Sal asked Sofia where her stitches were and she said "in that little round circle in my nose where the boogers are"!!!
All the swelling is gone as well as the bruising.
Today we had a pretty busy day. We went to get the refridgerator. The girls swam here for a couple of hours. They took a nap. We went to buy groceries and then this evening went to a restaurant called Spur. It is steakhouse kind of place. They have a huge play area for the kids, a small little movie theater and about 10 video game consoles. They loved it. But they didn't want to eat.
We have a tiny little gecko living here in the cottage with us. He is about 1 1/2 inches long. Sienna caught one as well this morning. And this evening she found some toads and was throwing them in the pool.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Christmas in South Africa
We had a lovely day yesterday with Dr. Norman and Estelle Hudson. He is a board member. I have known him for about 5 years. They are in their late 70's and were by themselves. Their son and family are in Colorado. They have a beautiful little house next door to their son's huge house. They have a huge swimming pool, tennis courts and trampoline. The girls really enjoyed playing outside.
For lunch we had ham, new potatoes, carrots, salad and other light side dishes. Then the girls went to play in the pool. The weather was very nice- not too hot.
The girls woke up about 6:30 and were very excited to see that Santa had come while they were sleeping. We called Sal on Skype and he watched the girls open their presents.They got lots of barbies and princess stuff.
It was a laid back day but nice.
For lunch we had ham, new potatoes, carrots, salad and other light side dishes. Then the girls went to play in the pool. The weather was very nice- not too hot.
The girls woke up about 6:30 and were very excited to see that Santa had come while they were sleeping. We called Sal on Skype and he watched the girls open their presents.They got lots of barbies and princess stuff.
It was a laid back day but nice.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Santa just dropped off the girls Santa sacks full of goodies. We even have milk and cookies out for him to eat before heading back out through the window. Sofia was a little worried we didn't have a fireplace for him to come down but I assured her he could get through my window. As usual Sienna ate one of his cookies.
Here are the girls getting ready for bed on Christmas Eve. They weren't too enthusiastic about getting their pictures taken. They were more interested in watching Curious George's Christmas.
Here is Sienna's letter to Santa. She included Sofia in it too. At the top she drew a frog and a moose so Santa will know to bring a frog and moose to them. And she wrote her name, "to Santa" in the middle and then Sofia's name at the bottom.
Sienna wrote her letter to Santa tonight. Sofia didn't want to write one and told Sienna to write one for her too
Christmas Eve 2009
Christmas Eve 2009
The girls are starting to adjust to the time change finally. They are actually sleeping until around 7 in the morning now.
Yesterday, we ventured out in a tiny little car called a Ford KA. It doesn't have air conditioner and it was very, very hot so we didn't stay out for long. We went to the post office to mail the cards that Sienna and Sofia wrote for Nonna, Aunt Carla, Mae Mae, and Papa. Then we went to a home furnishing store and the grocery store. The shops are so full right now that it is hard to even walk in them. And Sofia and Sienna want to carry moosey and froggy everywhere and throw them up in the air and try to catch them. They start giggling and get silly. It's hard to get anything done!
They took a short nap and then we went out for a walk in the neighborhood where we are staying. It is really pretty and it had cooled down because of the rain. We walked Biscuit, James's little yorkshire terrier.
Today- Christmas Eve- we left around 10 am to go look for appliances and beds for the house. I bought a refrigerator, washing machine and microwave. The washing machine and refrigerator are miniature compared o what we have in the US.
We had a different driver. A very sweet man named Lunghi. I have known him for several years and he has nevery had a wreck. He was one of the people who was laid off in August from the Heifer cutbacks. I feel really bad for him because he and his wife both are not working. He said they were not going to be able to do anything special for Christmas and his children would not have any presents. I bought his kids bags of chocolate candy and gave him extra money in addition to paying him for driving us for the day. It is so sad. But I will most likely hire him back since that other guy will not be working for us anymore. He was so happy to get a little money.
The girls seem excited about Christmas but it doesn't really seem like Christmas because we aren't dashing around buying presents. And because we are here in SA by ourselves.
Sienna said Santa is brown because we are in Africa.
When we were out today the girls saw ladies carrying bags and other things on their heads. They loved that. They were trying to carry froggy and moosy on their heads.
They also saw some muslim ladies wearing the head to toe burquas with only a small slit for their eyes and they didn't understand why they were covered up.
They are very observant and very respectful of the different things they are seeing. There are people on the side of the roads who sell things. They come up to your car when you are stopped. Sienna enjoys talking to them and making them smile.
The girls are starting to adjust to the time change finally. They are actually sleeping until around 7 in the morning now.
Yesterday, we ventured out in a tiny little car called a Ford KA. It doesn't have air conditioner and it was very, very hot so we didn't stay out for long. We went to the post office to mail the cards that Sienna and Sofia wrote for Nonna, Aunt Carla, Mae Mae, and Papa. Then we went to a home furnishing store and the grocery store. The shops are so full right now that it is hard to even walk in them. And Sofia and Sienna want to carry moosey and froggy everywhere and throw them up in the air and try to catch them. They start giggling and get silly. It's hard to get anything done!
