Leo in Malawi: March 14 - Nkotakota and on the way to Mzuzu

In the morning when I woke up I realized that we were sleeping only 30-40 m from the lake. The resort was really nice and natural. It was too bad that we had to continue the journey after the breakfast. Nice pottery store and workshop were located among guest houses. The way to Mzuzu, my final destination, was occasionally rainy and on the way there we saw natural rubber trees and the way how the rubber is drained from the tree. It is similar procedure to getting maple syrup from maple tree. In downtown Mzuzu I bought some basic items at the supermarket and fresh fruits in the front of the store. Supermarket items are expensive for Malawians because they are either imported or processed (which increases the price) in Malawi. All fruits and vegetables are fresh, tasty and inexpensive. Also, I am sure there are no fertilizers and chemicals on them due to prohibitive price of the chemicals. After food purchasing we proceeded to the St. John’s Hospital where I met hospital administrator Charity and some staff. Charity is really nice and friendly lady and she is opened for suggestions and improvements at the hospital. After that Charity and Abt Associates staff took me to the lodge where I would be sleeping for three night until my room at the guest house becomes available. Currently there are some college students residing in the guest house. I saw guest house from the outside. It looks nice and it is only 100 m form the office where I would be working for the next four months. It reminds me of my high school that was the same distance wehn I lived and studied in Split.

Ujutro kad sam se probudio shvatio sam da smo spavali samo 30-40 metara od jezera. Nije ni cudno da smo slusali ugodan zvuk valova cijelu noc. “Hotel’ je stvarno dobro izgledao. Steta je sto smo morali nastaviti put za Mzuzu nakon dorucka. U sklopu “hotela” nalazio se je ducan i radionica keramike. Na putu do Mzuzua je povremeno padala kisa. Vidjeli smo stabla sa prirodnom gumom i nacin kako cijede gumu iz stable. Slicno je dobijanju sirupa iz javora sto je prilicno popularno u Kanadi. U centru grada sam kupio par osnovnih potrepstina i voca ispred ducana. Vecina proizovda u samposluzi su skupe za Malawiance jer su li uvezeni ili industrijski porizvedeni (sto im povecava cijenu) u Malawiju. Svo voce i povrce je svjeze, veoma ukusno i jeftino. Siguran sam da nema pesticida ni herbicida, takodjer zbog cijene kemikalija. Nakon kupovine otisli smo u bolnciu Sv. Ivana gdje sam upoznao glavnu administratoricu Charity i jos par ljudi. Charity je odlicna i prijateljski nastrojena te je spremna za savjete i poboljsanja u bolnici. Poslije toga Charity i kolege iz Abt Associates su me odveli u “hotel” gdje su odsjesti tri dana dok se moja soba u kucici ne oslobodi. Trenutno su tamo neki studenti. Vidio sam kucicu i izgleda prilicno dobro izvana i nalazi se 100 m od ureda gdje cu raditi slijedeca cetiri mjeseca. Skroz me je podsjetilo na kemijsku skolu koja je bila slicno udaljena od stana kada sam bio u Splitu.