Wednesday, 24 August 2016

Things I will & won't miss when I get home:

My bored list-making at the airport...


Things I won't miss:

Unreliable power
Cold showers
My permanently orange dusty dirty feet
DOXY-frickin-CYCLINE and the inability to have normal skin whilst taking it!
Weird tasting water
The random grimy men trying to hit on me
Being a "muzungu" and not being able to go anywhere without people staring or treating me differently
The guilt when I don't give someone money who clearly needs it
Walking everywhere with my backpack that's bigger than me and my backpack sandwich
The lack of personal bubbles on matolas/minibuses
"Malawi-time", where 10minutes= 1hour (although at times charming)
Smelly fish! Eurgh!
Mosquitos, flies and ants
Gross dorm beds, and loud snorers




Things I will miss:
The Butterfly Space and all the locals, volunteers and staff I met there (apart from Brian & Mickey...!)
The kids I taught at Butterfly, especially Priscilla, Sheilla, Matthews, Leonard, Charles, Doreen, Semolina and Ez
Being called "madam" or "teacher"
Being able to make friends with other backpackers much quicker than in normal situations. And meeting people from all over the world who have the same common interest- travelling
Dapp! All the markets
Chitenje- practical, multifunctional and beautiful
The Bawo game (although I might have to buy a board and take it back with me!)
The incredibly photogenic countryside, animals (especially the rainbow skink lizards), vegetation (baobabs!), people and views. 
Being able to buy literally anything wherever you go, from bananas to Yorkshire pudding-like donuts (mandasi).
Being able to greet any and every person I pass in the street and it not be weird.
Being called "sister", like all other Malawian women
The ability to spend an hour doing absolutely nothing
The independence
The backpacking lifestyle of complete and utter spontaneity


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