Thursday afternoon in Zomba

Last night I made a new friend. His name is "Master" and he works at the hotel in the restaurant. He has a chef's diploma but can't find a job in northern Malawi in Lilongwe, so he came down to Zomba. (LJ and SK--can you find Lilongwe on the map I gave your mom?) Anyway, Master said you can't get jobs unless you know somebody who owns a restaurant, so he is thinking of leaving Malawi and possibly going to Kenya or South Africa where there are more tourists. He's going to give me his name and information, and I'll give it to people in Kenya!

Master also told me about the election for president that is coming soon. He told me that the old president before this one sent all the corn out of the country, so the people in the country side didn't have anything to eat. Corn (they call it maize) is their main dish. So the people in the country went out into the fields and dug roots to eat. The new president is trying hard to get the country straightened out...sort of like Obama is trying for the US.

Today I went to the teacher development center for awhile, but then we went to a school where teachers have already been trained. The school is where the army houses the soldiers. We saw a lesson on ears and music. The teacher used drums and other instruments and the children enjoyed it. However, there were 70 students in one room, so they could only stand up and sit down....not move around.

When we were driving into the school, many chldren were following the car and running after us. They were pointing at me and saying (in their own language), "There is a white person!" I guess I'm pretty interesting!

A young journalist from Canada (where is that on the map? Not far!) has come to do a story about the project I'm helping with. She won an award from the Canadian government to do stories about projects that are helping people in Africa. Although she was born in Canada, she looks like she's from Asia, so no one points at her!