One more quick update

Camp Sky
Two weeks ago we started Camp Sky, a sort of summer school/camp here in Lilongwe. Each Peace Corps education volunteer sent one or two deserving students to get an experience a little different than what they get in the villages. Although it was riddled with hitches and potential disasters, it turned out to be a big success. It was originally supposed to be two weeks, then with the school calender change it was shortened to one week. Then the Minister of Education told us that students are too busy over their shortened break so we were not permitted to run the camp. After some negotiations he comprimised that it must be cut back to 5 days. So 2 weeks before the camp started we were still scrambling to fit two weeks of fun and learning into 5 days. But in the end the kids had a blast and we did too. For most it was the first time in the capital city (or in any city or large town) so just being there was exciting. There were also toilets and showers, which many kids were using for the first time. In the mornings we had academic classes, and in the afternoons there were fun classes, like tae kwan do, salsa dancing, astronomy, and goat dissections. Zeb played the MC at meals and assembly, and played lots of silly games and repeat after me songs which the kids absolutly loved. It was a long, stressful, sleep deprived week, but it was awesome.
Shane's visit
Immediately after camp sky, my brother Shane flew into Lilongwe for a visit. We were a bit worried because Malawi is having a fuel sshortage right now, and we hired a car to get us around fort he week. Sometimes there is a 8 hour wait just to get diesel or petrol, but we were very fortunate and hit the filling stations at all the right times and never got held up by it. We took off from the airport strait to our site, and the next day went on to Nyika National Park. The park is ont he Nyika plateau, which is only about 60 km north of our house, but since the road there is so out of the way and bumpy, it was a 4-5 hour trip. Nyika was absolutly amazing. I think it now ties the Grand Canyon for my favorite place in the world. After a year in Malawi, I was amazed by the landscape and atmosphere there so different from anywhere else in country. It has cool temps, uninhabited rolling green hills for as far as you can see, and herds of grazing animals on most hillsides. We saw zebra, bushbucks, reedbucks, roan antelopes, and elands. We also saw a few warthogs, almost saw a leopard (our guide pointed it out just as it went over a hilltop), and I saw a hyena. We also saw a massive herd of buffalo that almost charged our car. Unfortunately, the elephants were dispersed to other water sources since the rains have started, so we didn't see them.
An interesting experience that we had while here stems from the fact that we stay at the edge of the Great Rift Valley. In the last year, Zeb and I have felt 3 very small earthquakes (more like slight tremors) at Kacheche. But last week there was an earthquake (I heard 5.9, but haven't comfirmed it) centered in Karonga, which is at the north end of the country. We were eating dinner with our guide at Nyika when it began, and he got a slightly worried look on his face, then ran out the door. The three of us quickly followed, after which I turned to Shane and told him, "oh yeah, we have earthquakes here." It wasn't enough to do any damage around where we were (although in Karonga was a different story. I haven't heard details of the damage yet, but at least one death and several buildings down. Non-reinforced, mud mortared brick houses and earthquakes don't do well together.) but it was a significant rumble still. Throughout the next two days there were about 12-15 more smaller aftershocks.
After Nyika we went back to site. We had a ceremony with village headman and cheifs, teachers, students, and other community members. Shane was given a chicken (which I may or may not butcher and cook myself when we get back) and everyone gave speaches and drank soda.
Then it was onto the beach, where we swam and ate for two days. Shane and Zeb learned a valuable lesson only too late, that a t-shirt does not block the uv rays of the intense Malawian summer sun. Then it was back to Lilongwe and back to Michigan for Shane. It was a great time, and it was great to get to hang out with my brother after more than a year.
And now Zeb and I are headed back to our house, ready to buckle down for another school term. After all the travelling we've done this last term, I'm looking forward to seeing our students again, settling back into a routine, and getting our garden planted.
Merry Christmas to everyone, and be sure to check out more pics at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/tinawaterbury/YearTwoMalawiPics#