Rainy Saturday

Today I drove for the first time. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. More than anything I am trying to get used to the car. I can't ever get it to go into reverse. There must be some trick that I haven't figured out. The car is a standard so that is also interesting- changing gears with my left hand. The girls are oblivious to it all- they were sitting in the back seat singing Achy Breaky Heart and Deja Blue.

Also, today was very foggy and the roads are extremely curvey. PLUS people are walking everywhere on the sides of the road AND you have to watch out for wandering cow or goat on the road.

Yesterday, we started out at the office until about 10:30 and then everyone left for the holiday break. The offices will be closed until January 4th. Afterwards, we dropped Nunu off at the doctor offices in Pinetown. Pinetown is another little suburb of Durban. It is very colorful. There are people walking around everywhere and it is really chaotic. People selling vegetables on the street side. Chickens in cages.

The girls were amazed. They had their faces glued to the window. Sofia was in the front seat and Sienna in the back. Sienna sat there and waved constantly at everyone (see picture above). Many were waving back at her. And Sofia wasn't sure what to think. She kept saying- look at all the brown African people, mamma. Sienna said they were all "gathering things" to take home.

Then we headed to the uShaka Seaworld in Durban. It is a huge waterpark, aquarium and animal exhibitions. We only had about 3 hours so we went to the aquarium and animal shows. The aquarium is inside this huge old ship. It is really neat. So many different exhibitions and fish from around the world. Sienna like the shark exhibition best. There are over 100 types of sharks native to South Africa.

We watched the dolphin show- it was the best I have seen. There were over 10 different dolphins performing. And then we headed over to see the penguins. Penguins are also native here. The girls played around the tank for a while and there was one penguin that kept following Sofia around. She was dragging her finger on the side of the tank and it was trying to nibble it through the glass. Sofia giggled so hard.

When we left, the girls were able to see the beach and ocean as we walked back to the car.

Sienna and Sofia are doing really well considering all they have to adapt to. They still haven't gotten used to the time difference and they throw fits easily. They take froggy and moosey everywhere.

Sienna and Sofia in the Valley of 1000 Hills- South Africa

Sienna and Sofia's first day in SA. Here they are at the PheZulu Safari Park, very close to the office. You can see the beautiful rolling hills behind them.

December 16th and 17th

The girls first day in South Africa went well. They were a little rowdy and emotional but overall they are adapting. They don't want to eat much- I think it is because their bodies are still adapting to the time change. They woke up at 2:30 am. I made them go back to bed and then they got up at 4:30. It gets light here about 4:30 so they are confused as to why they can't get up when it is light outside.

The 16th is a national holiday here in SA- National Reconciliation Day so the office was closed. Nunu and her daughter Sine came and got us and took us to the grocery store and other various places. Then we went to the PheZulu Crocodile Park- about 2 minutes away from the office. The girls had fun running through the park and looking at the reptiles. There are so many crocodiles, turtles and snakes. I held a burmese python and Sienna was very excited to get to touch it. Sofia didn't want to have anything to do with it but she finally did stick her finger out and touch it.

All Sofia wants to talk about is getting a white kitty once we get into our house. She is going to name it Serafina. Sienna also wants a kitty she is going to call Lina and a tree frog.

We came back from the park and the girls crashed for about 4 hours. They were so tired. We ordered pizza but they didn't want it once I got it. We caught a big toad and they were more interested in throwing it into the pool and watching it swim around.

December 17th
We went to the office around 9 and stayed there pretty much all of the day. The office has a big board room that the girls settled in and spread out all of their toys. They made themselves right at home.

We went to see the house and met the owner. It is a great place for us. The yard is beautiful with all kinds of incredible plants. There is a section fenced off that has a playhouse, a treehouse, a swing set and a sand pit. There is also a small pool. The house is 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms. It also has a separate section for guests which is a sitting room, a bedroom and a bathroom. Then there is another small building for the laundry. We get to move in on January 1.

The girls were exhausted and kept trying to go to sleep in the car, on the floor and any other place they could sit for more than 5 minutes.

Sofia still doesn't believe we are in Africa. She keeps saying "when we get to Africa". Sienna seems to be doing a lot better at adapting. She is soaking i all in.

Trip from US to South Africa with Sienna and Sofia

December 14- Sienna, Sofia and I left for South Africa. We had 10 suitcases, 7 carryons and a long journey ahead. We get to the LR airport and our plane had already been delayed 1 ½ hours. That left us with essentially 30 minutes in Atlanta to make our connection. We get to Atlanta and ran through the airport. The girls were so cute with their big backpacks and pulling their carry ons. We managed to make the connection JUST in time. We the last to get on the airplane and of course there was no space for our 7 carryons.

15 hour flight to Joberg from Atlanta. We had a row. Sofia sat by the window, me in the middle and Sienna near the aisle. The girls did amazingly well on this long flight. They didn’t complain once. They didn’t kick the seats in front of them, they didn’t cry. They watched movies and did sleep some. Sienna was thrilled that the Lady Gaga CD was available to listen to in the entertainment system. She was singing pretty loud with her headphones on and a couple of times I had to tell her to not sing so loud.

I didn’t sleep a wink on the plane. I was pretty busy trying to keep the girls from stretching their legs out. Sienna kept putting hers in the aisle and Sofia was stretching hers out on Sienna’s head.

December 15- We landed in Joberg and were trying to get all of our things collected. Sofia started complaining that she needed to go to the potty. Everyone was standing and not moving to get off the plane. She started fretting and then vomited everywhere. Luckily I contained it to just in the floor and miraculously we didn’t get it on our clothes or belongings. After I thought it was finished she did it again. I cleaned her face and off we went.

In Joberg, we had to collect our 10 suitcases and recheck them. I got 3 porters to help us and they carried all our luggage to the check in counter. For the first time ever ALL my luggage arrived in SA! I was convinced that several bags would not arrive but they all did.

The girls kept asking if they were in Africa yet. I told them yes but they didn’t understand and said they didn’t see any animals (in the airport). And Sofia kept asking where the “brown kiddos” were so she could give them some of her toys.

By the time we reached Joberg the girls had decided they did not want to carry ANY of their bags. So, I was juggling all the carryons- 3 backpacks, 3 rolling cases and my purse. The worse thing is that everytime we would get settled for a second one of the girls would have to go the bathroom and I would have to load up everything again.

Anytime we would stop to get a drink somewhere (or on the plane), the girls kept asking for sweet tea.

On the plane to Durban, the girls were pretty tired and started having the giggles. I was really glad when we landed. When we landed it was dark so once we got out of the airport they couldn’t really see anything and were not convinced we were in Africa yet.

We get to the Bed and Breakfast where we are staying about 10:30. I get them in bed about 11:30 pm and they already at 2:30 they were wide awake. I managed to get them back in their beds until 4:30 when it started getting light outside and finally I let them get up. They didn’t understand if it was light outside why they couldn’t get up. So, here I am writing this at 5:30. It is going to be a long day.

December 16, 2009- National Reconciliation Day