We made it! We have settled into the Olympic Lodge and are on our way to getting acquainted with the time difference and jet-lag. London provided us all with a day's worth of distractions. The group split up after we arrived in London with the understanding that we needed to be back to Heathrow at 5:00. Our many different interests led us to various destinations: the London Zoo, Covent Gardens, the Eye, museums, walking tours and lots of coffee and caffeine to keep us awake.
The plane ride from England to Lusaka, Zambia went smoothly with many of us catching up on the sleep we had missed. Customs was EXTREMELY quick and easy-we owe a big thank you to Dr. Lua who met us at the airport. With her VIP pass, we were able to get through customs without a hassle which had been one of our fears because the Wellsley group had so much trouble a week ago.
The entire group could not stop commented on how much we were able to pack in the suitcases. We are SO appreciative of every partners efforts in collecting supplies as well as all the elementary schools that helped gather donations. We are going to make such a difference is so many communities. These supplies will definitely help teachers implement lessons and assist with advancing the community aged children's academics and others who we support. I can not believe how many soccer balls, cleats and uniforms were collected from the FUSN crew. The soccer equipment will be used by many!
We spent a good portion of the afternoon sorting supplies and seperating them to make it easier to find specific items. Many of us also unpacked our lesson plans in preparation for tomorrow's first day of teaching.
Many of us went on a tour to visit N'Gombe and Mendevu and we stopped by the Kaliyangile Guest House, which is the place we have stayed the past few years. They are putting on an addition and the walls were all freshly painted.
As I am finishing this blog, it is 6:30 at night and we are looking forward to a hearty dinner filled with nshima, fish, and lots of vegetables and rice. We are all so excited about getting our teaching underway and look forward to our first full night of sleep in Zambia. Internet access is not available at the guest house we are staying at so we will visit the internet cafes as much as possible to keep the blog up to date. Emails may not be checked as often as we would like but want you to know that we will answer them as soon as we can. Please pass along the blog to anyone you feel would be interested.
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