Here the girls are at the Zulu village today. You can see the fortune teller in the back. Since she is still learning the trade, she has to paint her whole body white. Once she is experienced, she will not have to paint herself everyday.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Zulu Warriors and the Twins!
Here the girls are at the Zulu village today. You can see the fortune teller in the back. Since she is still learning the trade, she has to paint her whole body white. Once she is experienced, she will not have to paint herself everyday.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
One month anniversary
We left Arkansas one month ago. And what a month it has been! I think we have accomplished much in the past month and we are finally feeling settled.
Over the past month, we had a pretty bad car accident and were hospitalized, we spent Christmas with the Hudsons, we celebrated the New Year in our house, we visited two game reserves, moved into the house and have pretty much everything we need to be comfortable (beds, living room suite, washing machine, dishes, pots/pans, curtains, etc.) and unpacked everything. I installed my satellite equipment and an internet ASDL router. I have a bank account, a telephone at the house, lights/water in my name, bought a lawnmower, have a gardner, have learned to drive on the opposite side of the road, had a flat tire and am learning the roads here. Oh yeah and ousted an unwelcomed tarantula who had settled by my bed. Whew....and during all of that, I worked a full time job at the office and took care of the girls.
The month has passed by pretty fast but given how busy I have been, no wonder.
Last night, I took the girls to KFC (their new favorite place to eat). There were some little boys there in rags and no shoes. One had managed to get an ice cream cone (they cost about 40 cents at KFC). the other little boy sat and sadly watched his friend. So, I told the cashier to fix the other one an ice cream cone and I would pay for it. The boys came over and were so happy thanking me. I told them it was from Sienna and Sofia. It made the girls so happy to think they had given the poor little boy an ice cream cone. As we were leaving the boys were standing by the corner, holding up their cones and waving/smiling so big. Something so little can make someone so happy. And on the way home, the girls talked and talked about the boys. They asked why they were poor and why they were probably living without lights and water. And where were their parents. They kept saying they wanted to bring the boys to our house and let them stay with us. And I would have 4 little kids. They were so sweet and so concerned about them.
Work is going well. This week I have been working with our fundraising team on some funding proposals to raise money. And making contacts with the government. Lots to do.
It is so sad about Haiti. When I see these types of disasters, it makes me want to be there on the ground helping the people. Over 80% of the people in Haiti live below the poverty line. It is one of the world’s poorest countries. And now for this to happen. It shouldn’t take an earthquake or natural disaster to bring attention to a country and help. Governments and NGOs should have been there helping even before the earthquake.
The weekend is almost here. I will probably take the girls to the beach on Saturday- a place called Umhlanga Rocks- http://www.umhlanga-rocks.com/. It’s supposed to be very nice. It’s about 35 minutes away.
Over the past month, we had a pretty bad car accident and were hospitalized, we spent Christmas with the Hudsons, we celebrated the New Year in our house, we visited two game reserves, moved into the house and have pretty much everything we need to be comfortable (beds, living room suite, washing machine, dishes, pots/pans, curtains, etc.) and unpacked everything. I installed my satellite equipment and an internet ASDL router. I have a bank account, a telephone at the house, lights/water in my name, bought a lawnmower, have a gardner, have learned to drive on the opposite side of the road, had a flat tire and am learning the roads here. Oh yeah and ousted an unwelcomed tarantula who had settled by my bed. Whew....and during all of that, I worked a full time job at the office and took care of the girls.
The month has passed by pretty fast but given how busy I have been, no wonder.
Last night, I took the girls to KFC (their new favorite place to eat). There were some little boys there in rags and no shoes. One had managed to get an ice cream cone (they cost about 40 cents at KFC). the other little boy sat and sadly watched his friend. So, I told the cashier to fix the other one an ice cream cone and I would pay for it. The boys came over and were so happy thanking me. I told them it was from Sienna and Sofia. It made the girls so happy to think they had given the poor little boy an ice cream cone. As we were leaving the boys were standing by the corner, holding up their cones and waving/smiling so big. Something so little can make someone so happy. And on the way home, the girls talked and talked about the boys. They asked why they were poor and why they were probably living without lights and water. And where were their parents. They kept saying they wanted to bring the boys to our house and let them stay with us. And I would have 4 little kids. They were so sweet and so concerned about them.
