I haven’t written a blog in a while. I’d imagine it’s fairly
obvious why…
Chopping branches - not part of my daily routine
It may feel like that, but this is actually a place in Sussex. It did look quiet though...
I got out of Malawi and back to my parents’ house in the UK
before the country locked down its borders. Many reasons for leaving, many for
staying.
If I had stayed in Malawi, when would be the next time I would see my family back home?
Hannah and Mini are not in the UK, which does make it hard at times
I haven’t been ‘home’ this long since leaving for Korea as a
fresh-faced, slightly beer-swollen 21-year-old. Eleven years on, it’s a very
different experience. The main difference is that my parents don’t live in my
childhood home of Cardiff. They live in Sussex, in the southeast of England.
I’ve visited many times. Never for long, though.
Middle. Of. Nowhere. But not that far from Brighton.
I was last here for Christmas
I arrived within a week of Boris announcing the big
lockdown. Not much was open during this period and besides, the last thing I would
want to do is fly halfway round the world to then catch Covid in the UK and
introduce it to my parents. This, as well as not having a car, is why I haven’t
been able to volunteer. I did join a community WhatsApp group but couldn’t do
much without transport, which is a shame.
My reusable mask - not great with a beard...
The WhatsApp group mainly got prescriptions and groceries for people who are shielding
So how can I write under the guise of a travelling teacher
at this time, you ask? Well it turns out this little country is full of little
wonders. After doing my seven days of quarantine, I started to use a website
which shows a labyrinth of public footpaths criss-crossing the nearby fields.
All that red and purple shows the nearby footpaths and bridleways
Just across that field, mate...
These footpaths are generally
easy enough to follow…
There are plenty of these to help
Some of the paths do use the main road as well
The weather was stunning, making it a great opportunity to
explore the paths less travelled. Many of these are through farmland or dense
woods, which would be quite muddy in the rain…
A lovely field of harebells - not lavender as I thought
Near our house is a stables with some lovely horses
And though it has been glorious weather (makes you wonder
how much cash pubs and cafes would have raked in), there was the occasional
reminder of April showers…
Takeaway beer from the local - I think my Dad has kept them in business
These trails have meant going on many long runs. I’ve kept
up my Saturday morning routine from Malawi – running early, followed by
scrambled eggs on a bagel.
They did not provide the eggs
My longest run before the end of the school year, just over 24km
Keeping traditions alive - and adding spinach because I can
When I wasn’t out walking, or squashing the grass in the
garden doing HIIT, I found plenty to keep me occupied inside. From jigsaw
puzzles to sending Facebook messages to everyone in my contact list, there’s
been plenty to take my mind away from the current turmoil affecting the outside
world.
This was easier than it looks
A highlight was catching up with friends from Cardiff one night
It’s also lovely to spend quality time with my parents.
Whether they shared that view as I made them participate in a 30-day planking
challenge is debatable. What’s been nice to see is their very local community
come together and get to know each other more through events such as a VE Day
street party.
Rummikub and Backgammon have had plenty of use
Day 30 was a 5 minute plank. Go on, try it. Dare ya.
One way of saying thanks to my parents for letting me stay
with them at this time is by cooking. I’m a decent cook these days. Many
ingredients which aren’t possible to get in Malawi are easily accessible here,
allowing for a bit of creative cooking. Never making quinoa brownies again,
mind. Rank.
Moroccan chicken
Sweet potato open sandwiches
Of course, I had to work as well. My niece and nephew’s
bedroom was transformed into a classroom. The bunk bed stayed, which raised
eyebrows about what I was really doing in staff meetings. It’s been a challenge
but I’ve been amazed by the tech capabilities of these 6-year-olds. It also
made me realise how quickly the tech world changes – this wouldn’t have been
possible when I started teaching 10 years ago.
My classroom from 8am to 11:30am most weekdays
Vat of tea - needed with online challenges and 6-year-olds
Clearly this isn’t how I saw my year going. This isn’t what
anyone wanted. We all miss people and things, many people have felt tested and
stressed. I’ve had bad days as well as the good ones shown here in the
pictures. But most people are trying to make the best of a really bad
situation, and it’s been heartening to see. I’ve been very lucky with my
situation and, from a selfish perspective, have had a relatively comfortable
and enjoyable three months since returning in March.
