My home across the ocean

(5/17/08) I arrived in Zim yesterday, and wow, how amazingly blessed I feel! My friend Tino, who is Zimbabwean but whom I worked with last summer in Malawi, picked me up from the airport and it was so nice to immediately see a friendly face! My only piece of luggage that made it was the one filled with soccer balls, but it felt so good to be done with all the travel that it didn't matter a bit. The trip went quite smoothly and the Lord granted me traveling mercies as I maneuvered through airports. 

The house I am staying in is quite majestic. It is a large 2 story manor run by Rene and her precious 3 year old daughter Michaela and is absolutely charming. My bedroom is upstairs with windows that open to let in natural light and a wonderfully refreshing breeze. The help at the manor makes all my meals, does my laundry, and makes my bed. It's not what I expected and I feel utterly spoiled! Very different than the tents in the bush last summer. 

Matt, who works for African Encounter and whom I will be working with for my 3 months here, picked me up soon after I had settled in at the house, and told me we would be going to Mana the very next morning. It is a park on the great Zmabezi River where people can camp and have a true bush experience. It is one of the few places in Africa, well in the world I suppose, that people come in contact with all the beasts of the earth with absolutely no interference. All is wild. The animals are not fed by humans as in a zoo, and there are no walls to keep them away or guns for protection. Quite exciting!