Lake of Stars Music Festival and Mother's Day

Lake of Stars Music Festival
While all my friends and family back in Canada were gathering together last weekend to eat turkey and pumpkin pies in celebration of Thanksgiving, I was at the Lake of Stars Music Festival.

The Lake of Stars Music Festival is an annual event (this was its 4th year) held at a lodge on the lake, approximately 4 hours north of Lilongwe.

I headed to the festival with Monica, the other EWB volunteer based out of Lilongwe, and two of her friends. We left on Friday afternoon, and arrived at sunset.

Initially we stayed at a nearby cottage, camping out in the yard. Getting to the festival required either a 45 minute walk along the beach, which could only be done during daylight hours because of a dangerous combination of rocks, hippos and crocodiles (when Monica and I did the walk during the day the only creatures we encountered was a herd of cattle being directed down the beach), or a short drive. The people we were with showed surprisingly low interest in spending much time at the festival, so Monica and I decided to jump ship and camp at the festival grounds instead. It was definitely the right decision!

Photo 1: Cows being herded along the beach

Photo 2: Festival main stage

Photo 3: Harry’s beach bar

The festival was a fun time. It was, however, a bit different than I anticipated. I felt like I was at a festival back in Canada – the set up, the acts, the food, the crowd – it all reeked of a European or North American festival. From what I gathered there, it seems that the entire planning committee was British. The level of Malawian musical content was also lower than I expected, which was disappointing. There were a few acts from Malawi, and a few from Southern Africa, but aside from them, the rest were flown in from the UK or the US. The demographics of the crowd seemed to suggest that every 20-something Muzungu (Westener) in all of Southern Africa was in attendance. There were a fair number of Malawians, but they were the minority. It is very unfortunate that the festival was so inaccessible to the average Malawian. The ticket cost alone was more than I pay for rent in a month.

Photo 4: Malawian fisherman in the foreground, with the tents of festival goers in the background.

Despite the guilt I felt about being an extravagant muzungu going away for the weekend to an expensive music festival, I had a good time! When not watching shows (there were some pretty fantastic acts there!), I spent much time lazing on the beach (a stone’s throw away from the 2 stages), chatting with people (Monica is a social butterfly and seemed to know pretty much everyone!), and eating the surprisingly good food. All in all, it was a very nice and welcomed break from my usual routine.

Photo 5: Lounging on the beach with a couple fellow Canadians and a Brit

Photo 6: Monica and myself

Mother's Day
I arrived back in Lilongwe on Monday, which was a National Holiday - Mother's Day.

Mother’s day at my household, however, had a bit of a sombre mood.

My host mother suffered a stroke early last week. At first, I didn’t even know that it happened. She spends most of her time in her room, so not seeing her up and about didn't seem unusual to me. I did, however, notice a distinct change in the moods of the sisters. It wasn’t until 2 days after it happened that my roommate told me.

She stayed at home to convalesce for a few days, but due to dangerously high blood pressure levels, she was hospitalized from Thursday until last night (Wednesday). My roommate, Gee, camped out at the hospital with her.

So, my house mum spent Mother’s day in a hospital bed. Her daughters prepared a big dinner at home and brought it to her to celebrate Mother’s day together as a family.

Everyone is back home now, and my host mum is recovering. She is paralysed on one side, and is going to be starting physiotherapy soon. I haven't seen much of her as she has been keeping to her room and I don't want to intrude. I feel like a bit of an extra burden at the moment, and am just trying to stay out of the way.