3:rd September!
Communication is a different thing here than it is at home. It is easy to insult someone without knowing it, and also when you always communicating in english that is noone first language there can be some missinterprations. YES is sometimes NO and the other way around.. Never ask a malawian something in negative form! For example, you ask ”Are there no more apples in there?” The malawian answer ”Yes”. Ok, I think she means; ”Yes, there are apples in there”. But she really means No. Because with her ”yes” she is confirming that what I said is correct. So she means, ” Yes, you are right, there are no more apples”. You see? When it concerns more inportant things than apples, it can be a problem. For example ”Didn't you give that lady her medication?” ”Yes”... hmmm... Than you think dhe did give her the meds, but she really means that she didn't. And if it is the other way around, if the malawian asks you ”Didn't you give her the medication?” and you answer ”No” , she thinks what she says is wrong and that you did give the patient medication... Gaa you see the problem? ;)
Also, remember; if someone is pregnant, don't mention it! If it is a good friend you can talk about it, but not if it is just a colleague or something. Reason: The belief is that if you talk about the baby before it is born, you can put a curse on it, and if the baby is born dead or with only one leg and six fingers or some other problem, it is your fault because you cursed the baby by asking about it before it was born.
I think I accidentaly might have cursed a few babies... Tina, whatever problems Casper might get, it is probobly my fault... ;)
An intresting thing about sex: people don't talk about sexuality here. Even couples don't talk about it. I mean, some do, but the offical story is that noone talks about it ever. Instead, the women where a band of pearls around their waist. When the man wants to have sex with her, he simply touches the pearl band. As a silent question. And depending on what colour the pearls are, the answer is yes or no. I don't know the colours, but one colour represents yes, another one no. And then there are some with mixed colours... And I don't know what they might mean... ;) Maybe ”Yes, If you do the dishes” or something? ;)
Another thing tha tis intresting is the relationship between mother and daugther. When someone gets pregnant, her mother moves in with her and stays with her through all the pregnancy, delivery and several months after the baby is born. Not all families do this, but the more traditional families do this. And also, they never plan the name of the baby before it is born.The name is chosen by the mother alone, and is often based on the feeling thee mother her while giving birth. We have some special names here, some are beautiful like: Innocent, Happy, Memory, Wonderful, Beautiful, Blessing, Gift etc.. Some names are less flattering, such as; Trouble and Painful. And then there are the mysterious names, like Secret. I wonder what people at home would have named thier babies, if the name woulld be based on the feeling during delivery? =)
Today we went for a party with the Norweigan embassy. I looked forward to spek swedish! =)vAll scandinavians in Malawi was inviated. It was nice, but unfortunately most of the people where from Denmark, only a few from Norway and only me from sweden. I accidentally always ended with with danish people, and had to speak mostly english anyway. Well well. You can't have it all... ;) At least, the bar made very good mojitos! =D
