Things I've learned this week in Zambia

1. Three HUGE bottles of water is still not enough to keep you from getting sick 
2. I love antibiotics
3. Testing week in Zambia is just as boring as in the States
4. The word 'wart hog' is pronounced warth-og (you might think this one is pretty inconsequential, but you would be surprised how confused ones students get when you pronounce it the American way)
5. Don't attempt jumping jacks with a classroom of sixth graders while in a loose-fitting skirt
6. Hangman is an awesome classroom-stalling game wherever you go!
7. I am so blessed to have been given this opportunity(okay, I already knew this one, but I thought it was a good list-closer and I liked having seven lessons. It was a good odd number, kinda like me) 

Love and Blessing to you all,
Sara Blumenshine

I'm a bad blogger

So I have been here in Zambia for over a week now and have yet to write. Sorry my, possibly?, faithful followers. Fear not, though, life is amazing here. I am safe, healthy, and loving life. That is not to say there aren't things I am having some difficulty getting used to. Moving slowly and not be certain of what I am doing, when I am leaving, and even where I am going some days has been an adjustment I am still working on.

I have been racking my brain trying to think of what would be best to write about in my very first blog while here, and decided to settle on what am I loving best here. The people. The Hope Ministries community has been blessed with so many amazing individuals and yet they are so humble about how wonderful they are. Upon arrival, I was given the welcome one expects from their family. Open arms, huge hugs, dinners fit for Thanksgiving(replacing the turkey with Nshima of course), in short, the best welcoming one can imagine. Every day I am here I think they cannot make me love them more, and then every day they do.

My house with Mama Sylvia, Savour, and Humphrey already feels like home. I come home from a long day of work and feel relief when I walk through the front door. They have bent over backwords to make me feel comfortable. Heating up my water early in the morning so I can take a bath, finding out my favorite dishes and perparing them for me even though it is certainly not their cup of tea, bringing me along with their friends when I am sure I am slightly embarrasing with my very loud voice and Western ways, disrupting their sleep to make me breakfast in the morning, in short, I love them. I could not imagine a better place to live while here.

If the amazingness of the people here stopped there I would feel overly blessed, but it does not. Mama Mareen, Pastor Judy, Ba Gertrude, Mama Lillian, the list just goes on and on...I could write pages and pages on the generosity I have received and it still would not be enough. The children sing to me and I cry, the ladies at church pull me up to dance with them and I am overcome with joy, the women engage me in a spiritual conversation and I am compelled to change.

I have rambeled on for quite a while now and still feel I have not even skimmed the top of what I want to say about the people here. You know, Ba Charles told me last time I came that here in Ndola, Zambia they are all about ubuntu, or the people, and he wasn't kidding.

Love to you all back home,
Sara Blumenshine

P.S. Pictures are currently all old, new ones to upload....eventually....

And Away I Go.....

Well here we are, less than 24 hours until I embark on my first of three flights that will take me to my final destination of Ndola, Africa. It is hard to put into words how I have been feeling these past few days. In one moment I feel overjoyed, stressed, overwhelmed, humbled, and then overjoyed again… all in one little moment! It has been such a whirlwind experience that I still cannot find the words to describe.

This experience has truly shown me what Christ can do when one allows Him to actually work in your life. I have some difficulty doing this. I like having control in my life and often do not take the time to stop and listen. This is why I am so grateful for my amazing friends and family that encourage me to stop, listen, and then actually take action. I do not know where I would be without these individuals. I wish I could make a list and thank you all properly, but it would never do justice to the gratitude I feel to you remarkable people. Therefore, I thank you here. I thank you for supporting me both during this time of preparation and before. I thank you for believing in me when I often doubt myself. I thank you for loving me, even when I know I made it difficult to love me. I thank you for listening to me cry on the side of your bed, or venting all of my frustrations in the middle of your living room. I thank you for the words of encouragement, the laughs, the tears, the often necessary hugs, the cups of coffee, the walks, and the listening ears(be it in person or far away). I am forever grateful and blessed.

Teaching has always been a passion of mine. Teaching in Africa, however, is a new one. Ever since my brief ten day trip through North Park University ended in January 2010 though, I knew it was one that could not be shaken. It’s strange, I do not yet know what grade I will be teaching, or the curriculum I will be following, but I have never been so excited for a classroom. I have seen how amazing the teachers and students at Hope School are, and I know I have no need for fear. The desire these students have to learn and the commitment the teachers put into teaching those touches my heart. Even though I will be going there to teach, I already know I will be doing a good deal of learning as well. It is not a time for me to come in and impress upon them my Western ways, but a time to come alongside those in Zambia and work with them in wherever they desire me to go.

Well, everything seems to be ready. My bags are packed (basically), my itinerary is printed and all in order, my hair has been cut way short in preparation for the heat I am about to face daily, now I just need one final good night sleep. Yeah right….

If you so desire, I pray for safe travels as I am flying out there alone, and an open ear to what God is calling me to do whilst I am serving in Zambia.

Love and Blessings to you all,

Sara Blumenshine