Assorted Adventures

Here's some news from our last few weeks!

We received this notification email from our credit card company:

This is an Alert to help you manage your credit card account ending in 0731.

A charge of ($USD) 8776.63 at SHANE FOUNDATION ... has been authorized.

We aren't exactly sure who the "Shane Foundation" is.  But we are sure we no longer have a credit card account ending in 0731.

Jeff thinks his card may have been double swiped when he took Kate to the local McDonalds.  (In John's and my opinion, just another reason not to eat there!)

Mother's Day was wonderful with breakfast and presents in bed (by John & Kate) and BBQ steaks (by Jeff) for supper out on the patio.  I spoke in Sacrament Meeting and we had the missionaries over for dinner and let them use our Skype and OOMA phone to talk to their Moms for Mother's Day.  It was a fun day!

  I was nursing a minor concussion and am still battling the resultant headaches but they are getting better.  (Thank goodness, no picture for this one!).  Otherwise, we are all in good health!

Kate had her first cross-country meet vs. 2 other schools.  She came in 2nd for the girls!!  As her Dad says: "that girl's got wheels!"

John turned 13 so we now have a teenager in the house!  We took breakfast burritos, smoothies, and cake pops for John's early-morning seminary class (held at Mendozas' home).  This photo shows Nathan and John showing off the leftovers.

Accompanied by Caryn, we went to Turn N Tender for John's birthday supper.  Yummy steak fillets (pronouced Fill-Lets)!

So below is a picture of me showing how many times I've now visited the SA Revenue Service office.  Yes, you can see the outside queue that feeds the inside queue that feeds into a huge room where you at least get to sit down (but you're now in your 3rd queue if you're counting) to wait until your number is called so you can talk to someone who will give you different information than the last person did.  Today I was helped by a really nice guy who explained to me that "when the people at that desk say your paperwork will be processed in 21 days, it is not the same as when I say it will be processed in 21 days.  My 21 days means something different than their 21 days."  I found that very helpful and will return in his "10 days" to try again!

And here is a link to the volunteer organization I've joined.  I help teach English at a school in Diepsloot, a nearby township each Monday morning and I LOVE IT!!  The children are taught in their native languages until 3rd grade when English is introduced--and that's where we come in!  John joined me when he was off school a few weeks ago and here's a writeup he provided per their request (at home page, click on EduFun tab and scroll to bottom of page to see John's pic and paragraph)...

http://www.edufunsa.co.za

This is Susan, our "domestic" (to use the vernacular here).  She comes Mondays and Thursdays from Diepsloot to clean for us.  She is from Zimbabwe ("Zim").   Kate loves to help Susan clean and when not at school, can often be found sweeping or scrubbing with Susan!

Thinking of our friends all over this challenging, beautiful, crazy, wonderful world.  Keep going!!  We love you and are grateful you are in our lives!!!

XXOO, Michele & Family

Happy Mother's Day

This is a posting that we are putting up to celebrate all the beautiful women who have blessed our lives:

Mother's Day Video

Big World/Small World Days

So, when we first arrived, the kids attended a couple weeks of school and for the past two weeks, they have been off school.  They have one more week of holiday, and then they will begin Term 2 next Monday!  (School goes January to December here).

While we delay getting into a routine, it's actually been fun to set up our lives.  We joined Virgin Active Health Club where John will swim 4 days/week.  Kate signed up for horseback riding at Chartwell Stables.  (She made her first jump there and was very excited)!  Kate will do cross country running and occupational and physio therapy; John will do cello lessons, orchestra, and a service club.  Oh yeh, and we hope they will also do their homework!

In addition, we found a good place to buy meat (did you read what was discovered in store-brand "mince" here?) and a farmer that delivers organic produce.  Our pictures are hung and plants are potted.  Michele has unpacked, obtained our TV license, set up an account at a video store (since internet streaming is impossible), found barbers, hairstylists, doctors, dentists, and some yummy restuarants.  However, after 3 unsuccessful hours at the SA Revenue Service, she still has not been able to secure her own tax ID!    Despite being initially very upset at the SARS inefficiency, she came to peace by accepting that it's all just about expectations.  She is learning to adjust hers.

...We're settling into life here!

