Lilongwe Rastafarians

Jimmy is the son of Mrs. Anderson, the woman who owns the Kayesa Inn in Mchinji. I met him the first night I arrived, sitting in the kitchen of the inn with his fiancé Laia, a rasta herself who hails from Spain, quietly strumming the guitar and singing “Cherry Oh Baby” by Eric Donaldson – needless to say I was hooked! Yesterday we traveled to Lilongwe via the minibus of a friend – 8 of us packed into a space for 6 plus 3 guitars, a few amps, luggage, sleeping mats, etc.

On a side note its amazing what you will do in a developing nation that you would never dream of in the states. I tend to be fanatical about seatbelts, bike helmets, car seats, never packing more people into a vehicle than there is space for etc. I’m sure my hyper-vigilance comes from my trauma social work and Serge’s ER stories. But within 4 days of arriving in Malawi, I have ridden on a bike taxi with no helmet (i.e. a seat on the rack of the back of a bicycle), packed into the bed of a pick-up truck 7 deep, packed into minibuses with way too many people, stuff, no seatbelts and traveled for 1-2 hours so badly cramped I can’t feel my feet. Safe travel is something I take so for granted back home, I rarely worry about my safety on day-to-day transportation. Instead I worry about flying in a plane, or drunk drivers on the Schuylkill. Here, it’s impossible to get anywhere unless you are willing to risk your safety a bit every time you engage in transport. Even walking is a bit hazardous. Any of you who have traveled in developing nations know how crazy everyone drives, using their horns to say a million different things. The road (or walking along side it) is by no means a safe place to be. And yet I’m on it in cockeyed contraptions without much thought.

Back to Jimmy & Laia – we went to their show at the Chameleon Bar at the Four Seasons in Lilongwe (yes even Malawi has a Four Seasons). The show was beyond fantastic – we danced all night to some amazing music. They are both so talented. Check him out (Chiozo is his musician name):
http://soundclick.com/chiozo
Music is not his only passion, Jimmy plans to walk from Capetown to Cairo – yes WALK some 16,5000 kilometers (or 10, 250 miles) to raise awareness for poverty in Africa:
Check out:
www.dubbinhood.com