Our Journey Begins

I remember the night before Jess and I left, and the look on Jess' face pretty much says it all. After months of planning, the trip was finally about to happen, and we had no idea what to expect. Jess and I stayed at a good friend of her's (Britton's) in Chisinau, the night before, because we had to head out very early the next day for the beginning of our long trip to Zimbabwe. We were both re-packing everything, trying to bring as little as possible, but also enough for every contingency. Hard to do when you don't know what to expect. The journey to Zimbabwe took four flights, and several many hour layovers in a variety of airports. We started from Chisinau, travelled to Istanbul, from there to Nairobi, from there to Johannesburg, and from there to Zimbabwe. By the time we actually got to Zimbabwe, we were so tired and ready for a bed, that we would have taken anything! But even at that point of desperation, we were so pleasantly surprised, when the man who met us at the airport, drove us to his amazing bed and breakfast! It was such a quaint and beautiful place, that we regretted we were only there for the night. There were gardens surrounding all the huts, and the food was delicious. But the next day, right on schedule, we headed out on a several hour bus ride from Harare Zimbabwe (the capital), to meet Ros, our volunteer coordinator from Operation Impact, in Bulawayo. Ros turned out to be a very cool person about our age, and I think we all connected pretty quickly. She knew we'd be a handful after she told us, "I was afraid you ladies were going to be "girly girls"", and I responded, "No, we're really laid back, but seriously, we're not going to break any nails on this trip, are we?" She looked at me with a somewhat disbelieving look of horror, and didn't start breathing again till I smiled and said, "I'm just kidding! I don't even have any nails!" She may have regretted that we weren't a bit "girlier" when she discovered after spending a few days with us, that she would actually have to force us to take showers every day! It's just that when you've lived in Moldova for so long, and only shower every three or four days (or longer), your idea of hygiene changes somewhat. hehehe...... Well, she asked for it! :) Ros took us to the house of the Cunninghams. The Cunninghams founded Family Impact, which is the Christian branch of Operation Impact. They are a wonderful, and very hospitable couple that welcomed us into their beautiful home, and made us feel like part of the family. We were able to rest up a few days at the Cunninghams before heading to Miambo Lodge where our real volunteer work would begin. While we were in Bulawayo, we got to meet some of Ros' friends, and enjoyed some great games of volleyball and ultimate frisbee and enjoy the company of wonderful people all at the same time. Here is a picture of us in the Cunninghams backyard: Me, Jess, Mrs. Cunningham, Mr. Cunningham, and Ros.