A Little Bit of East Texas

Lake Malawi is an interesting place.  The story is told that when Dr. David Livingstone saw Lake Malawi, he asked the local people what it was.  They told him that it was nyasa.  So he said, "I will call it Lake Nyasa"  What he didn't know was the word "nyasa" is the Chichewa word for "lake"!  Livingston had just named Lake Malawi, "Lake Lake".

Lake Malawi has literally thousands of species of cichlids that are indigenous to, and only found in, Lake Malawi.  People come from all over the world to snorkel and see the beautiful fish.  The water is VERY clear, and the fish are simply amazing.

Last week, while traveling in the lake area, I discovered a fish called "mlamba".  Mlamba looks like a Texas catfish - sort of.  I bought a dozen or so and brought them home for a mini-fish fry.  They were good but not catfish-good.  The meat was a bit mushy, if you know what I mean.

We visited a church today in the northern part of the country - the lake area.  On the way home we were able to purchase a few goodies.  First of all, we bought mangos.  Now, in Malawi you don't call them mangos, you call them "mahngos".  The a is not long.  The good thing about getting these mangos is that we were able to purchase them at a Malawi price rather than the azungu price.  You see there are two different prices for products in most of Malawi.  The Malawi price and the azungu price.  If your skin color is dark, you get the Malawi price.  If your skin color is white (azungu) you usually pay much more.  When shopping, I have learned to ask the question, "Is that the azungu price or the Malawi price?"  We are always told that we are getting the Malawi price - whether we are or not!

  

We drove on down the road a bit, and I saw some mavwende at a roadside stand.  Yep, you are too smart - you guessed what mavwende are, didn't you?  They are watermelons!  Some people call them chimwela.  Whatever you call them, they are good!  Not quite as good as watermelons from Alvord or Sunset, Texas - but good.  Negotiations were held, a price agreed upon (Malawi, not azungu - yeah right!), and two big mavwende were loaded into the car, just beside the mounds of mangos.

  

On the road again, we pass through the trading center known as Chia.  I chuckle almost every time I pass through Chia because I think of the chia pets that are so popular during the Christmas season back in the States.  The Chia trading center, located very close to the lake, is where you can buy fresh fish - all kinds of fresh and dried fish.  Chambo is the most popular fish.  As I was driving into the the village today, a guy stepped out from his stall holding up a stringer full of catfish, whoops I mean kampango!  Now these guys are not to be confused with the mlamba I bought last week.  Kampango are the real-meal deal!  Catfish - real to goodness catfish!  Yep, I stopped and bought two of these big boys!  Of course I didn't get them without the negotiations taking place.  You guessed it - azungu price in effect here!  Fortunately, one of our A/G pastors was with us, and she took my place at the negotiating table.  Even then the final price was somewhere between the Malawi and azungu price.  The deal was struck, and the fish were tied to the luggage rack of our trusty Toyota Land Cruiser (thank you Speed The Light!), and we were on the road again to finish two more hours of driving before arriving home.  Why yes, I did say tied to the luggage rack for the two-hour drive home.  No, you can't buy ice here to pack your fish.  No, they won't spoil - as long as you are driving, and the air hits them.  Yes, they do get a bit dry, but they don't spoil.

  

While I was cleaning the fish, Fredna was preparing the side dishes and heating the oil for the fish.  Tonight, we had a little bit of East Texas - a catfish fry!

By the way, I learned something tonight - what I like may not be what you like.  One of our guards came by while I was cleaning the fish.  He looked in the bucket where I was throwing the heads, entrails, and bones.  He said, "Pastor, are you throwing these away?"  I looked at him and said that I was saving them for him if he wanted them.  He was so happy!  I can just imagine him thinking to himself... that crazy azungu is saving the fillets and throwing out the best part of the fish.

I love Malawi!