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.
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