This is the house that Jack built.
by Mother Goose


Actually, this is the house that NOVOC built.

This is the nsima
That lay in the house that NOVOC built.

This is the rat,
That ate the nsima
That lay in the house that NOVOC built.

(OK, no. I don't have time for this.)

da da da da da ... fast forward....

This is the farmer sowing his corn,
That kept the cock that crowed in the morn,
That waked the priest all shaven and shorn,
That married the man all tattered and torn,
That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

The End.

But for real, this is a house that NOVOC built and we set out to interview the happy family. My job during these interviews is to stay out of the way and be quiet. I was innocently taping these guys from a good distance when I made friends with about 10 women who could hardly refrain from laughing at the way I tied my sarong. Actually, none of us refrained at all. I didn't speak any Chichewa, but they could tell on my face I was asking them to make it right for me. The joke was that I had this huge bulging knot on the side of my body. Anyway, with all the laughing, I think we may have disrupted the interview, so Johnny was given the assignment to distract the kids. (as if.) So, here he is off doing that....look at the beautiful scenery!

The people of Malawi may be poor, but man this country is anything but.