Day 4: Traditional South African Braai

Hello from Joburg!  Today was another excellent day!  It rained through the night and was cloudy in the early morning, but cleared up just in time for us to play catch after breakfast!  Today was pretty warm, I would guess 75-80.  Don’t worry, I had sunscreen on J  After catch, “N” wanted to watch Despicable Me during which I took the opportunity to get ready since I am slow.  Once everyone was ready, we headed to the store for a very important item, a soccer ball!  We also had a few other random things we needed to pick up while we were out.  We headed back to the guest house for lunch and then out to the garden for soccer!  We played soccer until it was time to head to Auntie Bev’s house for our traditional South African Braai (barbecue). 

It began to rain on our way to Auntie Bev’s house, which was a major bummer since she has a swimming pool, but it did clear up pretty quickly after we arrived, so the kids were able to go swimming after all.  We had the opportunity to meet Bev’s husband and children, as well as Oma and Opa who gave "N" a present!  The food was excellent!  We had chicken kebobs, ribs, and a South African meat that reminds me most closely of bratwurst (they told me the name of it more than once…..cannot remember!), two versions of pap (looks like mashed potatoes, but tastes stickier – it’s very good), and a South African salad which actually has no lettuce in it.  It was made up of cherry tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, olives, and a crumbly cheese (like feta).  It was so nice to be able to experience a home-cooked traditional South African meal and spend time with Bev’s family.  Bev and her family have known “N” since he went into care several years ago.  He actually lived with them for about a year, so they know him very well and we are so grateful for all that they did to shape him into the young man he is today. 

While at Bev’s, we also had the opportunity to watch a rugby match on TV.  I have seen very little rugby in my life, so I had a lot of questions. J  I don’t understand why people would want to knowingly put themselves in a position to have the wind knocked out of them with absolutely no padding on.  They, however, seem to enjoy it….so to each their own.

From there we headed back to our guest house, “N” read from the Bible, and he headed off to sleep.  He ran a lot today, so he was pretty exhausted.  While we were at Bev’s, I was picking up some wrappers from the candy that “N” was eating and went to the kitchen to throw them away.  Johan (Bev’s husband) asked me if I was picking up after their kids and I said “No, just mine”.  Three simple words, but it caused me to stop for a minute and repeat myself.  No, I am picking up after my child.  My child.  Something so simple makes it hit home more today.  He is our child.  Our amazing, kind-hearted, thoughtful child.  When people tell you that once you finally get to meet your child all of the frustration along the way doesn't matter anymore – they’re so right!  I would do it all over again in a heartbeat to have that moment to say I am picking up after my child.

Tonight, Kevin and I are praying that we will be able to sleep through the night.  Our first night here we were exhausted and had no problem sleeping.  The last couple nights, however, we have woken up around 2AM SA time and really struggled to fall back asleep.  Of course, with “N” spending his first night with us last night, we weren't sleeping soundly to begin with.  At about 3AM last night, we heard a thud and “N” had fallen out of bed.  I went to help him back in and we asked if he was okay.  He said “I’m fine, I just fell out of bed” and proceeded to get back in bed and fall right back to sleep.  It was so sweet.  Duh mom, I just fell out of bed. J

Tomorrow, we will be going to “N’s” church.  Can’t wait to experience God in a whole new way here in SA.  Thank you for all your prayers and encouraging posts!!  I apologize that we haven’t responded to many of you, but as you can imagine, we want to spend every moment possible with our precious boy. J  We do read them and they mean the world to us.  We are the most blessed parents ever to have such an amazing group of family and friends!

Laura and Kevin