Rusty has decided to buy a car so I'm not stuck at home when he has the company car. He's hoping to find a tiny one for under $10k that we will be able to sell before we leave. If Miranda's preschool wasn't a 30 minute hike, it wouldn't be a big deal. But I've been told the rainy season will start in September. I have met a couple of my neighbors. The family right next door moved into the estate a few months ago and have a son who is 3, and a daughter who is a week younger than Jackson. They have lived here their whole life, so they will be a great resource of which local activities to do. They also have two giant dogs that I want to play with. The other neighbor lives just down the street and has two boys, one looks to be around one, the other is in Miranda's preschool class. She has helped me get her to school on the days I'm without a vehicle. They also have a dog, a tiny little dachshund puppy, that I can't wait to cuddle. We saw a 9-month-old black standard poodle at the park yesterday. She wasn't as friendly as Crissy. I miss my dogs.
We have to go to the store a lot because you can only buy milk in 2 liter size which is about 1/2 gallon, and it expires quickly so you can't stock up. Although there is something called 'long life' milk that you can put in the back of your pantry and it will be fresh for about 6 months or so. Once opened, you have to refrigerate it and use within a few days. But it's nice to have in case you run out and can't make it to the store. The loaves of bread are really small, about half the size of a loaf of Iron Kids. They also get moldy quickly but I manage to go through 2 loaves before they go bad. They're also really crumbly, I keep trying different kinds but it doesn't seem to matter. I have a couple loaves in the freezer just in case. That is one thing that I really don't like here: you can't go shopping in the evening. You cannot run errands after work because all the stores are closed. The weekends are bad too because the stores close super early. Car dealerships are the worst because they close around 1pm on Saturdays, and they aren't open on Sundays. I don't know when people buy stuff here. I have yet to do my grocery shopping online, but it will be happening very soon.
Our trash pickup company is called "Piki Tup". Get it? They're very literal here when naming stores/companies. I found a new chiropractor here in the estate that I can actually walk to if I need to. Her sessions cost the same as my chiropractor at home, but instead of just coming in for an adjustment and being worked on for about 5 minutes, she spends an entire hour on me. It's amazing. I'm finding that you can pretty much hire people to do anything for you. There are dog-washing compaines who will come to your house with a truck and will wash/groom your dogs right there in your driveway.
I have been to my gym a couple of times now, but I'm not impressed - yet. The registration process has been quite a headache, but I think I finally have all the paperwork complete. I took what was supposed to be a hip-hop aerobics type class, but it was very elementary compared to Jazzercise. As I was doing my initial orientation today, I was told I have a very nice accent. Not used to being the one with the acccent, I notice I turn heads when I'm out in public, just like I would turn around to see who was speaking in a foreign accent if I were at home. I'm anxious to use the pool, I bought everything I need this weekend, including a nice Speedo costume. Yes, a swimsuit is called a costume. So what do they call a Halloween-type costume? A costume.
The gas strike is still going on, but we have managed to fill up the car. Right now the fuel price is R9.76/litre. After converting that to gallons and figuring out rand to dollar, that comes to about $5.36/gallon. The price of fuel is the same at every petrol station, you can't run around town looking for somewhere that has it 3 cents cheaper. The price is set by the government. The driving age here is 17, but that's only for a permit, you can't get a full license until 18. When you first get a license, you have to drive with a big red 'L' on the back window of your car for a year.
I joined a knitting group called "Hip to be Square". We are part of the 'Knit-a-Square' charity that knits/crochets squares for South African orphans and child AIDS victims. The squares are sent down the road to another group who sews them together to make blankets. The more skilled knitters will make hats or edging on fleece blankets. I have made a nice start on my first square and hope to have it completed before our August meeting.
Miranda still likes preschool, but gets sad when the bigger kids won't let her play with them in the sandbox. There is one group of kids that are older than her, but they will 'graduate' in November and then Miranda will be in the oldest class. But she likes her teacher and the other kids in her class. She got to go to a princess-themed birthday party on Saturday with other kids of Rusty's co-workers. She dressed as Snow White, and the 'real' Snow White was there, as well as Cinderella. She has been talking about it constantly and planning her own birthday party that won't happen until March. Jackson started taking his first few steps last week, but he still prefers to crawl because it is much faster. He is still suffering from a cold, and today he has a fever. He was checked out at the doctor on Saturday, and they think he might be teething again. He was supposed to get his measles vaccine, but now we're going to wait until he's healthy.