John has been given the green light to begin attending seminary when school resumes.  He will study the New Testament every morning from 6-7am at a home near his school and then walk with his classmates to school which starts at 7:25am.  He's excited and we're happy for him to have this great opportunity!

Kate continues to make friends wherever we go.  Saturday, we were at a Mandarin restaurant and after she ate, she went over to observe the fish in a big tank.  Within minutes, there were four other children gathered around and she was telling them everything from Khabarovsk to Alpine.  So many people comment on her cheerfulness and beauty.  We are so thankful she is settling in so well here!

We feel abundantly blessed.  The people are so warm and kind.  The weather is gorgeous.  We have no sense of the seasons though:  we left Utah in WINTER/spring and have arrived in SA in summer/FALL.  Since everyone here is talking about the impending winter, we've decided it must be September.

Here are some great outings we've had exploring Joburg and surrounding areas:

Bryanston Market, Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens

At the top of the Witpoortjie Falls (Lethe-goes to school and church with John.  She moved here from Ghana right before we arrived,  Kate, John, and Caryn-our amazing and gifted au pair who moved here from Cape Town to work with us)

 Lifestyle Garden Centre

Cradle of Humankind 

Reptile World

Putt Putt Golf, Build-a-Bear at Sandton Mall

And just one more...A small world event:  Yesterday at church, we met this young man named Will (pictured here with his mom).  Will's parents moved here a few weeks ago.  He will be here for a month and then head to a church mission in LA, Spanish speaking.  It was fun to learn that his Teacher's Quorum advisor was my brother Steven and his Sunday School teacher was my sister-in-law Denise in Overland Park, Kansas, USA!

Hope your world is feeling small, but not too small and routine, but not too routine!
Love, the Stitts

Tight Left, Wide Right

Yes, we are learning to drive in South Africa!  And our mantra for making turns is "tight left, wide right."  Staying on the left side of the road has proven to be the easier part.  More challenging is recognizing that taxis (actually minibuses, which are everywhere) will make 1-2 lanes where they do not exist, run red lights, speed on ancillary roads, and go slow on the highway.  Driving is an adventure here!

We're so glad the primary language is English (though a different English than our ears are familiar with) and that the people are super warm and friendly.  Still there are adjustments every day:  Get to bed earlier since the day begins around 5am.  Accept that we may have days in a row when the internet is not working (and therefore no email and no VOIP phone...sorry to those of you who have also found this frustrating!).  "Brown" sugar is not "brown sugar."  And no electricity in the bathroom means Michele was very grateful yesterday when Jeff bought an extension cord so she can blowdry her hair in front of a mirror again!

The days have been jam-packed since we last wrote!

Kate has made a new friend named Kate, also an expat!  She is a church friend
and neighbor!  

Kate, Kate & Kate's little sister at neighborhood Easter egg hunt

Kate continues to love school!  She can shed her shoes as soon as she's on the grounds and she loves the chickens and rabbits running around.  She is in a class of six boys and holds her own.  You can picture that, can't you?

John started 8th grade (high school, oh my!) at Dainfern College 

http://www.dainferncollege.co.za

Downside:  uniforms required.  UPSIDE:  digital tablets required!  This is a photo from leadership week when the G8's hosted preschoolers from a local creche:

We received our boat shipment on April 4!  It was by far the best unpack we've ever had.  I was amazed that without written instructions, Khulumbani and his team could put together every bed and bookshelf--their boss says it doesn't matter if it was made in Germany or Finland or China or US--"they are just clever."  When the movers left after two days, more than half our stuff was already where it was supposed to be.  Yipee!!

We go to church with the Sixishe (the "x" is a tongue click) family.  Their three daughters came for a visit last week and regaled us with stories of their time at Queens College in the Eastern Cape.  We laughed for three hours straight!

 Michele, Sipetile, Alu, and Pumza

South Africans say we had the unusual good fortune of getting several items working at our rental house already:  garage door, security system, cellular repeater box.  However, we're still waiting for our landline to be repaired and trying to get Michele added to the local bank account has proven to take much longer than initially forecast.  Also, Jeff is still experiencing the painful process of registering the car he bought.  Here he is with Lulu Von Merveldt, our awesome relocation specialist, heading out yet another time to the driver's licensing center.

