I'm on a plane right now - about to land in Johannesburg for the first time. Josh is in the aisle seat across from mine and his eyes are as red as mars from lack of sleep. I just gave myself a wet-wipe shower in the bathroom and stretched for 20 minutes in the back of the plane. I can barely see my ankles after this 12 hour flight.
Once we land we're 1/3 of the way there. We'll be on a plane from Jo'berg to Harare in a few hours. From there I believe we spend the night at the Davey's and then have a 5 hour drive to Chiredzi tomorrow.
The man sitting next to me on the plane lives in Zimbabwe. A much different part of Zim than where we are going. He has a son next to him, probably about 5. The boy spent all night on the floor, fast asleep under the seats. I thought he had disappeared at one point. This man has been warning me to watch out for cobra's and button spiders. According to him, Cobra's breed like crazy and can be very harmful but they don't want to bother you. He had them breeding in his backyard. One escaped and hid under his couch, which is where it died from starvation because it was too afraid to come out. The button spiders drop from the ceilings and the bites are quite viscous. The scorpions sting when they bite but they are not as harmful. I was surprised to hear that part.
When I mentioned why we were going to Zim and to where exactly, this man seemed rather puzzled. Puzzled or shocked, maybe both. He was surprised to hear that we took our vacation time to come to Zimbabwe to volunteer. Almost as if he'd never heard of anyone doing something of the sorts before. In some ways it was a bit frustrating. More so, it was a reminder why we are doing this. And why conversations like the one with this man need to be started.
Side note: Jo'berg from a birds eye view looks like American suburbs.
Once we land we're 1/3 of the way there. We'll be on a plane from Jo'berg to Harare in a few hours. From there I believe we spend the night at the Davey's and then have a 5 hour drive to Chiredzi tomorrow.
The man sitting next to me on the plane lives in Zimbabwe. A much different part of Zim than where we are going. He has a son next to him, probably about 5. The boy spent all night on the floor, fast asleep under the seats. I thought he had disappeared at one point. This man has been warning me to watch out for cobra's and button spiders. According to him, Cobra's breed like crazy and can be very harmful but they don't want to bother you. He had them breeding in his backyard. One escaped and hid under his couch, which is where it died from starvation because it was too afraid to come out. The button spiders drop from the ceilings and the bites are quite viscous. The scorpions sting when they bite but they are not as harmful. I was surprised to hear that part.
When I mentioned why we were going to Zim and to where exactly, this man seemed rather puzzled. Puzzled or shocked, maybe both. He was surprised to hear that we took our vacation time to come to Zimbabwe to volunteer. Almost as if he'd never heard of anyone doing something of the sorts before. In some ways it was a bit frustrating. More so, it was a reminder why we are doing this. And why conversations like the one with this man need to be started.
Side note: Jo'berg from a birds eye view looks like American suburbs.
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