Into the second week of my house arrest (others call it
self-isolation or self-quarantine). Much has changed since my return to Malawi
from The Netherlands, and much will change again over the coming days.
Mask at the ready!
Wednesday (day 9)
Yesterday we were told that our school will close its campus
on Friday and transition to distance learning from Monday. We have been
preparing for this for a few weeks – what we now need to do is put all of our
plans into action. The main thrust of this is website building.
If I ever felt I was spending too much time in front of the screen, Mini would be a welcome distraction
With power and the internet the way they are,
this…takes…time. Even so, there was more time to pursue the other things I’ve
been focusing on to occupy myself: yoga, cooking, exercise, colouring, reading. I also
finally have my own phone back (I spilled water on and in it a few weeks ago)
so have been reminding myself of how great/addictive it is.
Cooking for the day: butter bean and sweet potato tikka masala
It looks like quite a few teachers are leaving Malawi as
soon as they can. I’m sticking with my current stance: unless there is evidence
of flights in and out beginning to be cancelled, or food security is
compromised, I will stay in Malawi. The UK is under massive strain at the
moment – today they’ve announced that all schools will shut. I have thought
about America as an alternative but no health insurance arguably makes that an even
riskier proposition than here.
It also rained today
Main feelings: busy, content
Thursday (day 10)
Days are beginning to blur into one another. I didn’t get round
to noting what I did on Thursday so it’s safe to assume that what I’ve done on
previous days is what I did today. I baked a carrot cake for Hannah to take to
school tomorrow – I remember that because it put the mix into an oval-shaped
tin, resulting in it looking weird. But same old, same old, otherwise. I wonder
if that’s what happens after a while – it all becomes routine and a bit
mundane.
Our house cleaner, Flora, came today - she didn't seem bothered even after I said I was in quarantine
This actually brings me to one of the more important aspects
of social isolation: maintaining contact. My 2020 resolution, before all of
this unprecedentedness kicked off, was to contact each and every person in my
contact lists, through Facebook and email. If I don’t remember them, I remove
from my contact lists. If I do, I send them a personalised message explaining
how we know each other and initiating a conversation.
I'm sending them in first name alphabetical order, and am currently on the letter L
This has been an overwhelmingly positive experience so far,
reconnecting with people I haven’t spoken to or seen in many years. It’s also
giving me something to talk about – my conversations about my day are otherwise
a bit limited at the moment. If you’re stuck in quarantine or lockdown, I’d
recommend it.
I think someone else needs some more social contact...
Main feelings: I can’t remember 😉
Friday (day 11)
Today is the last day of school on site before we move to
distance learning. It is a wrench to not be able to properly say goodbye for
now to my students, particularly as I haven’t been in the same room as them
since February. I did at least get to speak to them on the phone in small
groups to answer some of their questions – no I don’t have the virus, no you
can’t have my phone number, that kind of thing.
Chatting to groups of 1MSM kiddies from my 'outdoor classroom'
One other thing I’ve been doing during my house arrest is
playing my ukulele more regularly. I’m very average with it, and even worse when singing
along, but with no one else around during working hours, who’s going to tell me
to be quiet? A funny picture changing song names to link to the virus has been
doing the rounds on social media so I thought I would try some of them. Judging
from the videos, this might also be the day when I went slightly insane.
The quite brilliant list!
More importantly, the President of Malawi addressed the
nation this evening. He announced that all schools were to close as of Monday
(good thing we’ve been preparing!), gatherings are restricted to less than 100
people and that a 15bn Kwacha fund will be used to fight the virus. This will
impact a lot of Malawian life, not least the upcoming presidential election
which was scheduled to take place between late May and early July. Whether it
can be enforced is another question entirely, particularly as officially there
are still no cases here.