Work is going well. This week I have been working with our fundraising team on some funding proposals to raise money. And making contacts with the government. Lots to do.
It is so sad about Haiti. When I see these types of disasters, it makes me want to be there on the ground helping the people. Over 80% of the people in Haiti live below the poverty line. It is one of the world’s poorest countries. And now for this to happen. It shouldn’t take an earthquake or natural disaster to bring attention to a country and help. Governments and NGOs should have been there helping even before the earthquake.
The weekend is almost here. I will probably take the girls to the beach on Saturday- a place called Umhlanga Rocks- http://www.umhlanga-rocks.com/. It’s supposed to be very nice. It’s about 35 minutes away.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Don't like to drive here!
I haven’t written in several days. I am very tired at the end of the day once I get the girls in bed. All I want to do is get in bed myself.
All is well here. I am steadily getting everything in order at the house. Today, I spent half of the day setting up accounts. I got a bank account set up. It is nice to have a bank account. I was missing having one. Now, I don’t have to carry so much cash around and risk being robbed. It should be a couple of weeks before I get my debit card. I had to go by the phone utility office to pick up my DSL router. I installed that tonight at the house and I know have DSL in the house (wireless internet). I am very happy. The little datacard I was using was not very good. I just have to figure out how to hide all the wires now in the entrance where the router and phone jack are. It looks like spaghetti in there right now.
Then I had to go to Westville (a nearby suburb) to sign up for satellite t.v. I wasn’t even getting the local channels very well. I had gone to the office nearby yesterday but they couldn’t open my account so they sent me to Westville. I don’t like Westville. The streets are so confusing. Even the locals get confused in Westville. Sure enough, I got lost- the lday told me the wrong exit and I ended up at a mall. I finally managed to make my way back to where I needed to be and got the satellite all worked out. We now have CNN so I can keep up with the news.
After all that driving in horrible traffic and sitting in offices, I was very glad to get home. Traffic has gotten worse lately. The new school year started today so traffic has increased. The girls won’t start until next Wednesday because they are in a private school.
I already don’t like to drive. And I sure don’t like driving when I don’t know the roads. AND I definitely don’t like driving when I don’t know the roads and I am driving on the opposite side of the road (with a stick shift). Not fun. And the worse part of it is that there are these little minivans here (they call them taxis but they are like little buses) and they drive like maniacs. They were stopping on the interstate and loading up people. Then they will just pull right out in front of you. One pulled out in front of me making me go into the other lane and almost into another car. He honked at me and I honked at the minivan.
The girls are good. They went today to a little animal petting farm nearby with Tammy. They had fun.
Emmanuel, the gardener, came for the first time yesterday. He has been working here at the house for 15-18 years. He can’t remember exactly how long. You will find that often in Africa. Many locals in the village don’t know their birthdate. Dates are not important when you are living in poverty. The next meal is important.
Emmanuel is nice. He is a tall skinny Zulu. He is very soft spoken and humble. He gets $12 a day for about 8 hours of labor. I have to make sure he has tea at 10 am (with milk and 2 ½ teaspoons of sugar) and lunch- leftovers or paloney (bologna). That is the norm with all domestic help- you make sure they eat while they are with you.
I bought a small pushmower yesterday. Emmanuel will mow the yard on Saturdays. The pushmower was used and it cost an arm and a leg! Here they use these pushmowers that are electric. They use a long extension cord- really strange. I’m not sure why. Anyway, I wanted a petrol (gas) mower because our yard is big. It cost about $350 dollars used. It doesn’t even have a very big cutting deck. I’m afraid to find out what a riding mower would cost!
