In the land of Zulus

Oh, the adventures of African travel.  We spent 27 hours enjoying the modes of modern transportation, starting with an airport shuttle service to JFK then a 14.5 hour transatlantic flight to Johannesburg, then a connecting flight to Durban, and finally a rental car trip driving a manual transmission on the left hand side of the road.  Even with limited sleep Dad did great driving on the “wrong” side of the road.  We had some problems figuring out how to put the car in reverse but were happy to learn that the first Zulu we asked for help couldn’t figure it out either.  Miranda was a great traveler other than asking “are we there yet” multiple times during the airport shuttle and stating that she was tired of watching movies 1 hour into the 14.5 hour flight. 

We arrived safely but our luggage did not.  The baggage handlers at the Johannesburg airport went on strike just as our arriving flight was unloading the baggage. Some passengers from the flight received their bags, but we were not in that fortunate group.  The strike delayed our connecting flight an hour.  We’re praying that the bags arrive tomorrow and make it here to the orphanage for us.

The drive from the airport to the orphanage is beautiful – filled with large green hills dotted with trees and houses.  Miranda is processing that this is the land where she was born and asked some deep and difficult questions about her story as we drove to the orphanage.

We met the orphanage social worker at a local shopping center and made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner tonight.  We then arrived at the orphanage and Miranda was an instant celebrity.  Within 5 minutes of our arrival, Anele, one of her former house sisters was at the gate to hug her and then Mama Doris, her former house mom was there.  Other children came to say hi and call out “Merri, Merri, Meer-randa” All were thrilled to see her and gave big hugs and chattered in exuberant Zulu.  They were disappointed to find that Miranda has forgotten all her Zulu and could not understand them.  Miranda was overwhelmed by all the attention but by the end of the day was just giving hugs to everyone.

Then came the special moment.  We had a few minutes to meet Thandokuhle, also nicknamed “Bird" or "Birdie”.  She came into the social worker’s office with bare feet and a shy smile.  She sat on my lap and leaned into my shoulder.  Miranda sat on my other leg thrilled to meet her sister but not quite sure what to say.  Thandokuhle was completely quiet and I couldn’t tell how much of my words she understood.  However, I asked how old she was and she quickly held up 4 fingers!!  Then I asked her to lead Miranda and I to the little house where she lives with her house mom.  So, she took each of our hands and walked with us to House #8 where we met her house mom and saw the bedroom where she sleeps.  There were more shy smiles as I asked if she likes to play with dolls, games, and trampolines.  We kept our visit brief to not overwhelm her and promised we would come play tomorrow.  And so our adoption journey begins with a sweet, small smile…  

Overall, the day was so much easier than our first adoption trip.  We remembered lots of details about the surrounding country and the orphanage as we drove through.  I was more prepared for the boisterous welcome of the orphanage children and the overwhelmed feeling of meeting a tiny child who will join our family.  Miranda is connecting pieces of who she is and is recognizing that she used to speak a different language. And now jet lag is catching up with me…