Prepare for Adventure

7.22.13

                This weekend has been pretty chill. Usually the internet is free here at Korea Garden but something broke so they’re using Skyband in the meantime which means you have to buy a card to use the internet. That’s why my updates are not so frequent.

                We left Saturday morning in a truck for Lilongwe. Akim put a mattress in the back of the truck for us to sit on and it made the ride really nice. It was sunny outside and we were able to stretch out our legs and it was really comfortable except for the wind but if you just lay way down in the truck so only your head just barely pops out, it’s really comfortable and I almost fell asleep. I think I prefer riding in the back of the truck to the mini bus, at least during the day.

                When we got to Lilongwe, we checked into Korea Garden Lodge. We got our keys and started moving all our stuff in. We brought a lot because we aren’t going back to SAFI until the 4^th or 5^th of August so we had to bring everything we would need for about two weeks. It was kind of difficult because I brought a small backpack. I should’ve picked up my Kennedy Center backpack before I left like everybody else but I didn’t. It’s okay though because the purse I got here actually can hold quite a bit. We also tried to pack as light as possible and still be able to stay warm when we are camping when we’re at Nkhata Bay kayaking. We’re going to be sharing a lot, soap, shampoo, conditioner, bug spray, sunscreen and such. I even loaned Whitney one of my wraps I brought from home because we can use them as skirts and towels if we need to. The good news is that we won’t have to carry it all with us on our trips. We can leave the stuff we don’t need with BFI and they’ll keep it safe for us. I love having friends here.

                So Whitney and I are sharing a room like we always do. We felt like we knew our way around Korea Garden pretty well until we saw that our key was for room B22. We went into the area where the bronze rooms but we couldn’t find B22. It was a little confusing. Then we walked around the side to see if there were more doors. There was one but it didn’t have anything on the door so we looked around the corner and there was some people doing the laundry. Don’t think it’s back there so we were lost. We asked somebody where it was and they took us to the room with nothing on the door. It’s a really small room and when we first went in, there was only one bed. We were not going to share. Whitney is not a cuddler. So Emily talked to the front desk and we got another bed put in but there’s still only one mosquito net. It’s all good though. We just like the adventure. Our door is also short so tall people have to duck. I don’t.  Emily is also in a small room but she’s in there by herself. She’s actually in the room that Tim Heaton (a sociology professor) stayed in one time and he called it the hobbit room because the door and the room were so small. Her room is a little smaller than ours I think but not too much.

                After we all got settled in and we killed some time, we went into town for our last hoorah because Nicolle and Camille went back to SAFI after church on Sunday and we won’t see them again before they leave. They leave the morning of the 4^th so we’ll just miss them.  We had Indian food at our favorite restaurant. We got dessert, brownies and ice cream. I miss ice cream so I’ve been keeping my eye out for some ice cream bars but I haven’t found any yet. The brownie wasn’t the best but it wasn’t bad but the ice cream was my favorite part.

                Sunday was also our last Sunday with the Lilongwe branch. We’ll be traveling next Sunday and the Sunday after. Gift and Arnold are in the YSA class and they are best friends. Gift is back from his mission and teaches the class. Arnold is getting ready to go. They were both sad to hear that it was our last Sunday. Their class is really going to be small in a few months if they don’t start recruiting more YSAs. They let us take pictures with them. Arnold was having fun but he kept saying he was trying not to cry. Gift was really quiet and it was obvious he was really sad about it.

                After church it was time for Nicolle and Camille to go back to SAFI. We said our goodbyes and hugged and all that good stuff. We’ll see them again when we go back to school. Whitney is the only one that’s not going back to BYU but she’ll be in Salt Lake so I’m sure we’ll see her once in a while.

                Today our first priority was to get our visas to go to Zambia tomorrow morning bright and early. We went to the Zambian embassy and they gave us a list of stuff we needed to get before noon to get our visas. We had to get passport photos and a cover letter, fill out an application and all kinds of stuff. It felt like we were on a scavenger hunt but we got it all done in time so we should be able to get on the bus and get passed the boarder tomorrow. Besides that we haven’t been up to much. We got some food for our all day bus ride tomorrow. Kevin said he would give us a ride to the bus station at 4:00am which is so kind of him. He told us it just wasn’t safe for us to walk to the bus station that early. We all like Kevin.

                So tomorrow we start the real adventures. Victoria Falls should be fabulous. I’ll take some pictures and try not to let my camera get ruined. It’ll just be exciting to have another stamp in my passport.