Hello Lusaka!

The trek from Columbia, SC to Lusaka, Zambia is finally over! Praise God we made it safely and all our baggage made it too. The layover in London was a nice respite from the 8 hour flight from SC to London. We met up with Justin at the airport to do some sightseeing, however, after looking at all our options and the amount of time we had left, we decided to visit the Health Club at the Hilton Hotel which is connected to the airport. The kids enjoyed the indoor pool, while the parents took a nap in the lounge chairs by the pool. Kelsey lost her tooth in the pool. Then we had a nice shower and went back to the airport to eat and wait for our departure. The 11 hour flight to Lusaka was a full flight. The kids slept most of the way, but it was getting old after the eighth hour. Those last few hours were tough for all of us. Kelsey and Niki had been suffering from a runny nose since we left Washington, DC. At 6:15am we arrived in Zambia and were welcomed by our BMOZ Team. We were thrilled to see everyone, but we were also exhausted. The kids are adjusting well. Some TCK's (formally MK's) are here with their dads for the week while the moms are at a homeschooling conference in South Africa. We are having the normal on/off internet experience, so I am sorry if the blogs are random. I am told this is to be expected while in Africa. The weather is warm with a nice breeze. They have had no rain since May, but we are entering into the rainy season.

As I write this, I am looking out the window at a flame tree with beautiful bouquets of red flowers beginning to bud. This is a sign of rain to come. Ricky and Niki went this morning for their first driving lesson around Lusaka. That may sound weird, but have you ever driven on the right side of the car and the left side of the road. Ricky had a hard time with the blinker. It is on the opposite side, so he kept turning the wipers on. The shifting of gears took some getting used to with the left hand. No accidents - so I guess we passed. We saw another Subway while out this morning at the mall. We have been to 2 grocery stores and we ventured inside the "Game" (aka. Walmart) store just to look. Yesterday, after we exchanged money we went to buy some groceries and spent 1,500,000 Kwacha (which is only $40-45 US dollars). But it was funny to see that we spent a million and a half on food. Last night we had dinner with the Tutens (who are the current guest house managers). Mrs. Tuten made the best chicken and dumplings, slaw, green beans, tomatoes, and pineapple upside-down cake, oh... and sweet tea. And this morning (I know this is hard for some people to believe) Niki cooked breakfast ... eggs, bacon, and toast.

This afternoon, Coby and his friends have been catching lizards and taking pictures of them. Austin is enjoying sharing video games with his friends. And Kelsey has been playing dolls and makeup with her friends. So, our journey has begun in Zambia, and we look forward to sharing more stories in the near future.