LearnServe Zambia 2017: A lot of firsts and a game of uno (6/25-27/17)

DAY 1

As a group we are experiencing a lot of firsts…. from the first time having to share a room or the first time going out of the United States or, personally, my first time riding on a plane EVER! The 13-hour plane ride was rough as most of us have never flown for that long. Plus, most of us were scared of living so closely together. In reality, it has actually been extremely fun and eventful. We have become a family in such a short amount of time and I expect that the feelings will only continue to grow.

When we first arrived at Dulles Airport, we met a 4 year old girl named Angel who was a very outgoing, goofy child who cared a lot about her Barbie. Her smile really brought light to us at having to leave our families for 2 ½ weeks. The airport was a very quiet experience because everyone was nervous, but once we got to walk around a little bit and talk to each other it didn’t seem so bad. Pretty soon, we were on our way, feeling pretty excited about the adventure in front of us.

DAY 2

When arriving in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, we were very excited to be off of the plane but anxious to get on another one. Our plans shifted a bit due to our extremely delayed flight and we ended up having to spend several hours in the airport. We reacted very positively by playing UNO and then something wonderful happened: Angel was there! It was obvious that some of us were becoming impatient though we weren’t saying anything and Angel once again came to save the day. She explained that she was 4 and that she was watching Barbie and Spongebob on the plane. She made us laugh a lot and most of us forgot about the time because we were living in the moment and the rest seemed irrelevant. Everyone was extremely tired so we were not too disappointed when we were told that we had to stay in a hotel for a night.

When we stepped out of the airport, it was very chaotic. We had to fit 18 people in a small van for 30 minutes on the streets of one of the busiest cities I have ever seen. I saw a total of 2 stop signs and 1 traffic light the entire time we were driving, but the culture was compelling. Seeing kids coming up to our windows begging for money was hard to see and experience because they were so close to us and then being told by the driver to close the window was hard, but it gave us an opportunity to learn that we can not save the world, but we can do our part and our part was in Zambia. We got to the Tirar Hotel which was absolutely beautiful. The staff was so friendly and we got to then walk the streets of this amazing place that we had not expected to see. I guess the best memories and the greatest friendships come from the unexpected circumstances. I am not complaining.

DAY 3

When we woke up it was interesting because some of us were extremely tired due to the altitude of 8,000 feet and others were wide awake because of the time changes. But, we all came together for breakfast and ate as a family which was comforting. This time, we were able to more comfortably ride 2 busess to the airport instead of 1, which only took about 15 minutes, but gave us a chance to go buy souvenirs.

After our airport adventures, we got onto our next flight which luckily took less than 4 hours. It was an emotional experience touching down in Zambia because even though we had had complications, we were going to do wonderful things. We noticed a stark difference between the streets here and those of Addis Ababa with these seeming so much more peaceful and organized. The trees were beautiful and everything was so nice. It was scary at first because I thought that our driver was driving in the wrong lane, but turns out the steering wheel is on the right side of the car! We got to settle in to Juls Guesthouse where everyone was so welcoming. We went shopping and we really felt like we were all together. It feels like I have a bunch of new brothers and sisters. We had a wonderful dinner provided to us by the amazing workers at the guesthouse and we loved it. We had our evening reflection and it was nice to have everyone open up about how they are feeling.

Though our day is almost over, I know that we will have many more adventures to talk about soon. The group is so goofy that I doubt there will be anything boring to tell. We learned that we all are experiencing these changes in different ways and that we have to work hard to keep everyone together but that doesn’t mean we don’t have fun because our UNO games, afterall, can get pretty competitive.

Until next time,

Leah T., Wheaton Senior High School