Good morning from Mongu!

It's been a few days since you've seen us! We spent a few nights in Lusaka and were blown away by the generosity and hospitality of the Zambian people we met at Palmwood Lodge. We had a fantastic few nights there recovering and adjusting to the time change, climate change, and slowly easing into a new culture. Last night we finally made it in to Mongu after a 10 hour bus ride! We've settled into our new home for the next month, and again we feel so welcomed.

A little backtracking.... On our second day we went into town to purchase SIM cards and anything else we may have needed. Some of us had been told there was a park near, so we were intrigued and left the mall to try and explore some more beautiful landscape! The walk included some interesting overhead walkways, and some various surface changes - concrete, stones, mud/clay, and lots of puddles from all of the rain! Needless to say the group I was with could not find the park and we were a little concerned with walking on the side of a very busy road. For some comic relief, while walking back my flip flop got caught in mud and broke! So I walked back to the mall with one shoe on, which drew even more attention to our group then the colour of our skin and accents alone. Some lovely Zambians came up to me asking  "where are your slippers?" and laughed along with me and offered me the shoes off of their own feet. This was such a sweet gesture that I feel I wouldn't have ever received back home. It's amazing to think that some people who have very few things, and spend their days selling goods on the streets would have the generosity and caring souls to offer their belongings to you. I also couldn't imagine how it would feel to consistently walk without shoes - trying to avoid broken glass or other sharp/harmful items. It was a challenge for 15 minutes for me. Lesson learned, we will always pack an extra pair of shoes along with us!

Happy to be here with all of these beautiful girls, more adventures and stories to come!
- Alana