Robert and the girl at the gate

I went to the post office on the 31st to pick up the office mail. There was this poor man standing there holding a certificate that he had gotten for doing a gardening course at a local nursery here. He had it wrapped in plastic so it wouldn’t get wet. The certificate was wrinkled and from 2007. He said he is desperately looking for work, his kids are hungry and he would do any kind of handy work around the house. I felt so bad for him. The girls were with me. It is not the first time I have seen him there at the post office. Sometimes he is selling homemade brooms. I feel so bad for people like him. His name is Robert. I gave him about 4 dollars and he was so happy. The thought of him standing there with his little certificate really bothered me.

Then later that day as we were moving the furniture in the house, two young girls came to the gate and said they were hungry. Lunghi was outside and I told him to please ask them to leave. He spoke to them in Zulu. I came out a few minutes later and he asked if I could please give them a dollar or so because they were in need. I went back in and got the equivalent of 3 dollars and Sofia wanted to give it to the girls. So, she walked out with the money in her hand and handed it through the gate to them. Both her and Sienna ask so many questions about the poor people they see here. They are so smart and very caring.

It is very sad. The poverty doesn’t seem as bad as what you would see in Uganda or Rwanda but it is still rampant. And what makes it worse is that you have the white middle and upper class with big houses and right down the road are people with no work, no food, no electricity or running water. I am glad that I will be here in SA for a while to help make a difference- even if it is just a small drop of water in the great ocean of poverty. Just making giving a few people hope is better than not doing anything at all.

Unwanted Creatures

Okay, I will start with the story of unwanted creatures. I thought last night’s millipede was bad. I have one today that will top that. Lunghi (the office driver) was here helping me today get the t.v. mounted on the wall, install the washing machine and the closet rods. I had been hanging clothes all day and unpacking suitcases and bags. I still don’t have nightstands for the rooms. I had gone and bought some little ones for each of our beds. So, my book, purse and other things you keep on a nightstand was in the floor by my bed. I have been reading this book that mom gave me called “Say Goodbye” by Lisa Gardner. It is about this guy who is fascinated with spiders and all through the book it talks about brown recluse, tarantula, etc. Well, right on top of this open book sat a big fat tarantula. It gives me the shivers thinking about it. Sorry, mom, I didn’t want to tell you about it but I want to be sure and capture all the challenging (and good) times while we are here.

So, I went and called Lunghi to come and kill it. He got a broom and the thing ran under my bed. Originally, when I first went in the room he was sitting about 3 inches from my bed on the floor on the book (about spiders). Lunghi chased it around and when I peeked into the room again I saw it run to my purse. Lunghi finally killed it. During the day I open all the windows and doors to get a breeze. There is only one small air conditioner in the master bedroom so you have to open the house up. And there are no screens on these houses. So, apparently, he climbed in my bedroom window. I am just glad I saw him and he didn’t wind up in a shoe or the girls see him. Lunghi said they are not poisonous. I don’t care, I don’t want them in the house. I am calling a bug man on Monday to come and spray the house and the vicinity.

I did think it was very ironic that the spider was on top of the book about spiders. The girls had all their stuffed animals on their beds. I made them take everything off the bed so nothing could hide in amongst their toys on the bed. I didn’t tell them about the unwanted guest.

So, just another typical day in Africa!

Otherwise, I was very busy today. The girls and I went and bought some household items like bathroom rugs, fruit baskets, pillows, bathroom trash cans, etc. I hung up clothes and unpacked.

I got to use my new little washing machine today. It took 3 hours to wash a load of clothes. I don’t have a dryer yet so I had to hang all the clothes in the garage. It was drizzling outside so I couldn’t hang them outside. There are clothes lines in the garage as well. They don’t sell the liquid washing detergent here. It is all that powder stuff like we used to use years ago.

Lunghi brought his little boy, Njabulo, over to play with the girls. He is 9 and very shy and quiet. They girls was happy to have someone to play with. Sofia was very curious about him. She asked where Lunghi found him and whether he found him on the road and brought him to play with her. She also said she was glad to have a brown African kiddo to play with. She is so funny.

We have a lemon tree on the property and they picked some ripe ones and brought about 6 in the house. They are huge like oranges! I will make some fresh lemon aid tomorrow.

Finally in our new house

December 31st and Jan 1st- In the new house!

I was expecting to get the keys to the house to start moving on in the 1st but the rental agent called me at 7:30 Thursday morning and said that I could go ahead and start moving in. Before getting the keys I went to look at a black leather living room suite that had been posted in the classifieds. I bought it. It is very nice. So, Lunghi (the driver) and I loaded it up and went straight to the house to get the keys. The people who I bought it from threw in a hamster and cage for the girls. They have named it so many different names but I think they are sticking with Cookie now. It is so cute- only 2 months old. It is really furry and soft. It's a Russian Hamster- grey and black. He (we think it is a he) is very gentle and doesn't bite. He has this little green ball that I put him in and close it and he runs all over the house.

The girls were also calling him George and Dumbo.

After getting the keys, we went to get my dining table and two red leather chairs. Then back to the office to load up the refrigerator, washing machine and microwave. Lunghi is a very skinny little man and it was just he and I who were carrying this stuff in the house.

