I realized looking back at my previous posts that I had promised a description of Blantyre which I haven’t given yet. The start of this week has been occupied mostly with more technology surveys which I have already discussed quite a bit, so I figured now was an appropriate time to write this post.

Blantyre has a population of 650,000, which is roughly the size of Denver, Colorado. It is surrounded on almost all sides by mountains, including Mt. Magete which is the third tallest mountain in Africa. As one of the largest cities in Malawi, Blantyre is unique from a lot of the rest of the country in that it has a lot of poverty but also a lot of significant wealth. There are large banks and car dealers that look entirely American, with big glass windows and gated parking lots. We have also glimpsed sides of the city itself that seems to house some very nice office buildings and commercial areas. At the same time, we have seen some of the less affluent parts of the city that act as a reminder that Malawi is not the US. We see children leading blind grandmothers around the markets asking for change, and people walking through town without shoes on their feet. Malawi has a per capita GDP of $900 (the US’s is $52,800), and it is considered one of the poorest and most densely populated countries in the world. This fact may be less apparent in the parts of Blantyre we spend most of our time, but it is nonetheless true in the city.

One of the most colorful and interesting parts of the city is the Blantyre market. The market is very large, and it offers not only produce but also street food, fabric, electronics, clothes and shoes. As a visitor, I have learned that it is important to hold your ground when bargaining or you could easily be subjected to prices much higher than what they tend to charge locals. Employing the little chichewa I know always helps. The produce market sells almost anything you could think of; fresh vegetables, fruits such as bananas, oranges, and apples, passionfruit, pumpkins, eggs, garlic and ginger, coconut, papaya, avocado, and even live chickens. We have also bought popcorn kernels and dried hibiscus flowers which you soak in boiling water to make tea. We tried what is called a “national cucumber” which looked like a small cucumber that had long spikes protruding from all sides of the fruit. Even though we didn’t know what to expect, we were somewhat disappointed in the national cucumber- it tasted like an unfortunate combination of a lime, a cucumber, and an onion. In the breads and dry goods section, they sell something called an “Obama roll” which is a large, puffy bread roll. Thandie from the office told me that the bread was so named because it is a beautiful roll, and the people in Malawi consider President Obama to be beautiful too.

It is also always exciting to explore the other parts of the market as well. We have found a lot stands with a lot of beautiful chitenge fabrics, and I think after our six or so weeks in Blantyre we have made a pretty significant contribution to the income of some of those merchants. The chitenge is a 2×1 meter piece of cotton fabric which serves indiscriminate uses in Malawi. Women tie them around their waists and wear them as skirts, and sometimes wrap them around their heads in a turban-like manner. Sometimes they will tie the chitenges around their backs with  young children inside of them, so that the infants rest on their mother’s backs and the moms can have both hands free. Around the hospital chitenges are laid out like picnic blankets as families wait for their loved ones inside. On cold days people wrap up in them to stay warm, and in the church service we attended they were even included in some of the hymns as props. All around the city men sit outside on the streets with sewing machines, and you can bring your fabric to them to make you a dress or a pair of pants.

Unfortunately the other interns and myself haven’t had that many opportunities to explore much past the market except for some of the stores and tailors, and the wood market. Blantyre is a pretty large city to cover by foot, and where we are staying is about a forty minute walk to the start of downtown. I hope that my description of the market and the basic information about Blantyre helps to draw a clearer picture of the city, although as a visitor and not much of an inhabitant myself I guess I am not completely qualified to try to draw a complete one. Here are some pictures I have of the area that may help further the image: