Friday, November 16, 2007
... it's gettin hot in huurrrrr
... FIRE!
I wasn't tired last night and JUST as I put my head down to drift off to jt's little 'Sigur Ros sleepy time mix' I heard a huge commotion coming from the back courtyard of the Kimboko Town Hotel where Steve and I have been staying since arriving back from South Africa... awaiting our funding to continue our project. Thinking nothing of it I continued on my fast trek into dreamland... until I heard our Malawian night guard running down the hallway banging on the doors yelling 'FIRE'
Perhaps its our western 'conspiricy theory...' : I personally like to blame our recent trip to Joburg where people talk about crime more than weather... but when I heard him yelling fire my initial reaction was NOT...'oh God do I have my passport, money, favorite tshirt and retainer!~?' (of course jt's personal list of what to grab in a fire) ....NO... my initial thought was... SURE... they are scamming a fire...getting all of us half naked in the parking lot w/all our stuff...and ROBBING US. Great. We're DEAD.
It's a unique and truly intimate feeling being woken in the middle of the night... stepping into the hallway of your hotel ....looking into the faces of all your fellow night lodgers sceptical faces... and seeing what they wear, or do not wear... to bed. A sort of 'stripping away of all inhibitions for the common purpose of seeing if our lives are in danger' A sort of United Nations in the buff... HA. " oh hellllllooooo didn't we meet at breakfast.... "
Steve-o was fast asleep- already in dream land.. and JT had to 'save his life' ... yes i know... I'm such a hero... no mouth to mouth was necessary! Remember.... I was a trained lifeguard...
I stepped out onto the second floor balcony with other lodgers to view the street. It's funny how EVERYONE has/owns the SAME fanny/pack/money belts.... clutching their documents/money.... I guess there was a fire in the restaurant Don Brioni's below the hotel... at the time it didn't seem that serious... until smoke started to fill the hallway.
I wasn't tired last night and JUST as I put my head down to drift off to jt's little 'Sigur Ros sleepy time mix' I heard a huge commotion coming from the back courtyard of the Kimboko Town Hotel where Steve and I have been staying since arriving back from South Africa... awaiting our funding to continue our project. Thinking nothing of it I continued on my fast trek into dreamland... until I heard our Malawian night guard running down the hallway banging on the doors yelling 'FIRE'
Perhaps its our western 'conspiricy theory...' : I personally like to blame our recent trip to Joburg where people talk about crime more than weather... but when I heard him yelling fire my initial reaction was NOT...'oh God do I have my passport, money, favorite tshirt and retainer!~?' (of course jt's personal list of what to grab in a fire) ....NO... my initial thought was... SURE... they are scamming a fire...getting all of us half naked in the parking lot w/all our stuff...and ROBBING US. Great. We're DEAD.
It's a unique and truly intimate feeling being woken in the middle of the night... stepping into the hallway of your hotel ....looking into the faces of all your fellow night lodgers sceptical faces... and seeing what they wear, or do not wear... to bed. A sort of 'stripping away of all inhibitions for the common purpose of seeing if our lives are in danger' A sort of United Nations in the buff... HA. " oh hellllllooooo didn't we meet at breakfast.... "
Steve-o was fast asleep- already in dream land.. and JT had to 'save his life' ... yes i know... I'm such a hero... no mouth to mouth was necessary! Remember.... I was a trained lifeguard...
I stepped out onto the second floor balcony with other lodgers to view the street. It's funny how EVERYONE has/owns the SAME fanny/pack/money belts.... clutching their documents/money.... I guess there was a fire in the restaurant Don Brioni's below the hotel... at the time it didn't seem that serious... until smoke started to fill the hallway.
As the Malawians rushed around calling the Fire Department (didn't realize they had one here) The sort of feeling I'm sure the passengers of the Titanic experienced... 'ohhhh its not THAT bad... ' Then the French Canadian girls I had met earlier that day told me to look outside their room... smoke and flames were lapping at their window. RIGHT. We're gettin the heck outta here. To the sound of shattering windows exploding to the heat of the unslaught of fire...Stevsie and JT started firing (forgive the pun) ALL our worldly possessions into our bags like shoppers at a Holt Renfrew Last Call 70percent off Sale... even FASTER...! Thank sweet Jesus for duffle bags... THANKS SAMARITANS FOR THE DUFFLES... haha.
We hauled our bags out to the parking lot across the street... joined our fellow sleepy international lodgers on the steps of the grocery store... and let'er burn baby...
Steve and I are ok... our stuff is fine... we were put up that night by the owners of Kiboko in another lodge...and back at Kiboko today... so we are not on the street. The restaurant, the room pictured and the post office BESIDE the hotel/restaurant where the fire originated were all destroyed... Here are some images.
Slightly char-broiled and smelling of smoke...
BUT with MUCH LOVE
jt
jt
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