On the road again...well, the air that is...

Somehow my two week field study in Mongolia has turned into an even greater adventure. I left work on the 3rd to drive to Savannah and enjoy an amazing weekend with family. And let me tell you, they spoiled me. I ate so much southern fare and seafood, stayed at the Weston (not bad considering the next three weeks on the floors in Asia), had couple tours, and even a hair treatment at the spa.

After the amazing weekend in Savannah with the folks and the dog, I made the long trek to Atlanta and was blessed to stay the night again at a place that has come to be known lovingly as La Porte. My missionary friends gave me a place to do laundry, shower, and sleep as well as a lot of laughter, food, and even a game of chess...though I lost big time...haha. One friend even better got up at 4:00am and dropped me off at the airport.

And the rest is history. I am typing this little note from the airplane...where I got sat in the economy plus seat with all the legroom (that's blessing #2246 on my thankfulness list.) And I am heading toward my one stopover before winding up in Korea for a few days.

Hoping it all goes this smoothly for the next few days. And I am grinning big. Yay!

Aren't we tired of the B-word......?

I know I am tired of it.  It controls my life sometimes... you know the one; B-U-S-Y.

Yep, that one.  I am so tired of losing the only resource we cannot gain back in our lives.  Especially when I am losing it in a season where I am spending the majority of time doing things I don't even want to do.

BUT, (my favorite B-word), but I am coming up on a time that I will enjoy, very soon.  I have my field study for graduate school coming up.  This field study just happens to be in Mongolia, and I just so happen to get a few days before hand in Korea (yes the Asian nation that stole my heart).

So I will enjoy great food, lounge in jjimjilbangs, meet up with friends, and get to enjoy two services with my church. I haven't planned a lot about it, but I am going to be in Seoul and Busan.  And I am going to be so happy.

Other updates:

• The woodpeckers have fledged and after much chasing with lenses we were able to spot one of our banded ones in the wild.
• Burn season will close in the next few weeks, bringing our increasingly smaller team down to 2 people which means more fun scienc-y land management will be in my workdays.
• I am hoping to meet my dad, stepmom, and dog down in Savannah just before heading off to my field study.  I am beyond joyful about that too!

Feeling More Like a Family

One of the benefits of living with a family here in Zambia is the joy that comes with doing family-like things.  It was slow going at first which is to be expected when seven foreign 20-somethings suddenly start living in your home.  I have been able to help when possible with the baby or laundry; however I haven’t done much other than that.  But recently, I have been blessed by our hosts.

Two days ago we invited the family to a meal.  Kaycie our fearless culinary leader made chili, rice, and lentils.  They politely accepted the food but I could tell that it was far spicier than they were used to.  We had a little bit of awkward dinner conversation and then parted ways for cleaning dishes.

This I believe opened the door for more.  I have lingered more in the kitchen asking cooking questions (and I am so going to try that recipe for steamed pumpkin leaves when I get back to the States!) and I have made more small talk with the niece who lives here.  Our host’s wife, Miriam, and her niece sat with me and a teammate to play an interesting version of Crazy Eights…which I lost at quite often.  And Miriam gave us fresh baked scones.

This morning I was washing clothes in my bucket when Miriam came out in exercise gear (a blue velvet sweat suit) and asked me to walk with her for exercise.  We ended up going down to the market which was full of vendors and fresh veggies.  While buying she spoke in Bemba (the language of the copper belt…here they speak a different dialect) with a vendor who was very impressed that as a white person I had such nice hips.  Later Miriam told us about her conversation and said that it was good that I was larger.  Ha ha…I never considered that to be a good thing, but I will take it.

On our walk today, we discussed many things.  Later I will be showing Miriam how to thread her sowing machine and perhaps she will let me hem my Chitenge wrap.  I am just so happy to be with a family these days.  I don’t know what the next few weeks will hold but I am happy.

Below are some photos of my time here in Zambia:

Miriam Showing us How to Wrap the Chitenge

My Students and Me

Teaching my class.  Bishop Alec came in to take this Photo.