Journey Home

 Today was our last morning in Zambia.  We woke up and did all our last minute packing.  We also made some homemade cards to give to Mubanga, Mwape, and Steven and Jackson at Fountain Of Hope.   Mwape and Kizito came to pick us up at 10:30 and we said our goodbyes to Mubanga and Francis (now it’ll just be Ivy, Francis, and Mubanaga in the house. So sad!).  We drove to Fountain to donate our things and say bye to Roy and the boys.  We had about 4 bags full of clothes to donate to Fountain as well as some towels, pillows, shoes, and other random items.  They really appreciated everything and Steven and Jackson really liked their cards.  Chrissy showed them how to use the Frisbees she brought for them…they laughed and said “these aren’t for sports, they’re plates!” Then we were off to the airport.  On our drive there we were mostly quiet and Kizito asked us what we were thinking about.  Chrissy said she was looking out the window at everything and taking it in, and I was thinking about how I wished we were staying longer.  Once we arrived we got our boarding passes printed (they were kind of sketchy looking but apparently fine).  Then we checked our bags, waved goodbye, and went through security to our gate.  When we were waiting to board our plane we looked out the window at the runway saw a large Zambian flag waving in the wind.  Goodbye Zambia, hopefully we’ll be back again soon.

The flight wasn’t as miserable as the one from JFK to Joburg, but it was still really long and boring.  When we landed in New York we turned on our phones, knowing that there’d be a flood of messages.  Sure enough, two month’s worth of emails and texts started registering.  Gaahh!  Finally they settled down and were done.  We called our parents to tell them we had landed safely.  Then I immediately checked my email to see how the team had done in their game.  One of the players had said he would email me, but he hadn’t so I emailed him.  About five minutes later I got a response saying that they had won, 79-72, and had played with heart and determination just as I had told them to.  During the whole flight I had been sad that I was leaving, but this news really cheered me up.   I knew they could do it, I just wish I had been there to watch them play.

We emailed Mwape to let him known we’d landed safe before exiting the airport. It was the fastest two months of our lives, but packed with some of the most meaningful and awe inspiring memories. From befriending an entire basketball team to watching babies entering the world, safari to bungee jumping, coaching p.e. to advising a teenage girl on telling her parents she has HIV, and sampling nshima to mastering the wild bus system, the trip was enlightening and rewarding from start to finish. Despite the challenges, we both grew so fond of Lusaka it’ll only be a matter of time before we find ourselves back on a plane to Zambia.