Sunday, August 19, 2007

AZUNGU FIESTA!!!

There were 42 azungus from America and Australia in my village for the last week. It was a VERY nice break from the monotony of village life. And a lot of 'em are from the Bay Area! It was so awesome seeing them see Malawi with their brand new Africa-eyeballs. For me there isn't much novelty anymore (other than the occasional witch doctor or crazy hitch) so I liked to watch them look at my house, ask about Tukombo, ask about what I do (I felt so smart! I knew the answers to their questions!)
It was just very very nice.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dearest Nephew - loved your recent blog. By the way, when Kathleen and I visit, we'd would love to meet a witch doctor but sans snakes please. (they may be better than our healthcare system, so get some pointers) I emailed the Interplay website. In case you can't download it, I'll mail it. They chronicle some of their trip to Malawi. Interesting.

We were in Palo Alto over the weekend, didn't make it to Berkeley, but did spend some time at the museum on the Stanford campus. Fabulous Rodin exhibit.

Did you get our 'care' package yet?

Love you
Auntie M

Oscar said...

Dear matt,
miss you a lot. went backpacking with danielle and puked up thai food at 10,000 ft. in berkeley doing research with mathematicians and biologists, and possibly even working in the shop.

"the smaller the better!"
-he called himself 'the wiz'

Phil Porter, InterPlay Co-founder said...

Dear Matt,
How wonderfully strange to read your entries and to be able to precisely picture the setting. It was great to meet you on our InterPlay foray to Africa and to get some of your impressions and information. I hope to keep track of your time in Malawi, and perhaps answer some of the questions that I didn't think to ask while I was there!
At each airport on our way home, folks went off in their separate directions. Strange to leave the presence of that large group of willing and excited (and probably naive!) travelers/azungas.
I shared the story that I traveled halfway around the world to meet someone who had shopped at my Berkeley church's thrift store.
Good luck with you work!
Phil Porter

Unknown said...

Hi Matt!! I don't know if you'll remember me, but i was at Tukombo for a while the same time you were doing your project thing. I was the (as i can currently imagine) really short girl with even shorter hair. Do the words "yellow banana" ring a bell? Anyway i just wanted to say hello, so HELLO!! :))