Just last month we had two Peace Corps Malawi site mates within walking distance of our town, Jordan and Os. Since then, Jordan has closed his service and Os transferred sites. Jordan arrived in country only a day before us, but due to some shifts in the Malawian academic year he finished his primary assignment three months early. He is currently backpacking across India. With Jordan gone, Peace Corps Malawi thought Os, the only remaining volunteer in the south western region, was too isolated, so they transferred him to a small cluster of volunteers on the other side of the skinny country. So now we are without site mates, but it turned out to be a boon since Os now lives in the middle of an old English tea estate under the highest mountain in the region. Mount Mulanje, the ‘island in the sky,’ is a massive granite outcropping soaring above the surrounding plains. It’s been nominated as a World Heritage Site, so it’s waiting to get on UNESCO prestigious list. Basically green carpets of tea extend in every direction with granite cliffs and waterfalls completing the scene. The region’s contrasting brown and yellow dry season color scheme typical of this time of year made the emerald carpet that much more exquisite. We hiked to Leith’s site, Os’ environment volunteer site mate, on the side of the mountain. We worked up a sweat under the sunny blue sky, but washed it away in some crystal pools on top of one of the tropical waterfalls we had been admiring from the distance. That evening we transformed raw materials from Leith’s Peace Corps garden into a lofty meal of eggplant ravioli with red sauce and fresh herbs; it was probably actually gourmet quality, not just PC gourmet, although we can’t totally trust our palate at this point. It’s always replenishing to escape the hecticness and routines of site for a weekend, and enjoy good-times with friends.
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