M'nM...Marianne in Malawi - First and Foremost

As much as I enjoy spontaneity, I also enjoy symmetry. It is fitting that since I first posted from Canada, my last post should also be from Canada.

I could write many pages of heavy things - thoughts about mission theology, philosophy, more observations, feelings...oodles of things. But as I was reflecting on how this experience has changed me, I wrote down 3 full pages of "firsts" that happened in these 3 months. I will not share them all, but I want to share, for my last post, highlights from the list of "firsts".

In Malawi was the first time I ever...

...rode in the back of a pick-up truck
...rode on a bicycle taxi
...received a marriage proposal
...turned down a marriage proposal
...ate liver stew, papaya, passion fruit, sugar cane, and pumpkin leaves
...partially learned an African language
...worked with a language interpreter
...hired someone
...had a bath in a bucket
...broke through a lock with a knife
...designed a mixed methods study
...saw chickens running through my garden
...saw baboons running through my garden
...hiked a plateau
...played squash
...roomed with a gecko
...saw a cockroach, mongoose, and a banana tree
...assisted a bee out of a window
...played piano for the church service
...won a T-shirt
...ate rice with my hands
...used a pit latrine
...met someone afflicted with polio
...attended a 3-hour church service
...was called "Mommy" by people of all ages
...bought an original painting
...had dreams where cars had steering wheels on the right

Amongst all the things I did, however significant some were (e.g. assisting a bee out of a window, for those of you who know me well), the foremost of all of these will remain the same, no matter where I go and how long I live. The foremost of all of these is the people I have met along the way. I may lose my T-shirt, and my dreams will revert to driving on the right side of the road, but the footprints that we leave in each others' lives are everlasting. I hope too that for you who couldn't be with me in Malawi, that this blog has left a footprint - to perhaps see things differently, or to further some resolve within you that you already had.

For this blog, this is the end, but to you, I say tsalani bwino (stay well), ndikuyembekeza kuti tionaninso posachedwa (I am hoping that we will see each other again soon).