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I awaken to the sounds of crowing roosters and the village coming to life at dawn. There is no muslim call to prayer as I was use to in Koza. About three AM there were two dogs that decided to howl in unison for a few minutes. The wind sounded very strong about two AM. I awoke to chatter of the wind on the thatched roof and walls. I was immeadiately worried if this two storied thatched structure would collapse on us as we slept. After about a half hour and asking God to again protect us, i drifted off to sleep, until the dogs howled.

Now i sit 10 feet from lake malawi. Women with children tied their backs, wash cloths in the edge of the lake. Also last nights dishes are scrubbed with sand to get the soot off the outside then cleaned inside as well. Little naked boys 1-10 race around kickboxing with eachother and playing in the water. A few little girls play in the sand and others wash dishes and clothes with their mothers. In the distance a few dougout canoes return with their early morning catch.

Yesterday we hired a boat to take us out to see the fish eagles. We went to their area around an island that is clearly visible from land. Our guide would throw out fish and when they chose to, the would swoop down and snag the fish out of the water and fly back up to a crag and eat it. We got some great pictures of the catch. Then we went to another area and snorkeled. There were hundreds of fresh water tropical fish. Some were blue with black stripes. Others yellow wih a black pen stripe down each side, light blue with oeange dorsal fins, black with thin blue stripes, black with yellow dots… Variations were endless. I am constantly amazed by the beauty of creation that remains after many centuries of decline. I cannot wait for the day when the pain of this world is gone and we on e again are able to enjoy Heaven, they way God wanted us to live in the first place. How beautiful that will be!!! Im glad He’s given us glimpses of that, still seen on earth. Jesus, come and take us from this pain!

Today we head back to Malamulo. It has been such a peaceful time and I feel rejuvinated.

As Im writing this, a little girl, in a skirt walks up to the women on the beach and takes off her skirt and t-shirt then turns around grabbing her privated. Oops its a boy, and he is peeing on the beach facing me. I howl with laughter, then he lays down with criends on a small piece of burlap bag he had drug out with him. Now he scrapes the charcoal out of a pot and eats some then finishes washing it in the lake scrubbing the burned stuff with beach sand.

Other foriginers get into kayaks to go to the islands. Other caucasion kids that must be local, run around speaking chichewa and playing with the kids on the beach. Its neat that appear so comfortable. I dont know if I could ever feel the same way.

A mass of children run around doing karate moves on eachother as they have seen on a movie.

I see another naked girl, and immeadiately notice her umbilical hernia. At approximately 8 it wont close by itself and she likely will need surgery. Our training constantly effects how we view life and events around us. I stop writing my letter to you in preparation to take a swim. The water is very smooth today. Two weeks has flown by and one more remains.

Greg

So Thursday we traveled up to Lilongwe then out to Cape McClear on the southern edge of Lake Malawi. I am continually amazed at the lack of plastic bags along the side of the road. There was the usual people walking and others riding their bikes. We passed many bikes with bags of charcoal piled high on the back. It always amazes me the amount of weight that can be carried on those bike tires. Once arriving in Lilongwe Cristy went to the Health department. I borrowed her car and went to the shopping area. I was amazed that I was in Africa, as I was walking around a strip mall and there were quite a few different stores. Shoprite was like a Wal-Mart and there were book stores, banks, Fast Chicken, Horizon Grill… I avoided the curio market as it is suppose to be the most expensive in the country.
Also on the way up there we stopped at Dedza. There is a pottery shop that caters to tourists. They had nice items that were colored and fired with glaze. Beautiful work. We browsed for about a half hour.
After Cristy was done we drove west towards the Lake. It was a winding beautiful road, however when we got near the lake it was already dark. We arrived at our bungalow hotel in the evening.
I awoke this morning to the sound of children laughing and playing. A cat meowed loudly. And Cristys phone was ringing. It was 6:30AM. I peaked out the window and saw the beautiful sight of the lake spreading to the horizon with two large islands in it. A long sandy beach spread in both directions. What a beautiful place. I arranged the slit in the mosquito net to not allow any visitors into my sleeping area then headed outside. I ordered an omelet at the bar and about an hour later it was ready and they brought it out to me. At about nine we headed out to the point where there were large rocks to play on and blue water to swim in. Someone had brought snorkel sets and I snorkeled. What beautiful fish! They are called Cichlids. They are a tropical fish that is fresh water. There were blue striped ones, yellow and black ones, various shades of tan, and green. All in various shades and patterns. Schools of them swam around me. Someone threw in some bread and there was a feeding frenzy around us. We shared them with the group. I went in repeatedly for another look. We stayed there a number of hours till we were all tired and hungry. Then we headed back to the beach we parked at. As we drove up there initially there was a random guy that offered to prepare food for all of us. So someone had agreed. We found some monkeys pacing around about six guys cooking food over an open fire. There were plates and spoons for all of us and food! Rice, potatoes, fish, greens, and a cabbage salad. We ate our fill then Cristy and I decided to walk down the beach about 1.5 miles. We took pictures of naked children playing in the small waves and women washing pots and cloths in the water. Men taking baths in their swimsuits at lake edge. We arrived back around 4PM. Then we went swimming again with the schistosoma. There is a swim platform out about 100 feet from shore what we swam to. I sat out there a while till the sun set with beautiful colors across the water. We sit here under the thatched roof gazebo with a breeze and bugs, typing to you all.

Greg