Uzungu May 31, 2011

“Uzungu Uzungu!” Yep, that is us. Uzungu translates to white people in Chichewa, and truthfully there is nothing more adorable than seeing a five year old Malawian sprinting out their home to catch a glimpse of the uzungu driving by. With a thumbs up and sometimes a Jackie Chan inspired karate kick sent our way, the Malawian children get a thrill from seeing us. It is not a day in Malawi, if we haven’t heard uzungu.
So anyways, Sunday, last Sunday, Sunday the 31st of May. I apologize first and foremost for the extreme delay in blogging. Of course things lead to these sorts of delays, like being that we are in Lilongwe, and excited and wonderfully busy.
We all relaxed during the day on Sunday, taking in the sunshine and tieing up some loose ends in terms of paper work and academic supplement. Ross, Ash, and I worked thoroughly on revamping the MPALUTI Microfinance proposal so we could present it in it’s best form to the Rotary on Tuesday. We took it easy on account of the fact that we had a little concert to attend that evening. By little concert, I am referring to a reggae concert, in Malawi, with a bunch of real, genuine Rastas.
Oh yes, we got the opportunity to see the Black Missionaries in concert. The Black Missionaries might be the most popular reggae group in the country, perhaps in this region of Africa. In a field in the middle of a golf course, imagine about a thousand rastafarians doing their rastafarian thing, and the group of uzungu, doing it right there with them.
Bob Marley colors littered the field, either worn as a hat, or a jacket, or a chitenge, it didn’t matter. This was some serious reggae loving Malawians.
Now let me describe dancing to reggae. Okay, loosen up the arms and the legs. And the neck I suppose. Now bend over slightly, arms a little above your shoulders, kinda swinging forward while your legs alternately kick forward. To the beat of the music, or not. It hardly matters. The eyes are closed or looking up to the sky. There is probably a Carlsberg in one of your hands. And you are feeling this music. The dancing is somewhat silly to us, but everyone else is doing it. Sooo...
Our rasta friends weren’t even ashamed to dance with the silly uzungu. The concert lasted till it got dark (which isn’t very late, probably around 7) where we then returned to the comforts of Budget Lodge with pizza in tow. Oh, and a black out. Just another night in Lilongwe.

Emily