Arrival in Zambia

I arrived safely in Zambia on the 27th.  My luggage arrived on the 28th.  Apparently it is a common occurrence for luggage, upon arriving in South Africa, to decide to see the sights and catch a later flight.  So after 24 hours, I was quite happy to be reunited with my bags.  Dustin and Vaughn made sure to give me a proper introduction to Lusaka.  Friday night we went to the local Mexican restaurant, La Revalucion.  Now you must know that a year ago there was no Mexican restaurant in Zambia.  Dustin, being from San Diego, found this unacceptable.  So in addition to his Akerfa/Zambikes venture, he partnered with restauranteur named Dan and helped start La Revolucion.  They have been open for just over 3 months and have become a popular place to go for drinks on a Friday night.  Somehow I ended up behind the bar with Dustin, taking orders from people I could hardly understand, making drinks I had never made before (some I had never heard of before), and dealing with prices and currency I had never seen before.  I had a blast.  I was laughing at the situation, thinking to myself... “Of course I am helping run the bar.  I mean, I have been here for 24 hours.”  Saturday was equally entertaining.  I watched Vaughn, Dustin, and their teammates win a soccer match 10-1.  Afterward, we headed to a different kind of match... a women’s boxing match.  Apparently, Esther Phiri, a local Zambian, is a star female middleweight boxer.  Who knew?  (Probably only Zambians)  There were two reasons why we had to attend this boxing match- 1. Vaughn has had a serious crush on Esther for years, 2. Vaughn had actually met Esther earlier that week.  (Through a series of strange events he ended up being the translator for her Columbian opponent at some pre-fight press conferences.)  The fight was exciting and went the full 10 rounds.  Esther, who was expected to lose, won on unanimous decision by the judges.  We were allowed into the press rooms (and by “allowed” I mean that we just walked back there), but we did not get a chance to talk to Esther.  No worries though, Vaughn already got her number.  Sunday was much more relaxed.  I spent time reading, praying, going on a bike ride, and enjoying the beautiful Zambian weather and scenery.  Now the week has started and we are working to see what projects I can take on.  I will probably post again by the end of the week because there is a good amount of news at the front end of this trip.