Blaauwklippen Market

There was a loud, blustery wind today.  It was so strong that it woke me up in the middle of the night.  It sounded like a fierce storm, but there was no rain, just a howling wind.  The southern tip of Africa is known for its strong winds and we are definitely experiencing one today.

Today we visited the Blauuwklippen Market which is housed on the estate of a winery founded in 1682.  The estate was beautiful with gigantic trees and picturesque fields of grape vines.  Markets are very common in Cape Town and the ones we visited both this week and last week were quite busy.  It seems that many people go to a market to enjoy a meal, wine, and relax with friends.  This one had many picnic tables set up under the enormous trees with a variety of food vendors and live music.

We met Lindy and her family at the market.  They had gone last week and recommended the variety of children’s activities.  Miranda and Thandokuhle rode a little train and then enjoyed jumping in two bouncy houses.  Lindy had been too scared to try the bouncy houses last week but she joined in once she saw Miranda and Thandokuhle enjoying them.  The big attraction was pony rides. Miranda was really excited about the pony rides and rode all by herself.  Thandokuhle said she wanted to ride, then she said she didn’t want to ride.  In fact, she wanted Grandpa to hold her as she watched the other children ride and was quite clingy.  We gave her lots of pep talks and finally she agreed to ride.  She enjoyed the ride once she was on and was very proud of herself afterwards.

This afternoon we returned to the same church we went to last week and everyone was very welcoming.  We received several invitations (including four-wheeling which would take more than a pep talk to get Thandokuhle to try) and several recommendations on tourist activities. We enjoyed the service even though we couldn’t sing the song that was in Afrikaans!

Quiet Day

Today was a quiet day.  Literally (at least for me).  I have laryngitis.  I have been fighting a cold for the past few days and I could tell last night that I was losing my voice.  This morning I had absolutely no voice and by the evening I could make some raspy sounds.  I read stories to both Thandokuhle and Miranda where I had to whisper through the entire book.

Our big activity for the day was going to the beach.  It was a little warmer than the last few days – mid 70’s – but still cool for the beach especially when there was a breeze.  The girls had a blast playing in the sand and then they got adventurous and went in the water.  The water was quite cold but they splashed around for awhile before getting so cold we had to go in.

We spent the rest of the day playing a matching game, play-doh, and hide and seek.  We also took some walks around the complex where we’re staying.  All of the walks included the beach and whatever child was along got their clothes wet.  Miranda went through 3 outfits since she got wet at the beach multiple times!

Table with a View

I have eaten lunch at many restaurants that boast a great view.  However, not many could top the view we had today.

 

That’s right, we went to an area known for whale watching and I snapped this photo during lunch!  At one point a whale breached several times in a row and multiple patrons (myself included) jumped the half wall surrounding the restaurant and ran to the edge of the cliff for a better view.

We took a scenic drive today that wound around mountains on one side and ocean on the other.  The water was a gorgeous blue with large swells that crashed into the rocks.  We had to stop several times on the drive just so I could take pictures.

Our first official stop was Betty’s Bay which is home to one of only two colonies of African penguins on the mainland (the other penguin colonies are on islands).  The African penguin is endangered due to prior practices of hunting their eggs.  They live naturally in this area and efforts have been made to provide additional nesting places for them in this colony so the population will grow.  The colony boasts several thousand penguins and a boardwalk was built on top of the area so tourists could see the penguins without disturbing them.  I was thrilled to see penguins in the wild and the girls liked that they could be so close to them.

From there we curved between mountains and oceans until we came to the town of Hermanus which is known for the excellent land-based whale watching.  We weren’t sure how often whales were sighted but we saw one as soon as we exited the parking lot.  We saw numerous whales throughout the day including a mother and baby.  Several of the whales were very active and did a lot of jumping.  Unfortunately, my photography skills do not do justice to the grandeur of these animals.  The type of whale is the “right whale” and they are known to be frequent jumpers.  Miranda and Thandokuhle liked seeing them jump but other than that they found whale watching to be a little boring.  The scenery was absolutely breathtaking so they still enjoyed themselves even though they didn’t see quite as many whales.

There were many tourists on the top of the cliffs to photographs the whales.  However, we noticed one Asian tourist who was taking pictures of Miranda and Thandokuhle instead (they were the only black children there).  He even got them to pose and wave to the camera for him.

We received some more good news today.  We heard from the doctor and learned that all the sputum samples came back negative.  So, Thandokuhle is officially cleared from a medical perspective to travel to the US and no more spitting samples are needed! YAY!

