If you get our newsletter, you know that the Lord has provided a fantastic house for us. Yay! The former tenants moved out last weekend, and we spent all this week working on remodeling and repairs. Here’s what the week has held for us…

Several of the walls needed to have the plaster patched, and how do you like that green wall color? The whole house was this color, inside and out.

Lots of paint, lots of walls to paint!

The glass inset in one of the kitchen cupboards was broken, so we took a hammer and chisel to the rest of the glass insets and broke them all out. We’ll replace the glass, but it was kind of fun breaking it all out!

How to buy home improvement supplies in Malawi – go on a scavenger hunt. We laughed remembering how in the States you can just go to Lowe’s and get everything all in one place. Yah, not really here. Washers in one store, large key rings that double as curtain rings in another store, 1 meter of galvanized screen in the next store…

The fluorescent lights in the kitchen always got messed up by the power fluctuations, so Matt replaced them with these great hanging lights!

He also took the fluorescent lights out of the hallway and put in small, inset halogen lights – so nice!

And the painting starts: good-bye green (and no, the new paint isn’t as pink as it looks here!)

The kitchen is done, but the green is still peeking out of the hallway…

The entrance hallway is done…

Did I mention that our house is a series of hallways with a couple rooms attached? =) It’s looking more and more like home to us, and we’re so excited to finish up the rest of the projects this coming week, and hopefully move in next weekend!

Blantyre is just over a 4 hour drive south of where we live in Lilongwe. We drove down and back on Wednesday, with the primary goal of visiting the Immigration Office to pay for our Temporary Employment Permit (TEP). Hopefully we will receive the final letter in the next few days, which will function as our visa for the next 2 years.

In the 5 hours down to Blantyre (details on the side trip below), and the 4 hours back from there, we saw a good portion of the country of Malawi. Here are some highlights from the trip:

We have no idea what this sign means, but if you say it in a cutesy voice… well, just try it.

The Shire River (pronounced “sheerie”, sorry Tolkien fans), part of Liwonde game park.

Matt got pulled over for going 56 kilometers an hour in a 50 kph zone. That would be like getting pulled over for going 25 in a 22 mph zone. But they actually made it very convenient and let us pay right there – and gave us a receipt, so we knew it was legit. They also told us that the only other speed camera in the country was another few miles down the road. Ah, good to know!

Somewhere along to way we missed a turn, and took an hour detour through Zomba, a mountainous, forested area. It was beautiful, and one of our favorite parts of the drive!

Hand-holding is common amongst friends, and means nothing more than friendship.

Once we finished up at the Immigration Office, we had one other stop to make in Blantyre: Game, a South African store somewhat similar to a Target in the USA, but about half the size. There’s nothing like this in Lilongwe, so we stocked up on things like drill bits, ceiling fans, and a 220 volt iron. And for those of you wanting evidence of the man-purse, here it is!

Some things, though, were still a little more than we were willing to pay. This little roll of Duck Tape costs about $7. No thanks.

On the other hand, a few things are a great deal! These are the exact same cups that I got for $1 each at Crate & Barrel. Here, they’re 37 cents.

On the trip back home, we passed this sign. It’s hard to read in this pic, but it says “Aids is Real. It’s Not Witchcraft.” What a reminder that the people here need the truth of God’s Word and His grace to be free of the lies of superstition and witchcraft.

One of our favorite trees in Africa, the baobob! This one’s for you, Judah Gundersen!

Our other favorite tree, the acacia. It just looks “African.”

And finally, one of the most common sights in Malawi, a little village perched on a hillside.