The girls were so excited to be in the house.

I bought a 32 inch LCD for the living room and a DVD player (that plays DVDs from the States too). Lunghi hooked tha up for me before he left so the girls could watch their movies.

There is a shopping center with two grocery stores about 4 minutes down the road.

We spent the day getting the things moved in and then I unpacked up into the evening. I was up at midnight when the new year came. They light fireworks here as well. They call them crickets.

The girls were so excited to see their toys that they hadn't seen in a while. I got their bedroom and beds set up. I bought them Disney Princess bedding. That is what they wanted.

Jan 1- I skyped with Sal as the new year rolled in there in the US. He was at Derek and Melissa's house.

I spent the day unpacking. I need hangers! I don't have even one hanger. And they are pretty expensive here. I am just going to have to bite the bullet and buy some. Then I will bring some back when I go home in late February. Right now all my clothes are in piles in the floor.

We are all good. We went to the store this afternoon adn bought some groceries. I have no pots and pans so I bought a baking sheet, a skillet and a cheap pot.

The girls wanted KFC for dinner. They LOVE the "ckicky treats" meal. It's popcorn chicken and fries. They have eaten it 3 times in the last 4 days. There is also a KFC in that same shopping center just a few minutes away.

They swam for a little bit today but got tired of it pretty quickly.

We have a gecko that lives behind the DVD player. Sienna is very happy. Then this evening as I was shutting all the windows and doors, saw on of these huge African millipedes crawling across the living room floor. They are harmless but sure creep me out. They are about the size of a finger around and this one was aobut 6 inches long. YUCK! I threw him back outside.

We miss everyone!

We have been busy trying to get things for the house. Everyday we are out shopping trying to find the best deals. Some days when there are lots of places to go and I am not familiar with the areas, Lunghi takes us. Other days I drive.

Sofia got her stitches out 2 days ago. She was very, very brave. At first she was not too sure about getting them out but the Sister (nurse) was very good with her. She explained how she would do it and let Sofia hold the tweezers and scissors. After she took them out (5 of them) she put them in a little jar for Sofia to keep. We are down to just 3 in the jar because Sofia keeps taking them out and looking at them. She still has one inside her nose that will dissolve.

Yesterday, the girls and I went out by ourselves. Here the bedding is duvets and you buy the filler to go in (like a down filler). They wanted Disney Princess duvets so that is what I got them. Today we are going to look for dining room chairs and a t.v.

The girls are adjusting very well. They haven't asked even once to go back home. They ask lots of questions about what they see- like when they see little kids come up to the car window asking for change. They ask where the mamma is and why they don't have food or shoes or why they are wearing raggedy clothes.

The car we drive doesn't have a radio and certainly no DVD players so they have to keep themselves occupied in the car as we drive around. They sing alot. They have gotten a lot better at playing with each other while we are here.

On Tuesday we went to a HUGE mall. It is nothing like we have around Arkansas. It is 5 stories and goes on and on. The girls were amazed! It is called the Pavillion. It's about 15 minutes away. then there is an even bigger one called Gateway. It is the largest mall in the Southern Hemisphere. You could spend days in there.

We should be able to start moving in the house tomorrow.

Sofia and Sienna- Tala Game Reserve December 27

Sienna and Sofia standing in the middle of the South Africa bushveld. What an amazing adventure!

Safari #2- much better this time around

Sofia and Sienna admiring the hippos- There are about 20 hippos all piled up in the water just beyond the girls.

Today the girls and I went to Tala Game Reserve. It is about 30 minutes from Hillcrest. First, I went and bought a dining table and a couple of chairs for the living room from someone who had put them in the classifieds. Then we headed to the game park. We got there around noon and stayed until a little after 5 pm. Tala is not as big as some of the other game parks. It is a private reserve. It has hippo, rhino, giraffe, zebra, ostrich, wildebeest, monkey and all the deer families (impala, gazelle, kudu). I drove the tiny little Ford car and was pretty lucky we didn’t get stuck in some of the ruts in the road.

We saw lots of animals. We didn’t get to see any giraffe. I have been to that reserve many times usually always see giraffe. All of the animals we did see had little babies. We saw baby zebra, hippo, wildebeest, monkeys, etc. The girls enjoyed seeing the animals up close grazing. They really liked the ostrich. They got out of the car several times and posed for pictures. It is pretty cheap to go into the park- we paid about 12 USD for all 3 of us.

I am very proud of myself for driving there own my own and finding the way back. I got turned around on the way back a couple of times but made it okay. It was an overcast day and a little chilly in the game park.

Sienna is still looking for a tree frog. Good luck with that one! And she gets mad because we don’t ever see one. She has gotten to where she will just fall down on the ground and lay there. She says she can’t walk. She does it everywhere and in front of people. It is embarrassing.

Sofia’s face is MUCH better today. The bruising is very faint. I have to take her today or tomorrow to get the stitches out. I am not looking forward to that.

We got back to the B&B, I cooked them some pasta on a little camping stove outside, gave them a warm bath, watched E.T. and got them in bed around 8:45.