We have learned that when people say something will happen that day, it means something else.

...Ah well, it's Africa, as they say!

A family from church, the Klintworths, invited us over Thursday after school.  They live on a big country estate in the town of Kyalami.  They have 5 horses, 3 dogs, 1 cat, a pond, cricket pitch, large putting green, stables, house, 5 kids and 2 grandparents!  We had so much fun!  Their daughter Rebecca is Kate's age and sons Kyle and Angus are just a little older and a little younger than John.

So to wrap up this post:  YES!  We are learning to drive in South Africa!  And the best way to learn is by experience.  So here's a story:

(Michele) I was driving John to school on Tuesday.  It's only 4.5km away BUT we have to get on William Nicol Parkway (main artery into Joburg) which is currently undergoing construction and is sometimes down to just one lane.  Cars sit bumper to bumper in the mornings.  Taxis pull off onto the dirt walking paths (sometimes 2-deep) and speedily bump down them then pull in front of people waiting to turn.

Such was the case on Tuesday.  I was sitting at the intersection of Peter Wenning Street and William Nicol waiting to turn left as soon as the 2 taxis wedged in front of me were able to merge onto Wm Nic.  And bump!  The car behind me simply ran into me.  I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a mom and her little boy and thought, "they're probably headed to Dainfern too!"  Actually, she is a teacher at Dainfern!  Her car sustained a lot of damage to the front end, but my car looked unharmed!

Nevertheless, this event made me late for "coffee" with the parent rep (Alice) from Dainfern.  She and several other moms hosted Mavis, a Brit named Stella, and me at a cafe near the school.  As Alice came  to the school to pick me up, she rushed toward me and gave me a big hug and kiss on the cheek.  At that, I burst into tears!  It was the first time I've cried since getting here and I think the morning's challenges and her kindness created the perfect storm so I could let it all out!  She was so great and told me she cried through her whole first meeting with her parent rep when she moved here 2.5 years ago.  I managed to pull myself together by the time we reached the cafe and had lots of laughs and got loads of helpful information from the other moms there.

I spent the rest of the day trying to deal with the accident.  Because I was driving the GE car, I had to file a claim.  That seems like it should be a straightforward process, but see paragraph 9 above.  

Also, I needed to file a police report within 24 hours and fortunately our wonderful au pair Caryn (who deserves an entire post all for herself and will get one soon!) knew where a police station was and accompanied me.  Picture an open air, small office with officers standing at a counter calling upon a free-form line of people.  Picture through the open door behind the counter:  jail cells opening into a courtyard.   I sat down with a nice constable who filled out a 4-page form by hand (flashback to Russia!).  Fortunately, the women at breakfast had told me to bring the requisite black pen!  Kate enjoyed watching the comings and goings and made friends with everyone waiting in the que.  It was actually a much more pleasant experience than I expected it would be!  ...And look at all I learned that day.  First on the list:  I am very fortunate to even have my own car!

(Some important things to note in photo above:  No damage visible on bumper.  Even if I never tow anything, I now understand how good it is to have a hitch here.  And the "L" for "Learner" decal was given to me by my driving instructor who said it will keep other drivers a few extra meters away from my bumper.  Haha!  

Guess we saw how well that worked!)

That morning, I had received an SMS from Jeanine Haskell at church.  She said she was bringing dinner that night.  When she arrived at the door, it was late and I had just returned from the police station.  When I saw her there, I burst into tears again.  I said "it's been a hard day."  She said "I just had a prompting this morning that I should bring you this food."  She had no idea about anything that had happened, but God did.  He knew I would need help and He knew she would listen and provide it.  It was a tender moment for both of us.  

That is what I know.  We are known to God and He is watching over us!  

Until next time--Tight Left, Wide Right!  Love, Michele

Our First Game Drive!

For the long Easter weekend, our family went to the Kwa-Maritane Bush Lodge in Pilanesburg National Park.  We had an amazing experience!

This is a video Jeff and Kate made for her 2nd grade class back in Utah, and we thought you might like to see it as well.  (The students each studied a particular African animal in February/March, thus the references in the video).

This is just a little preview for the folks who might come visit us (hint, hint!).  

Love, the Stitts

Click link below:

Safari Video

(Link to the park website:  Pilanesberg web site)

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