Our First Day

September 18, 2008

Well, we made it this morning at 6:30, sleep deprived but nonetheless alert and ready to go. After 20 hours in the air (10 to London Heathrow, a three hour layover then 10 more to Lusaka, Zambia). It was great watching the sun rise over the African continent and slowly distinguishing the landscape. The International Airport in Lusaka is a bit like the one in Walla Walla. We had to circle a few times because there were three planes trying to land at the same time. The pilot said this was the first time he had experienced that kind of traffic jam at  Lusaka.

Sister Baptista was there to greet us and walk us through passport entry and customs (note the high security not needed, quite unlike SeaTac) which went without a hitch. No questions asked about our more than 200 pounds of luggage.We gave Baptista a few of the hugs we had promised you we would deliver and the cards several of you wrote her. She was delighted.

Our ride through Lusaka rush hour traffic (we kid you not, it's as bad as I-5 - only 4 lanes, however, but with pedestrians and bicycles darting in and out) brought us to the Catholic Secretariat compound where we will be staying for two days. After much needed showers we were decent enough to be seen in public. We had a little breakfast and then off to the bank where we were introduced to the intricacies of Zambian currency.  Talk about high finance - $1.00 USD is exchanged for Kwatcha 3600. We came away with hundreds of thousands of Kwatchas, all paper money from K100 to K50,000. It doesn't all fit in your wallet!! A little shopping for some needles to fill the 17 soccer (football) balls and make them useful and some food for the journeys next week at the ShopRite super market and we came back almost K300,000 lighter.

Sights in greater Lusaka that impressed us this first day:

Bicycles loaded to the gills with produce going to market. Women with a wide variety of loads carried in their stately manner on their heads. Men on foot, mostly younger, hawking all kinds of wares on the street and between lanes in traffic. Vacant lot vendors set up on the ground. Small store front businesses strung out along every road, mixed with the large local and international corporation buildings. Literally dozens and dozens of ways to try to make a living evident as we watched.

Lunch back at the compound (a cousin of Baptista's is the chef). Then a much needed nap in the afternoon. Paula said I was asleep 10 seconds after I hit the bed. Dinner with a group of nuns who had just arrived led to an interesting conversation about ministering to HIV/AIDS patients. there is a great deal of denial, first being unable to admit their disease, and then a lot of "Why me? Why am I being punished?" Classic grief process experiences we all go through.

The climate today (it is spring, and the dry season) is warm, perhaps low 80's with a lovely breeze. Both the temperature and the flora are much like southern California -- lots of purple jadaranda trees bouganvilla, oleander, and other colorful flowers. For two sun-starved Washingtonians, this is beautiful! But signs of poverty are very evident in  groups of idle young men everywhere, no sidewalks, old cars, lots of litter, though there are efforts to "Keep Lusaka Clean". So it is quite a mix.

The used Land Cruise if sturdy and reliable, and we have a young and skillful driver named Kaoma. No relation to Baptista, though the name is the same.

Now, it's off to bed with the frogs singing us to sleep, and then tomorrow.  But, as they say, that's a story yet to be told.

Love to you all,

Bruce and Paula