Play Date

Today we had a play date with Lindy.  Lindy is two, almost three, and she was adopted from Lily of the Valley at the same time I adopted Thandokuhle.  Lindy’s mother is a single mom from The Netherlands.  Lindy, her mom, and grandmother came over to our house today.  It is nice that our house is large enough to have company and they were impressed that we have a full kitchen. Lindy is bigger (both taller and heavier) than Thandokuhle even though she is 15 months younger! Both Lindy and Thandokuhle were shy at first.  Miranda was excited to have company and was as outgoing as ever.  The girls played with dolls, bubbles, and had a few rounds of hide and seek.

The big hit of the day was going to the beach with Lindy. Lindy’s mom said Lindy was a little hesitant around water but she didn’t act that way today.  We went at low tide when our beach is very calm and the waves don’t reach the shore due to all the rocks.  All 3 girls had a great time playing with their sand toys and splashing in the shallow water.  This was the first day that Miranda and Thandokuhle had sand toys so they were very happy.  Lindy squealed with laughter and poured water all over herself (and others). 

Lindy and Thandokuhle spoke to each other in a mixture of English and Zulu. Lindy called Thandokuhle “Bird” the entire time since that was her nickname at the orphanage.  Lindy and her family stayed for lunch of hot dogs and French fries (or viennas and chips as stated in South Africa).  Lindy’s mom talked about how much meat Lindy likes to eat which is the same as Thandokuhle.  Thandokuhle ate 2.5 hot dogs at lunch and lots of French Fries.  She is slowing down in how much food she is consuming but when it is something she really likes then she can definitely pack it in!

Passport Application

We are finished with sputum samples.  Hooray! 

It was a challenge for Thandokuhle to produce enough spit for the sample.  Thankfully, the lab technician was very kind.  She said she sent a note with yesterday’s sample stating that it was very difficult to obtain the sample and asking them to use what little there was.  I believe a similar note was required for today’s sample.  Today the technician asked more details about the adoption and where we lived.  When we left she gave both girls big hugs and wished us the best.  It felt like we bonded with her due to all the time and effort that went into collecting these samples over the past three days.   Now, we are just praying that everything is fine with the tests so we don’t have to repeat them!

Following our visit to the lab, we drove directly to the Department of Home Affairs to apply for Thandokuhle’s passport.  The line is usually long and on some days they actually close the line because there are too many people for the office to handle.  So, the social worker from the adoption agency went and stood in line at 7am to make sure we got a spot (the office opens at 8am).  She said that by 7am the line was already out the door and down the staircase.  We arrived a little after 9 and were able to go right in.  (It felt rude to walk past all the people in the line but I was so appreciative of not needing to stand in line for several hours with two little girls).

The Department of Home Affairs is a little like the MVA.  We went to the first counter and said what we needed.  After reviewing some paperwork, the clerk agreed that we could proceed with the application.  Then we went across the room to pay at a different counter.  Then we went back across the room to the counter beside the first one.  There we turned in our receipt and received a numbered ticket.  We waited until our number was called and Thandokuhle got her passport photo taken (They couldn’t adjust the height of the camera for her size so I had to hold her up by her bottom to make her the right height but without being in the photo myself).  Then we waited some more.  Once our number was called again we went to a different counter and the passport application was filled out electronically by another clerk.  And that was that!  I was very happy that the social worker was there to answer all the questions and provide all the documentation.  I only had to show my passport and sign two documents. 

Now the waiting begins.  We have completed everything we can for now and are waiting for the 2-3 weeks it will take to process the passport.

Thandokuhle continues to make great progress with English and she says new words every day.  She knows the names of animals, items in the house, kitchen terms, shapes, and can count to 10. She still struggles with her colors so we are working on that.  Sometimes, there are some funny mistakes, such as “dolfish” instead of “dolphin”.  Miranda thinks “dolfish” is funny and I had to remind her that she’s not helping Thandokuhle learn correctly if she calls them “dolfish”, too.  Thandokuhle’s common phrase now is “Oh my goodness!”  I guess I must say that more than I realize.  Occasionally, there are Zulu words peppered into her speech but the majority is English.   She often answers questions with “no” then “yes” which makes it challenging to know what she really wants.  Sometimes the easiest thing is to show her the choices (i.e. different clothes, food options, etc) and let her point to what she wants.  All in all, we’ve been amazed at the speed at which she comprehending and speaking in English.

Making Progress

We continue to work on our checklist of necessary activities.

Adoption Officially Registered:  complete.

Medical Appointment for US visa:  complete.

Day 2 of sputum testing:  complete.

It was still a bit of an ordeal but it went better than yesterday.  Thandokuhle was reluctant to cough and spit but with coaxing and cheering she did it.  It took multiple tries and the lab agreed to accept the absolute minimum amount of sputum for the sample.  One more sample to go…

Applying for Thandokuhle’s passport:  tomorrow is the big day

The passport is the item that will determine the length of our trip.  The government has up to 13 business days to issue a passport.  We’re praying that Thandokuhle’s comes in less time.

