Proud to be an American?

This weekend was full of unexpected encounters with Americans in Malawi. On Friday, I met Bill Clinton. Yup. Just like that. After a great day, I learned that the hospital would be closing early. All cars were to be cleared at 4p. We initially thought it was World Cup related since it's been a big deal around here and most people arrive and then knock-off early to watch. Not quite. Word spread quickly that Bill Clinton would be on campus to visit the new maternity ward at KCH; the Clinton Foundation funded it and he was in the area...for the world cup in South African and other business...so he arrived in Lilongwe to tour the facility.

A productive meeting with my mentors offered a few good leads for me--ditch the project you don't like and try to be a Clinton groupie. Done and done.



Rita, a former Peace Corps worker in Malawi, is married to Rob, the head of the UNC lab here in Malawi. Rob found out about the visit, let Rita know and she made a sign. Her dad went to boy's state with Clinton. That did the trick. She secured a photo with the former president and graciously allowed us to crash the picture party.

The following day was the US vs Ghana world cup game. At this point, Ghana was the only remaining African country remaining in the World Cup; South Africa was hosting and they did a great job making it about Africa hosting the world cup, rather than only South Africa. From what I can tell, most people in Malawi and other places in Africa were cheering for Ghana. It was a really exciting event for us from the US to watch this game in Africa. If the US won, great. If Ghana won, great. It was a big win either way. Ghana won and everyone in the bar made a lot of noise.

One guy wandered around the bar blowing a horn. He came over to where the Americans (us included) were watching the game and started blowing the horn "at" all of us. It was fine, but after a few minutes, a bit annoying. One American guy in another group pushed the Malawian. The Malawian kept blowing the horn. The guy from the US pushed the celebrating Malawian again...and then again...and then a punch. He was very aggressive--more than was warranted for an annoying horn blower. We cleared out and they fought for a bit until it was broken up. After a "win, win" game, it wasn't the reaction we anticipated. It was a severe contrast from the excitement of meeting the former president the day before and what was expected after the game today. The aggressive American guy's behavior made me embarrassed to be from the US.