The second to last week in Blantyre. The last full week of our internship. This week I think is the week that it hit me. It hit me how unbelievable this experience has been for me. This week was very stressful no doubt. I think the most stressful week for me. Our device just stopped working again and again and again. Friday I was so jittery watching Matthews and Timothy try to put all of our components into the case of our device. We switched on the device. Nothing. Everything was working before and Friday it just stops. I was so stressed out my hands were shaking.
But my teammates, my supportive positive teammates looked at me and started singing Every Little Thing is Gonna Be All Right. Haha a little cheesy but what I needed in that moment. They told me don’t worry. They said we worked too hard for this to happen. Everything will be ok. Sometimes I lose sight of the big picture and get so stressed at every single step. They made me remember what this internship in Malawi was really about. It’s about all the things we’ve been learning. And it’s about the connections we’ve made. I’ve made really strong connections in Malawi that’s for sure. My teammates laughing and singing, telling me it will work out. That was one of the most memorable experiences of this internship for me. I love my teammates, I love what I’m doing, and I love that I’m learning so much. Afterward, they pulled me aside and said to take some goofy pics. I definitely became less stressed because of them.
Saturday morning I wanted to get some money out from the ATM because Matthews and Timothy wanted to help us buy gifts at the Blantyre marker for our friends back home. I put in all my information, my card came out of the machine like normal, and I tried to take it out. It was difficult because I just painted my nails and it was raining. I guess I took too long because the machine ATE MY CARD and didn’t give me my money. I was shocked. So I had to run into the bank and ask one of the tellers to get my card back. We were going to be late meeting Timothy and Matthews so we ran all the way back to the lodge.
Despite that, I had such a great time going to the market with my teammates. They helped us a lot, showing us the best places to get gifts. We also got to go eat at KFC. The ice cream and fries are AMAZING.
Sunday my friend Daisy (who came to the secondary schools last week with us) invited Sajel and me to her house for lunch near Limbe! When we got out of our cab we heard really fun music playing loudly nearby. Apparently there was a wedding happening, and weddings are a huge deal. We walked over to Daisy’s place where we were greeted by her siblings Teresa and seven year old Horrace. Horrace was especially thrilled to see us. They showed us their family’s chicken farm, and Sajel and I got to hold a chicken.
As you can see, I was TERRIFIED. It was great just talking to Daisy and playing with Horrace. I was really sad because I wish we spent more time with Daisy. But Daisy who is wise beyond her years told us that some friendships don’t need a lot of time to become so strong.