Memories from the Bush...

No, not memories from the Bush Administration, but memories of the Zambian bush.

We leave for Zambia 3 weeks from today! I feel totally unprepared! I am not a spur-of-the-moment person at all, and this trip was completely unplanned so I just feel a bit overwhelmed! We spent the weekend getting some small gifts to take to our friends in Zambia, things like bath soap, American chocolate, coloring books/crayons, and dolls. I actually managed to come up with 6 skirt/shirt combinations in my closet that will work for me to wear. I wore a skirt pretty much every day for 2years in Zambia and haven't worn them since we got back! Anyway, in the midst of it all, I'm trying not to stress so today I let my mind drift back to some memories from the bush...

These are a few of my favorite things:

Icy cokes in glass bottles on a hot day...
Showers outside under the stars with a cool breeze blowing...
Loud, drunk men singing as they walked past our hut around midnight...
Our dog barking and the sound of the loud, drunk man screaming and running away...
Sitting in the kitchen hut watching Blu start a fire for supper...
The lady carrying homemade fritters in a pan on her head each morning, headed to town to sell them...stopping at our hut because she knew we'd buy some...
Taking walks with Blu at sunset when I was 7 months pregnant for daily exercise...
Sweeping the hut at least 3 times a day....
Burning the beans, but Mulenga eating them anyway so he wouldn't hurt my feelings...
Walking to the market to buy onions and tomatoes...
Baptisms in the river...
The air-conditioner in our truck...
Blu killing a snake and carrying it to every neighbor in walking distance because he was so proud...
People coming to the hut to get medicine from us...
Germ-X...
Mango season..(I hate mangoes, but the trees are gorgeous)
The first rain of the rainy season...
The Southern Cross...
The fact that it didn't matter what I wore or how I looked...
Singing hymns in Tonga...
Hearing Blu preach in Tonga...
Scrambled eggs with fried tomatoes and onions for supper...
Roasted maize...

The list goes on...but those are the things I'm focusing on these next weeks as we prepare to travel!

(Ok, ok, in the midst of all these African memories I have to admit that I am GREATLY relieved that The Bachelor will have just concluded its season before we go...I am sadly addicted to that show....)