Mary in Malawi

Yeah! We went to Mua Mission, half an hour from dedza, on friday. It is like a museum where you'll see all the traditional masks and dances and art.. It was really cool! very interesting stories. In malawi they have this "gule vam kule", it is demons that symbolize different thing. There are 10.000 different gule vam kules! every one has it's own mask. There is one for every disease, one for every behavior, one for everything.. Like there is one for dental hygiene for example. It is a big white fluffy thing big giant teeth and lice crawling on it. There are two for sex, one female with a big, vaginia-shaped mouth, and a male with a big penis-shaped shin. They teach how and when to have sex, and nowadays they also teach about condoms. There is one for HIV, he is quite new and really scary. There is one symbolizing handicapped people, he can't walk but he has a giant penis on his forehead. This is to tell women that even though someone is handicapped, he might still be able to give them children. The gule vam kules are people that dress up in these special masks and costumes. They may never tell anyone that they are a gule vam kule, and they take the secret with them in death. They come to the villages and chase people. If the person they are chasing don't make it into a house, they catch him, and wip him. They also come and do dances, telling stories and teach things. The people believe that they are really demons, and the persons doing the gule vam kule are chosen specially by the chief when they are still little boys. To make sure that they keep the secret and don't tell anyone that they are actually human, they go throug a ritual that ends withs an older man taking a live chicken and pushes a big stick in its anus, all to way in until it dies. It is supposed to die in great agony. they boys are told that if they ever tell anyone, that is the punishment they will get; a horrible and painful death.  Sick. I am not surprised that this is something completely made up and maintained by MEN... sadistic creatures....

Me and Christian got chased by two gule vam kules when we visited Wilfreds home, and I have also seen them many times along the roads. Sometimes chasing people, sometimes performing rituals. They are also hired sometimes for official dances and stuff. It is really cool! Christian, you remeber the ones dancing at Liwonde? Those dressed as different anuimals and demons. they were all Gule vam Kules. And those dancing with the masks at Crossroads aswell. Really cool!

Anyway, another intresting thing.. On the way to Mua mission, we found a big, dead hyena on the side of the road. It was HUGE! We stopped the car and looked at it, and it was amazing to see it so close. Just sad that it was dead.. I find hyenas to be beautiful creatures! So powerful and mysterious.. I raelly like them. And now when we were able so study it very close, it is almost a little bit scary to know that they are walking outside out house during night time... But they mostly eat dead or wounded animals, so I've never really been worried about them. But really beautiful was he, and I wished he didn't have to die... =(

On the way home we had SOME PROBLEMS....! we left Mua Mission at 11.30. The car ride is supposed to take 1.5 hour... We were home in Nkhoma at 7.30 PM..... Whats not right here....!? Weell, we had three car break downs. First, flat tire. Waiteed for three hours for soem poor guy on a bike to go to closest village to find a new one or to fix the old one. Then we drove again. 10 minutes. Battery collapse!! Or something, i don't know. But the next 1 hour and 45 minutes we were stuck in a muddy village on a dirt road, surrounded by 200 children staring at us! And the battery was outside the car. People moving around with it... Outting different things into the engine.. I ahve NO IDEA what they were doing, but it seemed to us as if they were building a whole new engine from sugar canes and sticks. THEN we moved again. We came out from the bush and the dirt roads, and BANG! New flat tire. Waiting, waiting, waiting.. New fixing, more waiting.... GAA!!!!!'' I walked around and asked people to get me guavas cause I was so hungry! =) (Guavas as GREAT!).

Anyway, we came home.. finally.

And btw, I fixed my hair again! Or, Gomez did. We started on wednesday, and continued eveeryday, 3 or 4 hours a day wed, thurs and friday. Then yesterday we sat for 11 hours!! the whole day. But finally we finished, and it looks really nice!! The braids are much smaller this time then last time, and much lighter to carry.

Ok!! goooood Night!!