The weather has been very nice lately, I've only had to wear 1-2 layers of long sleeved shirts instead of 3, and I actually wore short sleeves one day last week. Today it is very windy and cloudy, it might actualy rain. It has only rained once since we've been here. There is a lof of field burning and it creates a yucky yellow haze that I think may be causing my asthma to act up. The rain would sure be helpful right about now!
I've been baking a lot of different breads lately because Jackson likes them so much, and the oven warms up my kitchen. So far I've done banana, apple, butternut, lemon, and banana/orange. I also baked some cookies using the chocolate chips I found at a baking store and the Nestle recipe. They turned out perfect. And since I can't find brown sugar, I used treacle sugar, and it worked out just fine! The No-Bake cookies were good too. My next goal is to find a good vanilla cake recipe.
Monday 25 July 2011
Monday 18 July 2011
No Country Music
We have now been here for 2 months, and one month in this house. The weather has been a little warmer so we've been trying to use the grill outside more. With the gas strike, we're unable to use the nice gas grill, so we've been using charcoal. We have 3 grills on our patio: the gas one, a traditional round Weber (pronounced wee-ber), and the big one built into the patio with a chimney. We haven't used that one yet. There's also a petrol strike that started on Monday, meaning the trucks that bring fuel to the gas stations are on strike so a lot of places are running out. We've been carpooling as much as possible and hoping it's over soon.
I went to Super Spar again last week and was able to score Crisco sticks, so I am saving them to grease up my pans when I bake cakes. I also went to a baking store and they actually rent licensed character cake pans. What a great idea! Instead of paying $20 for a pan I'll probably only use once, I can rent it for $3.
Miranda started preschool last week and really likes it. She attends five days a week for 4 hours each day. I drop her off around 8:30am, but I can bring her there as early as 7:15am, and if I pay extra, I can leave her there through lunch and even nap time, but I get her at 12:30pm so we can eat at home. She gets to bring her own snack, and last week the topic in her classroom was "space." She will get the entire month of August off for 'winter term break.' Both kids have colds right now, and I think I'm catching it.
We attended a Catholic church on Saturday evening and I was surprised at how different it was. The structure of the mass was the same, but all of the prayers and responses were worded just a little different so I had troubles participating. The only prayer that was the same was The Lord's Prayer. The hymnal didn't have any notes, and I didn't recognize any of the songs, so singing was difficult as well. The parish was having a hoedown after mass and their reception hall was decked out in checkered tablecloths, haybales, and youths in coyboy hats, boots, flannel shirts and jeans. We were having friends over for dinner, otherwise I would have had to show them a thing or two on the dance floor. The timing of that was ironic because I had just noticed a couple of days before that country music does not exist here. I haven't heard a single song in two months. I'm not a big fan, but you do hear a song now and then on the radio back home on the non-country stations, so I was really craving it. Good thing we moved our music library onto our laptop before we moved.
Harry Potter is not as popular here as it is back home. The movie actually came out on Wednesday morning, but with two kids and work, we purchased our tickets for Sunday. There was a nice crowd, but plenty of open seats. Most of the previews were for American films, but there was one for a comedy that was clearly foreign. The audience was roaring with laughter at the smallest joke, like the waitress accidentally pouring tea in a man's lap. That movie would last probably a day in the states.
I joined a local gym yesterday. It's really big and new, has a lot of equipment and a pool, and provides a lot of different classes that are all included in the price like yoga, pilates, spinning, step, and aerobics. My membership is from 8-4 (which is the only time I have to go anyways) and unfortunately the Zumba classes are in the evenings. The daycare is really nice and has different areas for different ages. They actually have a kid's spinning class with little stationary bikes. It also includes a little gym with basketball hoops and a rock climbing wall, computers, a tv playing movies, and Wii Fit. I hope I can motivate myself to go!
