Our goodbyes have been said, things that we don’t need to take with us have been given away and delivered, we have had our last meal cooked by Michael Patrick (beans and rice which will definitely be remembered as my favorite Malawian dish, Mark would say goat curry), our tab has been paid at the resort and transportation into Lilongwe arranged.
We have also had some hellos today. Mary and Kyle just arrived from Anchorage today and it was great to get to know them a little before we had to go. Also, we took Michael Patrick home so that we could meet his family. He was very proud of his family and his home. There are 3 or 4 houses on his property where he and his in-laws live. Patrick has a nice brick house with a tin roof. It looked like 4 small rooms. He has a wife and four kids from 14 to 7 months. (The last is a boy and is named Gift, not an uncommon name here.) Houses here are very dark. There is just a window or two and even by 5:00 it is getting dusky enough outside that we couldn’t see a thing inside. I shot some photos but I was just shooting into the dark. It’s amazing how well they turn out. But they are able to see just fine. We have lost the ability of night vision, I think. The comparison between the house that Patrick works in every day and his own home is, of course, shocking.
The Nighswander's home
But, there doesn’t seem to be a sense of comparison or being apologetic for his circumstances, he was genuinely proud of what he has and of us being visitors there. All of the in-laws squeezed into the little space to look at us. Patrick could not stop smiling. Then we took pictures of everyone which excited them. Patrick’s children are all well (Gift is a seriously chubby boy) and are in school. Patrick is always extremely clean and neat when he comes to work and we wonder how people stay so clean when they live surrounded by dust, dust, dust. They are doing quite well by Malawi standards.
What a beautiful family! Gift is simply perfect.
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