They took a short nap and then we went out for a walk in the neighborhood where we are staying. It is really pretty and it had cooled down because of the rain. We walked Biscuit, James's little yorkshire terrier.
Today- Christmas Eve- we left around 10 am to go look for appliances and beds for the house. I bought a refrigerator, washing machine and microwave. The washing machine and refrigerator are miniature compared o what we have in the US.
We had a different driver. A very sweet man named Lunghi. I have known him for several years and he has nevery had a wreck. He was one of the people who was laid off in August from the Heifer cutbacks. I feel really bad for him because he and his wife both are not working. He said they were not going to be able to do anything special for Christmas and his children would not have any presents. I bought his kids bags of chocolate candy and gave him extra money in addition to paying him for driving us for the day. It is so sad. But I will most likely hire him back since that other guy will not be working for us anymore. He was so happy to get a little money.
The girls seem excited about Christmas but it doesn't really seem like Christmas because we aren't dashing around buying presents. And because we are here in SA by ourselves.
Sienna said Santa is brown because we are in Africa.
When we were out today the girls saw ladies carrying bags and other things on their heads. They loved that. They were trying to carry froggy and moosy on their heads.
They also saw some muslim ladies wearing the head to toe burquas with only a small slit for their eyes and they didn't understand why they were covered up.
They are very observant and very respectful of the different things they are seeing. There are people on the side of the roads who sell things. They come up to your car when you are stopped. Sienna enjoys talking to them and making them smile.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Life is fragile
The day started well. The girls woke up very early as they were still adjusting to the time difference.
We left for the Umfolosi-Hluhluwe Game park about 7 am. It took us about 3 1/2 hours to get to the park. The park is located to the north of Durban- closer to the Mozambique border. The game reserve is the 4th largest in South Africa and is known for its huge rhino population. There are about 1600 rhino in the reserve. It is also one of the few parks in SA that has the big five- rhino, hippo, lion, water buffalo and elephant.
The office driver drove us to the park- his name is Mkho. He is younger- I would say about 20. He has been driving for the office for a couple of years now.
It was very, very hot in the game reserve and there weren't as many animals out and about as I saw the time I was there before. In the few hours we were driving around we saw zebra, giraffe, rhino, warthog, wildebeest, impala, kudu and cape buffalo. The girls loved seeing the wild animals roaming around freely.
Then around 1 pm I am not sure what happened but I see the driver cross the road and run us head on into a tree. The new car that we had purchased for me is totaled. Sofia was the worst. She was bleeding profusely from her nose- at the time it happened I couldn’t really tell where it was coming from. And the driver, apparently in shock, got out of the car and went and sat under a tree. I was screaming at him to get me help for Sofia. Sienna was walking around in shock. After a few minutes some people started to come down the road in different vehicles and started to help us. We were about 30 minutes to the nearest place where an ambulance could meet us. They bandaged Sofia’s nose and this very nice couple took us to the nearest private hospital about an hour away. They didn’t advise us going to a local clinic even though it would have cost much less.
In the end, Sofia took a pretty hard hit to the face and it caused one side of her nose (where the bottom crease is) to detach. Her check and eye is swollen with a hematoma. They put her to sleep to sew her up giving her 5 stitches. Once it heals it will not be noticeable given the place it is. But the doctor wanted us to stay the night to observe Sofia, particularly. Sienna just had a few bruises. I am pretty beat up- especially my legs and elbows- huge bruises and scrapes. I think my elbow may be fractured but I didn’t have them check me out because it was already pretty expensive to have the services performed on the girls.
Over the past few days, I have been very, very sore.The girls were so brave. Sienna was more worried about the car and the bag of pasta that went everywhere in the car.
All we can figure out is the driver must have fell asleep. He doesn’t talk much English so I wasn’t able to converse much with him during the trip. And he hasn’t told Nunu or Sthembiso what has happened. I know he must feel bad. I feel so angry with him but know he didn’t mean to make it happen. It could have been so much worse than it was. Luckily in the game parks you drive slow so I would guess we were only going about 25 mph but hit the tree head on. The air bags deployed and for some reason the side of my head looks burned a little. All my hair and eyebrow is singed.
The hospital was wonderful. Very caring and such good care for us. Nunu stayed with me every minute to help with Sienna while I was back in surgery with Sofia. And all the staff have called and are sending prayers. Sfiso (the former Ex. Director) drove several hours to the hospital last night to help out. And Gavin and his wife are making us dinner tonight.
It was pretty hard not having family around to help but staff and friends have been great.
When we were in the hospital, there were even a group of women who came around and gave the girls big boxes of presents.
The good thing is that we are all okay and healing well. We have not gone too far from the bed and breakfast over the past 2 days since getting out of the hospital. And it has not slowed the girls down one bit. They have just as much energy and enthusiasm as before. In the hospital, Sofia was asking to go back to the game reserve.
Life is very fragile, never take it for granted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
