Malawi Update No. 1

i'm writing you from an internet cafe in blantyre, malawi. blantyre is where myself and my cohort jong-soh will be living for the next 12 months. i'm sorry to leave you all hanging for the past couple of days. we didn't have internet access until just now. we will be coming into the heart of the city at least once a week, so you can count on more consistent communications from me as time goes on. i'm truly in love with this magical place. everything is new and alive and profoundly sad and exciting all at the same time. trust that i am taking every precaution that i can to boost my immune system and to hinder the malaria bugs. i will stay sober and you all will remain in my heart and in my thoughts and in my prayers. please send me all the love and positive energy you can muster. i will take lots of pictures and i can't wait to share them with you and exchange stories about our year apart. i miss each of you already so very much!

my snail mail address is --

Benjamin Mielenz
D.I. of TCE Blantyre
Plantation House
DAPP Malawi
P.O. Box 2732
Blantyre
Malawi

Please only use DHL as a postal service. We will gladly accept any and all amenities which will remind us of home. oreos...lucky charms...entertainment weekly...even the new york times. get creative. and keep in touch, even if it is only via email.

oh yeah...if you are getting this email from my yahoo account, please respond back to my gmail address, as yahoo is a very slow loader here for one reason or another-- benmielenz@gmail.com
in fact...yahoo is such a pain, that noone is going to get anything from that email address today. please forward this to the people who should be receiving it. (mom to ronnie, payten, austin, and wayne. zach to josh. you know who to send it to...thanks)

Thank you for all of your love and support.

I love you, miss you, and am safe, happy, and well!