I'm Allergic to Africa

Time just seems to be going quicker and quicker these days!  The past 6 weeks were a little rough as sickness swept through the house again.  The day of my last post, Rusty came down with severe food poisoning and was down for about 4 days.  He also got rear-ended on his way home from work the same day and what was supposed to take 10 days to fix took over a month, and 2 days after we get it back, it's back in the shop with a grinding brake.  It's a good thing I know how to drive a manual transmission! Luckily Rusty was fully recovered for our holiday to Durban.  We spent the first four days of July in Pennington with another KS family.  Since it is winter here, it was chilly and windy, but the kids still had a blast on the beach and we really enjoyed the trip.  The sand was beautiful and the water was clean, you could even spot whales out on the horizon.  The drive was easy and not too long, taking only 7 hours with a couple of stops.  The kids are great travelers, I'm ready to go back!

I have been coming down with a sinus infection every 3 months since we've been here which is not something I generally struggle with at home.  My last episode started about 2 weeks ago that began with a full-blown upper-respiratory flu which is lingering in my sinuses.  I have come to the conclusion that I am possibly allergic to my thatch-roof house.  Not only is it made of grass, but it has dried out and is very dusty since we haven't had a drop of rain for over 2 months.  Also, winter isn't really 'winter'.  Plants and trees and flowers are constantly blooming, and with so many different species I haven't been exposed to, it's tough to say what  exactly is causing all my troubles.  The ENT wants to do surgery to open up my airways, but I am not really keen to have something like that done here.  I think I will try other options for the next 10 months until I can get back to the states and get a 2nd opinion!  

With all the sickness said and done, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous!  It can get a bit chilly at night still, but with the sun out during the day, it warms up pretty quickly and we've been enjoying temperatures staying steady between 65F - 75F.  We're a month away from summer which promptly starts on September 1st.  

My baby girl will attend her last day of preschool on Friday.  The following Wednesday she will attend her first day of kindergarten.  Hopefully I will not be a blubbering mess!  The school year here is January-December, but Miranda will be going to the American International School of Johannesburg which stays on a typical American school schedule.  She is very excited and ready to go!  I'm not.  The week after she starts school, Jackson will begin preschool.  I have found a nice place that I can send him to two days/week in the morning.  Poor little guy really needs some social interaction and this seems to be the only way he's going to be able to get it.  

With the clock ticking we are busy deciding where else we would like to travel to and figuring out who else is going to visit.  Since the ever elusive leopard has decided to keep his presence from us thus far, we definitely have a few more future game drive safaris on the agenda as we will not leave this country until we see it!   

350

My parents have come and gone, the 17 days they were here went by too fast.  The day after they arrived we made them deal with their jet lag at The Phantom of the Opera.  We did a lot of damage at the local markets and stores stocking up on souvenirs for ourselves and people back home.  There's one store called 'Cambanos' that is probably the best and most affordable place to buy locally made products, and they now know who I am before I get out of the car.  They also have started offering me tea and lattes when I come into the store to enjoy while I shop.  They're really good at encouraging me to come back!  The air cleared up enough one night so were all able to view the Southern Cross in the sky.  Winter arrived a couple of weeks ago and there have been some very cold days and nights.  It's weird calling it 'winter break' instead of summer.  We took Miranda for her kindergarten evaluation at the American International School of Johannesburg where she will go to school in about 7 weeks.  After convincing the nurse (sister) here that she needs shots NOW, not when she's 6 like they do here, we're almost ready.  Still waiting for the student visa to arrive.  So much paperwork!


Rusty and I took a short trip to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and the Chobe river in Botswana.  Zimbabwe only accepts US dollars and sometimes South African Rand, depending where you are.  Everything is very expensive!  We booked all our excursions in advance and kept ourselves busy.  Our hotel, the Kingdom, was a really cool 'African' resort, the architecture based on the Great Zimbabwe Monument in Masvingo.  The first day (after waiting in line at customs for almost 2 hours) we went on a sunset cruise down the Zambezi River.  The next day we took a helicopter ride over the falls and then walked the path by the falls, getting very wet and stopping half way because the spray was so high that the falls disappeared.  It's 'high water' right now so what we did see was spectacular.  That night we went to a 'Boma' dinner which literally means 'the eating place.'  There were all sorts of local traditional foods and dancers doing their thing.  On the drive home there was an elephant in the road.  You wouldn't see something like that in South Africa.  We cut the night short since we had to get up early the next day to drive an hour to Botswana.  We first went on a water safari down the Chobe River and saw a lot of crocodiles, hippos, elephants, impala, and wart hogs.  After lunch was the game drive where we saw a lot more elephants that were a little too close for comfort.  Our last day in Zimbabwe we went to a local market.  The people outside the hotel are very aggressive when trying to sell you something.  They will follow you the whole time you're walking from one place to the next (we visited the historic Victoria Falls Hotel down the road) trying to bargain with you.  At one point we got a little nervous as we were surrounded by 5 people trying to sell us Zimbabwe dollars which are worth as much as Monopoly money.  We had a hotel staff member escort us to the markets since we were a little nervous about venturing out on our own, and I think I did pretty well with my bargaining skills.  I managed to talk a guy down from $25 for one little guinea fowl figurine to $5 for two, and one tried to sell me a necklace for $50 that I got for $10.  It really is a sad culture and the people do not have the goods that they need.  Several men tried to get Rusty to trade their hand made items for his shirt, jeans, and shoes.  One guy wanted my socks, my jacket, and my hand towel I was using to protect my camera.  I highly recommend reading "The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe" by Douglas Rogers to understand why their country is the way that it is now.   


