My first day here :)

I have landed safely!! J Our plane left on Tuesday at 11:50 pm and we finally arrived in Zambia on Thursday at 8:30 am (Canada time). Yes, it was a very long journey but we had time to step out of the Heathrow airport and enjoy London for a few hours. The train to Piccadilly Circus (the Hurdman of subs) took us 48 minutes from the airport- but it was so worth the ride. We went to the Trafalgar Square, walked over to the Big Ben, and got to see the Westminster Abbey and the London Eye. We also got a real taste of London’s weather. Rain for 20 minutes, sun for 20 minutes, and then rain again, and so on and so forth. Luckily I was dry by the time we got back to the subway to head back to the airport. We met so many people on the subways who are also travelling (one guy did med school in England and was on his way to Nepal for 3 months!).

The rest of the plane rides were long – Ethiopia airlines did not impress me. It was a very old plane with very little leg room and gross food.

We finally landed in Zambia and got our visas. Thankfully no one had their luggage lost! As soon as we walked out of the airport we had Jason (the prof) and Caro (past student) greet us with some of their African friends J The ride home was lovely. The area reminds me a little of Lebanon (the way it smells and the way the buildings kind of look) however there were differences that I found intriguing. Little kids with no shoes, women with loads of vegetables carried in a basket on top of their heads, and all the red dust. Yup… that’s when I finally realized that I was truly in Africa. But I don’t want to make you thing that it all looks like that. On the contrary. There are SUCH beautiful houses here (and I am lucky enough to stay in one) as well as gorgeous scenery. Everyone is happy here and smiling. It’s such a lovely environment.

When we entered Chazanga, all the little kids would look into the bus and go “MUZUNGUS! HI!!” Muzungu is the term used for ‘non-Zambian’; or if directly translated: white person. It was funny.

So Mama’s house is BEAUTIFUL. There are avocado and mango trees in the back and 2 bbqs. There are a lot of bedrooms – I didn’t bother counting. I’m sleeping in my own bed with 3 other girls, and there are 4 girls sleeping in the bedroom upstairs. The boys are sleeping upstairs in their own room. It’s a very comfortable environment and  we are extremely lucky. There’s also full satellite here for us to watch at night (we’re not allowed out of the house after sunset. So pretty much we can’t leave the house after 6pm), so the TV will come in handy.

We had bbq’ed chicken for supper with a pasta salad, carrot and squash soup, as well as guacamole. It was delicious! The rest  of the night was our ‘free time’ where we all unpacked our clothes into the closets and showered. My shower was in cold water and lasted me 5 minutes. I guess I better get used to it. 

Goodnight!