On the Road Again

Today we traveled from Salma to Zomba.  Our 2 hour trip took over 6 hours.  It is hard to judge how long a trip will take because of insufficient roads with many pedestrians.  My professor told me if we hit a pedestrian by accident, the other people on the road will surround our car and it will be a big problem.  Another reason that the trip took so long was the police road blocks set up periodically to check vehicle registration.

We arrived at Perter’s Lodge at about 5:00.  It was just getting dark and we were tired form the trip.  The sign outside said “decent accommodations” but this was an under statement.  The rooms were disgusting, with missing screens and broken windows.  There were lizards in the bathrooms and bugs on the floor.  I brought my bags inside, sat down on the bed, and ate a chocolate bar.  I had been saving them for when times were tough.  This was one of those times.

We locked up our rooms and everyone met in a main room to play cards becaue no one wanted to be alone.  There were a lot of men in the parking lot drinking beer and it was now very dark.  Dr. Vokhiwa decided that we should go and stay at the other Peter’s Lodge because the rooms were a bit newer.  We checked out of Peter’s Lodge I and into Peter’s Lodge II.  It was not much better and we had to share beds.  We were hoping that this would not be our home for the week but we were not sure.  I put down some of the chitenje cloth on the bed and covered up with another one.  My roommate fell asleep and I was up late, listening to the wild dogs howling.  Then I heard some other people in our group yelling/ praying very loudly.  This went on for over an hour. This was going to be a long night.

*At 7:00 in the morning Dr. Vokhiwa knocked on my door (really he knocked on the door next to mine, he didn’t know where I was).  He said to pack up, we would look for other accommodations.  Yeah!