I've now finished my first week at the Mulanje Mission Hospital in Malawi. I'll write more about that later, because this weekend is looking to be rather busy.

Firstly, one of our staff members is getting married, a long planned event with a big party that by some accounts has been the talk of Mulanje for weeks.

Then it was announced that Malawian President Joyce Banda will be visiting Mulanje Mission on Saturday---the day of the wedding party---to hold an election rally. This is already proving disruptive to wedding preparations and should the election rally spark any kind of trouble, like it did last time, then the hospital will likely have to pick up the pieces. Unfortunately, Mulanje is opposition heartland so trouble is a distinct possibility.

Then it was announced that the Indian Ocean had begotten a tropical cyclone, since named Hellen, and that this was headed our way. Malawi is far inland so this storm will have weakened to heavy rainfall if and when it reaches us, but unfortunately the weather proved insufficient to dissuade President Banda from making her visit, and so now the wedding will have to contend with both.

Watch this space.