Honey, we're home!

Today marks the end of our first week here in South Africa. We arrived in Johannesburg at 04h45 last Wednesday morning, a rather early start to our day. It was the first time I have ever travelled alone with all 4 of our children and was a journey we won't easily forget. Only Aimee had a full, uninterrupted nights sleep, the rest of us were pretending to be fully alert after only maybe an hour or two's sleep during the night. Jed had a very sore tummy (as a result of the fish-dish he was served, we think!) so we were one-man-down and that left Ryan and I lugging the majority of the hand luggage and jackets on and off the various flights.

We were told by various friends that we'd be wonderfully surprised by South Africa and it all started rather early! I felt incredibly safe carrying a rather large sum of cash at the bottom of my backpack. Ofcourse, I didn't let it out of my sight (or hands) for even a minute. Changes at the (HUGE!) Oliver Tambo Airport mean that one no longer has to exit the airport at International Arrivals and walk outdoors and re-enter the building to get to National Departures. That was already a huge blessing! Ethan pushed Aimee in the pram and Ryan, Jed and I each pushed a trolley loaded rather excessively from the one end of the airport to the other.

The lady at the Kulula counter was ever-so friendly and considering we had booked and paid for an extra 60kg of luggage to be added to our allowance, had no problem with the additional 17.3kg we actually booked in! She also said we could take the chance of carrying 2 guitars, the pram, a backpack each and our jackets through security - and if they didn't respond favourably we'd then have to come back and pay extra to send the guitars and pram as cargo. Fortunately, Domestic Departures was very busy at about 6:30am, and the security wasn't the slightest bit interested in how much hand luggage we were carrying and we had no problems carrying it through. We sat down outside the boarding gate and enjoyed the egg-mayo rolls we'd made in Dubai the night before.

Due to a strike in Durban, our plane could not refuel and we had to wait until it arrived. Our boarding was delayed by and hour and a half, and by this time the kids were rolling on the carpets in the waiting lounge! It was becoming less and less possible to maintain a restrained pose like everyone else waiting to board flights! When we did board the flight (with all our masses of hand luggage!), we found the Kulula staff to be absolutely amazing! The staff were so chirpy and humourous and friendly! Within minutes of being in the air we were all fast asleep and had a good nap on the way to George ........ which meant we were all bright and perky to meet Dieter and his parents at the airport.

George has one of the smallest airports I've ever been to! In fact, it may be the smallest now that I come to think of it! The plane lands and then parks almost directly infront of the terminal. No tunnels and fancy stuff, just good old traditional steps and a 50m walk into the building. We were all very excited to see Dieter  and Ouma, who had negotiated with the security officer to walk past the glass partitioning and come and assist us with our luggage at the carousel. Oupa was waiting outside with his 7-seater vehicle and a trailer which we managed to completely fill with our 8 bags, pram, 2 guitars and various backpacks!

Oupa and Ouma live in Heatherpark, a short 8 minute drive from the airport. The green fields and majestic mountains were a treat to our eyes, and the various farm animals we could spot grazing in the fields a delight to the children (and adults alike!).

For the rest of that day I was a complete zombie. I was so overly tired and in desperate need of rest. After a light lunch I had an afternoon nap, while Ouma read to the little ones and then took all the children for a walk to the park and a swim in the neighbour's pool. And, I've had an early night ever since! Dieter began to unpack some of the suitcases, and finished that over 2 or 3 days and we all packed our cupboards and really began to make ourselves at home. The only constructive thing I did that night was to bake a Beetroot and Chocolate cake for Ouma - it was her birthday the next day and we were having a party!

The next few days are something of a blur in my memory, they happened rather fast, but I was still in slow mode. Aimee has been making her routine early morning visits, so the days have started early and felt long! Ouma's birthday was a special day. After breakfast we gave her the gifts we'd bought for her and the card Dieter had made for her. Then the party preparations were in great swing! The dining room table was turned into a buffet-style food fiesta of cakes and tarts. It seems to be tradition here, that the neighbours in this street visit each other on their birthdays share a cup of tea and enjoy some cake together. There seemed to be an uncoordinated, but very definite 10h30 group and a 15h30 group. The Beetroot and Chocolate cake seemed to be a huge hit and not one person made any strange comments about the beetroot or refusing to eat it. Now these people are adventurous! Having a house full of  and eating lots of food people for most of the day was an experience of its own. Ouma has many wonderful friends and it was lovely meeting them.

The next day we went into town with Ouma for a few hours. During that time we managed to browse through a couple of our favourite clothing stores (Pep, Mr Price, Ackermans), buy a handful of essential groceries for the weekend and visit the local library. We applied for our own library cards and took out some books for the children using Ouma, Oupa and Dieter's cards. It took us a while to orientate ourselves and find the English books for older children, but we did find many wonderful books!

Our first few days in SA were an adventure in themselves! Its been quite a shock to hear so many people talking in the accents we've been used to hearing so seldom abroad. I turned my head a few times, expecting to see South African friends from abroad, only to find another local person engaged in conversation. To be able to understand most of what people are saying and not be cut off from the conversations of others due to a language barrier, has been strange. I think I've grown accustomed to being an 'alien' and not really knowing what people are saying in conversations around me. I don't mind not knowing what people are talking about!

It has been so very refreshing to see the arty, flambouyant, expressive culture that is so uniquely South African! This is going to be an interesting adventure, especially for our children who are walking around with their eyes and ears wide open!