Scenes of Blantyre...

Well... I finally did it.

I became a tourist.

I absolutely hate being that guy that is always walking around new places, looking completely out of place and snapping pictures of everything in sight (I know that most people are looking at my Flickr account and thinking... someone needs to tell him that HE IS THAT GUY!... but, I really do try to be discrete).

But, today, I was shameless!

I had a bit of pride swallowing to do, but once I got started it was fun.

Up until this point, I have tended to shy away from taking pictures in downtown Blantyre. I feel like a lot of people in the city get really sick of the foreigners that come over here and just snap a ton of pictures to bring back to there homes and show people how poor Malawi is... well, it's not that I just feel that way, but I was actually told that the other day by someone on the streets. So, to avoid that whole confrontation, I would just walk camera-free.

However, with each passing day of the most beautiful blue skies in the world, and the realization that my time in Blantyre is rapidly vanishing before my eyes, I decided to take to the streets... camera in hand!

For some of you, pictures like this may come as a surprise. You probably thought that the tallest building in Malawi was a hut the size of a tall man. WRONG... Blantyre is a gorgeous city with lots of modern things.

And come to find out, the vast majority of people that saw me taking pictures around town today were totally cool with it. Most people wanted me to take their picture instead of buildings and such though.

So, enjoy some of the sites that my feet have been trampling for the last 8 months!

This is one of the main streets in town... Victoria Ave.

This is part of the chaos that is constantly in front of the main market... You can't even begin to see how many mini-buses are really there!

This is one of the coolest things I've seen. In fact, I noticed it for the first time today as I was walking past it.

Another great big bank in the works to add to our skyline.

One of the big bank buildings in town...

Coming close to my house...

The name of my neighborhood... no worries, we don't have any sharks in Namiwawa!

This photo has no real significance other than the fact that while I was taking it (standing on the side of the road), I felt some thing knick my backpack and realized that I had just been "hit by a car" moving at high speeds! It was kinda cool. I'm still trying to determine whether it was a "hate crime" or just the inevitability of human and motor sharing the same walking space. Hate crime sounds so much cooler though!