A Taste of Home

Hello!

After a week of warm weather that made me certain the hot, dry weather of October was coming quickly, I woke up to a pleasant and cool Seattle style fall day this morning. There is even a cool breeze. It feels fantastic!

This week, Marco and I made two trips to the site to check on progress and to verify that everything was accurate. On Tuesday, Steve Mtewa, the head of infrastructure for PIH, accompanied us. It was his first time to see the site since we broke ground and he was surprised with the progress that had been made so far. It's early, but I think that is a good sign.

Thursday we returned to the site to find the majority of the excavation done and the workers had started to make cement blocks that will form the foundation of the clinic. It is amazing to see all of the hard work that has gone into this project, and it has only been a little over a week since we broke ground. We brought a crate of Cokes for the workers. It was a hot day and we felt they deserved it.

Logistically, there are a few items to get sorted out before concrete begins, but my next post should show footings in the ground and the start of the building!

By now I have settled into life here in Neno, and the most exciting part of my day, not work related, is usually going for a run, doing a workout, or playing football. I apologize for the lack of thrilling events, but such is life.

Friday was an emotional roller coaster. I woke up at 4 am in order to listen to the Coug game via a radio app on my phone. That's enough of that topic, and anybody that knows me, knows where on the roller coaster I was when I went to the office at the end of the game. Some frustrating email later, and the coaster hadn't started back up yet. I spent the rest of the morning playing around with photo editing. While I love taking photos, I don't know hardly anything about digital editing, so I figured it was worth my time. I decided to play with creating a partial black and white from a shot I took on site the other day.

In the afternoon, the car of the coaster continued to climb after a productive phone call. Email can be great, but it is so much easier to be clear over the phone. The rollercoaster hit a peak and leveled off for the rest of the day when I went to the post office to pick up a package. It was from Mom! It had some essentials (socks, sperrys, a shirt) and a bunch of goodies. There was also a 12 flag, Go 'Hawks!, that I have a strong feeling is thanks to Gramma Julie and here cousin Sylvia. Thanks! The Seahawks had a part in raising funds for this project, so I am excited to take it on site with me.

I'm curious to see how long any of it lasts. I also baked a pumpkin pie this morning, so there are sweets galore. Lucky the pie is on the healthy end with barely any added sugar in it. I know, why did decide on making a pie? There was a pumpkin here, it was still good, and I decided it needed to be used.

Last night had a riveting game of Settlers of Catan, followed by a long game of Spades. I don't know if I have ever played Settlers in the States, but it has been a staple of being abroad, in both India and now here in Malawi.

I leave you with another bug, they're starting to show up more and more, two "matching" trucks, and the sunset.

Cheers!