Our birthday girl turned 10!
I meant to write an update a couple of nights ago, but load shedding has been happening quite often, up to twice a day. Tomorrow (04/21) we are supposed to have three, 2.5-hour times of electricity free time (bleh). Currently, South Africa is in stage 4 (out of 8) of electrical lock down. Cape Town—more specifically Somerset West where we are—is in stage 3, which means two to three load shedding times a day. It really stinks. Tomorrow (04/21) will be at 2 am-4:30 am, 10 am-12:30 pm, and 6 pm-8:30 pm. The worst one is the 6pm-8:30 pm spot because it covers dinner to bedtime.
Yes that’s a sharp knife. It’s a tradition to cut your cake while the other kids at your party scream as loud as they can. No clue why, but that’s how it goes. It’s pretty hilarious.
Phindi celebrated her 10th birthday on Monday! She opened presents from us when she woke up and had a good time doing so. She got a stuffed rainbow filled with unicorned animals (unicorned is now a word) and a bracelet-making kit from Tisetso. Brian and I got her a Polly Pocket, an Anna doll, a Frozen watch, and a beautiful necklace with her birthstone. She was intrigued by the Polly Pocket Brian and I got her as she hadn’t seen one before.
Nana and Pop-Pop singing Happy Birthday to Phindi.
After breakfast and explaining how to read a watch tell the time of 10:30 am, we left to go to Phindi’s former care home to pick up the five oldest girls for a birthday party back at our flat. Because only five (including driver) could fit into our rental car, we ended up also using an Uber van to get everyone there and back.
Phindi admiring her necklace.
The birthday went as follows:
Girls arrive and cause some mild chaos. Brian orders many pizzas for delivery.
Chaos is contained with a craft of Lego Dots bracelets.
Onward (Pixar) was put on for entertainment. No one seemed overly interested. Pizzas arrive.
Pizzas were consumed while the songs from Encanto were sung. “We don’t talk about Bruno, no-no!”
Onward was ditched and Encanto was put on (not surprising).
Cake was cut with only mild screaming and a round of “Happy Birthday” (multiple verses—”how old are you nowww?” and two HURRAHS!
Presents were opened.
Cake eaten, some seconds requested.
Back to Encanto, milkshakes ordered, delivered, consumed.
MAXIMUM SUGAR HIGH.
Took everyone back to the home via rental car and Uber van. (Do you see our timing there? Ha!)
Tisetso enjoyed the party, too.
Phindi’s first flight!
The day after her birthday (Tuesday), we headed to Cape Town. Phindi had never flown before so it was a whole new experience for her. She did such a great job!
Buckled up and ready to go!
Because we have so many bags (hello three-month stay), we decided to upgrade our tickets. This gave us a “bonus seat” in each row of three. It was a dream. We also got priority boarding, row 2 seating, “free” (included) snacks and drinks, and priority luggage handling (meaning it was the first off the plane).
View from above.
Phindi loved seeing everything from so high up. She was enamored with the clouds and the mountains, the closer we got to Cape Town.
Tisetso and Table Mountain
We even got a glimpse of Table Mountain on our descent into Cape Town. It was clear and beautiful out!
Siblings at the beach.
The water was SO cold, but we got used to it quickly. There were actual crazy people swimming in the water!
Another wonderful first for Phindi was getting to see the sea and the beach. Today we visited Tisetso’s former foster mother who now lives in Cape Town. She took us to a restaurant on the because and Phindi was champing at the bit to get on the beach. After lunch, we all took off our shoes and walked two miles along the Cape.
Brian on Fish Hoek Beach.
Tisetso, Tahiyya, and Phindi
We loved getting to spend the time with Tahiyya (foster mother) and her boyfriend. They are wonderful people with big hearts for others. We are so glad they’re in Cape Town and we can see them more in the coming weeks. For now, we will just appreciate that I can do a load of laundry and that the lights are on.