Email Reminders

I’m going through my emails making sure I’ve done everything, packed everything and remember everything I’ve been told. So I thought I’d write down some stuff just in case I forgot to talk about it.

Depending how much tuition you want to pay, this study abroad can be 3-6 credits. The work load does not change, so I opted for 3 credits. I don’t really need the credits, that not why I’m doing this. So I am registered for 3 hours of EDCI 4994 Undergraduate Research. Some majors require independent studies and this would be the perfect opportunity to earn those credits. Dr. Kelly arranges the program so that it can fulfill multiple requirements depending on what each student may need.

The textbook we are using is “A Democracy of Chameleons: Politics and Culture in the New Malawi” It was $29.95 from amazon.com and the shipping was free! The book is a very difficult read and it’s even harder when we don’t have the context to understand it. We are suppose to read it as best as we can and write responses/question to each chapter. The purpose is not to give us busy work but to help us understand what we will be seeing. Of course I haven’t finished the book, but we will have plenty of time on the airplane to catch up.
In addition to the textbook, we have a handful of articles to read that discuss African poverty. It’s to our benefit to read them and help us understand some of the issues. Some of them are personal stories-which I enjoy reading rather than a textbook.

The 7 Virginia Tech students going on the trip have been emailing each other all summer! We decided to make t-shirts! The logo is "Spreading the Hokie spirit to one village at a time" Someone volunteered to get them made, so I can’t wait to see them at the airport!

Annie’s Lodge does have an electric water heater. Dr. Kelly doesn’t think they have enough for each room, but it will be perfect for instant oatmeal. It isn’t a bad idea to bring Imodium/ Pepto-Bismol as a treatment or prevention. We are going to be very careful but some people are more sensitive than others.

I asked about registering our trip and Dr. Kelly said the Embassy and USAID have been notified. So we are covered! We were also reminded to bring copies of our shot records and copies of our passport info.

We will be there on July 6th, which is Malawi’s Independence Day. We probably won’t have very much of a July 4th celebration (ha) so I’m excited to celebrate Malawi’s independence day!

There is a safe at Annie’s Lodge for our passports and US money. We were told to use a money belt for traveling. There will be a locked closest in our room to keep money/computers etc. The staff would never jeopardize their job by stealing. This is one of the best jobs in town.

I love haggling!! This is the Malawian Currency information Dr. Kelly sent us:

Malawian Currency

• The current exchange rate is $1.00 (USA) = 143 Malawian Kwatcha (MWK).
• The following website is quite helpful for calculating conversions: http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic

I put the following chart together for you. The exchange rate might waiver a little between now and when we actually arrive in Malawi, but it shouldn’t change dramatically. You might want to print and carry this with you so you can refer to it when you’re dealing with vendors in the market.

• 50 MWK = $ 0.36
• 100 MWK = $ 0.72
• 200 MWK = $ 1.45
• 500 MWK = $ 3.62
• 1000 MWK = $ 7.23
• 1500 MWK = $ 10.87
• 2000 MWK = $ 14.49
• 10,000 MWK $72.48

To give you an idea of our expenses, your entire dinner will average 500 – 700 MWK per night. (Breakfasts are free.) Meals in Lilongwe are a little more expense, likely averaging around the 800K – 900K range.

I have quite a few posters for the classrooms. World maps, Africa maps, and English posters. Right now, the classrooms are not lockable, so if anything is left it will most likely be stolen. There is a workroom and a small storage shed that might be the best location to store the posters and bring them out to teach with. They are laminated so hopefully they will last a long time and multiple classrooms can use them!

I have been emailing a neighbors sister who went on a trip around Africa a couple years ago with the govt. Although her trip was very different than mine, she still had some very helpful suggestions. She suggested doing my research on Western European soccer because lots of Africans follow it closely and it will give us something to talk about and also incorporate into my teaching examples. Someone she traveled with ate at a salad bar from a very fancy South African hotel and he still got sick. So it’s important to follow the same food rules even if I’m in a nicer resort. She reminded me that everyone will tell you their food is safe, and say yes to anything even if it isn’t true. You may ask if they have Internet, “oh yes” but you will get there and there’s no Internet. Its good to keep in mind that things won’t always go as planned.

Sarah passed along some information her travel agent shared with her:

1. people are stealing american passports very often right now- make a copy of your passport for your parents, to keep on you, to give to dr. kelly, and to put in another suitcase

2. the check in people at the airport will sometimes let you take over 50 lbs if they're in a good mood and if you tell them that you're taking supplies to a school in Africa- if they're in a bad mood they will charge you sometimes really random fees- so bottom line- be extremely gracious when checking in and maybe make a comment about taking school supplies haha

Dr. Kelly sent some more information about the weather. "June is the coldest month; it starts warming up in July. Temperatures will be in the high 60's and low 70's in the daytime; low 50's to high 50's at night. That's why you need warm things to sleep in. But the days are pleasant once the sun heats up. Sunrise is around 6 a.m. but it's dark by 5:30 p.m. By the time we leave Malwi it could even be in the high 70's and low 80's in the daytime. Malawians will have on heavy coats if they can afford them because it seems very cold to them."

I was hoping to watch movies on my laptop during the flight but the airlines don’t have outlets for our electronics. I’m sure my battery won’t last more than one movie. There are overhead movies showing throughout the night. I’ll keep busy by sleeping, reading the textbook/writing responses and lesson planning with Krista!

Dr. Kelly sent a last minute reminder telling us the two most important things to pack is our malaria medication and our passports. Almost anything else thats forgotten can be dealt with. Thats comforting during the next 48 hours when I'll be paranoid about what I forgot to pack!