All is well here. I am steadily getting everything in order at the house. Today, I spent half of the day setting up accounts. I got a bank account set up. It is nice to have a bank account. I was missing having one. Now, I don’t have to carry so much cash around and risk being robbed. It should be a couple of weeks before I get my debit card. I had to go by the phone utility office to pick up my DSL router. I installed that tonight at the house and I know have DSL in the house (wireless internet). I am very happy. The little datacard I was using was not very good. I just have to figure out how to hide all the wires now in the entrance where the router and phone jack are. It looks like spaghetti in there right now.
Then I had to go to Westville (a nearby suburb) to sign up for satellite t.v. I wasn’t even getting the local channels very well. I had gone to the office nearby yesterday but they couldn’t open my account so they sent me to Westville. I don’t like Westville. The streets are so confusing. Even the locals get confused in Westville. Sure enough, I got lost- the lday told me the wrong exit and I ended up at a mall. I finally managed to make my way back to where I needed to be and got the satellite all worked out. We now have CNN so I can keep up with the news.
After all that driving in horrible traffic and sitting in offices, I was very glad to get home. Traffic has gotten worse lately. The new school year started today so traffic has increased. The girls won’t start until next Wednesday because they are in a private school.
I already don’t like to drive. And I sure don’t like driving when I don’t know the roads. AND I definitely don’t like driving when I don’t know the roads and I am driving on the opposite side of the road (with a stick shift). Not fun. And the worse part of it is that there are these little minivans here (they call them taxis but they are like little buses) and they drive like maniacs. They were stopping on the interstate and loading up people. Then they will just pull right out in front of you. One pulled out in front of me making me go into the other lane and almost into another car. He honked at me and I honked at the minivan.
The girls are good. They went today to a little animal petting farm nearby with Tammy. They had fun.
Emmanuel, the gardener, came for the first time yesterday. He has been working here at the house for 15-18 years. He can’t remember exactly how long. You will find that often in Africa. Many locals in the village don’t know their birthdate. Dates are not important when you are living in poverty. The next meal is important.
Emmanuel is nice. He is a tall skinny Zulu. He is very soft spoken and humble. He gets $12 a day for about 8 hours of labor. I have to make sure he has tea at 10 am (with milk and 2 ½ teaspoons of sugar) and lunch- leftovers or paloney (bologna). That is the norm with all domestic help- you make sure they eat while they are with you.
I bought a small pushmower yesterday. Emmanuel will mow the yard on Saturdays. The pushmower was used and it cost an arm and a leg! Here they use these pushmowers that are electric. They use a long extension cord- really strange. I’m not sure why. Anyway, I wanted a petrol (gas) mower because our yard is big. It cost about $350 dollars used. It doesn’t even have a very big cutting deck. I’m afraid to find out what a riding mower would cost!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Back to work
This week the office opened back up after the holidays so it was back to the office. On Monday, I had to take the girls with me for most of the day. Then starting Tuesday Tammy watched them. She is very good with them and they like her a lot. She calls them “my love” and is always doing things with them when I arrive.
Work is going well. I have been in meetings a lot this week with my direct reports. I have 6 people who report to me- 3 Provincial Managers (of our 3 provincial offices), the Finance Manager, the Fundraising Manager and the Office Administrator (Nunu). I know them all well from having worked with them before at Heifer in LR and while I was on the board. In total, we have about 15 staff. We have a lot of work to do. We will be doing our 3 year strategic plan in February. And we have so many applications from poor communities asking for our help. We have to find more funding so we can help more people.