I went to Super Spar again last week and was able to score Crisco sticks, so I am saving them to grease up my pans when I bake cakes. I also went to a baking store and they actually rent licensed character cake pans. What a great idea! Instead of paying $20 for a pan I'll probably only use once, I can rent it for $3.
Miranda started preschool last week and really likes it. She attends five days a week for 4 hours each day. I drop her off around 8:30am, but I can bring her there as early as 7:15am, and if I pay extra, I can leave her there through lunch and even nap time, but I get her at 12:30pm so we can eat at home. She gets to bring her own snack, and last week the topic in her classroom was "space." She will get the entire month of August off for 'winter term break.' Both kids have colds right now, and I think I'm catching it.
We attended a Catholic church on Saturday evening and I was surprised at how different it was. The structure of the mass was the same, but all of the prayers and responses were worded just a little different so I had troubles participating. The only prayer that was the same was The Lord's Prayer. The hymnal didn't have any notes, and I didn't recognize any of the songs, so singing was difficult as well. The parish was having a hoedown after mass and their reception hall was decked out in checkered tablecloths, haybales, and youths in coyboy hats, boots, flannel shirts and jeans. We were having friends over for dinner, otherwise I would have had to show them a thing or two on the dance floor. The timing of that was ironic because I had just noticed a couple of days before that country music does not exist here. I haven't heard a single song in two months. I'm not a big fan, but you do hear a song now and then on the radio back home on the non-country stations, so I was really craving it. Good thing we moved our music library onto our laptop before we moved.
Harry Potter is not as popular here as it is back home. The movie actually came out on Wednesday morning, but with two kids and work, we purchased our tickets for Sunday. There was a nice crowd, but plenty of open seats. Most of the previews were for American films, but there was one for a comedy that was clearly foreign. The audience was roaring with laughter at the smallest joke, like the waitress accidentally pouring tea in a man's lap. That movie would last probably a day in the states.
I joined a local gym yesterday. It's really big and new, has a lot of equipment and a pool, and provides a lot of different classes that are all included in the price like yoga, pilates, spinning, step, and aerobics. My membership is from 8-4 (which is the only time I have to go anyways) and unfortunately the Zumba classes are in the evenings. The daycare is really nice and has different areas for different ages. They actually have a kid's spinning class with little stationary bikes. It also includes a little gym with basketball hoops and a rock climbing wall, computers, a tv playing movies, and Wii Fit. I hope I can motivate myself to go!
Monday 11 July 2011
Longest. Winter. Ever.
I hope everyone enjoyed Independence Day! You can't tell people here "It's the 4th of July!" because to them, that's just what it is, the fourth day of July. We celebrated a couple of days before with about 50 Americans from Rusty's work. Very red, white, and blue with imported KC BBQ and lots of potluck sides and desserts. We even had sparklers! I'm glad I purchased our matching Old Navy flag tees right before we moved.
I've joined a book club with some of the wives here, I'm finding I have a lot more time to read. I'm also going to joing a knitting group and it's involved in 'knit-a-square' to make blankets for children in need. I've never knitted before, but I'm anxious to learn. Miranda is at her first day of preschool. She will attend five days a week for 4 hours or so each day. I'm not sure how I'm going to get her to and from there on the days I don't have a car as it's about a 30 minute walk one way, all downhill. That means it's all uphill on the way home. And the rainy season will begin in a couple of months. She will have the entire month of August off for 'winter break'.
On Saturday we went to the Monte Casino because there is a bird sanctuary we wanted to check out. It was a lot bigger than we expected with a bird show included in the price, which came to about $6/person. Jackson fell asleep during the show and as people absolutely love babies here, I came back from taking Miranda to the 'toilets' to find a bright pink lipstick stain on the top of his head. We ate lunch in the casino food court at KFC which isn't as greasy as back home, but they do not sell the homestyle biscuits with the butter packets and honey. They have actual little loaves of bread that taste like Wonder-bread rolls. On the way out we stopped in the 'American' souvenir shop with a sign that read "Real Imported US Candy!". Inside it was full of cowboy boots and hats, cowboy-type shirts with fringe, lighters, etc. On a shelf was a jug of Louisburg Apple Cider. I don't know how much it cost or how long it had been there, I just thought it was interesting that this was the stereotype of all of the United States.
