27th January 2026
… 7:00am …
Depending on the terminal I end up transferring through, I’ve made it a habit to stop by Kaldi’s Coffee in Addis Ababa. The espresso drinks are pretty tasty and it turns out their chicken pesto shawarma isn’t bad either. I’ve probably mentioned it before but Ethiopia feels partly Middle Eastern and partly African but it is definitely on the African continent.
My flight was uneventful. I even managed to sleep a little but mostly try not to bump against someone. It’s nice to stretch my legs a bit before climbing back into an airplane for the last leg.
One thing about Ethiopian Airlines is that they rarely seem to cancel it delay flights, at least the flights I’ve been on. I landed exactly on time in Lilongwe. Thankfully I had a visa already so the security process was just about verifying my visa and getting my passport stamped. I found my bags pretty quick and headed outside. It was so warm! It’s definitely not winter in Malawi.
I was greeted by Cephas, George, and Wiza. We climbed in the car headed for Mchesi, the area in Lilongwe where the church hall is located. There I was also greeted by Haiton and his wife, as well as John and Juliana (and Ari). What a warm welcome! After sitting and chatting with Cephas and Haiton for a while I climbed back in the car with the Chapambas and we headed to Nkhwazi. I could tell that the lack of consistent sleep was catching up to me.
The last time I visited Lilongwe was in 2024. At that time there was a lot of road work happening and there were certain places I didn’t recognize because everything was dusty and shifting. Traffic was awful because there essentially were no roads. But now those same roads and overpasses and roundabouts are all completed. Now I don’t recognize certain roads because they’ve changed so much for the better. Of course some of the roads (the ones with giant potholes in them) are exactly the same as they were almost a decade ago.
Patricia greeted us at the door. Soon it was time for some afternoon coffee, a walk in the garden (barefoot I might add), and then supper before bed. The Chapamba’s back yard garden has grown so much. The older fruit trees are mostly producing well—pomegranates, mangoes, lemons, Mexican apples, sugar apples, peaches, bananas. I got to taste a freshly picked lemon and a mango. Almost as tall as the trees are the maize stocks. The rains started earlier here than in Lilongwe.
The day ended with me unloading the reading glasses, a delicious dinner prepared by Patricia, and an early night. I feel asleep pretty quickly before 9pm but of course that means I’m awake before sunrise writing. The plans for the rest of the day include heading back into the city for a leadership meeting and some visiting. I’m glad to be back in the warm heart of Africa, especially having escaped the freezing temperatures in NYC.
-Lewis VanAusdle
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