Home Sweet Home

After 28 hours of travel pulling into our driveway was a welcome and comforting sight.  The travel went smoothly yet it was utterly exhausting.  It is a strong reminder of how far away South Africa really is. 

The most stressful part of the trip occurred right at the beginning – driving through rush hour traffic in Johannesburg to reach the airport.  The GPS provided up to date alternative routes as accidents and delays occurred so we drove on numerous side streets and avoided the major roads.  Once at the airport we had to go through multiple document screens as everyone wanted to make sure we had all the correct paperwork for Miriam to enter the US.  There were no issues, we just didn’t fit the “stereotypical” travelers that are flying to the US.  The 16.5 hour flight from Johannesburg to Atlanta was long, but went better than I expected.  Both Miranda and Miriam slept for several hours and they enjoyed watching movies on the entertainment system and on their ipads.  Upon arriving in Atlanta we went through a special line at US immigration to have Miriam’s documents reviewed.  All the immigration documents were in order so Miriam is officially a US citizen as of today!

The final leg of our journey was flying from Atlanta to BWI.  Miriam was very excited to meet Grandma in the airport and gave her a giant hug.

Miriam was a good traveler and flying home with her was certainly easier than when we flew home with Miranda.   Her only major issue was being scared to use the restrooms.  She was very reluctant to use the bathroom on the airplane (not that I blame her, there just aren’t any other options).  Then we caused a large disturbance in the women’s restroom at the Atlanta airport because she was petrified of the self-flushing toilets and absolutely refused to use them.  When 2 other women commented sympathetically and several others nodded to me, I realized that her screaming had caused quite a bit of commotion.

The most fulfilling part of the day was seeing Miriam’s reaction to her new house.  She was very excited and thrilled with everything – her room, the playroom, the swingset, the welcome balloon.  There were lots of squeals of laughter as she played and explored.  Of course, there was also a long list of things to which she said “mine” or that she clearly wanted to play with and not share with Miranda.  Certainly, I’m sure the amount of toys we have is overwhelming compared to what she experienced before.  I look forward to watching her discover new items over the coming days.

Jet lag is hitting hard…that is my excuse for all typos, missed words, grammatical errors, and all other mistakes in this post.     The girls barely stayed awake during dinner and both went to sleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows.   And now, off to bed I go.