The owners of our house are incredibly nice people. The under-floor heaters in the master bedroom are broken, making the room very cold. So they called me and asked if I wanted them to buy us another oil-heater. I of course said yes and that I was going to pick up a heated blanket on Saturday, so they offered to purchase one for us. Within an hour, they both were delivered to my house. Rusty couldn't stand not knowing exactly what was wrong and if the heaters were on the same circuit, etc., so he tried to fix it. He ended up re-wiring it after he found out that they were on separate circuits, just used the same switch, and realizing that the bathroom heater was just fine. So now the floors in the bedroom are still ice-cold, but the bathroom is working again.
We visited a church yesterday with three other families. We thought it was Methodist but ended up being a non-denominational modern service. The band was very impressive and the church was brand-new. Miranda and Jackson each had classrooms to go to with age-appropriate activities. There are a lot of different types of churches here so our plan is to visit as many as we can to find the one that suits us best. I've heard there's a Catholic church that has a Zulu service on Sunday afternoon. Sounds interesting!
I have met so many nice people here and it's wonderful to have a great group of wives to help with the homesickness. We get together with other families every weekend and I'm trying to be as involved as I can. Miranda is finally getting some structured social interaction in preschool, so now I need to find an activity to do with Jackson. He turned 9 months last week and is a very fast crawler. After pulling himself up to a standing position, he will let go and can stand unassisted for about 10 seconds. I'm sure he'll be walking soon! He still likes to fall over and bump his head on furniture and walls, so he has not been bruise-free since we've been here. He's currently sporting another fat lip after cutting it on a drawer handle last night. He is officially done with mushy baby food, so he eats whatever I make for dinner. He really likes meatlof, chicken, and any kind of bread that I make. Still practicing using my oven, I need to start practicing my decorating so I'm ready for Jackson's first birthday in a few months.
I found Pop-Tarts and Mrs. Butterworth's Pancake Mix at Super-Spar yesterday! Still looking for syrup and Kraft Mac & Cheese, but it's hit-or-miss. I'm learning to accept the things I cannot have, knowing it will all be there when I get home.
Summer starts the first of September and I've heard it's a little more refreshing than summer in Kansas right now. I'm ready for the days to be longer and to not wear jeans and slippers and 3 layers of long-sleeved shirts and sweaters and scarves every day, in my house, sitting on the couch. 9 months of winter is too long! It was weird watching the women's World Cup live last night, being in the same time zone as Germany where they were playing, yet it was sunny and summer there, and winter and pitch-black here. I'm craving hot-chocolate. Yes, they have it here.
I've joined a book club with some of the wives here, I'm finding I have a lot more time to read. I'm also going to joing a knitting group and it's involved in 'knit-a-square' to make blankets for children in need. I've never knitted before, but I'm anxious to learn. Miranda is at her first day of preschool. She will attend five days a week for 4 hours or so each day. I'm not sure how I'm going to get her to and from there on the days I don't have a car as it's about a 30 minute walk one way, all downhill. That means it's all uphill on the way home. And the rainy season will begin in a couple of months. She will have the entire month of August off for 'winter break'.
On Saturday we went to the Monte Casino because there is a bird sanctuary we wanted to check out. It was a lot bigger than we expected with a bird show included in the price, which came to about $6/person. Jackson fell asleep during the show and as people absolutely love babies here, I came back from taking Miranda to the 'toilets' to find a bright pink lipstick stain on the top of his head. We ate lunch in the casino food court at KFC which isn't as greasy as back home, but they do not sell the homestyle biscuits with the butter packets and honey. They have actual little loaves of bread that taste like Wonder-bread rolls. On the way out we stopped in the 'American' souvenir shop with a sign that read "Real Imported US Candy!". Inside it was full of cowboy boots and hats, cowboy-type shirts with fringe, lighters, etc. On a shelf was a jug of Louisburg Apple Cider. I don't know how much it cost or how long it had been there, I just thought it was interesting that this was the stereotype of all of the United States.
