Daily Scenes

We've been having an "art and creativity" time each morning while Elena is napping. I brought along a few supplies, and Edwin enjoys using them. He's definitely creative with the supplies and doesn't necessarily use them the "correct" way (using colored pencils to poke holes in the cardboard, painting the watercolor box instead of paper, coloring on his hands with markers, etc.). Oh well. He hasn't tried painting or coloring on the walls yet, at least.

See that cardboard beneath the paper? This has saved me a lot of clean up. I was at the Main Mall one day last week and I happened to see some broken down cardboard boxes sitting behind a trash can. I decided I needed some of that cardboard for this exact reason, so I walked over, ripped off a piece and carried it home with me. I'm sure the people standing around thought I was bit odd. If they said anything to each other, I couldn't understand them!

The tent below was loaned to us by a friend from my moms group (thanks, Emily!). It has been wonderful. We've encountered a fair amount of mosquitoes but Elena has been protected from them at night due to this nifty tent. If you know of anyone trying to decide whether to get a pack n play or something like this, I'd get this instead. It packs up so much easier than a pack n play and works really, really well.

Outing

My brain is a bit fuzzy right now thanks to my very interrupted night of sleep. Elena woke up crying about 2 hours after I'd gone to bed and then woke up to eat at 6:15. Edwin woke up crying two times in between Elena. If Edwin actually falls asleep during nap time (that would be now), I might take a nap. If not, I'll just go to bed early after he's gone to bed early.

The kids and I took our first independent outing this morning. I've walked to a local shopping area called the "Main Mall", located in downtown Gaborone, but I haven't taken the kids. Either Dan has been home and stayed with them or I left them with our house help, Rebecca.

Today I called a taxi and we went to a local Tea Garden called Sanita's. We all went there on Sunday for a Mother's Day lunch, and I decided we'd have to go back. There is a play ground and sand pit in the Tea Garden. I was hoping there would be other kids there (there were lots and lots on Sunday) but no such luck today. However, Edwin still enjoyed playing on the wooden jungle gym and sitting on an old, broken down tractor that is there also. We drank their lemonade (I think it's the best homemade lemonade I've ever had) and ate a snack of scones with jam and cream.

Sanita's is situated in a Nursery and Garden store, so we also walked around there a bit and Edwin enjoyed splashing in some of the decorative water fountains. It's lush, green and full of beautiful plants. Very refreshing.

It felt good to make myself take the kids out. But I did have to make myself do it. It would've been easy to just stay home and not go anywhere, but I'm beginning to feel the need to go places and feel a bit independent.If we had a car, it would feel similar to being back home and going here and there would feel pretty easy - aside from having learn my way around. But it was new and strange to take a cab. I don't like to do things that are different, where I might look like I don't know what I'm doing (and just now I met some one and messed up the greeting in seTswana!), and I do have to push myself to do something different. I like it when things are comfortable and familiar, and of course they aren't in a new place.  That's one of the hard parts about going somewhere new. In a few weeks, all will be much more familiar and easier and then the things that were uncomfortable in the beginning will just be small memories that I can laugh about.
 

Some good news is we're going to be car-sitting for one of Dan's colleagues for a couple days next week and a couple days the following week. That will make it easier to get groceries and also to go on some outings.

One Family, Two Weeks, Three Countries

We spent almost the first two weeks here in Africa traveling around. Let me tell you, that's a lot of traveling with a toddler and a baby. It's a lot of traveling for me in general, and I was pretty worn out about halfway through our travels from place to place. It can be tiresome going away for a weekend when we're in the US because of all that needs to be packed and organized, and so it was definitely tiring here too. Thankfully, we were visiting family and friends and we had time to relax and catch up on sleep.

(It's nap time here now, and I can hear Edwin talking to himself in his room. He'll most likely eventually fall asleep. If not, early bedtime!)

After arriving in South Africa (country #1), we stayed with some good friends of ours. Dan originally met them in Swaziland, and we've been able to see them on a yearly basis for the past number of years. Dana, Sibongile and their boys hosted us for the first few days. The Friday after we arrived we hopped in our rental car and drove about 4-5 hours to Swaziland (country #2). Unfortunately for us it was a holiday weekend, which meant we waited over an hour at the border. We finally got through, and drove to the Swazi homestead Dan had lived at during his SALT year.

( 1.5 hour interlude during which Dan returns, Edwin finally falls asleep and I get supper started. Tonight's menu: homemade pizza)

We spent Friday night through Sunday morning at the homestead. Edwin met Make (pronounced "MA-gay) and Babe (BA-bay), his Swazi grandparents, Dan's host brothers and one of Dan's host sisters, plus her two boys. It was nice that Edwin had some other kids to play with while we were there. Did you know Dan has a Swazi name? It was given to him shortly after his arrival in Swaziland. Now the kids and I have Swazi names too. I felt honored to be given one. :)

Make and Elena in Swaziland

On Sunday we left the homestead and drove to the capitol city of Mbabane and stayed with another friend named Carla, who teaches at an IB school called Waterford. It's high up on a hill, so the view was great. (Driving to Swaziland and being in Mbabane was beautiful b/c of the mountains there!) She wasn't staying in her home right then, so we actually had some time to ourselves (although she came and cooked for us!!!), to catch up on laundry and e-mail and so on.

Dan spent that Monday visiting some other friends in Swaziland while I hung out with the kids at the house. It felt like a very normal day for me because I did laundry, made meals, cleaned up, and took care of the kids. In the midst of visiting people and driving here and there, this down time was just what I needed that day.

