Shongololo!

Look what we found on the driveway this morning!

A millipede!  Otherwise known as a shongololo.  Shongololo just sounds so much more fun than millipede.  Who will touch it first?  

 





Charlotte, of course!  

The boys poked it and then tried roaring at it, but Mr. Shongololo wasn't too impressed.  
 

A tooth, a fever, and a house.

Look who lost her first tooth today!

Wait, this is Charlotte we're talking about...

Henry's new skill for the day: photo bombing.  Yes, done on purpose.  Then I asked them to act like they loved each other for a picture.  Yup, that's about right.  

Yesterday Liam came home from school with a fever and so he stayed home with mommy today.  By the time the other kids came home from school his fever was gone, but he's a little tired.  As I was taking pictures of Charlotte I turned around and saw this.  So pitiful and sweet.

We kind of, sort of made progress toward getting a house today.  We made an offer on a house, but now there is the small matter of coming up with a 50% down payment (a requirement because of the nature of our visas).  We're also trying to get our car situation sorted out, but it has been frustratingly slow.  We do not qualify for a car loan here because we have not been in the country long enough.  But...for a car that will fit our family it is at least $40,000 (unless we get very lucky and find one used, but the prices for used aren't much lower).  We're hoping to get financing from the US, but haven't heard word yet.  So, like always here...we wait.  

First day of school!

     Today was the kids' first day of school!  They're jumping in for the 4th term here (school runs from January-December) so Rosie is finishing up 2nd grade, Charlotte 1st grade, and the boys are both in RR.  

     The kids were all up very early ("Mommy, I got up at 5:42!") and ready to go.  Where did these big girls come from?!

All my big kids ready to go!

     James and I took the kids to school together.  It was a cool, misty morning that threatened rain but never came through with it.  

     What?!  Your school doesn't have peacocks behind the library?!  (ok, ok, peafowl)  This is on the way to the R(Reception) and RR classrooms.  

 

 The preschool playground where the boys spend much of their day.

 Charlotte's class(left) and Rosie's class (right). they are across from each other around a common area.

Playground for grades 1 and up.  I love the acacia tree- just seems so African. 

Animal house (left) and Peafowl hanging out with the bunnies (right).

     "But I thought you were homeschooling?"  Well, that was originally our plan because we had not heard good things about the schools here.  Indeed, the government schools are not an option and most private schools are run by churches and so are also not options.  This school, Ridgeway Independent School, is a private school with no religious leanings whatsoever.  It's just a private school.  It's also rather inexpensive (well, compared to private schools in the States...here it is considered extremely expensive.  Also, there is no such thing as a free school here- there are fees for government schools as well as private).  This school focuses on academics, basic good values (honesty, integrity, respect for all men, etc), and living in and taking care of our environment- all things that we care about.  As you can see from the pictures, it has lovely grounds and the kids are encouraged to be outside and work with the animals and know all about the plants and birds around them.  We thought that going to school would be the best way for them to adjust to a new country and make friends.  Certainly it is the easiest and fastest way for them to learn the languages (they will have an Afrikaans class and of course the English is different) and culture.  

     The first day went really well.  Charlotte seems to be the only one who had a little trouble, but that was not much.  She is a little behind her class, especially in handwriting and a little in reading (here 1st grade is approximately equivalent to US Kindergarten and Grade 1 combined.  She finished Kindergarten in the States but is jumping in at the end of Grade 1 here).  Rosie went back about 1/2 a year and so has no trouble academically.  Because of the age cut off here, she would have been almost 2 years younger than the kids in her class if we had kept her where she was.  That was just too big of a gap, especially when adjusting to a new country and dealing with all of the upheaval.  She seems to have made a few friends already (when we picked her up she was walking with one little girl and chatting).  The boys were happy as larks.  Their teacher said that they just had an easy day and mostly played since it was the first day back from a break.  Also, a child in their class had a birthday and so there was cake.  Play all day and eat cake?  I love school!!!!  For now both boys are in the same class but that is because they are allowing Henry to go for the last term where he normally wouldn't have started school until January.  Next year Henry will be in RR again and Liam will move up to R.  