If everything goes according to plan, we should be arriving back home in 350 days (yes, I'm counting down).  There are a lot of people who work in the office with Rusty who will be leaving in December, so we should know more at that time.  I better hurry up and plan the rest of my trips!  Next up is Durban.

One Year

Tomorrow will be one year that we have been away from Kansas.  It has been a fast year experiencing so many new things.  Jackson has lived in Africa longer than he has in Kansas, and we've lived in this house longer than ours back in Lenexa.  Miranda is forgetting about all the things she has back home, so it will be like Christmas when we return.  

Miranda had the entire month of April off and has now returned to preschool where she will have 3 months until she starts kindergarten.  The last day of the 2nd term of preschool is actually the first day of Kindergarten, so she'll have to say goodbye a few days early.  Jackson is almost 20 months and hit a milestone at 18 months where he figured out how to jump off the floor with both feet.  Now he does this constantly.  More sickness has swept through the family with ear infections, sinus infection, stomach flu, headaches, etc.  I don't think our bodies will ever fully adjust to the climate here before we head back home.  It's starting to get cold, down into the 40s at night.  And without any central air or furnaces, it can get quite chilly in the house.  The rains have stopped and with the field burning, the air has gotten pretty hazy.  I would think burning during the dry season would be a bad thing, but that's just my opinion.  

The dog (Jozi) is becoming very spoiled.  She's getting bigger and we're hoping her baby teeth start falling out soon because they are tearing holes in our clothes when she bites us.  We're working on that.  She loves to dig holes and find any dead animal that has deceased in our garden over the years.  The yard is completely surrounded by vast vegetation so there are a lot of places for her to explore and destroy.  She got her first haircut this week, and it was only $25 including tip.  They come to your house in their van and park it in your driveway, hook up to the outdoor hose running it through their own water heater, plug into an outlet, and take care of everything right there in the back of the truck.  They have converted it into a dog washing/grooming station.  Genius!  

We have had a couple of dinners with our wonderful local neighbors.  We invited them over for a traditional American dinner full of stuff imported from the states.  The next weekend we were over at their house for an Afrikaans dinner.  Some foods are similar, just cooked a little differently or with other ingredients added to change the flavor a bit.  Apparently it's normal to put ice in your wine (but not in your soda).  I am really going to miss this family when we move home. 

I  found a self-serve frozen yogurt place and tried it out a few weeks ago.  The customers coming in really didn't know what to do, but I felt like a pro having gone to several back home.  But it just wasn't the same.  It's almost like it was missing a lot of the fat and sugar, so it tasted bland.  And the flavors are different.  Mint is 'mint', like spearmint gum.  And there was a 'condensed milk' flavor.  I'll try it next time.  Woolworths (my favorite grocery store) has started carrying more items that I didn't know I missed until I couldn't have them.  The applesauce and saltines have been very helpful to me this week.  Maybe they'll get graham crackers next!  Wishful thinking, I'm sure.  

Rusty's sister had her baby a week ago and we finally got to see him on Skype last night.  It will be fun when we get home and all these little babies will be running around!  The homesickness is starting to really set in, especially with several families here moving home and others going back for a summer visit.  I really wish I could come back to the 'real world' for just a couple of weeks, but looking at the airline prices and thinking about 24 hours of travel with 2 kids by myself makes me change my mind very quickly.  My parents will be flying here a week from today, so hopefully that will ease it a little bit.  The countdown has begun, so if you're thinking you want to visit, you better book your flight soon!        

"In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lion"

I was able to take a 4-week photography course from a local professional photographer at his home.  I am still trying to learn how to use all the bells and whistles of my Nikon D-3100.  So far the 'auto' setting seems to be working the best for me.

It's been a busy month, both here and back home.  My newest niece was born on March 4th with a full head of hair.  Her name is Jessica Marie, and I hate that I won't be able to see her in person until after she's walking.

