Yesterday, out of sheer boredom, I decided to take a walk into town. I have been doing this more frequently lately... perhaps the boredom is increasing in these last few weeks.
But, I just really love walking through town. I love the interaction that takes place when you walk past someone.
I have developed a route that I seem to be following... I usually make a stop by my friends that work at the curio (wooden figurine things) market...
...then I'll usually make a pass through the big Blantyre market, just for the heck of it...
...then I pop my head into the business that some friends of mine own.
It's simple... but it keeps the days lively!
As I was walking back to my house alongside one of the busier roads at the end of the day, I hear screaming in the distance. All the sudden, about 50 meters away I see this giant herd of children running towards me yelling my name... "Lioni!! Lioni!!" (Chichewa speakers have a hard time distinguishing "R" and "L"... it all sounds the same to them. So, "Ryan" just becomes "Lioni").
These were the kids that I play football (soccer) with almost every day in our back yard.
They surrounded me and grabbed the bag I was carrying out of my hand so I wouldn't have to carry anything. Two of the little ones grabbed my two free hands, and there I was... this crazy white guy walking down a busy street with all these kids attached to me!
At first I was a little embarrassed. I was kinda getting some funny looks from people. It looked a little like I was forcing these kids that I didn't know to walk with me and carry my bag. But, then I just decided that I didn't care what people thought. I DO know these kids... and I love each one of them so much. So, be what it may... I'm gonna walk down the street surrounded by 15 kids... and I'm gonna be OK with that.
When we got back to our place, we had a nice game of football... in which I realized how completely out of shape I am... But, nonetheless, my team came away with the big win!!
I just love that feeling you get when you realize that you have finally been somewhere long enough and devoted enough energy to build relationships with people, that you get swarmed on the road.
It gives me great peace as I begin to think about wrapping things up here.
