This past weekend, I took my first trip outside of the Lilongwe area to the southern tip of Lake Malawi for Lake of Stars, an annual music festival held in Malawi. It was a fun 3-day weekend of sitting by the lake, listening to great music, hanging out with my roommates and meeting new people. Austin, Graham, Savvy and I camped on the lawn of a hotel right on the beach. We opted to camp a bit farther away from the festival than most people to get a more peaceful environment to rest in. An added bonus of this was that we got to interact with people from the local village - including playing a game of pickup soccer with the kids. The lake was also great for taking a dip and escaping the heat.
The music at the festival was great for a mix of relaxing by the lake and dancing on the sand throughout the three days. We met up with Kate's friends from Botswana, other friends from Lilongwe, and even my friend, Reena, who also just graduated from UNC and is living in Zambia. After getting my first view of Lake Malawi, I know I'll be back many times during the next year.