Mid-March we took a 4-day/3-night trip down to Cape Town.  I cannot wait to go back as there were so many things to do.  Our favorite activities were the beach and hiking/sightseeing.  Miranda was running in the waves and got caught by surprise and went swimming fully clothed.  The water is very cold, which made Jackson cry, so he spent his time playing in the sand.  We hiked to the top of Cape Point and drove to the Cape of Good Hope which is the most south-western point of Africa.  There was a bus tour that took you around the whole city and you could stop and look around as you pleased.  We took it to Table Mountain and road the cable car to the top to enjoy a picnic lunch with the most beautiful view I've ever seen.  The V&A Waterfront was full of restaurants, shops, and activities.  It was raining the day we arrived so we spent some time at the Aquarium, but was beautiful the remainder of the trip.

Miranda turned 5 on March 27 and we celebrated the Saturday before at 'Yeesh!' which is an indoor playground.  We had about 18 of her friends and preschool classmates attend, and they all enjoyed her Smurf-themed cake.  The next weekend we picked up the newest member of our family, Jozi.  She is a black standard poodle born Feb. 2.  We met the owners and the mom & dad who are very friendly and energetic poodles.  They had 5 black puppies, and by the time we got there, 2 of the 3 girls had already been taken.  The family was only asking for R1000 which is about $130.  They hadn't planned on their dogs having puppies and wanted to sell them quickly.  The money we saved was quickly spent on a crate that is airline-approved since she will be coming home with us next year.  It seems that some things here are about 3x what they are at PetsMart.  Jozi is sleeping well in her crate at night and is already learning how to ask to go outside.  She is also becoming the spoiled princess that all poodles are, especially since a certain somebody (who originally said 'no dogs on the couch!) keeps putting her up on the couch when watching tv.

There are things I've seen here that I can't 'un-see'.  The poverty rate is still very high and we get to see a lot of it when we travel or just going to the store.  The government has done a lot, building homes and schools, but there's too big of a need to provide for everyone.  So right behind, next to, and in-between the little government houses are shacks and makeshift townships.  When you drive past them, it's hard to believe people actually live there.  One particularly poor area has a school in which the children regularly come without a lunch because they don't have anything at home to bring.  A wonderful teacher in that school has started a program where volunteers donate a bag of apples and peanut-butter sandwiches for as many classes as possible on Mondays so the kids can start their week out healthy.  I learned I can make 16 sandwiches out of a whole loaf of bread in 5 minutes.

Miranda finally learned how to swim, just in time for winter.  The weather has been beautiful and Miranda was able to get in a couple more swims the first part of the month.  We had quite a couple of storms the last few days of the month, and there's now a chill in the air.  Fall is definitely around the corner.  

Africa is Educational

I've been slacking on my blog, so here's some things I've learned this past month:

-I can buy one of the most expensive bottles of wine in a fancy Sandton City restaurant for $22.
-'The Phantom of the Opera' is just as good here as it is in New York.
-I can bargain my way down from R450 to R325 pretty well (apx.$56 to $40).
-P90x is not a fun workout (week 4, day 3).
-Only my fellow shoppers know where to find hummus in the store, not the workers.
-I need to just accept that we will catch almost all the African viruses while we're here.
-Mango is really good.
-I can watch all the Academy award shows live if I want to be awake at 3am.
-I still cannot speak with 'clicks' or 'pops' or understand the 'locals'.
-You can buy just about anything at the China Mall, including a real sword.
-Acupuncture hurts.
-Taking a photography class was a brilliant idea.
-I make a great from-scratch chicken pot pie.
-I should make sure I check my shoes for frogs before I put them on.
-Fork lifts at top speed are a great way to travel through Makro, or so I've witnessed.
-If a lizard dismembers itself from it's tail, the tail still wiggles around for quite awhile.
-When someone says 'hi, how are you?', the correct and only accepted response is 'fine, thanks, and you?' because they will answer 'fine, thanks', even if you don't use this response.

Sneaky Monkeys

We rang in the New Year with a last-minute party which included about 20 of our friends here in SA.  We decided to let Miranda stay up as long as she wanted for the first time ever.  She made it past 1am when everyone decided it was time to go home.  Needless to say the next day was a bit of a challenge.

We've managed to stay pretty healthy except for a few short-lived colds and a stubborn sinus infection.  The weather is beautiful and rarely reaches above 85F.  The clouds tend to roll in mid-afternoon with an evening rain shower.

I had a lot of troubles shopping the first week of January as everyone was still on holiday.  The grocery stores and malls were all open, but specialty shops and some restaurants shut down for a few weeks since so many people head to Durban and Cape Town.

Miranda headed back to school mid-January and is enjoying her new teacher.  She has about 16 kids in her class with mostly girls, including her best friends from her class last year.  She is continuing her swimming lessons but has yet to make it through one without crying.  She has also begun ballet lessons at her preschool on Thursdays and she really likes walking on her tippy-toes.

