Complaining

I have a particular talent for complaining. In fact I reckon I could get a PhD in it. There is always a reason to complain about something in an imperfect world. I am sure you agree.

When I was preparing to move to Africa I was conscious that I would be challenged about my propensity to complain. I was right. Malawi is indeed an imperfect world for many, many people. However, something I have noticed is that the Malawians rarely complain about things. They are much more likely to laugh about them.

For example, for the past 2 weeks we have had problems with water supply. The cold water is off for quite lengthy periods during the day and the hot water pressure has been significantly decreased. This makes showering pretty close to impossible. Now, I can honestly say that for the first few days I had the good grace to accept this situation with humour and creativity. No problem, we can boil water when we have it and bath in a bucket. That lasted a few days but I'm now complaining! I want my water! I want it now! Of course our house staff just laugh, "There's no water again, madam, but I've carried in a bucket of water from the bore for you and I've boiled pots of water and put them through the filter so you have plenty of drinking water."