On Tuesday we left Swaziland and returned to South Africa where we stayed at a Guest House for a few days. We spent time with Dana and Sibongile's family again, but didn't invade their house this time around.  Edwin was fascinated by the water fountain outside our room and we found a sand "box" there that was perfect. He was also really fascinated by the pool vacuums in the two swimming pools. I think he could've watched them all day.

The sand "box" at Cornerstone Guest Lodge

(The baby is screeching from her little bed. I'd better go take care of her!)

(It's now two days since I wrote the first part of this blog entry. You'd think I'd have more time to write these days but it doesn't seem to be that way.)

After 3 days at the Cornerstone Guest Lodge we loaded up our rental car (Minus one suitcase because we were able to consolidate our things a bit more. Good thing too, since that last suitcase would not have fit in the car. We really did pack too much, I think.) and drove to Gaborone, Botswana (country #3).

We arrived in the evening and stayed at some self-catering flats (apartments) nearby until the house we're renting became available. There was a pool, and once again, Edwin was fascinated by the pool vacuum. (Did I mention that except for the guest lodge, each place we stayed in has had a broom, and Edwin wasted no time in finding it and using it.)

Sweeping at the Dlamini homestead in Swaziland

On Sunday of last week, we drove a short distance to the house we're now at. It feels so good to be staying in one place for a while. We were able to unpack our things from the suitcases, and Dan has delivered the medical supplies we brought along (that means one more suitcase is now empty!). I pulled out the cloth diapers I brought for Elena and have gotten back into using them. (For any interested, I'm using Flip covers with cotton prefold inserts. I brought 2 normal bumGenius diapers for bedtime, but I didn't bring any of the microfiber inserts b/c they need to be washed too many times.)

We did some grocery shopping, and I've been cooking meals again. I pretty much had a two week break from cooking. I'm not sure when that last happened!

 So here we are. Whew. Home Sweet Botswana Home.

 

Our home-away-from-home in Gaborone.

Greetings from Edwin

Edwin was talking about some of his friends this morning, so I decided to record him.

Here's a shout out to Leah and Isaac. (The "ck" sound is Edwin's version of Isaac.)

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On the Other Hand...

The flip side of having house help (when you're not used to it and you don't have a job outside of the home and/or other time commitments, as is the case for me at the moment...) is that a stay-at-home-mom such as myself can suddenly find herself at loose ends because the normal work she would do during the day is already done or being done by some one else.

I do like to be productive and feel that I am contributing to our life.  I'm told my worth doesn't depend on my productivity, but a girl raised in a hard-working Mennonite community can't spend all day doing nothing.  Thankfully, I'll still be the one cooking the meals, changing diapers, feeding the baby and taking care of the toddler.

The Help

Have you read the book? It's a good one. I recommend it.

Growing up, we never had house help of any kind. It wasn't the Mennonite way (although it used to be back in the day, I think, before we had as many appliances and machines - and it is the Amish way of doing things). In the Mennonite community where I grew up, women take pride is managing their households and completing all the necessary tasks. Or else the stuff just doesn't get done. Our trip to Zambia a few years ago was my first experience with having house help on a regular basis.

We hired some one local to cook lunch for us since we were both working all morning, but would be back in time for a late lunch. She also did a few loads (all by hand!) of laundry for us each week as well as some light cleaning.

It was an expected part of our experience (as well as being very, very helpful!) as a way to help out the community we were living in.

I have worked as house help before, so it felt funny to be on the other side of the coin.

We also have some house help here in Gaborone. She comes with the house, so to speak, and we got to meet her today. The kitchen and dining rooms are clean, dishes are washed and laundry has been done, and I haven't had much to do with it. For some one used to doing all of it at home, it's kind of strange. But also very nice. I think I will be much less tired at the end of the day while we're here, and it may be hard to leave...

But don't worry, I didn't sit around all morning doing nothing. I cleaned and organized the toy area (there are a lot of toys here for Edwin to play with), cooked breakfast and lunch, fed and diapered the kids and now I need to go and unpack. Then it's time to cook dinner.

On a different note, I'm sure you're tired of these wordy posts. I will post some pictures soon so you can see a little of what the place looks like and what Edwin's been up to.

New Place, New Normal

When remembering past travels, it's kind of hard to accurately remember the emotions in the very beginning of the trip, when everything feels new, strange and somewhat (or sometimes very) uncomfortable. Almost every time that I've traveled overseas, there has been an initial uneasiness and discomfort as I've had to learn my way around, learn some of the language (the greetings, if nothing else). It's definitely not my favorite part of the traveling, but the good news is that it always passes, and eventually life in whatever new location (Gaborone this time) resumes a sense of normalcy. Not the normal of being at home, but a normal for that place.

I went shopping this morning for the first time. As I stood in the small produce section of the grocery store a few blocks away, I found myself unable to decide what to buy and how much. I had a list with me, but I experiences a strange inability to make a quick and sure decision. Eventually it passed and I bought what I think will work. But it is very strange to feel uncertain of what I'm doing - even when it's something as simple as grocery shopping.

I made a few other stops and by the time I was done, I felt fairly comfortable in the shopping area. I now know where the grocery store and bank are. I know where I can buy some meat pies (today it was a steak and kidney pie - yum!). I know I can buy sweet potatoes and dried beans and peanuts from outdoor stands. I can greet some one semi confidently in Setswana, but I still need to really learn how to say "thank you."

I ventured out on my own today so it will be different when I have to take the kids along. That will be its own challenge, but the great thing about having children in tow, is that everyone loves a baby (many people have already asked if they can take Elena home with them), so that just opens up doors of conversation and brings smiles.

We'll be meeting some of the doctors and residents Dan will work with today and tomorrow we move to the house were we'll be for the rest of our time here. I'm looking forward to staying in one place after our week and a half of traveling. It's time to settle in to a new normal.