Sometime in the next hour we'll be leaving Hanover for JFK. We'll spend the night at a hotel near the airport. Tomorrow morning we'll head to the airport and at 11:30AM we'll be on a plane heading for South Africa.
We've been blessed by so many friends and family who have hosted us in their homes and fed us wonderful food over the last 3 weeks. It's be wonderful to be able to spend time with them and we hope to return the favor to anyone who finds themselves in South Africa.
This may be last post from the Northern Hemisphere....how weird is that!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Good News!!
We received our passports and visas from the South African Embassy today. This was the last piece that could stop this train in its tracks. So now, while we still have a lot of packing to do between now and Saturday, this is really going to happen!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Rigel Loves Cookies
Each year we really look forward to seeing my cousin Melanie. She and her friend Roger have long been favorites. This year, during the long car trip, we told him all about Melanie, including the fact that she makes some of the best chocolate chip cookies ever. Hence, we named her "cooking Melanie" and wrote a song to the tune to "twinkle, twinkle" with the words "cookie, I want, and chip" (OK, it wasn't very sophisticated).
So, when we saw Melanie at the reunion, Rigel was all to happy to run up to "cookie Melanie". Naturally, this meant when Melanie brought cookies the next day, we were some of the first to receive them- an honor that Rigel and the rest of us greatly enjoyed. His enthusiastic response meant that he received several more bags of cookies as the weekend progressed. This positive reinforcement as again enjoyed by all. Of course, by the end of the weekend, not only did he identify Melanie as "cookie Melanie" he also requested "watermelonie"...a word of his own coinage :). I love this kid!
Visas In Route!!
This morning at 8:10 I received a call from the SA Embassy in DC stating that they had granted my visa and would be mailing Darik's quota permit, my "exceptional skills" visa, and Rigel's visa. Ms Tsoku had never received an application quite like mine before so wasn't sure how to process it. However, she was very kind and professional and after a consultation with the SA embassy in London, she granted my visa. I should receive it tomorrow which is very reassuring! It looks like this is really going to happen afterall....now we just need to pack!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Moving Update
So it's been a busy 2+ weeks. We officially closed on our house, but not after it was delayed for 4 days due to bank/inspection issues. Then off to Hanover where we moved all of our stuff up 2 flights of stairs and a ladder to Darik's old bedroom in the loft (thank you in-laws for letting us put our stuff in your house for 2-3 years). Of course, Darik hurt his ankle playing hockey 4 days before we left and packing your entire house and moving it doesn't exactly lend itself to healing so his ankle has yet to heal....if it's not better when we get to SA then he'll have to get an X-ray...
We then went to Chazy, NY to see my family, then to Albany to spend the night with Aunt Christine and then to Gold, PA for the family reunion. That was a lot of fun. Good to see people I only see once a year and fun to camp with my family...everyone was there which was fun too.
Then back to Chazy for more time with family. Of course, because a 9 hour car ride isn't enough, we got back to Chazy to realize the door lock had broken while we were gone. So, instead of going inside the house, mom, Rigel and myself drive off to the police station to see if they can help us with the door. Meanwhile, Rigel is wondering why we aren't stopping at "Grandma's house". I remind him that police help people and that we are going to the station to ask them to help us. He gets very excited about the "officers" only to have us arrive at an empty station. So, we turn around to head back and Rigel asks if the "officers are helping other people open their doors". We eventually get in the house when I climb in the kitchen window.....
The rest of the visit in Chazy was nice and gave lots of time for conversation with family, visits to Preston's office, finishing up the next two family photo albums, and a bit of downtime.
On Friday we left for a wonderful time with college friends. They had asked a couple months ago if we could all get together in July for a last get together before we left. It was really special to have time to play games, talk, loose badly at minigolf, learn ultimate frisbee, and generally be together. We are really fortunate to have such great college friends...it's been 7 years since I've graduated and we still get together a couple of times a year.
Now we are back in Hanover and have until next Sunday to pack all of our stuff AND, most importantly and scarily, get our work visas. I called this morning and found out that the person that would have processed our request at the Consulate in NY has returned to South Africa and our applications have been sent to the Embassy in DC....5 mailing days before we leave...I'm just a bit nervous.
Other items of note:
Rigel is hilarious and talking up a storm. Highlights include a conversation that went:
Rigel- "where is grandma and campa"
Me- " do you mean grandma and g, g, grandpa?"
Rigel- " no mommy, campa...with a C"
Rigel- long conversations and narrations about everything including the trains at grandma's house, fireworks, deer in the woods
We then went to Chazy, NY to see my family, then to Albany to spend the night with Aunt Christine and then to Gold, PA for the family reunion. That was a lot of fun. Good to see people I only see once a year and fun to camp with my family...everyone was there which was fun too.
Then back to Chazy for more time with family. Of course, because a 9 hour car ride isn't enough, we got back to Chazy to realize the door lock had broken while we were gone. So, instead of going inside the house, mom, Rigel and myself drive off to the police station to see if they can help us with the door. Meanwhile, Rigel is wondering why we aren't stopping at "Grandma's house". I remind him that police help people and that we are going to the station to ask them to help us. He gets very excited about the "officers" only to have us arrive at an empty station. So, we turn around to head back and Rigel asks if the "officers are helping other people open their doors". We eventually get in the house when I climb in the kitchen window.....
The rest of the visit in Chazy was nice and gave lots of time for conversation with family, visits to Preston's office, finishing up the next two family photo albums, and a bit of downtime.
On Friday we left for a wonderful time with college friends. They had asked a couple months ago if we could all get together in July for a last get together before we left. It was really special to have time to play games, talk, loose badly at minigolf, learn ultimate frisbee, and generally be together. We are really fortunate to have such great college friends...it's been 7 years since I've graduated and we still get together a couple of times a year.
Now we are back in Hanover and have until next Sunday to pack all of our stuff AND, most importantly and scarily, get our work visas. I called this morning and found out that the person that would have processed our request at the Consulate in NY has returned to South Africa and our applications have been sent to the Embassy in DC....5 mailing days before we leave...I'm just a bit nervous.
Other items of note:
Rigel is hilarious and talking up a storm. Highlights include a conversation that went:
Rigel- "where is grandma and campa"
Me- " do you mean grandma and g, g, grandpa?"
Rigel- " no mommy, campa...with a C"
Rigel- long conversations and narrations about everything including the trains at grandma's house, fireworks, deer in the woods
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