video post

Some videos friends have pointed me toward.

This song is 100% cheesy, but the clothes are 100% amazing.



And, this cracked me up absolutely. There are a couple more - Curious George is pretty good, but Where's Waldo is my favorite.

She & Him

I am sitting in the rain waiting for Zooey and Matt to come out and feel very much like I can relate to the classic song "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head," by BJ Thomas. Sun- I don't like the way you get things done, sleeping on the job. I am bundled up in a quilt under an umbrella, and feeling just the teensiest bit bitter. Just saying...

Updated:
Oh, how I love She & Him. Even though Zooey wore the only uncute thing I've ever seen her in to perform in Bend. Even the girl next to us mentioned that her dress could have been cuter. But no other complaints. Band of Horses wasn't bad either. I must figure out how to be a back up singer for a band. That would be so much fun.

At long last - some photos.

Sorting through 1200 Africa photos has been a long process, and one that I've not nearly completed. Because I've promised and then not delivered so many times, I thought I should post some already!

Our first stop was Durban, and we went to the Indian Ocean - it was kind of amazing.


One of the places we were able to stay - the Pezulu tree house, in a reserve in South Africa. I was woken up at dawn by zebras RIGHT outside. Amazing! Also amazing - the outdoor shower!


Then, some animal sightings. I love animals!! Especially elephants, even when they are angry at us.

Also, please note the spider that has horns. THE SPIDER HAD HORNS! Oh man, that was a little bit terrifying. We asked someone what kind of spider it was, he had no idea, but then said, "they are poisonous, so don't get too close."



More soon.

I am back!!!

So technically, I got home six days ago, but I had to spend some time running errands, catching up on Glee and getting used to pacific time zone again.



I am officially unpacked, laundered and my room is returning to order and cleanliness. I am finding homes for some of my new treasures.

Like this little beautiful, albeit, impractical box from Zambia. It is resting on a super cute dress I picked up in a vintage shop in London.

Or this delightful new passport case I HAD to get after my passport got completely soaked and warped at Victoria Falls. I mean, when you go to London, a trip to Smythson is always in order! Love that store. And that is sitting on a sweet little tray I haggled over for minutes in Livingstone.


But my favorite souvenir would have to be a little treasure I found in a vintage shop in London. I'll give you some hints,

It has a lock,


it has some keys,


it has a latch that looks like this,


Give up? It's a black Hermes Kelly that just needed desperately to come home with me! It's a little worn, but it is the most beautiful bag I've ever seen. It was on my life list to own one of these, but I didn't foresee that happening until at least 75. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty excited about it.


I'll be back soon with photos and travel journal entries from Africa and London. In the mean time I am going to continue to love being near my reverse osmosis water purifier and my laundry machines, and appreciate being an American in a way I've never experienced before.

CDG

I was told by multiple people that CDG was a horrible and confusing airport, and I have no idea why. I was a little confused how to get from one gate to the next, but I asked for help in broken French and got very clear and polite instructions on how to proceed. Then after going through security I saw Dior, Hermes, and Prada stores!!! Who can complain about that? I spent a lot of time in Hermes just dreaming- shocking how I felt much more at home in a store I'll never be able to afford than in the entire country of Zambia. Haha. Then they had a little Ladurée filled with beautifully colorful and overpriced macarons. If they offered free wifi I might think this was the greatest airport ever.

Analee took off for Portland and I am heading for London in an hour. I did not miss the irony of traveling from super poor Zambia to the most expensive city in the world. I am super excited! I am meeting Becky for a long weekend, and I'm pretty sure she's already got plans for us tonight! I'll have to take a disco nap on my flight to heathrow after my exhausting red eye from jo'burg. (remember when I was 40 years too young to use the phrase "disco nap?")

One of my goals is to set up mobile blogging from my phone so that I can post some pictures, because these wordy things are boring! Hope you kids are having fun!

Hey friends!

Sorry my posts are so scatterbrained and sporadic, I find the Internet in the strangest of places here in Africa and never seem to be prepared for it. Right now we are at the Lusaka airport waaiting for our flight to jo'burg to spend one more day there and then fly out. Visiting Zambia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and south Africa have been amazing these past three weeks and my travel journal is brimming with anecdotes to share, (actually it is brimming because it got soaked at Victoria Falls) and thus far I've taken 1000 pictures, so I'll sharesome of those too!

Talk to you soon, friends!

what what, I'm in Lusaka!

Lusaka, Zambia might be the craziest place I've ever been. But mostly it's the transportation. We rode "transport" i.e. the public bus, i.e. an old, malfunctioning Toyota van, into town, and they shoved 22 people including the driver into a mini van. It was close quarters, let me tell you. When we got to the bus station, it was complete chaos, everyone was trying to accomplish the same goal in the same space and didn't yield to anyone else. From there we got a taxi back to the house we're staying at for the weekend, and it is just craziness. We've been to two bus stations here that are the only places I've felt unsafe in Africa thus far - being white, we are bombarded by people trying to get us to give them money.
We are staying with my dear and wonderful friend Heather, who started the school, and we've been able to go out to the school, and will go back Monday and Tuesday, and it is an amazing, amazing experience. Heather initially started the school for the 15 kids in the orphanage, and it has exploded to 60 kids, and they have to turn away kids because they don't have the classroom space in their converted chicken coop school. It is such an experience! Considering the internet is super slow, and we are accessing it only because the LDS church here has wifi, I should run, but will try to check in again soon.
Kisses and misses!

Greetings from Livingstone

I am at this moment waiting for our shuttle to Victoria Falls. If I weren't typing this on my phone I would tell you the story of being charged by two elephant bulls in musth a few days ago, but as it is you'll have to be all pins and needles until I can type on a real keyboard.

Have fun, I know I am, and I'll have lots to share soon!