About the Author

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Lee Rakes is currently a doctoral student in the educational psychology department at Virginia Tech, where he also received his MSEd in health promotion and a B.S. in psychology. His current research interests include mastery learning, the implications of flow in a classroom setting, and academic assessment. Since 2005 he has been involved in education of youth to some extent, working as a tutor for the Virginia Tech Literacy Corp, a substitute teacher for Martinsville City Public Schools, or as the park interpreter/outreach coordinator for Fairy Stone State Park. During this time he has received several merits and awards, including one for Outstanding Tutor while at the Literacy Corp and Focus for Excellence awards while at Fairy Stone. He is currently employed at Virginia Tech as a graduate teaching assistant and at Fairy Stone State Park as the community outreach coordinator.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Experiences in Malawi, Africa

Today we hiked a portion of Mount Mulanje. We picked up two guides, Luscious and Wise One, who were both very experienced with the trails Mulanje offers. Luscious was a guide for the group the year prior and remembered a couple of the professors’ names from the last trip. Pretty amazing, I thought. After getting organized, we ascended a path up very steep terrain for quite some distance. At one point we encountered some baboons in the trees along the path. Being among them was surreal, to say the least. After a long ascent, we then traipsed our way down to a gushing waterfall. There we ate lunch and took a much needed break. The hike back to the bus was much easier; a relief to us all.

Once we exited the gate, we browsed wood carvings for sale by several vendors. The art of negotiation is a skill prized by the vendors, as well as the patrons they serve. I think I did quite well, having purchased several hand carved items for very reasonable prices, like cedar boxes, a walking stick, and a large wooden replica of the Earth. The whole scene was quite a spectacle. First, we walked around and asked about prices for items we were interested in. I negotiated and purchased a few items at this time. We did this for about 15 minutes, and then boarded the bus. When we did this, the vendors then gathered up items and came running toward us. The real negotiating began. The idea is to ask a price for a desired item and then offer about half or less. Most of the time, they concede. If they didn’t, we just made like we were leaving (by pulling off for a few feet). They would run alongside the bus, and then you could make another offer. We did this several times, maybe 5 or 6 at least. Everyone got in on the action. I think the vendors enjoyed the back and forth, stop and start negotiating as much as we did, seeing how they were laughing and smiling the whole time.

From there we went into Blantyre for a brief stopover at another Annie’s Lodge for tea, coffee, and cakes. This was provided for free by the owner of the lodge we are staying in, Annie. The tea was some of the best I have ever tasted. It was Chombe, export quality. I had two cups it was so good. The cakes were an assortment, with small pieces of vanilla, chocolate, and even something resembling apple pie. I tried several, but the apple pie was my favorite. It reminded me of home.

All in all, today was one of the best days of the trip so far. I am worn out. Tomorrow, we are supposed to go to church (which I’m skipping to sleep in), and then to a village to see what life there is like. From there we are eating a late lunch at Annie’s home nearby. It should be another interesting day, I’m sure.