Hello my adorable thinkers.
Today I am releasing the first of eight emails I sent out about my trip to Zimbabwe in 2020.
For those of you who received my emails while I was in Zimbabwe, I have rearranged some of the information for clarity. But I have not changed anything that was said. For those who may be reading this for the first time here is a little bit of backstory. On October 20, 2020 I flew to Zimbabwe the details of that will be further disclosed within the emails. Before I went Emily was in Zambia volunteering at an orphanage there called ZMF. Her (at the time) boyfriend had to go back to his home country of Zimbabwe right after Emily got to Zambia. So they invited me to go with her to go see him. (I will share more on that story later or you can ask Emily)
Now without further ado here is the first email I sent out.
Hello Friends and Family!
In four days I will be boarding the first of several airplanes that will take me to Zimbabwe. But this story really starts a while ago. My sister, Emily has been talking about going to Zimbabwe after her time in Zambia, for quite a while. Her boyfriend lives there and she wanted to go see him. About six weeks ago I was invited to go with her. This opportunity comes at a perfect time, I had saved up to go to Israel this fall and that trip fell through. I am also not starting school until at least January. That means that I have both the funds and the time to travel right now. That kind of thing I attribute to God’s timing. God has also opened door after door to allow me to get everything I need before the trip. There is only one thing that I know of, that I need before I can get on that plane. That thing is a Covid test with the results coming within 48 hours of arriving in Zimbabwe. That is tricky to manage especially since by God’s grace, I am showing no symptoms and have no medical excuse for needing a rapid test. Thankfully I found a group that does rapid tests for travelers and hopefully I will be able to get that the morning before my flight. Prayers for that to go smoothly would be appreciated.
Emily’s boyfriend is a native of Zimbabwe so he knows what should be known of the ins and outs of the country. I am going to be staying for about two months. As for what we are going to do there? That is up to Emily’s boyfriend! I am super excited to find out!
This trip will be the first time I have traveled internationally since I was four years old. I did have the opportunity to fly in an airplane from Tennessee to Texas this last winter by myself. And I am so thankful that I did because I now know a little bit about what to expect from an airplane. I do understand that domestic short flights are far different from long international ones, but I think that flight prepared me a little. I guess we shall see in five days time!
Hopefully I will be able to keep you guys updated through this crazy adventure! Thank you for the prayers!
That was first email! Incidentally it was also one of the shortest emails. I had quite a bit of time to write while I was there so the next posts in this series will be much longer. Until next time my adorable thinkers! ~ The Pondering Panda
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