The owners of our house are incredibly nice people. The under-floor heaters in the master bedroom are broken, making the room very cold. So they called me and asked if I wanted them to buy us another oil-heater. I of course said yes and that I was going to pick up a heated blanket on Saturday, so they offered to purchase one for us. Within an hour, they both were delivered to my house. Rusty couldn't stand not knowing exactly what was wrong and if the heaters were on the same circuit, etc., so he tried to fix it. He ended up re-wiring it after he found out that they were on separate circuits, just used the same switch, and realizing that the bathroom heater was just fine. So now the floors in the bedroom are still ice-cold, but the bathroom is working again.
We visited a church yesterday with three other families. We thought it was Methodist but ended up being a non-denominational modern service. The band was very impressive and the church was brand-new. Miranda and Jackson each had classrooms to go to with age-appropriate activities. There are a lot of different types of churches here so our plan is to visit as many as we can to find the one that suits us best. I've heard there's a Catholic church that has a Zulu service on Sunday afternoon. Sounds interesting!
I have met so many nice people here and it's wonderful to have a great group of wives to help with the homesickness. We get together with other families every weekend and I'm trying to be as involved as I can. Miranda is finally getting some structured social interaction in preschool, so now I need to find an activity to do with Jackson. He turned 9 months last week and is a very fast crawler. After pulling himself up to a standing position, he will let go and can stand unassisted for about 10 seconds. I'm sure he'll be walking soon! He still likes to fall over and bump his head on furniture and walls, so he has not been bruise-free since we've been here. He's currently sporting another fat lip after cutting it on a drawer handle last night. He is officially done with mushy baby food, so he eats whatever I make for dinner. He really likes meatlof, chicken, and any kind of bread that I make. Still practicing using my oven, I need to start practicing my decorating so I'm ready for Jackson's first birthday in a few months.
I found Pop-Tarts and Mrs. Butterworth's Pancake Mix at Super-Spar yesterday! Still looking for syrup and Kraft Mac & Cheese, but it's hit-or-miss. I'm learning to accept the things I cannot have, knowing it will all be there when I get home.
Summer starts the first of September and I've heard it's a little more refreshing than summer in Kansas right now. I'm ready for the days to be longer and to not wear jeans and slippers and 3 layers of long-sleeved shirts and sweaters and scarves every day, in my house, sitting on the couch. 9 months of winter is too long! It was weird watching the women's World Cup live last night, being in the same time zone as Germany where they were playing, yet it was sunny and summer there, and winter and pitch-black here. I'm craving hot-chocolate. Yes, they have it here.
Monday 4 July 2011
Having a Maid is Pretty Awesome
We've been in our house for 2 weeks now and are starting to figure things out. I still do not like my oven because I haven't quite figured out how to bake evenly. But my from-scratch chocolate cake turned out pretty well and my first attempt at scratch-lemon bars was ok, even though they were a little over-done. Today I made lemon bread, but for some reason everything is turning out crispy on the outside, but it might be ok. Since the lemons on our tree are taking a really long time to ripen, I had to steal a few from one of my friend's tree. I really miss sticks of butter and margarine with the measurements on the paper. I had no idea what a luxury that is.
I'm enjoying having a maid in my house on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She works at another house M-W-F but lives here so we see her from time to time. She takes care of all the cleaning, including laundry. But the washer is tiny and the dryer is slow so I wash my own clothes on the days she is not here, do a load of the kid's stuff on the weekend, and a couple loads of towels. She takes care of all the sheets and kid's laundry on the days she is here, and washes and irons all of Rusty's clothes. I clean the kitchen floor once on the weekend because it gets pretty gross, but other than that, Anna gets it done.
We went to a couple of playgrounds in the estate this weekend, and the equipment reminds me of stuff I used to play on when I was a kid. It is nothing like all the required safety plastic stuff that are in all the parks and schools at home. Here, it's definitely play-at-your-own risk (even though there aren't any signs to realease the estate from liability like you'd see in the US). But the way people see it here, if you get hurt, you were probably doing something you shouldn't have been doing anyways.
