It's 8:15pm in Ndola, and Saturday was great.

Well, for those of you waiting with bated breath- we've arrived in one piece in Ndola, Zambia. It took 30hrs, 2 planes and 1 bus ride to do it, but we're here!!

Let me just say what a fan I am of British Airways. They took one look at the Tall One and got us bulkhead seats on the flight from LAX to London. They fed us twice (I slept through the first one though) and they had movies on demand. Good ones!!! But since I am Sleeping Pill Amy, I took a Lunesta and it was good times. And then from London to Lusaka we were able to slide over and get our own set of two seats and spread out. But, if you have the cash or are lucky enough to ask for an upgrade and they don't laugh in your face- the Club World seats are the ticket. They're like small little cubbies with footstools that pull out, like mini LazyBoys. I was very, very jealous.

For the first time ever, I have flown and landed and can still see my ankles. Usually, my ankles and feet are hidden under about an inch of edema from sitting for hours. But I have flight compression socks and you know those foot exercises they encourage you to do? Holy crap- they work!!! I can see my ankles and bony feet!!

So, Heathrow Airport. It's huge. We landed in their infamous Terminal 5, which if you watched the news about 7 months ago when they opened it you know it was a cataclysmic disaster. I was told that their luggage snarl was so bad, they decided that the BEST option was to send all the misplaced luggage to some place in ITALY, sort it there and get it back to the proper owners. Three cheers for Heathrow!!! Lucky for us, they got it sorted out and my bag made it. But on to terminal 4. Depending on your point of view, the fact that they have a Starbucks there is either a Godsend or a sign of the apocalypse... I'm voting for rays of light from heaven. They have cooler sandwiches at the Starbucks there than in the US. The sad thing is, you look at the prices and think- oh cool, just like home prices! And then you remember you're in England, they use the pound, the exchange rate is 1 pound for $2US, AND you've got inflated airport pricing. I essentially had a $12US meal. BUT, they have Dark Mocha Light Frappucinos in England. When I get home, I'm raising a ruckus until they add it to the menu. Think mocha frappalicous, but with dark chocolate bits. And don't tell me it's just British Java Chip because this was like 10x better. And am I allowed to be on a mission trip and excited about the fact that they give tasters at the Duty Free liquor stores?!? I didn't have any, but I wanted to.

So now we're in Zambia! It's weird to be back and realize that I recognize things. Our hotel is right across the street from the university and it's fine. Some highlights about the hotel-
*We're on the 8th of 9 floors, and when 30+ people check in at one time you're not getting on the elevator within an hour. So we walked 8 flights of stairs with our luggage. We have yet to take the elevator down. It hates our floor.
*The leg room on the worst coach airplane ever is still bigger than the space between our toilet and the bathroom wall. And you got to put some serious arm pumping into the handle to flush. But it flushes and that's always a bonus.
*The Tall One got himself stuck in the bathroom and he had to dismantle the door knob to get out.
*The bed is so comfortable and after 30 hours of sitting in a reclining position, being able to lie horizontally on anything is epic.
*Biggest upside right now- no sight of the huge spiders that I would see incessantly last time. They don't like the Savoy Hotel.

Well, I'm tired again, and I think it's time for my Sudafed and Lariam. Treat the cold, prevent malaria- those are my goals for the night.