Wednesday, February 10
Beautiful view from our bedroom this morning.
Today started as the last two have: a sauna in the bathroom and coughing and spitting in a doctor’s office. We were successful for the second day in a row! Because we wanted to encourage Tisetso for his hard work (the coughing and spitting is a pretty tiring process), we decided to have a picnic as a celebration and an incentive to finish well tomorrow. We grabbed breakfast at McDonald’s (more hotcakes). We’re not ones to break tradition and there is very little by way of faster dining that we could find.
We stopped by our lawyer's office to get a few questions answered about the paperwork we had filled out the previous night. While we were talking, Tisetso made himself comfortable in Mr. Brad’s chair and proceeded to draw Jack and the Beanstalk. He also ordered some coffee and told us our work was subpar and we needed to step it up. It was pretty adorable with him sitting in the chair that, for now, is a bit too big for him.
Every professional needs a balloon from McDonald's adorning their desk.
Our plans for the day were to head to Cape Town and go to the rugby museum. Since arriving in South Africa, Brian and I actually watched rugby. It’s pretty great. We also really like the Springboks jerseys and had a hard time finding them in America. Where can one get a Springboks jersey? At the South Africa rugby museum, of course!
Checking how they measure up to rugby players.
Because we got there right after they opened, we were able to have the whole place to ourselves for most of our time there. We bought some jerseys and Tisetso also got a cap (which he has worn once). The museum was interesting. A lot of the country’s history is very intertwined into the team’s history, specifically concerning the Apartheid. With our sport meter pegged for quite some time, we left the museum and walked around the Waterfront.
We walked to the market because Brian had a couple of gifts to purchase. While there, things seemed to melt down. Tisetso was upset with me for reasons unknown, which was hard because there’s no way to address the issue. After Brian had found the gifts, we went to the next big building over where they have a whole slew of food vendors. We ended up with delicious samosas (in several varieties), a vegetarian Scotch egg (oops), and a somewhat gross lamb philo wrap. Brian went back to get more samosas and Tisetso got upset with me for something (it escapes my mind now). When Brian got back, I gladly hopped up to get drinks. I found a new root beer we had never tried for Brian, a creme soda for Tisetso, and a Coke Light (Diet Coke) for me.
It’s been hard for me because, right now, Tisetso favors Brian. I’m sure there are many reasons for this, of which I can think of many, but it becomes difficult because I’m the one working with him most days and doing the unexciting things—getting ready, school, trying to get him to clean up his Lego bricks because I don’t want to step on them, etc. Today reached a breaking point for me.
I was glad to have stepped away from the table for a minute because I got to see Brian and Tisetso having a conversation. I don’t know what it was about, but I had a moment where I saw our family forming; father and son talking over samosas. It helped me press on for the rest of the day.
Sneaky photo during their conversation.
Tisetso had been complaining that his legs hurt for most of the morning. While we were eating lunch, he saw the ferris wheel and said that riding it would help make him feel better. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to make him feel better, we tossed our trash and headed to the ferris wheel. It ended up being a good thing. His mood lifted a little and we were able to enjoy the time on the ferris wheel.
The rest of the day we just laid low. We felt Tisetso had had too much during the day and didn’t want to add anything else to the agenda. While we were resting in the afternoon, we got word that Tisetso’s passport was ready. It came in only five days! We were told it would be 13-15 business days, so we were surprised. The plan is to go pick up the passport on Friday and do the noting of the adoption (officially submitting his name change and starting the process of finalizing the paperwork for the adoption in South Africa).
It took us so off guard we freaked out a little. We have a list of things we want to do in the Cape Town area still. We thought we had so much time left and now, we’ve got a few days. Gah!
I loved getting to see the moon and the fading sunset.