Paying for dinner for a group of eight can cost over 500,000 MWK and require carrying over 250 individual bills!
Water is quite cheap in Malawi. A bottle of water costs around 500 MWK at the grocery stores, which is $0.30 at the official conversion rate. Because tap water is not safe to drink, most homes and workplaces use 19 Liter water jugs. These cost even less, around $1.50, if you bring an empty jug to exchange.
The best meal this week was a classic weekend feast: pizza, wings, and samosas! I am a big Chicago Bears football fan, so my roommate and some friends stayed up for the Bears playoff game which started at 1:30 am local time. There is also a local sports bar called "Visions" near where I live, and it is a great spot to watch soccer games on the weekends.
I fluctuate between a Fred Again playlist on Spotify, which has become my productivity music, and various Afrobeat artists that my roommate plays. Afrobeat music is popular across the continent. Burna Boy is one of the most recognizable artists, and I hear his music in public all the time.
Now that the holidays are over, many colleagues and friends are returning to work. Bumpy Road Brewing in Lilongwe hosted a trivia night that was absolutely packed! The questions were very 2025 themed. While I am usually pretty good at trivia, our team wasn't very good, and only got 25 out of 70 possible points.