The video above is Peter Arthur Mutharika's address to the nation
Main feelings: sadness, looking
forward to relative freedom
Saturday (day 12)
The school campus is now closed to students. Indeed, even
the Malawian government has decreed that all schools will be shut as of Monday.
The reason for school quarantining me, to prevent any potential infection
spreading through school, is now irrelevant. Therefore, I am releasing myself
from my house arrest.
Over the course of the weekend, I went out a few times and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of soap and water outside shops
You’d think I’d be happy about that. I am, but right now I
feel a bit dazed and lost. My first venture out of the compound gates was to
take Hannah to the airport. She’s flying back to America.
This was the beginning of March. How our lives have changed...
We’ve been given the option of leaving at this point, the
thinking being that airspaces may soon close. Many have chosen to go, including
my four best friends in Malawi. Two of them I haven’t seen since February due
to the school trip and subsequent house arrest. As I’ve said before, I’m minded
to stay.
The Sun rising on my freedom near Kamuzu International Airport
Ironically, I didn’t have much reason to go out on Saturday.
Taking Hannah to the airport meant I’d missed my morning run, and most friends I
would see have left. Having the option to venture out is quite nice, though,
and I’m well aware that much of the world doesn’t have that choice at present.
Mini and Maxi, the best of friends. So we think.
The quarantine itself hasn’t been that bad at all. Having a
garden, having people and pets around, having decent weather – I think this has
all made a massive difference to both the experience and my mental state.
A celebratory cigar next door
Main feelings: freedom, sadness
Post-quarantine update (March 22-27)
A lot has changed in our lives since January. A lot has also
changed in the week since I ended my quarantine. On Monday, 23rd March,
the British Foreign Office put out a statement saying that any British
travellers should return home immediately. Though I’m not classed as a
traveller, it spooked me a little bit.
Domonic Raab is the man behind the message
I then found out that:
- Kenyan Airways had cancelled their Malawian flights;
- South Africa had announced a 21 day lockdown as of
Thursday, which included the suspension of international and regional flights;
- Ethiopian Airlines had cut many of their routes to
countries affected by COVID-19 (interestingly, not the UK, USA, Germany or
China, which have four of the highest number of cases).
Taking this at face value, Djibouti is more dangerous than the USA. Economics, anyone?
This was one of my two red lines. I had a lot to weigh up
and a quick decision to make. Was I being naïve by staying? Was I being
unnecessarily reckless? Was I being overly cautious if I were to leave? Would
it be any better for me in the UK, where their own lockdown seems imminent?
What about Mini? What about the house?
I would take Mini with me if the paperwork could be done in time - being Malawi, I know it wouldn't be.
Talking it through with various people began to make me
realise that I was actually being a little bit selfish. How would it impact my
family if there was an emergency in the UK and I couldn’t get back? Or if
something happened here and they couldn’t get into the country?
Plenty of loo roll here! And pasta too!
To keep it short, I agonised for an hour or so and then
booked a flight. Mini could stay with her sister at our friends’ house, where
they have live-in staff. I’d fly on Thursday, partly because flights before
that were insanely expensive (flying on the Tuesday was pushing $2000 one-way),
but also because it would give me time to mentally prepare and get my students
going on their online platform.
The world order crumbles under COVID-19. Meanwhile, in rural Malawi...
After working from school Tuesday and Wednesday, hacking
through a final round of golf on Wednesday, and giving food to various people
such as my teaching assistant, house cleaner and compound guards, I left for
the airport on Thursday. I dropped Mini off in the morning, by far the hardest
part of all of this.
Walking down the 10th hole at Lilongwe Golf Club - assuming it stayed open, I would have spent a lot of time here if I had stayed. Would it have stayed open, though...
Face mask in tow (for most of the trip I did have a proper
face mask on under the picture at the start of the blog), two flights done,
back home for another seven days of isolation and distancing. As with my last
quarantine, I’ll have a garden and people for company. This is a strange time for
all of us – though living in Africa, I’ve spent the start and end of March in
Europe, and will probably be here for some time.
The reality check in the UK - Big Brother from 1984, anyone?
