DFW to Lusaka- OH MY!

Just a quick post after my first overseas trip in 20 years.  After receiving an upgrade on our flight to London, we settled into flaming hot beef tenderloin, elevated foot rests, endless movies and music entertainment.  I was pinching myself!  9 hours later we arrived in London having missed a night of sleep and debated getting a "Yotel" for the day (knowing we need to be rested for this trip).  We decided that we would regret not seeing the sites, so we took the tube into London for a wet and enjoyable day.  For most of the day, we were fumbling and bumbling our way through the streets.  At one point a local commented, "You look lost."  Between the rain on our clothes and hair and the sweat on our bodies, we looked and smelled like drowned rats.  So, we headed back to the airport to board a 10 hour flight to Lusaka..... just what every stinky, tired, filthy person wants to do.  On this flight, we sat beside a kind man from Lusaka who thrilled us with stories of his wonderful country and the warm people of the land.  He irritated us with hours of snoring that sounded like a freight train.  Again, we enjoyed the in flight entertainment, but did not get more than an hour of sleep.  Needless to say, our arrival into Zambia was an exhausted one, but the thrill of walking down the staircase (outside) and stepping into a new continent was incredible.  We stopped and took a picture outside our plane to mark the moment.   Today we spent the day getting organized, oriented and visiting with the missionaries from Family Legacy.  They have stories that are too much for me to process right now.  Of course, the first thing I wanted to do was take a shower and rest.  Immediately after showering and dressing, I looked out the open window of our room (no drapes or blinds) and saw a young man with a shot gun walking by our window, in front of the block wall topped with barbed wire.  I looked at Allison and said, "What just happened?"  She said very matter of factly (like of course), "He's the guard."  I didn't know we had a guard partoling the compound where we are staying.  More for me to process....  Tomorrow we will spend the day at "Tree of Life Village" where Family Legacy is opening 4 new homes for orphans who have been sexually abused, neglected, abandoned.  One very little boy is moving into a new home after living in a shelter made out of trash bags.  I will write more on that later.  Below are a few pictures from our fun day in London.   It's a happening place in the weeks before the Olympics.... I'm so glad we skipped the Yotel at the airport.