Our first few days (in Lusaka, Zambia)

Thanks for your prayers!  The plane ride over went well.  The kids slept most of the first flight.  There was a great play place in the London airport that we spent most of our layover at.  Kate was asleep before the plane took off on our London to Lusaka flight.  Malachi was out shortly after.  They decided that it was merely nap time though so they were both up around 1am and did not go back to sleep.  The iPad kept them fairly quiet though.  Andrew and I did not get much sleep.

We arrived at the Lusaka airport and easily got our visas and all our luggage and cleared customs.  It was the easiest African airport I've been through!  Ron Mitchell, one of the Zambia country representatives for MCC, met us right away as we walked through the door.  We are currently staying at the "MCC House" in the "MCC guesthouse."

The backyard of the MCC house!  Can't believe
 everything is flowering so much in dry season!
Gorgeous!

Our flight arrived at 6:15am and we tried hard to stay awake all day.  We went to the mall in the morning.  Yep.  A mall.  Andrew got his first cell phone!  We had naps and at supper time the electricity went off so we went back to the mall to eat at Wimpy's.  It had burgers, wraps, breakfast food and a children's play place.  Our kids didn't eat anything.  They were ready for bed.  Malachi woke up around 2am but went back to sleep.  Kate woke up around 3:30am and did not go back to sleep.  Andrew dozed on the couch a bit.

Tuesday we played around the MCC compound for the morning.  A long morning (when you get up at 3:30am!)  We had brunch with the Mitchells, though it was more of a second breakfast for us!  I got to see the stuff for our new house in Choma that was packed up for us (well I got to see the furniture and was told what was packed up!)  The truck that was arranged to take the furniture and household items to Choma showed up - an 18 wheeler!  It didn't fit in the driveway.  There had been a misunderstanding, but they loaded the truck up and it was going to stop back at the depot to swap for something smaller before driving to Choma.  I also got to browse the MCC library.  The afternoon consisted of naps for the kids and reading over the orientation booklet for us.  We chatted with the Mitchells about our job descriptions and how to start.  Then we tried to wake the kids up... I fell asleep trying to wake Kate up!  We woke up in time to have supper with the Bishop of the Brethren in Christ Church (it is the BIC church that runs the schools I'll be working with).  The kids went to bed late (around 10pm) and us shortly after.  Andrew woke up around 1am and Kate shortly after.  While trying to put her back to bed Malachi woke up.  Only Malachi managed to get a bit more sleep after that (and me!)   The jet lag has been one of the hardest things - especially with the kids as our sleep depends on theirs in a way.

Wednesday was Kate's 5th birthday.  We went to a nice place called Jackal and Hide which was a cafe / restaurant / shop / organic farm.  We had coffee break there and lunch and were able to chat with the Mitchells a bit more as it also had a playground for the kids.  When we got back after lunch I tried so hard to keep the kids awake while Andrew went for a nap.  I looked over and Kate had fallen asleep.  I picked her up, bounced her around, put her down and she crawled over to the couch again.  I started chatting with Ron about finances and I looked over and noticed Malachi had also fallen asleep.  I decided to give them an hour tops!

We had a birthday supper for Kate and she was barely awake (it was very difficult to wake her up!)  There were the Mitchells and their two kids, another MCC family lives on this compound too - they have 3 boys, (the 5 kids are between the ages of 10-14 I believe).  Another service worker from near Choma was here visiting too so we had quite a group for Kate's birthday!  We served cupcakes very quickly after supper as she was fading fast! Here is a photo from the party.....

She asked to go to bed after and I put her to bed at 6pm.  I crawled into bed at 7pm thinking that I might have to get up with her at 1am!!  Malachi and Andrew followed closely behind.  Kate woke up at 4am but went back to sleep after an hour or so and slept until 8!  She was definitely more herself today and I think we hit a turning point in the jet lag!  (I hope!)

A much happier Kate... technically the photo was taken
only 7 minutes past her actually North American birth date
was over....

Today we played around the MCC guesthouse and did some laundry.  Then we had lunch with some traditional African food.  (I liked it, the kids liked the beans and the chicken, and I think Andrew liked it too - I'll have to ask him).  I forgot to take a photo though!  After lunch I went shopping with the ladies for a few more things for our house in Choma.  We went back to the mall and to a store called "Games" which was pretty much a Wal-Mart (I think the MCCers mentioned it's owned by Wal-Mart?)

Here is us playing around the MCC guesthouse today:

Ready for another nap!

The tire swing!

Tomorrow we leave for Choma.  We're planning to spend a night in a guesthouse while we organize our house to live in.  A couple of the MCCers are going to come down with us - which is good because though I feel I could probably drive our "new" vehicle.... I'm not so sure about driving on the left side of the road in Lusaka to start out!

Prayer requests:
-continual adjustment from the jet lag
-our move into our new home and making it feel like home
-learning to drive on the left side of the road, safety!