Monday was a travel day allowing us to start getting acclimated to being in Africa. We had an early breakfast and checkout since our flight to Lilongwe, Malawi was at 10AM. The trip itself was nice and short and we were greeted by a very friendly and helpful team from the US embassy.

The drive to the hotel gave us a chance to take in the beautiful scenery of undulating terrain and local agriculture. The sky was somewhat overcast, but the temperature was very pleasant (in the upper 70s) – a wonderful contrast to the snow and cold in Chicago.<
After a restful afternoon, we were warmly welcomed for dinner by Public Affairs Officer Ben Canavan and his wife. We were treated to a wonderful meal and relaxed, but informative, conversation about the local scene. Tuesday being our first full day of activities, we went back fairly early to the hotel to get some sleep.