And so the process continues.

Today we had lunch with a family we met at church.  The husband is South African and the wife is American and they have a biological son, an adopted daughter from South Africa and an adopted son from Ukraine.  It was nice to be in their home which had a beautiful view of the bay.  The girls enjoyed playing with their 7 year old daughter and all of her toys.  For the adults, it was fun to hear their thoughts on living in both the US and South Africa. From the mundane: they are a two ketchup family.  He prefers the South African “tomato sauce”, she prefers Heinz.  They served both with lunch.  To the serious:  racial tensions between ethnic groups that continue today in South Africa.  To adoption issues:  preferred techniques for hair care.   International travel is certainly more enjoyable when there are opportunities for personal interactions and visiting someone in their home.

Happy Birthday, Miranda!

Our day started off with lots of spitting.  That’s right, spitting!  Thandokuhle had to provide a sputum sample for TB testing.  She wasn’t allowed to eat before providing the sample so we went to the lab as soon as they opened.  We arrived and the lab technician demonstrated how to cough deeply and then spit in a cup.  Thandokuhle made no response.  She wouldn’t talk and she certainly wouldn’t spit.  I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that this was NOT going to work.  We asked Miranda and Grandpa to come in the room so everyone could demonstrate coughing and spitting.  And still there was no response from Thandokuhle.  We coaxed, we encouraged, we cajoled.  Finally, on the count of three we all coughed and Thandokuhle did too.  Then she spit in the cup and out came the tiniest drop of liquid possible – definitely not enough for a sample.  We tried a few more times and from each cough we got a tiny, tiny drop.  The technician felt our pain and went to check to see if there was enough sputum.  There wasn’t.  The technician gave Thandokuhle some water.  She gave Miranda her own sample jar so Miranda could demonstrate.  We all showed Thandokuhle how to spit.  The technician left the room so Thandokuhle would relax.  We all coughed, we all spit.  Miranda really got the hang of coughing and spitting.  Finally, Thandokuhle started copying Miranda and we all cheered her on.  After many, many tries there was enough spit in the jar for the sample.  She did it!!  Now, we have to repeat the process two more days in a row…

Today is Miranda’s birthday and to celebrate we visited the Cheetah Outreach which is a conservation program that supports cheetahs.  This program breeds sheep dogs to protect flocks of sheep from cheetahs which in turn prevents farmers from killing cheetahs that attack their flocks. We learned a lot about cheetahs and other predators.  The best part is that Miranda, Thandokuhle, and I had the chance to pet a cheetah.  The cheetah was named Ebony and it was a captive bred cheetah.  This organization does a lot of educational programs in schools about cheetahs and the cheetahs are trained to be around people.  In fact, the cheetah purred the entire time we were petting it.  Miranda was very excited that she got to pet a cheetah for her birthday!

Miranda also wanted to go out to lunch for her birthday.  I chose a local pizza restaurant with good ratings for her birthday.  After driving through two different shopping plazas we finally found it, only to see a handwritten note in the window that said  “Pizzamaker is overseas on holiday.  Restaurant is closed”.  Thanks to the gps we found another nearby pizza restaurant.  We drove there only to find that it didn’t open until 5pm.  Who would have thought that lunch could be so complicated! With that we gave up on pizza and went to a little café across the street.  The food and service were good and we were just happy it was open.

On the way home today there was lots of discussion (and practice) in the backseat about spitting.  I believe that I will come to regret that we had to teach Thandokuhle how to spit.

We continued the celebration of Miranda’s birthday with balloons and cupcakes at dinner and a few small gifts.  She was very happy with her South African birthday!

On the other hand, I will say that I lacked patience with Thandokuhle at times today.  She definitely has the defiance of a 3 year old and she will fight to not obey.  Today’s frustrating moment was about her shoes.  After lunch we stopped at the grocery store to buy cupcakes for Miranda’s birthday.  When I got Thandokuhle out of the grocery cart one of her shoes came off.  I wanted to put her shoe back on and she said “no”.  She became a writhing, squirming, kicking, hitting machine lying on the sidewalk as I tried to jam her shoe on.  When I finally succeeded with that one she laughingly kicked off her other shoe and we repeated the process.  I was not a happy mama.  However, as soon as her shoes were on Thandokuhle started crying because she knew she had not been listening.  So, I had to carry her to the car which meant she really didn’t need her shoes on anyway!  What an adjustment!  She is going through a huge transition, learning a new language, and interacting with a new family all at an age characterized by testing the limits.  Praying for patience…