The Wild, the Wacky, and the Wonderful! There is a first time for everything....

Hello, hello, hello, dear friends and family! I hope that I haven't kept you waiting too long for this new post... all I can say is that I have been keeping VERY busy learning and experiencing lots of new things. Allow me to share just a few of my favourite "firsts" here in the last couple of weeks... 

I got to try sugar cane for the very first time... tasty, definitely a treat for the sweet tooth in me, but would I choose it over chocolate? Probably not!

I caught a crab! Well, it was more like a joined effort, but still very exciting! This little friend was crawling just below my ankles... which goes a long way in explaining the sheer shock on my face! 

 

 

 

I got to "officially" teach here in Malawi! This is a Standard 2 class (equivalent to Grade 2 in Canada) at an International School here in Lilongwe. It was so cool to hear where all of these students came from... Zimbabwe, Zambia, America, Botswana, Scotland, the UK, and all over the world! After being put on the spot to teach, I got asked almost every question you could imagine... Have you been to a Justin Bieber concert? Are you married? Do you have laws about throwing snow at people? And my favourite: Could I please maybe touch your hair?

I rode a Coach bus in Malawi all by myself for the very first time! As you can tell by the photo, no bus in Malawi is ever full... there is always room for more people! Or room for a chicken, as I found out when a lady bought a LIVING chicken on the trip and placed it in her lap for the ride. Could things have gotten any more exciting? Yep! When the chicken escaped from her lap!!...

I went snorkelling for the very first time in my life here in Lake Malawi! (For those of you who know about my swimming abilities, you will definitely realize how close this borders on the miraculous!) After several unsuccessful attempts that resulted in pools of water in my goggles, near panic attacks under water, and slippery sliding on the rocks in the water, I turned out to be pretty okay at this! And the result was definitely worth the effort... All sorts of PHENOMENAL fish of many colours awaited me beneath the surface! WOW!

Of course, for those of you who know me very well, this should require NO explanation at all... Laura eating a banana, really?!? Definitely close to the miraculous!!

And of course, another "first" in the food department... since you all know how much I LOVE food! On my recent weekend trip, I got to try something new for the very first time... TERMITES! Actually, I don't quite remember if they are officially called "flying ants" or "termites," but you get the picture! Since I have vowed to eat anything offered to me here in Malawi, I gave this delicacy a try... let's call them interesting! My host declared me the bravest mzungu (white person) that he has ever met! I will certainly take that as a compliment!

My last "first" to share happened during my time spent shadowing a Clinical Officer at the Daeyang Luke Hospital here in Lilongwe, where I got to watch a baby be born by emergency C-section... I can now tell you from personal experience that there is nothing else in the world like that first cry to bring tears to a person's eyes! I think it is appropriate to say that that tiny baby's first cry is my favourite first of all!