Kayla, Karen, and I were greeted by one of the chiefs and directed towards the home we would be staying in. We introduced ourselves, using our very minimal Chichewa vocabulary, and met our host mom, Loveness. After a few minutes of laughter and confusion, we started to realize how interesting this was going to be with such a language barrier. Thankfully, I happened to have a Chichewa guide that had several key phrases. I pointed to the phrase "there is work to be done" and she smiled. Buckets were handed to us and we walked with a group of women to the water pump. Kayla and I took turns pumping the water and filled our buckets. The women
smiled excitedly, knowing they were about to see a rare sight: azungus attempting to carry water on their heads. Let me just say that it was pretty hilarious and I now have the utmost respect and admiration for the village women.
We then gathered in a circle with all the children and women of the village and partook in a dancing/clapping/singing charade for an hour. They loved having us participate in their dances and were constantly urging us to move to the middle of the circle. I was amazed at how accepting and welcoming the people of the village were. People from all over gathered to meet us and were elated with joy. The chief took us to see the villages’ garden of tobacco and pumpkin leaves. We picked pumpkin leaves and prepared them for cooking. Loveness started a fire and Kayla got to cooking in the smoky mud house with her new friend Chisomo. Karen and I were bombarded by giggling children and villagers testing out their English skills.
We gathered inside the house on a mat and had nsmia (of course!) and pumpkin leaves as relish. Smiles and laughter were exchanged as this became our sole use of communication. After dinner, we were pulled outside again where we spent several hours in the moonlight celebrating life through song and dance. I remember being astounded at the fact that I had just met these people a few hours ago. At ten, Loveness recognized we were tired from an exhausting day and ordered us to come to bed. We laid out our sleeping bags on a mat and dozed off to the sounds of children singing, mosquitoes buzzing, and crickets chirping.
We woke as the sun rose, hearing the roosters crowing, and headed outside. A man that we met the night before came by with bundles of green corn. Loveness cooked them up for us and handed them over as we said our goodbyes. We thanked the villagers for their generosity and overwhelming hospitality. A little after 6am, we found ourselves eating the corn for breakfast, surrounded by happy children, and on the path to Chilinda Primary Schools thinking of all the cherished moments of homestay: dancing for hours, cooking nsima, the conversations, unique characters/personalities, sense of community, cultural differences, and the budding of friendships. What a wonderful slice of Malawian village life!
Submitted by: Lauren Seagraves
After a second successful day of teaching at Chilinda Primary School, we ate an early supper around 4pm in a classroom. After dinner we gathered up everything we needed for the next ten hours: sleeping bags, water bottles, bug spray, camera, clothes, goods for our homestay families - and of course, toilet paper. We began our journey walking to the village and were surrounded by giddy children wondering what in the world the azungus (white people) were doing and where we were going. 
smiled excitedly, knowing they were about to see a rare sight: azungus attempting to carry water on their heads. Let me just say that it was pretty hilarious and I now have the utmost respect and admiration for the village women.
We gathered inside the house on a mat and had nsmia (of course!) and pumpkin leaves as relish. Smiles and laughter were exchanged as this became our sole use of communication. After dinner, we were pulled outside again where we spent several hours in the moonlight celebrating life through song and dance. I remember being astounded at the fact that I had just met these people a few hours ago. At ten, Loveness recognized we were tired from an exhausting day and ordered us to come to bed. We laid out our sleeping bags on a mat and dozed off to the sounds of children singing, mosquitoes buzzing, and crickets chirping.
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