#yearlyroundup

First things first: Happy New Year!!! Look at you, you made it through to tell the tale! And what a year 2022 was! For me, the highs were very euphoric, and the lows were the absolute worst. From January 2022, I wished the year would just end already. I had a very painful start to the year. In February, my only surviving grandmother passed away, and the day I got the news will go down as one of the worst days of my life. I miss my gogo dearly, but I’m also happy she is finally resting. The last long conversation I had with her was very deep, and left me inspired to live a life she would be proud of. 

This was also the year we experienced devaluation, inflation, a fuel crisis, persistent blackouts and the list goes on and on. I couldn’t have picked the worst time to move out. Prices skyrocketed, and Little Miss Independent here called mum, dad, and her big sister Charity when she met any inconvenience (baby steps, guys, baby steps). But despite all that, I have really enjoyed living alone and the peace that comes with it. Honestly, it is not as scary as most people portray it. I truly love it here - highly recommend.

The good parts were really good, too. I loved quality time with family and friends, and the wins were nothing short of miracles. I significantly reduced the time I spent on some social media sites and deleted some apps while at it, and I'm glad I did. I also had a fairly great year at work, mainly because I enjoy the work I do, and I am surrounded by some really awesome workmates. It was a year of lessons, too. The biggest lesson is that when God says His mercies are new every morning? He means just that! That He loves you unconditionally? Never ever doubt it. I am walking into 2023 with all the lessons in mind and asking for God’s grace to take me through.

So, as per tradition, before we move on completely, here is my round-up for the year 2022:

Top 5 places visited:

1. Zomba Mountain - William Falls and Songani Lookout

Took a hike very early on in January, and got to see the amazing William Falls and went all the way to Songani Lookout with my girls. Zomba views will never ever get old.

2. Rumphi

This year was my first time going up north beyond the city of Mzuzu. All I can say is, the north really is underrated. I went all the way to Karonga, and Chiweta was a marvel. This was a work trip so I didn’t get to do much, but it just made me itch for a proper Rumphi trip. I have always wanted to visit Mushroom Farm and Nyika Plateau… What I saw of Rumphi made me realise this is one of the most beautiful districts in Malawi (by far, too!).

Photo credits: Adventures with Colby, and Herman Is Out of The Office

3. Makokola Retreat

I remember going to Makokola Retreat when we were younger during school holidays (called Club Makokola back then). When I visited this year, I felt so nostalgic! It is still as amazing as it was, and I’m so glad the standard keeps going up. This is truly one of Mangochi’s finest establishments.

4. Kefi  Hotel Café

The newest Instagrammable location in my beautiful hometown! Kefi is located near the Zomba Botanical Gardens. They have really great food, and I love that they maintained the good old Zomba colonial style exterior and blended it with aesthetic interior design. I truly enjoyed the calm and quiet here.

I don’t know if you can just show up now, but last I checked, you have to book ahead, so plan accordingly if you ever want to visit.

5. Maravi Coffee 

I finally fulfilled my promise to check out this place inside the Nature Sanctuary, right in City Centre. Such a cosy place, surrounded by trees and cheeky monkeys. For a second, you forget you are in the middle of dusty Lilongwe.

Top books Read

Let me not even lie guys, I did not read enough interesting books to come up with a list for this year’s round-up. What I did do though, was get into podcasts so that’s how I am making up for not coming up with a list of my top reads.

Fav Podcasts

I discovered that a very great way to spend time in slow Lilongwe traffic is a good ol’ dramatic story by Wondery! Wondery is by far, my fav publisher of podcasts. The drama. The scandals. The history lessons – oooh yes!

Here are my favourites, with my personal rating

American Scandal:

Edward Snowden (4/5)

Watergate (3/5)

The Clinton-Lewinsky Affair (4/5)

Tuskegee Syphilis Study (5/5!)

British Scandal:

Spy Cops (5/5)

The Coughing Major (5/5)

The Litvinenko Affair (3/5)

The Canoe Con (5/5!!!!)

The Murdoch Phone Hacking (3.5/5)

Business Wars:

McDonald's vs Burger King (4/5)

15 songs that were stuck on replay in 2022

Since Spotify decided to discriminate us this year and not give us our well deserved Wrapped, I had to come up with this list manually, so I hope I'm not too far off.

The one thing I have loved about this year is the amount of Malawians putting out quality music on streaming platforms. It gives me so much hope for what's to come.

1.     Jehova – Ryan Ofei

2.     Somebody Knows – ELI-J

3.     The Commission – CAIN

4.     Bwenzi Langa – Free Worship Malawi, Simplice Bless

5.     He’ll Be There – Lynual Younce

6.     I Am Yours – Terry Clark

7.     Standing By The Bedside – Cox Family

8.     Shall Not Want – Elevation Worship, Maverick City Music, Chandler Moore

9.     There Was Jesus – CAIN

10. No Words (ft. Leon Timbo) - Jason Nelson

11. Never Lost - CeCe Winans

12. You're Gonna Be Okay - Jenn Johnson

13. Capable God - Judikay

14. You I Live For - Moses Bliss

15. Alipo - Kelvin Sings, Beracah  (why is this song so short tho? 🥺)

You can find this playlist on Spotify 

Honourable mentions - songs I replayed on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/oF7EUyQArPQ

https://youtu.be/WZAzTGsEnHI

https://youtu.be/PJDRmhaPAaQ

 And that’s it! I wish you a great new year, until the next round-up, God willing, enjoy 2023!

-Fai