(Bill) You know you're in Malawi when….

This is Bill checking in with my first ever blog post.  And the fact that I'm blogging makes me think about the other unique things related to our time so far in Blantyre, Malawi.  The following is a list of things that will tell you that you are living in Blantyre when.....

...when the taxi driver taking you and your boys on a series of errands asks you to kindly take the wheel in the middle of busy downtown traffic so that he can commence to push the car to a petrol station as it has just run out.

...when the same taxi driver (really a lovely guy, actually) gets back into the car to explain that he can't fill it more than a few liters at a time because the hole in his gas tank will begin to start spilling out.

...when the jacaranda trees all over town start to show their first promising blooms of bright purple flowers.

...when you feel like a drug dealer carrying well over a hundred Kwacha bills of cash in your pockets so that you can merely get through the day paying for a normal list of things.  Almost nobody can take plastic, so I go to the ATM once, twice, and sometimes three times in a day to get enough Kwacha to pay for groceries, household supplies, taxi service (!), etc.  One day, I got to the head of a long line only to have the ATM run out of money.  The bank down the street wouldn't take my card either, so we drove to another part of town for a promising ATM rendezvous.  After another long wait, the guy in front of me smiles and turns to say to me that there is a $20 limit (8,000 Kwacha) for withdrawal and it can only dispense in bills worth the equivalent of 50 cents.  So now, I'm a drug dealer with very unimpressive currency.

...when you greet Malawians on the street and you unfailingly get a warm smile and return greeting.  Take THAT, Seattle Freeze!

...when your boys come home from school saying things like, "We need to bring our swim costumes and sports kits to school tomorrow." "Daddy, I'm the only white kid in my class."  "There were monkeys in the trees!"

...when you purchase a car from an Irishman-Malawian mechanic accompanied by a Sierra Leone-New Zealander intermediary after first passing over a car from an Indian-Malawian.  We have a car as of yesterday:  a Toyota Hilux!  It's not often that you can "stress test" a car and take it down the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley to do so.  Malawi is a truly beautiful country and I can't wait to explore some more.

...when Elizabeth has already formed a small running community around herself.  I knew it wouldn't take long, but I've been amazed at how fast she has found other runners.

I could keep going with this list and maybe I will.  Later.  One of my favorite Seattle sighted t-shirts read, "Nobody cares about your blog!"  And now I'm that guy.