Birthday Wishes from Mongu!

Hello everyone! Nikki here, and I just wanted to share some fond experiences I had over the past few days. My birthday happened during my time here, and it was certainly a birthday I will never forget. The celebrations began a few days before on Saturday night, when a few of the girls and I headed down to Mongu's Harbour to catch the sunset over the beautiful flood plains. The views were absolutely breathtaking, and it gave me the same goosebumps like when I drive through Canada's Rocky Mountains. Later that night we all made our way to a local nightclub and we absolutely danced our hearts out! It was interesting to observe how the locals danced compared to us, and I think it is safe to say they know how to shake it on the dance floor! We all tried to get some lessons on how to drop it low like them, and was probably the hardest workout I've done during this trip. Needless to say we all had a lot of fun, and my gluteus maximus was quite sore the next day.
On my actual birthday it was filled with many surprises. I woke up to my bathroom mirror covered with decorations and our living room had a sweet birthday banner and balloons. Alana spoiled me with making banana pancakes in the morning which left my belly and heart very full. The good vibes continued when I went to the Save A Life clinic where I had the opportunity to observe the feeding clinic and got to play and cuddle with some babies. The staff and mothers were very inviting and became even more friendly when they found out it was my birthday. They sang and danced a birthday song for me and shared that they take birthday celebrations very seriously. I noticed this same notion continued during my time spent with the Lewanika nursing students when we travelled back to Mongu's harbour. Everyone wished me a happy birthday, and we had a lovely day driving through the bridges along the flood plains and had a chance to explore the sights along the mighty Zambezi river. Apparently the Zambezi is home to Nile crocodiles, which happens to be the second largest crocodiles in the world! I really wanted to see some crocs, but I guess I should count my lucky stars that we didn't come face to face with these creatures.
My birthday wishes came true when we went to the Giraffe restaurant for a shawarma wrap and a chicken mushroom pizza. I have had my fair share of shawarmas back home, but never have I experienced one so rich an delicious like the ones here. Despite fulfilling my shawarma needs and all of the great events of the day, I have to admit I was feeling a little blue once we got home from dinner. I don't know if it was finally catching up to me that I halfway across the world away from my family and friends, or there was a lack of cake, but I was feeling a little down. I had found some peace and quiet in the courtyard to make some FaceTime calls, when Kristen came out to say that our house manager requested we clear the courtyard for an event. I looked around me and noticed no one in the yard and in a bit of a huff I retreated to my bedroom to continue the call. Within 5 minutes of getting comfortable in bed, Alana came into my room saying that our teachers wanted to talk to us immediately regarding our Save A Life placements. My heart began to race and my hands began to sweat as I began to replay the events of the day to try to think about what I could of done wrong. I turned the corner and came out of the kitchen and saw everyone underneath the gazebo with two birthday cakes. It was the first surprise party I had ever had, and oh boy was I ever surprised. Apparently it was a bit of a fiasco with the cakes as Emma, Alana and Rylee tried to organize one big birthday cake with writing on it and left Fay in charge with picking up the cake. Poor Fay eventually figured out that the cake was never done and thus had to settle with two smaller cakes. All in all everyone got a piece, and I was so grateful to have all of these women in my life. Even though it was different being a world away from my life at home, I am very appreciative to have gained such incredible women that made my whole world on that day; and that takes the cake!

-Nikki