Another day of Firsts

Today we enjoyed our first day of continual drizzle. Its been a very long time since we last saw a light, constant drizzle. During our years in the Middle East, we rarely saw any rain and when we did it either drizzled about 20 drops in total or the heavens opened and the roads were flooded due to the lack of drainage. Cyprus enjoys winter rainfall and during our first 5 winters there it didn’t rain as much as it did this winter. January in particular was a VERY wet month and when it rained, it poured and often for a good while! So, this drizzle was a real treat.

Today we visited our first Pawn Shop in search of bicycles and a trampoline. We went armed with a trailer to bring our purchase home, but returned empty handed. They did have 4 bikes, but all none of them were suitable for us. The trampoline they had was a mini one, and we’re looking for a nice big one for the garden.  We’ll just have to keep looking. (Dieter has been cycling a few times a week on his dad’s bike for the last while. He has found a variety of nice routes around the area that we live in and we hope to join him soon)

Today we also welcomed our first international visitor. Our brother-in-law is on holiday in SA at the moment and drove all the way from Jeffery’s Bay to come and have lunch with us! We saw him when we were in Dubai earlier this month and it was so nice to see him again. After relaxing at home for a while, catching up on the activities of the past month or so, Mike treated us to lunch at the Ocean Basket at the George Mall. It was our first meal at a restaurant in SA! Honestly, I think the Ocean Basket in Cyprus  was a tad better (maybe they’ve tried too hard to emulate the SA franchise!), but we did have a lovely fishy meal together. After the meal the older boys ventured across to a games store across the way and the little ones spent a little while playing in the play area inside the restaurant. Ethan loved playing in the little ship that had been built in there, and Aimee was a great first-mate!

Mike needed to find a wi-fi spot, so after lunch we meandered over to the Mugg and Bean. We were pleasantly surprised to find that they had wi-fi! (Internet in SA is something else!) While Mike did his thing on the internet, the little ones played in the stationary coin-operated fire truck and double dekker bus nearby. The older boys and I went into a book store, they found some books to read and I left them comfortably seated on a leather couch to browse for as long as they wanted to! Now this is great!

We had a lovely, relaxing, peaceful lunch and afternoon together, but the time did come (almost too fast!) when Mike had to begin his journey back and we had to head home for our next First! Being with Mike reminded me of how much I am missing my family, and it was so nice to have him with us for a short time!

This evening we visited our first Fête. The children are familiar with the concept of a market, but a fête is slightly different. They are the modern-day fund-raising affairs organised by churches, schools and charity organisations and are always a delightful combination of fun, food and indigenious-creativity! This one was held by a local church in the storehouse of some local potato farmers. The music was loud and lively and there was a hive of activity from door to door! I think the variety of food on sale was the major highlight (must be my Gifford genes!), but there was also a small variety of locally grown veggies, some books and CDs, some 2^nd-hand household items and a tombola stall. There was a huge variety of cakes and tarts, all home-made, ofcourse! Cakes cost R50 each, and tarts were R30. I thought that was really cheap! Then there was a pudding table, with plastic bowls piled high with strawberries, or a choice of other trifles, jellies, instant puddings and steamed puddings served with custard. We decided that after having a huge lunch, we’d come home to a light snack and treat ourselves to a pudding (at R5 each!, can you believe!) The strawberries are farmed locally and were absolutely delicious! Dieter and I have saved our malva pudding and custard for a little later J

It was a real treat to see curry and rice, vetkoek and mince, sosaties, boerewors rolls, potjiekos and rice and hamburgers being sold. And it was especially nice to see people gathering around tables and eating together and enjoying each other!

Another day of firsts ….. and many more to come, I know! And we’re enjoying each day as it comes. Wonder what tomorrow will bring?