Moving in

On Saturday, Jason and Malissa decided enough was enough, and moved us out of our hotel room in super-quick time.
We entered our house and instantly everyone was happier. The kids have space to run around, we have space to cook and do laundry and spread ourselves out, and there are no neighbours to worry about when the kids shout and bump their toys into the walls.
Our only obstacle to moving into the house was the fact that we owned nothing – no beds, no linen, no plates… Nothing. Our money was still being held by Visa for two incomplete transactions, so we couldn’t even buy anything. As usual, though, the Benades came to the rescue. Malissa put the word out that there was a family from Africa who had nothing, and the aid came pouring in. Between Jason and Malissa, Malissa’s parents and some of their friends, they practically furnished our house. We got a perfectly good washer and dryer set (that’s washing machine and tumble dryer in South African), a microwave, beds, linen, curtains, coffee table, dining table and chairs, crockery, cutlery, non-perishable food… Malissa’s mother even threw in 2 boxes of cake mix, plus the mixing bowl, whisk and cake tin! And all that cost us not one cent. The house came equipped with a stove and fridge, so we were totally equipped from Day 1. They saved us tons of money, and we are so grateful. We were then able to go buy extras to make ourselves more comfortable. Someone even offered us a TV, but we declined – we still don’t want a TV in our home, not even in America. Especially not in America.
The house is equipped with all the amenities Americans consider standard – air conditioning, gas stove, dishwasher, electric garage doors, bathroom humidity extractors, garbage disposal in the kitchen sink… and no burglar bars or perimeter fences. It’s a bit strange to have the constant hum of appliances as a backdrop to everyday activities – if the dryer is not humming, the air conditioning is, or the bathroom extractor, or the dishwasher. I feel like an electricity monster – we turned our air conditioner off while it’s still so warm.
The kids are having so much fun in the house. They tear up and down the house shrieking and laughing, jumping on all the luggage and linen that were piled up on the floor. They feed each other and imitate each other. Ariane has finally started walking!
We took them to the park behind our house today. It’s beautiful and stimulating and full of kids, and I can see them finding new things to do there every day for at least a couple of months. On the way back home we checked our post box. It’s a lockable box on the corner of our street, along with about 10 other post boxes. There’s a separate box for you to post your mail out, and you can even request the postman to drop stamps in your post box, so you never have to go to the post office! No wonder so many things are done by mail here – the postal system actually works!
We live in a little cul-de-sac, there are only about 6 houses on our road. Today an elderly lady came by on her bicycle (clearly just riding for pleasure) and waved to us as we cleaned out our garage.
We’re still getting accustomed to a lot of things here, but now we’re really starting to enjoy ourselves and have fun.