The last stretch

Today (28 Sept), in three months we will be touching down on OR Tambo. Imagine touching down on OR Tambo! The poor man must be turning in his grave.

(I have written a whole post from here on, posted it, and lost it, so here is the second attempt. I am sure it will be totally different from the first attempt, but you will never know...)

The wheather is getting better her. Days are still warm (upper 30's) but they are a little less humid. Evenings are great and power cuts do not bother one when you have a large full moon rising over the mountain, and you can sit outside by the pool, talking the night away with or German friends, Wolfgang and Julia, who have come for a 10-day visit. I am a social animal and I became aware of how lonely it can be in a different country, when you do not have an establishd social network. I suppose that a lot of the negativity in the previous post was a result of me feeling isolated here.

I realized that my last post was a little negative, so I hope this one creates a little balance. I suppose things get better when you have less uncertainty about your future, even if the future is a little bleak at this point. I will always remember Mrs P, a remarkable patient I saw in 1 Mil, the first year that I worked there. She was diagnosed with brain cancer, but for years doctors couldn't tell her whether it was terminal or not. This caused her to be anxious up to a point where it affected her day to day functioning. She was a very intelligent, high functioning woman. She was refered to me to help her cope with the diagnosis. A humbling experience for a novice with little real life experience at that stage. I think it was during the third session that she mentioned that the doctors finally confirmed that the tumour was malignent and that she was probably going to die in the next three moths. i was shocked and scared that I might not have the skills to deal with such heavy news therapeutically. But, my fears were unfounded - not because I was a 'great natural therapist', but because Mrs P anxiety was gone. She knew what she could expect from life and she could live it to the fullest within the limitations set by the disease. Mrs P is one of the many remarkable people that I have met as a therapist and from whom I could learn a great deal. I suppose the trick is to be able to apply their teachings in one's own life. Not an easy thing to do. But befor I digress too far, lets get back to the business of getting back to South Africa. Certainly this is one area where a few life lessons could come in handy.

Having finally realized that there is no possibility for us to stay longer in Cyprus, we can now start planning our new life in South Africa. It is quite important for us not to return to exactly the same life and lifestyle we had there. I think on a philosophical level that is impossible and on a financial level it is totally out of the question. I sometimes wonder wht SA will look and feel like when we come back. I asked my American colleague, Bob, via email, after he returned to Iowa in June, how Iowa and Cyprus have changed for him, based on his experience in Cyprus. His rather boring, bland American realism answer was that neither had changed and he loves both. If theat were true, it is rather sad. Why travel, live, experience anything then? I suppose one does not only look out for changes, but also for the things that remain the same. Those could proof to be the biggest surprises!

As some of you may know, one of the biggest challenges would be to redefine our working lives, so that we feel less trapped and earn more money. Exactly how it will work, we are not 100% sure, but we are trying to put plans into place to make the balance sheet work out better than it did before. (I will not go into the details of our plans on this forum, but we hope that something meanigful will emerge for both me and Jenne-Marie.)It will obviously take some time, because, for example, just getting (a) car(s) will set us back initially. So, all, start looking out for cheap and reliable runabouts for us!

In the mean time we will make the most of our last three months in the Med. Charl and Gene, Jeanne-Marie's parents are coming on Thursday for about two weeks and the children are reallylooking forward to it. Like Selma's visit, it will be a little disrupting for them, especially Danny, but I can see how he blossoms when he is among friends and familiar people.

Danny and Isabella, mercifully, both love school. Danny is in reception (Gr 0) for this semester. We have registered him for Gr 0 in South Africa for next year, but if he does well and pass the tests and so on, we might even send him to GR 1. The problem is that his birthday is on such an impossible date (21/12)for going to school!

While I am chatting away about Daniel, he is a remarkable boy. He thinks deeply about things and sometimes I fear he can become too philosophical. Where he gets all his ideas about good and evil from, I don't know. Perhaps one shouln't read Narnia to children before they are at least 12. But we've stoped that now. The other day Danny said that perhaps he was not going to grow up to be a man. instead he is going to grow up to be a deck of cards, and each card will have a new idea on it and these cards will just come out of his head. Weird! I also love to listen to Daniel talking. He is very eloquent and tries out new big words on a daily basis. Its amazing how much he has grown in a year and I am sure that those of you who knew him, will see a huge difference.

Same with Isabella. She has a remarkable talent for music. She sings complex songs and tunes that she heard only once before. I really hope we can harness her talent. She loves drama and acting. She started ballet classes yesterday and loves it. She is also extremely stubborn and can be very naughty at times, but she is a little hero! At three-and-a half she is becoming "one of the guys" and we have to see that the slightly older children don't exclude her from their games. Daniel is usually very good with this, but sometimes the bull in the china shop approach of Isabella's is a little disruptive for games where rules are important.

I often wonder how much the kids will take with them of this adventure. Danny will probably remember more. He doesn't want to go back, but I think he will adapt quite quickly again. Both of them have become great travellers. We spent 9 days in Turkey and despite being dragged to ruin after ruin by their nerdish parents, they complained very little. The visit to the Toys-R-Us in Istanbul may also have helped a bit.

I will write a bit more aqbout Turkey some other time and also post a few photographs. Suffice to say, it is a wonderful country and everyone should visit it. Wow! what an experience.

Till next time,
Totsiens