LUSAKA #3

Steph:

FAMILY!

Since everyone had to work and go to school during the weekday, Erik and I hung out at the house. We had a lot of fun cooking for everyone and trying new things, such as making bread, yogurt, cookies and banana bread. We also had little projects to keep us busy and off the computer :). Erik built up the family's playground out in the backyard while I organized Gigi's impressive arts and crafts room. Since they recently moved from Ghana, a lot of things were still in boxes, so we unpacked and put away a bunch of stuff. I honestly enjoyed myself quite a bit and felt like we were at least trying to give something back for their incredible hospitality.

While they were at home, I spent a lot of time hanging out and talking to Gigi. During one of those conversations, she mentioned that she really wanted to get a dog. The size of the house and backyard would be perfect for one! Woo! Puppy shopping! She and I took a day to go to a kennel and we picked out an adorable little mut for the boys. She was playfull and super sweet. The kids ended up naming her Pizza. Coolest name ever. From then on, Erik and I also had puppy sitting duties. She was a handful but I loved it. Here's a picture.

In the evenings, we would all hang out at the house together and mostly watch soccer. We were in Lusaka for the whole African Cup. It was exciting because last year, Zambia beat all odds and became the underdog champion. Woo! So at the beginning of the Cup, the streets were full of vendors selling posters and scarfs and green and orange Chipolopolo (Zambia's team name) shirts. Erik caved and bought one :). So every night we watched soccer and yelled at the tv. Unfortunately, Zambia lost and didn't make it to the quarter finals. BUT Yuyu's team, Cabo Verde (he's from there), did exceptionally well. It is the tiny nation's first time EVER in the African Cup and they did amazing. There was a lot of screaming and cheering and booing at refs.

The kids were hilarious and we got to know them pretty well while their parents had to work late a few times. Alex is a very witty 12 year old who was fun to bug and tease, especially because he teased right back. And Leandro (6yrs old) kicked my butt at Cars Monopoly a few times.

Gigi, Yuyu, Alex and Leandro were amazing hosts. Really, we got incredibly lucky meeting these crazy people. They welcomed us into the family as if we'd known them for years and I don't know if they'll ever know how much we appreciate it or how much fun we had. Thank you thank you thank you!

Erik, Sylvester and Kedis building the play set 

Pizza :)

The Family in all it's glory :)

Leandro drew us a good-bye letter

TICKETS

One reason we stayed in Lusaka so long (besides being lazy and comfortable) was that we really needed to figure out our Flight situation. After hearing a lot of "iffy" things from family friends and talking to a few other people who have lived there during national elections, we decided to skip going there. It breaks my heart a little because that's been our end goal all along. Also because that means we won't be able to go see our elephants. On the other hand, things are already getting violent over there and we would be in Nairobi right in the midst of the elections. We really don't feel like risking anything or being worried and stressed about it. So, after a lot of going back and forth and trying to get a hold of our ticket agent at Airtreks, we decided to cut our trip short a few weeks. We'll take advantage of the extra time at home by signing up for the fall semester at ASU and going to the Las Palomas Triathlon in Rocky Point with our families. We wanted to make sure that we had all of this squared away before heading out to Malawi, where internet may be harder to get.

So now, Officially, we flying home on the 11^th of April from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.