Miranda will be starting preschool next Monday, but will only go for a few weeks before she'll have the whole month of August off for winter-term break. They have year-round school here and the term runs January-December. It is located here in the estate but is about a 30-minute walk all down-hill, which means it's all up-hill on the way home. I have the car 3 days during the week, sometimes 4, so we'll either walk or carpool or take the day off on the days I'm without a vehicle.
Jackson decided last week that he does not like mashed-up baby food. Tried several different kinds you buy in the jar, even ones he usually loves, but apparenly he's a big boy now. Friday for dinner we went to Spur (yes, again) and he shared Miranda's grilled cheese and french fries (although here it's called "toasted cheese" and "chips").
We watched some of the women's World Cup this weekend and get to see it live on TV since we're in the same time zone as Germany. Another cold front moved in and it's cold in here again. When I say cold, I mean the high this week is 62 with a low of 39. But without central heating in the house, it can get chilly. Especially when our under-floor heaters in our bedroom keep tripping the circuit breaker so we had to turn them off. Hopefully we'll get that fixed soon! But I'll probably buy another sweater this week. I can't believe I didn't pack any of my sweatshirts! The air is so dry that I had to put lotion by every sink in the house. Miranda's hair is so frizzy and I can't seem to find a good hair gel for her, and my hair goes flat by 4pm. I guess I need to experiment with some local products.
I'm going to make mashed sweet potatoes to go with our pork chops tonight, but they're just potatoes that have a sweeter flavour to them. Haven't seen actual 'orange' sweet potatoes here. Most of the meats and eggs are organic. The labels say "grass-fed" or "free-range" but you don't have to pay extra like you do back home, that's just the way things are here.
Cheers!
I'm enjoying having a maid in my house on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She works at another house M-W-F but lives here so we see her from time to time. She takes care of all the cleaning, including laundry. But the washer is tiny and the dryer is slow so I wash my own clothes on the days she is not here, do a load of the kid's stuff on the weekend, and a couple loads of towels. She takes care of all the sheets and kid's laundry on the days she is here, and washes and irons all of Rusty's clothes. I clean the kitchen floor once on the weekend because it gets pretty gross, but other than that, Anna gets it done.
We went to a couple of playgrounds in the estate this weekend, and the equipment reminds me of stuff I used to play on when I was a kid. It is nothing like all the required safety plastic stuff that are in all the parks and schools at home. Here, it's definitely play-at-your-own risk (even though there aren't any signs to realease the estate from liability like you'd see in the US). But the way people see it here, if you get hurt, you were probably doing something you shouldn't have been doing anyways.
Miranda will be starting preschool next Monday, but will only go for a few weeks before she'll have the whole month of August off for winter-term break. They have year-round school here and the term runs January-December. It is located here in the estate but is about a 30-minute walk all down-hill, which means it's all up-hill on the way home. I have the car 3 days during the week, sometimes 4, so we'll either walk or carpool or take the day off on the days I'm without a vehicle.
Jackson decided last week that he does not like mashed-up baby food. Tried several different kinds you buy in the jar, even ones he usually loves, but apparenly he's a big boy now. Friday for dinner we went to Spur (yes, again) and he shared Miranda's grilled cheese and french fries (although here it's called "toasted cheese" and "chips").
We watched some of the women's World Cup this weekend and get to see it live on TV since we're in the same time zone as Germany. Another cold front moved in and it's cold in here again. When I say cold, I mean the high this week is 62 with a low of 39. But without central heating in the house, it can get chilly. Especially when our under-floor heaters in our bedroom keep tripping the circuit breaker so we had to turn them off. Hopefully we'll get that fixed soon! But I'll probably buy another sweater this week. I can't believe I didn't pack any of my sweatshirts! The air is so dry that I had to put lotion by every sink in the house. Miranda's hair is so frizzy and I can't seem to find a good hair gel for her, and my hair goes flat by 4pm. I guess I need to experiment with some local products.
I'm going to make mashed sweet potatoes to go with our pork chops tonight, but they're just potatoes that have a sweeter flavour to them. Haven't seen actual 'orange' sweet potatoes here. Most of the meats and eggs are organic. The labels say "grass-fed" or "free-range" but you don't have to pay extra like you do back home, that's just the way things are here.
Cheers!
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