Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July! It is officially the fourth of July here in Malawi and all of us folk here representing the good old USA have had our fun and are more or less all tuckered out. We had quite the celebration on the third; there was an official gathering at the US ambassadors house, the Peace Corps volunteers commandeered the local youth hostels as our hangout spots, and we danced the night away at more than a few of the local watering holes. And now, your faithful narrator is awake in the wee hours of the morning compiling this monologue.
Life at site has been a roller coaster of highs and lows thus I certainly needed to blow off a little steam. Just being with my peers acting like, and I use the term loosely, a “normal-twenty-something-year-old” was quite a relief. We made dick and fart jokes, we ate hamburgers, we went out dancing, and perhaps most importantly we imbibed alcoholic beverages. Ah, what a pleasant release from all the constraints of site.
Locals considering me getting water for myself ridiculous, waiting long amounts of time for transport, and the treacherous, uneven, long road that leads me to my house all work against me. But I take it in stride and get through it. Things appear to be coming together, slowly but surely. I’m holding some meetings soon to start tree nurseries and a nature club with the children. Last week I taught how to make mud stoves and I’ve got more “seminars” scheduled for the coming weeks. The work will come slowly with patience. People here love to chat and thus make friends before doing work. Opposite of the way my mind is structured. But anyway.
I’ve been reading a lot; lots of travel books, Chinese, and various development related thing to be specific. A fellow volunteer passed a wealth of environment materials on to me and another gave me some business teaching materials. Learning is a key part of Peace Corps work. There is a man who wants to make a fishpond and I know nothing about aquaculture, but I’m learning. I suppose that is one of the good things that college does for you, is provides you with ample opportunity to practice independent learning. Seems to be serving me well, ha ha!
I just want to add this random story to the mix of mangled thought I’m throwing onto the internet: There was a piece of Kraft cheese in a singlet package languishing on a table at the ambassadors house when the party was over. The cleaners would certainly have just thrown it out, so I snatched up this valuable commodity and put it in my breast pocket. I had full intention to eat it later after digesting a couple things. But what actually went down was that I got drunk and went out dancing where it became a prop that was shaken around by many volunteers in place of many 100 dollar bills. We made it rain in the club . . . rain cheese. Love ya'll take care!