A little thing

When most people think of living in Africa they think it's exotic and completely different from the States.  I suppose that's true in a way when you look at the whole picture, but really I find that there is much more the same.  It's like speaking a different language- two languages may have completely different sounding words for an object, but it is essentially the same.  Take the words "dog" and "perro".  Same animal, same relationship to man, but different words.  In the States kids climb oak trees, here my kids climb mango trees.  But when it comes down to it they are still kids having fun and climbing trees.  The kids used to look out for squirrels and get excited when they saw one from the car (seriously), now they look out for monkeys.  The language, the context is different but the life is the same.  

One little addition to our lives comes in our bedtime routine: foot washing.  The kids roam about the garden all day with bare feet and by bedtime their feet are filthy!  I make them wear shoes when going out and about, but many of the children here do not.  I'm still getting used to seeing teenagers at the grocery store with no shoes on.  I confess I chuckle at the thought of those Tom's shoes.  In America it sounds great to send a pair of shoes to a needy kid in Africa, but being here it kinda seems silly.  Even the rich kids don't wear shoes all of the time.  Even funnier to me are the pairs of knock-off Tom's for sale in the stores here.  Oh irony upon irony!  

But I digress.  After the kids have gotten their pjs on and brushed their teeth I line them up in our bathroom.  I use a little basin of water and have them step in and then I scrub.  It's amazing to watch their feet change color!  By the end the water in the basin is orangey brown.  The girls like to go last so they can be the one to soak in the warm water.  The boys just want it over with.  :)  

The Mundane

Believe it or not, I have a lot of time on my hands...in a strange way.  Often I'm occupying or watching the children while James and Dave have studies in the house.  At those times I can't really get into anything or get anything done...except knitting or crocheting.  So, I've been doing a lot of that.  Then in the evenings the kids are all in bed and the dishes are all done and what is a mom to do?  Knit.  

This is what I am working on right now:

Supposedly it will turn into this.  And yes, if I manage to pull it off then I will take a picture of me jumping like that.  Maybe.  Probably.  We'll see.  

Another fun thing that we've been doing is collecting books and rocks.  At the local book store they have a section of books and magazines with extras that are published every week or two.  I've started collecting Agatha Christie books.  Mine come out every 2 weeks.  The girls are collecting a National Geographic series on rocks.  So far they have gold, rose quartz, and amethyst.  Theirs comes out weekly and makes for a fun Monday outing.  We didn't get the chance to go today so tomorrow morning we'll head to CNA (the book store) and check to see if our new books/rocks came in.  

Both of these hobbies actually highlight things that I miss.  It's not so much the country as our location in the country that restricts the availability of products.  Louis Trichardt (or Makhado) is a smallish town in the far north of South Africa.  Like any small town, there just isn't as much here.  We can get everything we need and many things that we enjoy, though.  However, books are not as available- I think Rosie has read through every book for sale in her age range in this town.  We haven't been to the library yet, so that's a possibility.  Still, I am SO glad the kids have kindles!  

The other thing that I miss is nice yarn.  Not expensive or overly fancy yarn, just the ability to choose and get natural fibers.  Even though more people here seem to knit and crochet there is less selection on yarn.  Nearly all of it is acrylic and some cotton thread.  I'd love to get my hands on some soft wool to knit up some cozy sweaters for those chilly African mornings.  That is probably something I'll be ordering online and begging one of my friends to ship to me.  Tweed.  I feel the need for tweed.   

"Normal" Life?

Sorry for the long silence!  So often at the end of the day I get the kids into bed and just want to sit down and knit or not do anything at all.

We've been settling in...as much as you can settle in without a house or a car of your own.  The Beckleys have been so wonderful and have made this experience the best it could be.  Still, we look forward to getting our own place and really settling in.  We've been looking at houses and there is one in particular that I just love.  But...we're waiting on some paperwork on our house in the States to go through and our financial hands are tied until then.  Oh, but that house has such a lovely garden!

