'That's about what our household earns per week'

I had to look up 'Malawi" in Wikipedia. The entry told me that the country of Malawi was born a month after I was, November 1962. If you are unfamiliar with the realities of poverty in small countries, I recommend your brace yourself before reading further in the article. Here a few hints. Malawi's exports value only $596 US dollars per person, per year. That's about what our household earns per week. And according to a 2005 Food and Agriculture Organization report 25% of the population would not have enough food to survive that year. Being who I am, I am appreciative to have learned this sad stuff about Malawi, but I am unable to spend more time at this moment learning more.

So I move on to a more optimistic sector of information, the music of Malawi. I find out something fascinatingly unexpected. "Malawians have long been travellers, and as a result their music has spread across the African continent" And that in the late 1960s Malawi had its own form of jazz which "has little in common with its American namesake" based on traditional acoustic music. These days there is a folkfusionist group from Malawi called Pamtondo, (site heading is 'Where a little of Malawi meets the world in Scotland')

Pamtondo refers to women at the mortar pounding flour, and a wonderful painting or mural of this is HERE. After reading about the famine in Malawi, the name of the group has even more resonance. And then I read this ARTICLE about the meaning of the music and its connection to women by John Lwanda. GREAT article. Please read it if you are at all interested in African jazz.

Then I decided since I was 'there' I'd learn more about that area of Scotland (Bothwell). I had learned (in the Wiki article) that the first European in Malawi had been Dr. David Livingstone. And here on the Pamtondo site I learn that John Lwanda lives across the river from Dr. David Livingstone's birthplace. Small small world indeed.

On the Pamtondo website they mention "the famous Tunnocks Bakery"in Uddingston so of course, being hungry for breakfast, I had to find out what they are famous for. Ah! they are famous for Tunnocks Tea Cakes and Caramel Wafers. Hmm. Maybe our local Hillers carries them. I'll check next time I'm there. But wait! Someone has said (on a site about Strathclyde's best bakeries) that Tunnocks makes "the best Scotch Pies ever".
What is a Scotch Pie?

You know, I found a recipe for Scotch pie on a site called rampantscotland.com (love the name)
It seems to be a sort of mutton or lamb pie (source of the endearment 'Lambie Pie'?)
here is a link to the SCOTCH PIE recipe
And now to explore Rampant Scotland dot com
Hmm. This may take a while. their header says
13,000+ Scottish-related Links, regularly updated. 3,700 Web page features on Scotland and the Scots.

I'd better get some breakfast first.