Week One

Afrikan Adventure: Life on the Farm

Week one has come and gone. I arrived here in Lusaka with a pretty severe case of jet lag that had me wondering if I would ever be "normal" again…although if I was ever normal to begin with may be debated. I think I am back to my usual schedule of really waking up at about 10pm and not being tired when it's time to sleep. I think I may be part bat. It's that and the webbing under my arms that makes me think so.

It is a bit of a strange feeling to be back here in Zambia and have things be familiar yet already this is such a different experience from my last trip. I live out at the ministry centre called "The Farm" which is about half an hour outside of the city centre in a much more rural area. You go down this red dirt road that is sure to give the best of suspensions a run for their money. At the farm there are four other "single" girls, like myself, and then the director and his wife and two 5 year old adopted Zambian children. There is a main house where we cook and eat together and we take turns cooking dinner…although in my case I'm not sure if that is what you would call it.

Currently I have orientation five times a week. Tuesday through Saturday from 10-3 and two of those days we do language class in the afternoons which is cool. Muli bwanji? Or in my native tongue meaning, "How are you?" We are coving tones of great stuff issues to do with cultural integration

The big thing right now is to just settle in and engage with culture and start building relationships. On Saturday Megan, one of the other girls here, and I got together with a group of kids from the surrounding neighbourhood. She had invited 6 and about 25 showed up so that was great. Next time I hope to bring out the ol' guitar and do some singing.

We had an awesome rain storm last night. Rain and wind like nothing else. It even started coming in under our the door of our hut so we had a little flood on our hands. Luckily some quick maneuvers got our electrical devices out of the way in time.

The past couple of days I have been helping some of the workers clear out this area in the back of the property so we can use it as an amphitheatre or sorts for different occasions. So that's been fun to get my hands dirty and a little physical activity after sitting in class all day. Although you never know what you're gonna find out there. I picked up a concrete slab (yes, I have developed superhuman strength during my short stay here) to find little snake underneath. We also saw a wolf spider as we cleared things away.

So that's basically what life has been like my first week in Zambia. I'm excited about the time ahead. I'm really hoping to be able to make some good Zambian friends and really get into the culture. I didn't come here to live a Western life in Africa, which being in the capital city is easier than one might expect. I'm also looking forward to where God leads me as far what I'll be doing here. So you can keep those things in your prayers if you like!

The power just went out. It's my first power outage here!! Just thought you could share in my excitement! Well, I better put an end to this now before my battery dies. Thanks for all your support and prayers!

Sincerely from a very dark room,

Shannon