We are settling in to our house. The girls enjoy the house and the huge yard. We discovered a couple of days ago we have koi fish in the little fish pond. I had no idea. So, for a week the poor things had not gotten any food. The girls and I were walking in the yard looking at all the flowers and we happened to go to the fish pond and we saw them swimming. The landlords forgot to tell us. Anyway, the girls are very excited. There is one that looks like Nemo. There are about eight as far as I can tell and they are very pretty- all sizes and colors- a BIG yellow one, some orange and white ones, a white spotted one and some black ones. Sofia thinks they are catfish like Nonna has. There is a net over the pond so that the heron and ibis birds don’t eat them.
The gardener hasn’t started yet. His wife has been in the hospital. He will start this coming Monday. I have to get a lawnmower for him to use because the owners took the mower with them. The pushmowers here are electric. They all have this long extension cord attached. They do have the gas ones as well but they are not as common. I am going to try and find a gas powered. The lady who will help me around the house should also be starting in the next week or so. It will be nice to have someone a few days a week to work in the house during the day.
The girls start school on the 20th. Until then, Tammy will watch them.
I still need a lot of things for the house. I bought a small set of pots yesterday. I need bowls, cups and things like that. So many little things I will need to get.
We have a huge avocado tree at the front of the house. The girls are very excited about that. There are a few small ones on there growing now. We are really enjoying all the fresh fruit here. The girls are eating so much fresh fruit. And the prices are really good on fruits and veggies. I bought 3 pounds of grapes tonight for less than 2 dollars. And we got some mangos, papaya and bananas. Sofia eats about 3 bananas a day. Sienna eats about 2 apples a day. And chocolate and strawberry milk is very easy to find here. So, Sienna and Sofia feel right at home. I have also made them some sweet tea and they love it.
Today they decorated their playhouse with Tammy and they are pretending it is a castle. They have been dressing up in their costumes. Sienna is Ariel and Sofia is Snow White.
They have a mosquito net over their bed. The mosquitoes (mozzies, as they are called here) are eating them alive- especially Sienna. I have tried everything. And I don’t even see them in the house so they must be biting them when they are playing outside. Sienna gets big welps on here. Then Sofia picks at hers until they bleed.
We were planning on going to the Pavilion mall this afternoon but I got lost (missed my turn onto another interstate) and so we found our way back and just went to the grocery store and KFC. They LOVE KFC. There is one near the house and they want to eat there every night. I don’t let them but they love it. Maybe we will go to the mall tomorrow. There is also a big farmer’s market on Saturday mornings here that we may go to if we get up early enough.
Okay that all for now.
Work is going well. I have been in meetings a lot this week with my direct reports. I have 6 people who report to me- 3 Provincial Managers (of our 3 provincial offices), the Finance Manager, the Fundraising Manager and the Office Administrator (Nunu). I know them all well from having worked with them before at Heifer in LR and while I was on the board. In total, we have about 15 staff. We have a lot of work to do. We will be doing our 3 year strategic plan in February. And we have so many applications from poor communities asking for our help. We have to find more funding so we can help more people.
We are settling in to our house. The girls enjoy the house and the huge yard. We discovered a couple of days ago we have koi fish in the little fish pond. I had no idea. So, for a week the poor things had not gotten any food. The girls and I were walking in the yard looking at all the flowers and we happened to go to the fish pond and we saw them swimming. The landlords forgot to tell us. Anyway, the girls are very excited. There is one that looks like Nemo. There are about eight as far as I can tell and they are very pretty- all sizes and colors- a BIG yellow one, some orange and white ones, a white spotted one and some black ones. Sofia thinks they are catfish like Nonna has. There is a net over the pond so that the heron and ibis birds don’t eat them.
The gardener hasn’t started yet. His wife has been in the hospital. He will start this coming Monday. I have to get a lawnmower for him to use because the owners took the mower with them. The pushmowers here are electric. They all have this long extension cord attached. They do have the gas ones as well but they are not as common. I am going to try and find a gas powered. The lady who will help me around the house should also be starting in the next week or so. It will be nice to have someone a few days a week to work in the house during the day.
The girls start school on the 20th. Until then, Tammy will watch them.
