Wednesday, October 1, 2008

lions and tigers and bears... oh my!

so i came to town today to meet with a child welfare officer about a little boy in the village getting adopted by my friend katie's family back in the states. so of course i make the trip into town and the trek "up-town" (and up a little mountain, no kidding) to meet with them. sure enough when we get there they tell us that we can't meet them today because they have all these meetings about the upcoming election. come back next week they say. so frustrating! it's so hard to get things done around here.

but alas it's not all in vain! while i was in town i stopped to visit a friend of mine named joyce who runs an ngo called PVCW (program for vulnerable children & women). she tells me that she was just trying to think of a way to get in touch with me because she wants to invite me to attend this special tribal ceremony in nabwaloya which is a valley over the mountains. the ceremony is very traditional with dancing and speeches and i get to meet another chief which is a big deal around here! we leave tomorrow morning and return saturday night. the coolest thing about this is that in the valley there are all kinds of animals... lions... hippos... elephants! every animal you would want to see in africa i'm told. how sweet is that!?!

so in the middle of all this stress that i'm in God says, "take a break... relax... enjoy my creation for a couple days." it couldn't have come at a better time. i called starr and at the mention of lions she said she was in. haha. so now we have to pack and figure out what we're going to bring. they said it's really really hot in the valley. i'm not sure about sleeping arrangements either. she said we should bring a tent which we can cause a friend of mine in the village has one. we don't have any sleeping bags or mats though cause we sent them home with the rest of the team. so i need to figure out what we're going to sleep on. then she tells me that there are all kinds of lodges (like a hotel but in the bush) that we could stay at but it will cost more money. so i'm not sure yet what we're going to do. sure i'd rather stay in a nice comfortable lodge with a bed but i need to figure it out.

either way i'm going on a trip and i get to see amazing animals and experience some traditional zambian culture. i promise i will take lots of pictures and video so i can show you all when i get home. i'm so excited!

i'll update you all next week after i get back!

2 comments:

Ruth Witmer said...

Oh My,
Sounds like fun! Relax and enjoy! You deserve it.
Love,
Momma

Keshet said...

I totally feel like you're a contestant on Survivor Africa or something! Can't wait to see the pics from this trip.