sun sets on first weeks

Every evening the sun sets around 6:30 or 7:00pm- eternally giving the illusion that I am up much later than I actually am. The sky lights up in a red and yellow haze, emphasizes the dust that inhabits the air, and the sun lights up like a ruby-red red red. It almost looks poisonous. It's life giving though. It is peaceful and wonderful to end the day with a brilliant send off that soon gives way to constellations of stars I have yet to recognize. No orion here, just the southern hemispheres fireflies, and NO light pollution.

Our house sits in a respectable neighborhood. To be honest with you it is difficult to tell what houses look like. Walls sprout up around ever residence, causing mystery and a sense of suspicion. But in reality it is self-defense that motivates the wall and I guess the blessing is that it provides a job for a lone security guard. I went for a run earlier this week down the road, took a few turns, and suddenly found myself in rural Africa. Goats and chickens pecking through burning trash- the eternal smell of Lusaka, combined with petrol- clothes hanging on lines, and a whole community bustling about. It was great to make my way through and back home.

Just a quick work up-date, I started in on a few projects this week. Organizing our coaches for home-visits. Grassroot Soccer just received a grant from the Elton John Aids Foundation that allows us to combine our educational curriculum with home-visits and thus consent for testing. It is an exciting opportunity with many logistics. I am preparing, as well, to head out to the refugee settlement camp of Meheba in a week, where I will be spending a week training, witnessing graduations from our program, and following up on the results that we are getting. I cannot wait to go!

For now that is all from Lusaka. Many more stories to tell, perhaps sometime soon. peace.