Over the Christmas break we stayed at a cabin that belongs to some friends of ours on Lake Malawi, away from the touristy areas. While it was good to spend a couple of days away from home, our time at the beach wasn’t what you would probably think of as a normal vacation experience.

For one thing, we had an entourage of fifteen or twenty kids who followed us around everywhere. They were particularly enthralled with our Frisbee and my sunglasses. They found that they could see their reflections in the sunglasses, so they crowded in closer and closer, to the point that they were sitting on my feet as I was trying to relax on the beach. They didn’t have any beach gear of their own, not even swimming suits. So they would strip down to their underwear (if they had any) and dash off across the sand. We were surprised that our kids never said anything about the naked boys running around–I guess they’re adjusting better than we thought.

A woman doing dishes at the beach, with Jolie and some other children playing in the water

There were also women at the beach, busy with their daily activities. Some carried large plastic tubs filled with dirty laundry to the beach, and proceeded to wash it. Others carried smaller tubs filled with dirty dishes. It never occurred to me before that sand could be a good substitute for Brillo pads.