From Alpine, Utah, USA to Sandton, Guateng, SA

Hello dear everyone!  We are getting settled in our new home in Africa and very much enjoying it!  Though we miss all our U.S. friends, we appreciate the well wishes we've received from you!

Now that we finally have internet capability at our house, we can send this brief photo recap of the past 2 whirlwind weeks...

Mar 12...Jeff returned to Alpine!!!

Mar 15...We bid fond farewell to wonderful friends at an open house hosted by Melanie and Kathleen

 Mar 16...We enjoyed a beautiful dinner with Michele's parents at The Roof Restaurant in 

Salt Lake City

Mar 17...We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with the Barlows

Mar 18...Last Utah LeMon family dinner "until we meet again"

Mar 21...Said goodbye to fabulous schools, Ivy Hall Academy (Kate) and Mountain Ridge Junior High (John), and fabulous friends and teachers

 

Mar 22...After a sleepless night, we were shuttled to SLC International Airport at 4:30am.

Somewhere between Mar 22 & 23...Kate and John made friends in "high" places.

As you can tell, John wouldn't mind one of these business elite seats in his bedroom!

Mar 23 (at least that's what the calendar said)...We arrived at OR Tambo International Airport at 4:30pm.  Here is our awesome driver, Steven, helping us with our NINETEEN pieces of luggage.

This is our new home!

Mar 24...We attended the Fourways Ward.  John was warmly welcomed by the three young men in attendance.  Kate was happy to become reacquainted with her friend Nomthi who we met in October.  I recorded each of our impressions after 24 hours in SA:

• Jeff:  "Africa is so much better with my family here."
• Michele:  "I don't remember moving before and feeling so peaceful about it so quickly."
• John: "Africa is cooler than I even thought it would be."
• Kate: "I like the echo of the house, the playset at the park, and the pool in the backyard."

After church, we walked in the park behind our house and checked out the bird sanctuary.

Mar 25...John tested for Dainfern College (aced it btw, so will start 8th grade here once his SA study permit is approved) and Kate began her trial week of school at North Sands Academy.  ...All of this while overcoming some significant jetlag.  What troopers!  

...We are so happy to be here!  We love our new home and all the people we've met.  Kate has learned that her tennis shoes are "takkies" and is already trying out a new accent.  John has settled into his new room which he calls The Secret Sanctuary and can easily discern the call of the Hadada Ibis.  Jeff truly loves his job.  And I am so happy to feel warmth and moisture in the air, to sit on the veranda and enjoy the garden, and to have my family all in one place again!  We feel truly blessed!!

Sending much love and gratitude for your friendship, Michele

One picture from Luanda

I'm posting a picture I took in Luanda, Angola from my hotel room, because I felt that it highlighted much of the contradictions and conflict that I see in my travels.

In the upper left hand corner, appropriately behind everything else, are all the ships in the oil fields. Although they look peaceful, this is the source of much conflict in Angola, and across the region. I heard, although cannot confirm, that oil was what allowed the government to defeat the rebels in the 38 year civil war. Another contradiction is with the beautiful palm trees that dot the shoreline of the beautiful beaches here.

I was also struck by the cranes that dot the skyline, especially across the top of the picture, with the hopeful feel of growth and support and by the contrast to the slums you see lower center. The slums are everywhere, and everything is so expensive. A 0.5 liter bottle of water was $13 US Dollars! A cheeseburger and fries, $45.00. So much wealth and growth, and so much squalor.

I was also struck by the disparity, and by the DeBeers building (center left). Here is a sign you won't see in the US as it's a cartel that is openly manipulating the diamond markets, including blood diamonds that fuel so much conflict in the region - an open symbol of corruption in my mind.

What other contrasts do you see?


I am a bit behind and owe a post from my last trip to Nairobi and Accra. I'm headed back to the states this week and will pick up my family and then we all come back to ZA!

Hope all is well
Jeff