Chapter 2..

The days after the Chandlers and Daveys left were hard for us. No playmates, anticipation of school and a few hot, hot days. Three days before school began, the girls got hit by a really ugly stomach bug. REALLY ugly. We documented it but noone wants to see the footage of the wreckage. Fortunately, self-proclaimed Dr. Mom managed to find enough homeopathic remedies we were spared the need for paid professionals. Some of us like you people more than others! The mere thought of doctor visit makes one of us even sicker!

Once the kids were well, we thought we'd distract the anxiety of the start of school by going surfing but it was too windy (even for the kite!) and there was a fatal shark attack at the beach (bad visibility for shark spotters, he was alone swimming in a school of feeding fish about 100m off shore, and in an area known to attract great whites!) The whole thing was terribly unfortunate. Anyway, this is Lyle and her friend Kirsty, whose mom is the Librarian at their school. Sadly, since that day our kids have yet to even dip their toes in the water and that was a week ago. Not sure they are going in anytime soon. Sharks have been seen with high frequency these days but where we swim, 3m from shore, in front of lifeguards, with 50,000 other people, in knee deep water, we feel pretty safe.

School began and we were 1 hr late on the first day due to massive traffic. The amount of exhaust from cars here makes NOONE wonder why our greenhouse gases are polluted. I will need a detox from just THAT when I get back. Yet, hit the beach and the air is perfectly salty and fresh. Anyway, school has gone very well. This picture is from that very first day. Molly in 7th, Lyle in 6th grade. Sports start today and they are all decked out in their Herschel uniforms, even down to the pool flip flops. They swim in gym class - how cool is THAT? Though it is an all girls school, Herschel is like the Groton of Cape Town. (OK, biased Hope waxing poetic here...) Steeped in tradition, exceptionally high standards in and out of the classroom, a gorgeous campus, very competitive admissions and superb matric results. In fact last week, as the matric results were made public, Herschel was named the #1 school in all of the Western Cape. All of their grade 12 pupils (matrics) have become eligible for top admission to university. Herschel was in close second place last year, with the coordinate boys school being #1, by a small margin. All of this is to say that we are thrilled and priviledged to be a part of this fine institution.

We collected most of their uniforms a few weeks back and in the school store, met a lovely woman who offered us a tour of the Cape Town harbor on their 33 +/-ft yacht. Tough offer to refuse, so we arranged this past weekend to go for a sail. Shirley and her husband Theo would be our Captains for the day on their yacht, Nautibouy, pronounced "naughty-boy". It was a hot one and the seas weren't suitable for wind sailing - too flat - so we motor sailed and got tremendous views of Table Mountain, Lion's Head, The 12 Apostles, the Soccer Stadium, the chic neighborhoods of Mouille Point, Clifton and up close encounters with dolphins (seen here), seals (sunning in the harbor as well as in the ocean), penguins and a few humongous sunfish as they circled and played alongside our boat. While it looked so calm, and it was calm (See any white caps? There were none!), somehow I managed to feel a bit queasy. For a few hours, I WAS the new green or was it my fleece reflecting? I have never been much of a sailor, ( I get seasick in a bathtub!) but I did have a great time. Shirley and Theo are incredible people and I took to Shirley at our initial meeting in the school store like she was my local Ann Alexander. Her husband, Theo, is a true seaman and a passionate SA who knew everyone in the harbor AND every boat at sea. If those qualities don't remind you of Charlie Alexander, what does? They took exceptional care of us and we are deeply grateful and look forward to our next activity with them.

We braai'd that night with our new friends, Rod, Zoe and their son Hektor and their pet geese. Rod and Zoe are squash friends - a connection made thru my US Squash Teammate Natalie Grainger. We swam and talked squash and kids and inventions. Hektor is 2 and swims and hits balls, rocks, pretty much anything with his racquet. He's great on his tricycle, as well. We will see more of them, both on and off court.

Dave and I attended an information session on a literacy program (http://www.theshinecentre.org.za/) in the public schools. We go back late in the week for extensive training and hope to get going as our time here is short.  The program works with 2nd and 3rd graders in the public schools. Half of the class, so about 25 out of 50, are learning - LEARNING - their ABC's. Second grade, people. And there are TONS of schools that can benefit from these services and this program is growing but is run entirely by volunteers.  We hooked into it thru some friends of friends - a Williams/Harvard couple with a kid who did Overland last summer. Sounds like us, eh? There are some amazing Americans who have moved here to do important work - and there is much to do. Another one, started by Williams folks, is Mothers2Mothers...More on that in a future blog...

Dave and I have been TOTALLY impressed with our kids ability to "go with it" at school. They are up against newness everywhere and have handled it beautifully. Note - perfection would be wrong, they have had ups and downs, but very few extremes.  The Head of their school has a daughter, Emma, in Molly's grade and they have been absolutely sensational to us - looking out for our every need. They even took us to a Fire Your Desire place last weekend and we all sat, chatted, painted and ate gigantic pieces of chocolate cake. It was a great mother-daughter experience! We took Emma to the beach one day last week and she and Molly built this enormous drip castle.

We are planning ostrich burgers for lunch as the kids wont touch the bird and demand to see the packaging when I claim we're having burgers and Dave lights the braai. Kids are now LOVING samosas, which is excellent because I have to pack lunch every day for them and this is a nice change from chicken wraps!

My sister Sandy sits in Guatemala watching the earthquake monitor, sister Blair is airborne on route to New Zealand to "WOOF" (world organic farming) for 2 months and brother Wally has landed in Florida for his family's dose of winter warmth. Dad reports the daily weather from his station (a.k.a the woodstove with dog at his feet!) in Westport, MA. Dave's parents and sister are also doing well. We are hoping for a visit from Dave's sister Sue in March!

For you Bostonians, 2 dates of note: May 7 - 10, I will be playing a WISPA squash event in Natick (hopefully bringing my SA "A" game and May 15th is a BroadBand gig in Newton. I will have liscensed SA World Cup gear to raffle off. Hope to see some of you!

That's about all for now. - Hope