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The Muzungu Chronicles: Chapter 1 “From A to Z”

We reached the end of the line. The furthest distance we could travel together before we were separated by the long weaving line of airport security. There was a little café about 50 feet before the stairs down to the first level. The stairs that officially began the first level of my journey to Zambia. The café was closed but we found a little table for two. I sat down across from her and held her hands. We prayed, hugged, kissed, said our goodbyes for the month, and I wiped away the first and only tears I would cry for the entire trip.

Then after one last hug and kiss we went our separate ways.

Walking away from Amanda, my awesome girlfriend, was the hardest thing I would experience during my month long excursion to Zambia.

The journey from Denver to Atlanta was an uneventful one. I played on my laptop while waiting for my flight to arrive. I also watched an aspiring rapper sing along to the music in his headphones in a key that doesn’t exist and at an awkwardly loud volume. 

That was actually really funny. 

I arrived in Atlanta really early. I believe it was close to 5:30 AM. I slept for about an hour on my flight from Denver and was hoping that I would be able to get my bag from the baggage claim and find a nice quiet place to nap before I had to leave with my team in the afternoon.

Nope.

My bag took a little over an hour and a half to reach my baggage claim. After that long and undesired wait, I went in search of the Atlanta Chophouse, the spot our team was told to meet. I was excited to sit in a comfy booth away from the crazy long security lines that plagued the worlds busiest airport on the weekend before the 4th of July

Nope.

Not only was our meeting spot smack dab in the middle of the Atrium, which is the busiest part of the worlds busiest airport, but the Chophouse wasn’t open, so I couldn’t even get a break from the crazy. I did however find a nice chair next to a guy sleeping under his blanket like it was a cocoon. I was the first to arrive. Not only the first to arrive for my team but the first of any team. Since I couldn’t sleep I decided to people watch and jam out to the guy who was playing guitar for the travelers waiting in line.

Then finally I saw it.

First I saw the backpack, big and stuffed to the brim. An adventurers back pack. Next I saw the bible. Could it be a coincidence? But then I knew she was one of us, one of the missionaries for AIM, because she was wearing the one thing that no ordinary traveler would be wearing…..

Jesus sandals. JESUS SANDALS!

I kept meercating her (popping my head up to look and the ducking back behind the barrier so I don’t look creepy.) She was in the right age group wearing the right things and reading the bible so I took a calculated risk

“Hey are you here for Adventures in Missions?”

Ice. Broken.

She was going on a mission trip and she was going through adventures in missions. She was not however one of the people I would spend the next month with in Zambia.

Over the next hour I saw more backpacks, more bibles, and more Jesus sandals. I tasked myself with uniting the Missionaries in front of the Atlanta Chophouse and breaking the ice. After about an hour I still hadn’t met a Zambian team member.

But then I saw her.

I recognized the face from Facebook and Instagram and I knew she was one of my team members.

Meredith Rodgers A.K.A Goatslayer A.K.A Uncle Meredith A.K.A MereDEATH, Merry Todd, Mrs. Lincoln, etc.

Soon after Meredith  showed up Rachel Ohman showed up as well. We got some Popeye’s and then we went to the shuttle that would take us to the Holiday Inn.

Throughout the day we met the rest of our team (First was Chloe who’s grandfather sent me on an epic quest to fill up his cooler with ice.) After orientation and the weirdest cheeseburger pizza ever, we all went to bed. Tomorrow we would begin our Journey from A-Z.

America to Zambia

We made it to the International section of the airport and found a spot to wait the few hours before we got our boarding passes. We played games to get to know each other. First we said our name, where we are from, and something cool about us. Mine went like this

“Hey I’m Kyler Roy, I’m from Colorado Springs, and I once surfed a tree as it fell in the middle of a blizzard (true story).”  

Fun fact about this part of the trip. Meredith Rodgers’ cool story was that she killed a goat. She said it while giggling and it was terrifying. So for the rest of the trip we would refer to the Meredith’s (our team had two Meredith’s and two Rachel’s) as Meredith Stack and Meredith Goatslayer or just Goatslayer for short.

I really want to point out that the community we had from the beginning was very strong. I never felt awkward and it was like we had all been friends our whole lives.

We got our boarding passes, laughed about Crorox (inside joke), and went to our gate for Qatar Airlines.

Qatar Airlines is super nice and I highly recommend it to anyone flying abroad. The movies were brand new and the plane was really nice. I watched Superman, Batman vs Superman, and the Jungle Book and then I had a decent little nap. All in all it was as good a 12+ hour flight as you could have.

We arrived in Doha, Qatar (apparently that’s pronounced ‘cutter’ and not ‘kuh-tar’) and had a 9 hour layover. We made our way through customs which involved some threatening guards and a robotic eye sensor thing. Then we made our way to our hotel where we enjoyed warm showers, naps, and some authentic middle eastern food.

