Our little Sarafina Rest in Peace

Sarafina- March 15, 2010 to August 8, 2010
Sofia's beloved kitty

Today, when we got home we couldn't find Sarafina, Sofia's cat. They have gotten in the habit of staying outside most of the day. Today, with Mavis at the house, they probably came and went in and out all day long. But when we came home and only saw Bella, I knew something had happened and it probably wasn't good. All the houses nearby have very big dogs. And just the other day I had to save Bella from falling into one of the neighbors yards because she was being a little too curious on the fence and got stuck.

We walked around the yard and called her and finally gave up about 5:30 pm. I got the girls in the bath and I get the much dreaded call from the neighbor. I knew even before I answered what it was about. We aren't sure what happened exactly but they think she got into the neighbor's yard two houses down. The dogs got a hold of her and she ended up in Michelle and Conrad's yard trying to escape but she died there. Poor baby. I just hope she did not suffer.

Michelle told me not to worry that they would bury her and to just figure out how to tell the girls. Sofia is very, very attached to her cat so I knew it was going to be hard. But I never expected it to be as heart wrenching as it was. She wailed and cried for hours.

Sofia was worried this morning, more than usual, about Sarafina. She kept trying to close her in her room because she was worried about her getting out. Normally, she isn't so worried and she lets her run in and out. But this morning, about 3 or 4 times I found her locking the cat in the room. It is almost as if she knew something could happen.

At first, I didn't know what to tell her. I told her Sarafina had left and wouldn't come back. As she absorbed that (huge tears and sobs), I told her that she had gotten into the neighbors yard and gotten into a fight with dogs. And finally, later, I gently told her that she was in kitty heaven.

I told her Sarafina would always be in her heart. She looked me straight in the eye through her little tears and said "But mamma, my heart is broken. Sarafina broke my heart". She kept saying, over and over, "I want Sarafina, I need Sarafina". Oh boy, that was the hardest thing to do. She kept saying she was trying to keep her in the house and feeling like it was her fault.

And I am sure it is not over by far. I held her and held her. And when I was busy with supper, Sienna held her and tried to console her.

She was much more attached to her cat than Sienna is with hers. Bella kept going to the door tonight waiting and looking under it.

Losing pets is so hard. And especially when it is a child's pet.

This post is dedicated to our little Sarafina and, more importantly, to Sofia. She has just had the first break in her heart. One of many, I am sure, to come.

Happy Diwali!

Today is Diwali- the most important festival in the Hindu religion. The Indian population here in Durban is very, very large so Diwali is a very big thing here. As a result, there have been fireworks booming for the past few hours. Diwali is like Christmas in the Christian religion. It is a five day festival of lights. Insteading of exchanging gifts, they exchange parcels of food- like sweet meats. The cats don't like the fireworks and have been sneaking around the house.

Sofia and Sienna have reached Silver Medallion status with Delta. They are little world travelers with priority status now!!!!

Luckily, the flying ants disappeared as quickly as they came and there haven't been any more swarms! We did have a very large group of lime green striped grasshoppers come through. There were probably 200 of them. They stayed together and moved in unison eating my patch of ivy. After a day, I had to spray them as they were devouring everything. I took pictures of them. They were quite amusing.

They girls had a play date today. We had one of their friends come to the house and spend the afternoon. Her name is Izabella. Her mom, Jonita, is a friend of mine. The girls go to school together.

I was on national tv this morning. Last Thursday, the day after I arrived back in SA, I had a tv interview. A film crew came to Limpopo to get footage of our work and do an interview with me and my provincial manager. This morning, the segment, about 5 minutes long was featured across the country! It was pretty neat! I will have to get a copy of the feature to share! Sienna was baffled as to why I was on tv talking!

Thousands of Flying Ants Descend

Last night, we had thousands and thousands of flying ants descend around the house. They are the size of a dragon fly. They are the queen ants who have emerged from the ground to mate. They pick a perfect day that is hot and muggy (which perfectly describes yesterday) and come out to mate. They swarm to protect themselves and after mating they lose their wings. The mating occurs mid air as a much smaller, less conspicious male latches on. That is the annoying part. So, not only did I have swarms of ants exactly at 7:30 pm around the house but now this morning, there was a carpet of wings covering every concrete and asphalt surface outside the house. And even worse, the pool had hundreds of them floating around. The queens mate and then try to go find a place for their colony. The males die right after mating. We had quite a few of them, wingless, in the house. They are fat and move very slow. They girls were not so happy about this but the cats were delighted. I was not so happy because I don't want any colonies started in the house. There are enough ants, large and small, ambling around in the house as it is.

They say the queens don't bite. And they are a delicacy to eat around here with the locals. The locals snatch them up and eat them alive. I am told they taste like butter. I think we will pass on trying them for now. They also like them deep fried.

Luckily, this mating ritual doesn't happen every day. It is just a few days and then it is finished.

Always an adventure in South Africa!!!!

Settling back in

After a 5 week stay back home in the US, we are now back at our South African house. We departed the US on Tuesday of last week, arrived in SA on Wednesday. Instead of coming directly to Durban, we stopped over in Groblersdal (which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Johannesburg). I had board meetings and project visits from Thursday until Sunday. The girls fit right in with staff and board and then at the project visit. We got on a plan on Sunday and came back to Durban. Sunday was Halloween. Since we were on planes and in cars most of the day, we didn't have much time to celebrate. And South Africans really don't celebrate. However, we did have one couple with two children come to trick or treat. It is very, very rare so we were excited. The girls then wanted to know why they didn't go...

Yesterday, we were back into the swing of things- school and office. Very busy.

 

Angels....

 

Love this picture of Sofia and Nonno Gino. This was taken yesterday. He was sewing up Sienna's skirt. It had ripped at the party. And he was explaining to her and showing her how to sew. It was a very sweet moment captured.

Baby Jr's Bday Party- South Africa

This is some great footage from Sunday at the birthday party. It really captures the essence of what had Nonno Gino mesmerized. You can see Sienna and Sofia in the middle of all the kids playing. They have on pink shirts and blue bows. I love how people just occasionally bust out a few dance moves!