We've also been looking at cars and have narrowed it down to one or two.  But...given the condition of the roads here and the unscrupulous nature of so many we really need to get a new or certified used car from a dealership.  And what dizzying expense!  For a car that will fit our family we're looking at around $45,000 to $50,000.  Yikes!  And that's not for anything fancy.  We knew this before we got here, but actually seeing what you get for the money is still jarring.  Even the used ones start at $40,000.  Why so expensive?  Probably location- no matter which way you do it, imported things are expensive here because of the shipping costs.  So, toys in general are really expensive.  A set of Legos that would sell in the States for $30 here goes for $100.  So yes, you can feel free to send the kids Legos.  :)

And as long as I'm talking about money, let me explain a little about the exchange rate and whatnot.  Right now the rate is hovering at about 8 rands to 1 dollar.  So, when shopping I'm forever dividing by 8 to see how much things cost.  It's kind of fun to go grocery shopping, use my American debit card, then come home to see what exchange rate we got.  Most of the time it's about 8.2 or so, but the other day I bought a knitting pattern online and got 8.49!  We've been told that this is a really good exchange rate and it's normally more like 7 to 1, so we'd really like to get our big financial matters taken care of sooner than later.

In the meantime, the kids continue to enjoy being outside.  Dominoes are a favorite right now as are umbrellas for the girls.  They have also enjoyed climbing a mango tree and just plain running around.  This evening they made parachutes out of paper for their toys and launched them, with varying success, off the driveway ramp.

We've had some trouble with Liam being destructive in the garden and have found a punishment that works well for him: work.  Last week he ended up spending an entire morning sweeping leaves off the driveway and sidewalks.  Why all morning?  Because the first hour or two was just too much fun for him.  Even after that experience he still enjoys sweeping the brick!  

So that's what we've been up to.  We're here.  We're happy.  We really do love it here, even if we do miss everyone back home.  I've got a great idea: you can all just move over here and that will solve everything.

Sunday at Tshirenzheni

What a fun day we've had!  Last night before bed Rosie asked me if I would stay up late and finish a shawl that I was working on for her.  I said sure, but I thought it was going to be too warm to wear it in the morning.  I checked the weather after tucking in the kids and realized that the opposite was true- it was going to be cold in the morning!  So, I stayed up late and finished her shawl so the three of us girls could have matching ones this morning.  

On this chilly morning we met with 

the congregation at Tshirenzheni (pronounced Chair-en-gen-ee) for bible class and worship.  The drive into Venda was just beautiful with clouds coming down on the mountains and no traffic.  And...oh, joy!  monkeys!!!  Not only did the kids finally get to see real live monkeys, but they got to see at least a dozen.  We passed a school yard that was, of course, empty on a Sunday morning and there were about a dozen vervet monkeys playing and running about!  We've decided to call it the monkey school.  Just a bit down the road were 5 or 6 other monkeys that I didn't recognize.  And then there were the goats and cows and chickens!  The kids so enjoyed the drive...and I did, too!  

  

The church building at Tshirenzheni is one of the most beautiful locations I've ever seen.  I don't know why, but something about it just appeals to me.  This is the view from the side of the building.

Tshirenzheni has a bible class for the children first thing, then an adult bible class (and the children all sit still and quiet for this), then 2 hours of worship (well, depending on how long the preacher speaks).  The kids really enjoyed the bible class.  It was taught in Venda, but the teacher also translated some into English and asked some of the questions in English for our children.  After bible class the boys got to have their first adventure with a "long drop" toilet.  Yes, it is what you think it is.  "But Mommy, where does it GO?!"  Down the hole, son, down the hole.  They thought it was great. 

It looks like James with be working with the congregation at Tshirenzheni for the next 6 months or so and I'm really looking forward to that.  I've already enjoyed getting to know some of the ladies and look forward to meeting everyone else.