8/6/11 - Jet Lag

We’ve been traveling for two days, two flights, and three cities. It’s been tiring, but exciting too. With each plane ride over, we were just this much closer to being missionaries. The other people on the trip are so nice, too. Everybody’s so friendly and open. Fortunately for me, there are several other teenagers, including Joe Cannon from Gateway, and several others who I only know by their first names like Benjamin, Jacob, Heidi, Erin, etc. There are several older couples coming and a bunch of people who came on their own without a significant other. 

London was our first stop after D.C. and, if you so chose, you could have attended a London tour. Ours was very brisk though. We were supposed to see Buckingham palace first, which we did get to see, along with Green Park, but our viewing time had to be sped up due to people having rest room crises. After that we had lunch at a delicious restaurant Gary Schneider chose and we all got to eat out on the green overlooking a duck pond! It was gorgeous and the weather was perfect under the shade. Then we cleaned up our trash and made our way to West Minster Abbey, only to find it completely packed with tourists and a line out the wazoo! We asked about the line and the guards said it was because of the publicity the church got from the Royal Wedding not too long ago. So, we decided to visit the gift shop instead, walk over the London Bridge, and then head back to the airport.

After a long 10 hour flight, we arrived in Lusaka around 6 in the morning. There was a gorgeous sunset out the window with intensity that could only be seen from the air since it grew softer on ground. The airport security was quick and easy. Basic passport here and take your fingerprints and picture there. Boom, you’re done! So we got our luggage from the baggage claim and headed outside to find a bunch of trucks; one to load our check bags and two others to load ourselves in. The loading process wasn’t as quick and sufficient as it is in D.C., but, according to Gary, “We have a saying, T.I.Z. This is Zambia.” So, it’s casual and there were women there who were so kind and friendly. One named Margaret gave me a big hug and recognized me as ‘Jessica’s sister’. My sister, Jessica, interned here a couple years ago. 

Lusaka’s grasslands were beautiful and the town, at first when driving through it, didn’t look as impoverished as we’d been told. Then gradually, the houses started to break down as we went along and the jobs looked to be more tedious than productive. I also noticed how dusty the air got. My nose is feeling dusty and dry right now and it isn’t a comfortable feeling, as you can imagine. We got to the Abundant Life Center and introduced ourselves before heading over to the catholic guest house some of us were staying at. Our wow, let me tell you, this guest house is beautiful and not what I was expecting to stay in. In a good way. The bathrooms are clean and the water seems clean too, as well as hot! I was certainly not expecting a hot shower, but it was a happy surprise nonetheless. We had breakfast of toast and cornflakes at the Center and I took a small tour of the grounds. The workers and students there are so kind, and like a teenager here, Benjamin noted, “They’re not the fake kind of nice like in America. They’re genuine.” That made me think and I agree with him. We do fake our kindness a lot in America, but here, they seem like genuinely kind and good people. 

Well we’ll be off to dinner soon and then to bed in preparation for shopping in the market tomorrow! Stay tuned! Oh and it’s “winter” here, so it’s pretty chilly, but it isn’t snowing like it does up north where I’m from in Virginia. It’s just down in the 50s and 60s, which is certainly a surprise since you don’t expect to need a sweatshirt when you’re in Africa! I hope you are all doing well and please continue praying for us :)