I still need a lot of things for the house. I bought a small set of pots yesterday. I need bowls, cups and things like that. So many little things I will need to get.
We have a huge avocado tree at the front of the house. The girls are very excited about that. There are a few small ones on there growing now. We are really enjoying all the fresh fruit here. The girls are eating so much fresh fruit. And the prices are really good on fruits and veggies. I bought 3 pounds of grapes tonight for less than 2 dollars. And we got some mangos, papaya and bananas. Sofia eats about 3 bananas a day. Sienna eats about 2 apples a day. And chocolate and strawberry milk is very easy to find here. So, Sienna and Sofia feel right at home. I have also made them some sweet tea and they love it.
Today they decorated their playhouse with Tammy and they are pretending it is a castle. They have been dressing up in their costumes. Sienna is Ariel and Sofia is Snow White.
They have a mosquito net over their bed. The mosquitoes (mozzies, as they are called here) are eating them alive- especially Sienna. I have tried everything. And I don’t even see them in the house so they must be biting them when they are playing outside. Sienna gets big welps on here. Then Sofia picks at hers until they bleed.
We were planning on going to the Pavilion mall this afternoon but I got lost (missed my turn onto another interstate) and so we found our way back and just went to the grocery store and KFC. They LOVE KFC. There is one near the house and they want to eat there every night. I don’t let them but they love it. Maybe we will go to the mall tomorrow. There is also a big farmer’s market on Saturday mornings here that we may go to if we get up early enough.
Okay that all for now.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Trash Day, President Marries 5th wife and Flat Tire- January 4 & 5
Mondays are trash days in this area. You have to put the trash out in the morning so that dogs and people don’t dig through it. Despite putting it out a few minutes before the truck was due to pick it up, there were people already digging through the trash outside the gate. It is very sad. And as I drove to work I saw little kids on the streets digging through trash.
The security company came and showed me how to work the alarm on the house. At night, I can set it and if any of the zones have movement the alarm will go off. The back part of the house and kitchen where we sleep is fine to move around in. It is all pretty complicated trying to remember all the details of arming and disarming the system.
South Africa’s president Zuma married today taking in his 5th wife. One committed suicide in 2000 so now he has 4 wives. In Zulu tradition this is okay. He has 19 kids mostly with these wives but some are not with the wives.
We spent an hour and a half at the telephone office just getting the phone number transferred to my name. The girls were getting stir crazy. There was this elderly woman who was sitting by us and kept talking to Sienna. Apparently she had bad breath because Sienna kept covering her nose and would not look at the lady. And the lady kept wanting to pray with us.
I have found someone to watch the girls until school starts on the 20th. She starts on Tuesday. Her name is Tammy. She is an au pair and loves kids.
I had to stay at the office a little later because of a teleconference with the board chair in the US. And as we were driving home I hit a pothole in the road and had a flat tire. Luckily we were about ½ mile from the house so I just kept driving. I figured I would drive until I couldn’t drive anymore. But we made it. It was rainy and chilly. We got to the house and apparently the alarm had been activated earlier and the security company had come to check things out. They left a note on the gate. So, I didn’t go inside the house but called them to come back and go in the house to make sure things were okay. It took them about 10 minutes to get there and me and the girls were outside the house in the rain. Sienna and Sofia were asking a million questions as to why we weren’t going in, why we had a flat, etc.
Two armed patrolmen came and went into the house. Everything was okay. They said that it is very common that a gecko will set off the alarm. There is a motion sensor in the living room of the house. And this is exactly where there are a couple of geckos. They run around on the wall near it. I just hope they don’t do this in the middle of the night and set off the alarm, it will scare me to death!
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Tammy watched the girls today. They really like her. She is around 24 years old. She is very sweet. She said it was a pleasure to watch them and they didn’t give her any trouble. I can’t believe these are the same girls I have spent the past 3 weeks nonstop with! I am sure they were happy to have a break from going and sitting in utility offices and buying furniture. Sofia said Tammy was her best friend.
