Thankfully we all adjusted quickly to the time difference (6 hours ahead of Indianapolis) because driver's training started at 7am our first morning! That first weekend was our Orientation where we spent time getting to know the city and campus, learn about South African culture, and get to know the students we would be spending time with. Friday morning we went to the apartheid museum- even though I was chasing the kids around half the time, I learned so much and loved getting to know more about SA history.
Here are some pictures of our time there.
Saturday night we went to a Braai (BBQ) at Tim and Naia's home. They are the staff couple here and have 2 little girls, Thandiwe and Naladi. Here we had our first taste of real SA food- wors (pronounced "vors" which is like a sausage) and pap (pronounced "pop", and it's kind of like grits) with chakalaka (a very spicy gravy that I can't eat!). That night we played a name game with about 30 Wits students, it was funny trying to learn everyone's names since they all sound so different from ours!
We started our regular weekly schedule on Monday. We eat breakfast and lunch here at the house with our team and then after lunch they go to campus and I put the kids down for naps. The students are on campus from about 1:30-9:00. My schedule is a bit different from everyone else's. After naps we either play here or have an outing. One day I took the kids to Naia's to play with her girls. That was so fun for me, to hang out with another mom and let the kids play! The next day I went to a mom's tea social at the church. It was kind of like MOPS but without the childcare! Another day I went with Naia and another staff mom, Kris, to an amazing place called Bambanani. It is a really cool cafe with the neatest playground in it! The great part is that they hire girls to watch and play with your kids so you can enjoy conversation and your meal! Evie and William loved it there and so did I- I will definitely try and go there several times a week!
At night I have cooked simple things for me and the kids, one night we went to campus, one night we went out as a family, and one night Chad and I had a date night! When we went out as a family, we went to this really neat place called 44 and Stanley. It's kind of like a little outdoor courtyard with really great shops and restaurants. But after we paid for parking and walked in, everything was dark and quiet. It looked like everything was closed down and was kind of creepy! But we found one lady and she said her place was open- she walked us in and it was a huge place with several rooms. She said we could pick anywhere we wanted to sit so we chose a little table by a fireplace since it was getting cool out. This place was so nice and definitely more expensive than we normally would spend, but thankfully the kids did really well and didn't break anything! (They don't have highchairs or cups with lids here so meal times out are usually pretty stressful!) We ordered a pasta dish we were all going to split and after I gave Evie and William their portion I noticed a little bowl of cheese and a bowl of green stuff I thought was pesto. It look good so I dumped half the bowl in our dish and mixed it all up. However, it was chopped jalapeños! So I basically ruined our fancy meal. :( And people started showing up as we were leaving the restaurant and we realized people here don't eat as early as we do!
Here are some other pictures of things we have been up to:
Everyone (minus me and the kids) got to enjoy a South African soccer game!
Mother's Day!
I felt so loved- not only did Chad and Evie give me cards but every student wrote me a card as well!
That night we went to the airport and picked up Michaela, who had to come 3 days later than the rest of us. It was fun to finally have everyone here together!
These are pictures of a Braai that we planned and held at our guest house. We had such a great turnout and had fun eating, talking, playing ball, and dancing!
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