Logistics

Paperwork, forms, and online searches – that is what took a major portion of the day.  Preparing to travel to Johannesburg seems simple but the details have been tedious.  Today we booked the rental car and a “self-catering” apartment in Johannesburg.  Finding the apartment was difficult because I wanted to have at least a kitchenette so we didn’t have to eat out for every meal. It also needed to be reasonably close to the US Consulate office which is in an expensive part of the city.  On top of that we are checking in on Monday and most places are already booked.  After multiple internet searches and several phone calls, Amy was able to find a 2 bedroom apartment with a full kitchen at a reasonable price.  Way to go, Aunt Amy!

Another logistical challenge was completing the online application for Thandokuhle’s US visa.  This needed to be submitted in order to finalize our visa interview on Tuesday.  It was a little confusing to fill out the form for Thandokuhle because some of it didn’t make sense.  For example, the fields for her adoptive father and mother were required but there was no option to say she didn’t have an adoptive father.  I wrote “not applicable” as his first and last name but it wasn’t clear on how to fill in other information, especially when a date field was required.  Filling out forms like this makes me nervous because errors can delay our departure.

Today was also hair salon day.  Miranda’s braids had been in for 6 weeks and were way past their prime.  So, throughout the day I took out Miranda’s braids, washed her hair (which had lots of sand in it), and blew dry her hair.  

Here she is looking more grown up without braids:

Miranda's hair makes an awesome mohawk when it is being straightened:

Tonight Aunt Amy started to put in new braids.  The braiding process extended past bedtime so they’re not quite finished but Miranda had a huge smile when she saw them in the mirror.  However, Thandokuhle was NOT very happy about going to bed before Miranda and she clearly let me know her displeasure.  She did manage to fight sleep long enough that she was still awake when Miranda went to bed.