Hello!

Though I do have much to write about--there has been quite a bit to take in in the few short hours that I have been at the village--my reason for writing this post at this moment is of a wimpier nature. Let's just say that I had forgotten all of the terrifying tales people have told me about enormous spiders in Africa. I found four within ten minutes, not counting the other smaller varieties I found in the bathroom. And I'm not exactly sure if I successfully killed any of them. There is nothing to put a quicker end to sleepiness than the thought that the one in your room might still be alive. So, here I am. Sitting in the living room of the guesthouse, typing up a blog post and keeping a wary eye on the two spiders hanging out near the ceiling.

After around 24 hours of flights, I arrived in Lusaka at about 2:30 p.m. (Zambian time is six hours later than Eastern time.) It's about an hour's drive from Lusaka to the village, which is located in the bush. Driving through the bush was a very eye-opening experience. On the way, we passed tons of kids walking along the side of the road, right next to it. Many were returning from school, and some carried items on their heads. Some traveled in groups, others did not. As we passed, many stopped and waved. One little girl even struck a pose, grinning, as we passed. Irene, one of the missionaries here, told me that they hitchhike, getting a ride from the first person who will stop for them. It is a common sight to see trucks with huge beds in the back, loaded with hitchhikers of all ages.

Along the way, we also passed many small shops on the side of the road. They were all dilapidated, and some were made of nothing more than sticks and cloth. Many of them sold fresh fruits and vegetables and other such things. As we passed, it made an impression on me, because for some of the people, these shops are their sole source of income.

The last bit of the drive was on a very bumpy dirt road. In between jarring bumps which temporarily halted the conversation, Lydia and I asked Irene about the village. We discovered that starting Wednesday, we will be helping in the school for the next three weeks, until the kids are on their vacation! Once they are on vacation, we will be very busy playing with them and helping with a week-long G.A.M.E.S. program, which is their version of V.B.S. (G.A.M.E.S stands for Games, Art, Music, Enrichment, and I cannot remember what the S stands for right now.)

After I got to the guesthouse, I got the chance to eat dinner in the dining hall, at a table with one of the house mamas and her kids. There are over 70 kids here at the village, so I didn't get a chance to meet all of them tonight, but I did manage to find out that most of them cite football (soccer) as their favorite pastime.

Well, that's all for now! I will try to post some pictures sometime soon. (It was kind of difficult to try to take halfway decent pictures through a closed car window, jolting along at 70 km/hr.)