Sofia talks all the time about Billy Ray Cyrus. She said she wants him to come and visit her in Africa with Michael Jackson. She said that Michael Jackson and Billy Ray Cyrus are twins but they don’t look alike. She has little crushes on both of them.
It was cool and cloudy here today- we all had long sleeve shirts on. I had to hang my wash in the garage to dry again. It will take 3 days to dry. Not having a dryer is not as bad as I thought it would be.
The girls are eating much better nowadays. When we first got here they didn’t want to eat hardly. Now they eat all the time. Sofia eats about 3 bananas a day. Sienna eats an apple or two. I bought some fresh papayas (pawpaws) and mango today for them to try.
The security company came and showed me how to work the alarm on the house. At night, I can set it and if any of the zones have movement the alarm will go off. The back part of the house and kitchen where we sleep is fine to move around in. It is all pretty complicated trying to remember all the details of arming and disarming the system.
South Africa’s president Zuma married today taking in his 5th wife. One committed suicide in 2000 so now he has 4 wives. In Zulu tradition this is okay. He has 19 kids mostly with these wives but some are not with the wives.
We spent an hour and a half at the telephone office just getting the phone number transferred to my name. The girls were getting stir crazy. There was this elderly woman who was sitting by us and kept talking to Sienna. Apparently she had bad breath because Sienna kept covering her nose and would not look at the lady. And the lady kept wanting to pray with us.
I have found someone to watch the girls until school starts on the 20th. She starts on Tuesday. Her name is Tammy. She is an au pair and loves kids.
I had to stay at the office a little later because of a teleconference with the board chair in the US. And as we were driving home I hit a pothole in the road and had a flat tire. Luckily we were about ½ mile from the house so I just kept driving. I figured I would drive until I couldn’t drive anymore. But we made it. It was rainy and chilly. We got to the house and apparently the alarm had been activated earlier and the security company had come to check things out. They left a note on the gate. So, I didn’t go inside the house but called them to come back and go in the house to make sure things were okay. It took them about 10 minutes to get there and me and the girls were outside the house in the rain. Sienna and Sofia were asking a million questions as to why we weren’t going in, why we had a flat, etc.
Two armed patrolmen came and went into the house. Everything was okay. They said that it is very common that a gecko will set off the alarm. There is a motion sensor in the living room of the house. And this is exactly where there are a couple of geckos. They run around on the wall near it. I just hope they don’t do this in the middle of the night and set off the alarm, it will scare me to death!
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Tammy watched the girls today. They really like her. She is around 24 years old. She is very sweet. She said it was a pleasure to watch them and they didn’t give her any trouble. I can’t believe these are the same girls I have spent the past 3 weeks nonstop with! I am sure they were happy to have a break from going and sitting in utility offices and buying furniture. Sofia said Tammy was her best friend.
Sofia talks all the time about Billy Ray Cyrus. She said she wants him to come and visit her in Africa with Michael Jackson. She said that Michael Jackson and Billy Ray Cyrus are twins but they don’t look alike. She has little crushes on both of them.
It was cool and cloudy here today- we all had long sleeve shirts on. I had to hang my wash in the garage to dry again. It will take 3 days to dry. Not having a dryer is not as bad as I thought it would be.
The girls are eating much better nowadays. When we first got here they didn’t want to eat hardly. Now they eat all the time. Sofia eats about 3 bananas a day. Sienna eats an apple or two. I bought some fresh papayas (pawpaws) and mango today for them to try.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Cookie the Hamster
Cookie the hamster sleeps all day long and plays all night. The girls are frustrated because he is NEVER awake during the day! I hear him in there at night moving things around in his cage. And sometimes when I check on him he is hanging upside down from the top of his cage. Silly hamster. I need to get him a wheel to run on. He is so friendly and begs for you to get him out of the cage when he is awake.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