Rusty's parents arrived about 12 days ago and we've been busy showing them all the sights.  We spent 3 days this week at the Madikwe Game Reserve which is located just south of the Botswana border, about a 5-hour drive from Jourg.  We stayed at the Tau lodge which was a beautiful fully-catered all-inclusive resort with individual cabins and wonderful scenery.  We went on 4 game rides which took place at 5am and 5pm for three hours each.  The goal is to spot the "Big 5" which includes the elephant, lion, cape buffalo, rhino, and leopard.  We were able to see herds of all of these except the leopard who apparently didn't want to be seen.  The park is estimated to be about 75,000 hectare (apx. 290 square miles) and contains about 35-40 leopards of which only 14 have been photographed and identified, so I didn't have my hopes up too high of spotting one.  The grounds also contained a lot of sneaky monkeys.  We were told to keep our doors and windows closed whenever we left our cabin, but a certain Papa wasn't listening and had his complimentary ginger cookies stolen in a matter of seconds.  I have gone through about 2,500 pictures taken between 3 cameras and have it narrowed down to about 160.  I will post them soon when I get it down to under 50.

"I Had Christmas Down in Africa!"

I thought I should get in a December post before the New Year, which is about 12 hours from now.  Summer is very nice here, but unfortunately our pool does not have a heater and only seems to get up to 76F during the day.  Miranda was the only brave one to get in.  But luckily everyone in our neighborhood has a pool in their garden so it is easy to find someone with a heater.

Miranda has been off of school since December 5th and will go back for the new year starting January 9th.  It is weird seeing Christmas decorations and back-to-school supplies in the store at the same time.  She's been enjoying her time off and will be in a new class when they resume.  Jackson is getting more and more teeth and is now up to 10 with 2 more getting ready to pop through.  I'm almost 100% positive he's slightly allergic to peanut butter, and after scratching his legs raw, we found a laundry detergent he's not allergic to.

We now have a Comedy Central channel, but all it shows are old sitcoms like "3rd Rock From the Sun", "My Wife and Kids", "8 Simple Rules", and "Northern Exposure".  It's very disappointing.  You can catch a South Park episode once in awhile, but I think SA's interpretation of comedy is a little different than ours.

Since we did not do Christmas gifts for family back home this year, we adopted our gardener, maid, and her family.  We filled a backpack with goodies and toiletries for our gardener as well as purchasing a new pair of sneakers.  Since he speaks very limited English, it was hard to tell if he liked it or not.  For our maid, we filled 2 pink backpacks with dolls, coloring books, and candy for her 2 granddaughters, a Cars themed one for her son, and duffel bags with spa-like goodies for her and her daughter along with a set of dishes.  She went home for 3 weeks as do most of the helpers in the neighborhood.  Apparently our neighbors have been gone as well and they left their dogs in the backyard.  One of them sleeps all day and barks all night.  After 2 weeks of non-stop barking we finally got security to come and tell the maid to put the dogs in the house.  I  can't believe how inconsiderate and negligent some people in this world can be.

Miranda and Jackson sat on Santa's lap at the Sandton City mall and you could buy a 5x7 picture for $4.  There were no tears and the photo turned out great!  We then went to the Smurf village and watched a live show.  There were some tears when Gargamel was on stage.  Lunch was spectacular since the food court had a Schlotzsky's and Cinnabon.

Christmas was very nice here with our South African family.  We spent the eve at church with about 5 other families and then headed over to another's house for cookie decorating and sparklers.  We were able to Skype with both sets of grandparents Christmas morning as it was 7am here and 11pm there.  Miranda has been enjoying playing with all her new Squinkies, Jackson's giant ball pit, and my new iPad2.  We had dinner that evening with more friends and excellent food.  We never did get that Christmas 'feeling' this year since we've never spent it in such a warm environment.  But we put up a tree and other festive decorations, watched Christmas movies, and listened to holiday music.  Have you ever noticed that most of the songs sing about it being cold and snowy?  Kind of weird hearing that over the speaker at World of Golf while you're practicing your swings.

Shopping the day after Christmas was a very pleasant event.  They do not have any special sales so the stores were not crowded.  A lot of businesses close down from Christmas until after New Years here because most people go on vacation.  It makes it hard to run errands or find a restaurant to go to on your anniversary.  But we found a nice Italian place and were able to get great service since we were two of only about 10 people in the whole restaurant.

Our landlords called to wish us "happy holidays" while they were on their way to their beach house just south of Durban.  How many houses do these people have?  They spend weekends at their Kudu game ranch a few hours from here.  But they won the award for 'nicest landlords ever' when they said "you can use our cabin on the beach whenever you want."  Say what?