A small group of us went on a walk through Doha at night where we saw a boat festival and the Doha skyline. Now we did this during Ramadan (a Holy month of fasting for Muslims) and we weren’t necessarily in the nice part of town. Shoutout to Jesus for protecting us.

Qatar is hot. Too hot. And there is a weird spiritual feeling there that made me uneasy for the whole stay. Overall I’d say it was a great experience and the skyline and lights in the city were awesome but I was happy to leave.

Our flight to Johannesburg South Africa was through Qatar Airlines again so I got to watch more movies and take another solid nap.

I really liked Johannesburg.

We stayed in a cozy little hostel in the ghetto because we had a 25 hour layover. It had cool common areas and a really adventurous vibe to it. a few things stick out in my mind when I think of Jo-burg. First off we split into groups of 4. Our groups could eat wherever we wanted as long as it was within the budget. Myself, Olivia, Kelsey, and My travel buddy Meredith Stack (always the last two through security and in every line), found this awesome little restaurant. I ordered a Jaffle because I thought the name was funny and I was feeling adventurous. I’m a picky eater so this was out of character for me.

Jaffle’s are AMAZING.

It’s like a pulled chicken sandwich but instead of bread it’s inside of a fried pie thing that looks like a UFO. It was by far my favorite thing that I ate for the whole month. The restaurant itself had an upstairs section that was basically a little balcony that was maybe 7 feet deep and 9 feet wide. We sat on the floor around a trunk that was used as a table and ate our ethnic foods and just got to know each other a little bit more.

When we were walking back towards our hostel, the girls wanted to play with some kids across the street. We crossed over, narrowly missing a van that almost killed two of my new friends, and played with the little girls.

Well word spread that there were white people, Muzungus, playing with kids.

And they came. The children followed us to the hostel and soon we were overwhelmed. They played with our hair and posed for pictures and all of them were great….Except one

John Cena.

I don’t know his real name but there was one little boy reenacting WWE fights, specifically the fights of John Cena. It started off harmless. Punching the air and jumping off the table. Verbal accounts of John Cena’s many feats in the ring. Then the air punches started to become directed at me. Each blow more furious and close to me as the last. I started to be refered to as Kevin Owens (another WWE wrestler) 

“I am John Cena and you are Kevin Owens. Come come, fight me”

Then the killing blow.

John Cena punched me, Kevin Owens, straight in the Jaffles, then when I was debilitated, he struck me in the larynx. I then got repeatedly punched in the thigh and stomach until I had to retreat inside the sanctuary of the hostel.

From that point on I was scared to go outside. So I stayed hidden until we left in the morning for our final flight to Livingstone, Zambia

Our last flight was short and easy. The lady who worked for British Airlines let me pick my seat so I took the emergency exit door and secured some extra leg room. I played charades with T-Rose and Mikayla and enjoyed the window seat and the views below. I actually convinced Mikayla that the straight road beneath us was the equator. Not only is the Equator invisible but it is most definitely not in South Africa. Before we landed, our pilot circled Victoria Falls and I got a great view of the natural wonder from above.

We landed on the tarmac and had to walk to the airport. The first thing I noticed was the perfect weather. The weather would remain the same for the duration of our stay. Everyone threw their bags in a big flatbed truck and myself and Rachel Norris volunteered to ride on top of the luggage to make sure it was all safe. Realistically I just wanted to ride in the back of the truck.

It was the perfect intro to Zambia.

My Journey to Livingstone spanned 5 days, 27 hours of flight time, 34 hours of layovers (not counting my day in Atlanta), 4 countries, 3 continents, and 21 new friends. It was a fantastic experience and one that I would not change!

I just want to take a second and thank some people for their support during the time leading up to my trip and during the trip itself.

First off thank you to all who donated financially and prayed for me during this Adventure. This story and the ones to come would not be possible if it wasn’t for you!

Next I’d like to thank my family for their awesome support! My family really helped me out financially and because of them I didn’t have to worry about money for fun days or gifts or even buying a backpack. I got pretty much everything I needed from them! Also thank you for your prayers and love! I love you guys!

Thank you to my awesome girlfriend Amanda! She was my confidant when I was going through a hard time and really supported me before, during, and after the trip! Thanks for being my rock! I love you!

Last and obviously not least I have to thank God. He is the one who put me in Zambia and placed me with an awesome team and a great ministry! I learned a lot about myself and my identity in Christ on this trip. None of this would ever be possible without God! Love ya God, thank you for everything!

Keep an eye out for Chapter 2! I’m going to delve more into individual experiences and ministry days and my growth. This was more of a long blog detailing the first major part of my journey.

Thanks for reading!

-Kyler Roy

 

 

 

 

 

 

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