Life After Living Abroad

What a roller coaster our journey has been. Now adjusting to life back at home has been another amazing journey within itself. I came across a blog the other day that a friend had shared on Facebook about how living abroad changes you forever. It really struck a chord with me in so many ways. It was about  returning to your old life after creating a new life and the realization of how much your experience has changed you. I am so grateful for the changes and growth that our journey has brought us.

Repatriation to the USA

Well, it's been a while to say the least since we have updated our blog. Since our last update, we have moved back to the US. As our family and many SA friends know, we were suppose to be transferred to  San Francisco, CA, but last minute changes happen and we were fortunate enough that the change landed us with family again in our hometown of, Pittsburgh, PA.

It was quite surreal leaving South Africa. You don't realize how much a place and people can become home to you, until you have to leave. I was looking back through our blog the other day, and I said to my husband, "Can you believe we did this?". It still seems unreal that we experienced all of these amazing things. There were so many things that we grew to love about SA, and it was the only home our girls ever really knew as they spent three very impressionable years there. It feels like the end of an era. We could have never dreamt that this experience would have been as amazing as it turned out and I have zero regrets. I would do it all aver again in a heartbeat. The hardest part of it all was leaving so many dear friends who have become a family to us all. The kids especially are missing their friends and schools, but have adjusted quickly to the new ones. They are keeping busy with school and tons of activities, such as soccer, dance, and Girl Scouts. Matt is adjusting to his new job, and we have been very busy with home renovations and unpacking/organizing three years worth of things in storage and things that we brought back from South Africa. We had a storage locker full and also brought back twenty-six pieces of luggage along with another five more that Matt brought back at the end of July. Yes, you read that right, lol. I have attached some photos of our move below.

With that being said, it also feels amazing to be home. Especially now that Autumn, my favorite time of year has begun here in Pennsylvania. I am soaking up the cooler temperatures, stunning trees and the scent of October in the air.  Adventures can be amazing, and I am always open for more to come. But, I now have this sense of calmness around me, that I think is a comforting feeling that you can only have when you truly feel at home. Dorothy said it right, "There's no place like home".

So…until our next adventure, I thought this quote seemed fitting.

Here are some photos of a few goodbyes and our move from South Africa to the United States.

      

Kenley's last day of school at Tyger Valley College

 Kenley and Mrs. Gievers

 Gia with her teachers, Mrs. Lisa and Miss Sarah

*Fun Fact- Mrs. Lisa, coincidently is also from Pittsburgh, PA! 

She has since moved to Kazakhstan, to continue teaching there.

 Gia's School, AISJ

Our estate, Silver Lakes

Our last girls night out in South Africa. Miss these girl like crazy!

 Our 26 pieces of luggage

 Saying goodbye to our house in South Africa

 Getting comfy for the 16+ hour flight home

 These kids are pros at traveling now

 Goodbye South Africa

 18+ hours later….we made it to the 'Burgh!

Time to pack it all up again….

Welcome home!

Kenley is now a WHOLE hand!

Kenley turned five yesterday! We cannot believe that the tiny little two year old that we brought over here to South Africa is now five years old. She has officially spent more of her life in South Africa than America. And believe us, she is very Afrikaans. From her accent, to her language, to her habits, she has picked up more from this culture than all three of us combined. We have already been prepping her for the fact that children have to wear shoes at school and everywhere else in the US. Here, most kids and some adults go barefoot, just about anywhere. As soon as the kids get into school, the first thing they do is take their shoes off, even in Winter. Then there are the Afrikaans terms for things that we must teach her, so that things are not lost in translation in the US. They other day, her class was doing a unit on caves, and the teacher asked each child to bring in a torch for the cave that they made in their classroom. Luckily, I have been here long enough to know that a torch is a flashlight. Can you imagine what I would have thought had I not known, lol? She was also very excited that students are aloud to wear their civvies on their birthday to school instead of their uniform. Civvies, means her civilian or normal clothes. Our little girl has a lot to learn from the states and we look forward to seeing America through her eyes.

We had an Ariel birthday party to celebrate. Since we are moving 8,000 miles in about 10 days, I hired (rented) all of the party supplies and entertainment for her party to make as little stress/work for us as possible and still make a special day for her. She loved everything and had so much fun with her little friends. On her actual birthday we also went out to dinner with some friends who are also leaving at our favorite place, Mo-Zam-Bik! We hope that she enjoyed her day.

Happy 5th Birthday to our little Mermaid!

 The Mermaids are all dressed and ready for mermaid games.

 Catching bubbles

 Making mermaid wishes

 Playing "Pass the Parcel"

 Make a wish!

 Birthday dinner at Mo-Zam-Bik.

The Goodbye Plate

We attended Gia's end of the year "Star Show" at school this week. Each grade level did a performance of a song, poem, speech, band performance, or slide show, etc. of their favorite memories of this year at AISJ. It was very nice. At then end, Mr. Joe, the school counselor called all of the students up on stage that would be moving on to a new country the following school year. There were an astounding 64 students this year that will be leaving. When a student leaves AISJ, they receive a "Goodbye Plate", made by students in an after school art program at the school and the school sings the "Goodbye Song", to wish them off well. It was such a bittersweet moment, to see all of these children that Gia has made friends with and us with their families and to see how many of them are off to so many different parts of the world. We will miss them and this school very much and will only have great memories to take home with us.

Playtime with Tiger and Black Leopard Cubs at Mystic Monkeys

We visited Mystic Monkeys Wildlife and Feather Park this past weekend to see the new tiger cubs that they had. This was our second visit to this park.

The tiger cubs were 3 weeks old, super cute and surprisingly loud. We couldn't get enough! We also had the opportunity to interact with 3 & 5 month old Black Leopard cubs, which was a first for us so we were pretty excited. Since living here, I have learned first hand that Leopards are very different cats than lions and tigers. They are extremely strong, mischievous and rambunctious. I was surprised that they were allowing the girls to interact with them. Most places do not let small children interact with leopards of this age. But after we saw what they were capable of,  jumping on other people's heads and backs, we suggested that both girls stay outside of the enclosure. They were okay with it too after seeing their behavior. Gia did come in at the end with the smaller leopard cubs for a few photos, but it was extremely difficult to restrain the cats. The depth of their young roar also drove chills up your spine. Matt really enjoyed interacting with the larger cubs, but they were too strong for me.

We really enjoyed our day here and even though I am not a big monkey fan, the monkeys here are all contained in enclosures, which made me feel better, so even I enjoyed the monkeys.

 The mother was nursing this baby below.

 Even I was so smitten over this baby monkey.

 These roosters and meerkats were all around our table at lunch.

It made me feel a bit uncomfortable as I was eating my CHICKEN sandwich ;)

 Kenley got scratched and decided to leave the pen.

 Close call...

Matt after playing with the leopards.