First Few Days

  

It seems a little odd that one year ago I was nearly in the same place. I came to the Pretoria area last 4th of July to visit some friends of my DH’s. We stayed at their house and saw some of the countryside, animals and city life here in Pretoria. Temperatures seem to be a bit warmer this year than last… Our 4th was very quiet and that is a good thing. Before we left our neighbors were celebrating at odd intervals with fireworks that they are not supposed to have or fire off in residential neighborhoods, but of course the rules/laws don’t apply to them. It is the one thing I WILL not miss living here.

We spent the morning changing rooms. Last night someone and their large party checked in at 1 a. Noisy would be putting it nicely and would be a quiet description of the noise. I don’t think they met a door they didn’t slam, understand the concept that there were other people in the world at the same time they were or even the notion that the rest of us didn’t care if they were here or not. So we didn’t get back to sleep until after 3:30 and slept straight through until 9:30. So we missed breakfast!

I asked the front desk to move us to a quiet room at the back away from other guests, which they very kindly did. All the rooms are good sized. They have an entry hall that is wide with a small table for 2 and tucked behind doors is a little kitchenette. Complete with a sink and drain board, counter and small electric appliances such as a toaster, electric kettle, dorm size refrigerator and microwave. They also include some dishes and utensils. We brought with us a French press to make coffee, otherwise it is instant coffee and we just don’t like the stuff.

The main room has a small desk area, a sitting area with a TV and of course a bed. The closet is an armoire. This bathroom is larger and has a better layout. We traded a shower/tub combo for a tub and separate shower. MUCH better. We have a sliding glass door and very small patio, but we face a wall so it is much more private as well.

Tomorrow we have been invited to a day after BBQ. It is someone my DH works with and I have not met them yet. I have had a call from a Piecemaker (a local quilt/needle group), Jan and she has graciously offered to show me about on Tuesday and pick me up for the Piecemakers meeting on Friday. My Wednesday will be getting my ID and a couple of briefings on “how to” when living in a foreign country.

On Saturday we went to see the dog and cat… and are they really tired of strangers. The cat gave me the evil eye and wouldn’t even get out of the cat bed, but then I gave him some love and scratches in his favorite spots and he was a ball of purr. He even ate, he had the kennel folks worried because he hadn’t eaten. Axel on the other hand ate an entire bowl of food and was happy to see us and then began a scent search of the exercise pen…. And that was that. He was very upset that we were leaving him there though. I hope the month goes by really fast and we can all be together again.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable 4th of July!!!