour before it was scheduled, so I just went to the Malawi Sun.  I ordered the cake to pick up at 07.30-ish on Friday morning, and then called Arthur to come and pick me up in Daisy.  I had a coffee in the food hall whilst I was waiting.  He wasn't very long at all, so I left the (average) coffee unfinished and we drove back to Business Consult Africa.

I no longer have a desk in the office due there not being enough space right now, so I perch on the edge of other peoples' desks as best I can.  At lunchtime, I get some cash from Peter and walk along the Chipembere Highway to buy my coach ticket for Monday morning from the AXA Coach booking office.  There was a very loud religious/church event taking place on some land next to the national stadium, with marquees and big crowds.  Turns out it was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a particular church in Blantyre, and it was quite apparent from the noise that everyone was enjoying themselves.

I walked on to the Chichiri Shopping Centre to get something to eat, but didn't find anything that took my fancy, so just walked back to the office.

Yet another different new face..

Julie Balch arrived this morning on the AXA coach from Lilongwe (welcome Julie), and Natasa and I went off in the van to pick  her up from the bus stop.  Julie lives in a part of the world I know well - Kelsall is a village in Cheshire where I lived in a property called Poplar Cottage, which was a real roses round the door type of country cottage.  This was quite some time ago (I've got a photo a home of me in my pram outside the house). Julie is the hospitality sector expert that the team has been setting up the seminar for, and it's looking very positive.

The internet in the office was playing up, just for a change, and I had some important emails to send and receive, so we drove back to the house, and showed Julie around.  Natasa drove Daisy back to the office and I stayed and worked.  Julie got herself settled in and then went for a walk into town (she got back safely!).

I had a Skype call with "Eoghan the boss" in Edinburgh about various things, and made some progress on setting up meetings in Lilongwe for my final couple of days in Malawi, looking to assess the possibilities of additional projects there for CBE.  Those days are starting to look increasingly busy.  In very many ways I'm sad that I'm not going to be able to take some time off to go exploring more of this wonderful country, but on the other hand I'm glad that I'm going to be fully-occupied until my flight leaves.

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.