I was reminded of the quote today and I can't help but think that it applies to everyone I have ever met. I think it would make a fitting title to my post

"Work Like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt and dance like nobody is watching"

Greetings everyone, I wish I could say that I am blogging from Malawi but alas the internet is too slow to upload anything and this comes by way of my own personal knight in shining armor with high speed internet!

Here in Blantyre the big news today is that one of the two cell phone companies in the country burned to the ground taking its mainframe with it and leaving more than half of Malawi without any means of communication. The buzz around town is that the rival phone company set the fire because more people were switching to that service. Scandal, Arson and Corporate espionage in Malawi!!! You wouldn't think that cell phones are big here, but the dark continent is not so in the dark. Often I'll be seeing a patient, lying on the bed with literally a rag for a pair of pants and no shirt on next to his mother who is wrapped in the traditional Malawian swaths of fabric, faded with years of wear. And I am always amazed when I hear the distinct tune of fur Elise escaping from the shopping bag that doubles as a purse, suitcase (more rags) and lunch box. Everyone has a cell phone, only very rich people have a land line.

Malaria season is in full gear. Every bed in the children's ward is taken and on my ward we've added half beds. The 4 year old boy in bed 11 1/2 sleeps on the floor between beds eleven and twelve. His name is Madalitso and he happens to be my favorite patient right now and not just because he loves to run around after hours with no pants on but he is a very happy and outgoing kid. Yesterday he was nice enough to draw me a 10' by 12' picture of a "gallimoto" or a cab on the floor of the ward with his new box of crayons. All 12 families in the room had to leave for an hour while his mom mopped it off the floor. I wish I had my camera for that. All the mothers sleep on the floor next to the beds or sometimes they sleep sitting up on benches resting their heads on their child's bed. Sometimes they have other kids with them. Madalitso's little brother Hardwork (yes that's his name) has been on the ward for the whole time his big brother has been hospitalized.

My favorite part of the day is when I hand a kid a mosquito net and say "see you in a month Madalitso, watch out for the mosquitoes" My least favorite part of the day is when they don't make it to that point.

There is so much I wish I could share with all of you but to sum it up, pineapple and passion fruit are in season, it rains at 3pm most days, Malawian people are really into shoes and HIV sucks.