Time for Mama...

A week has passed since my last entry, and so far I've:
- Learned that bars on the windows is a requirement of the insurance companies
- Discovered that many people migrate down here from far more dangerous South African cities, and they're not comfortable without heavy security
- Nonetheless, I had our security system hooked up to an "Alarm Services" company - if the alarm should go off they would come immediately (better safe than sorry!)

On a less paranoid note, I've also had the opportunity to hook up with other moms. Today I joined a group of Afrikaans-speaking moms for their weekly get-together. They spoke english for me most of the time and were so welcoming and friendly! They've invited me to a special "kindermusik" meeting on Thursdays (tomorrow), where the babies are introduced to music (I'll let you all know how that goes!). I also learned that there's a baby swim class starting in November.

I also began driving on Friday. Tobi went to Cape Town for the day on business, so Lukas and I headed out to the mall in George, where we met two lovely ladies from Johannesburg (they now live in George), who invited us to join them for breakfast. Driving on the "other" side of the road was a piece of cake, and I was happy it came back to me so quickly.

The weather has been horrible, which is a bit depressing. However, Tobi's babysitting for an hour, which has allowed me to come to the Internet café and get this email out. It's my first real baby-free time since we've arrived... which I'm very grateful for! Tobi should be arriving soon to pick me up, and we'll go out to dinner at the hotel (where Tobi stayed for a while... he wants to show Lukas off to the hotel staff).

I'm hoping we can do a bit of an outing this weekend... perhaps head into the mountains for the day. That will help me to stay positive about this move. It truly is beautiful here, but we miss the safety and security of Germany and the U.S... and of course our friends and family! Oh, but another thing I love about life here is that nearly everyone is baby-friendly. In nearly every café we go into someone offers to take the baby for a few minutes while we eat... and Lukas loves it! I would never do that in the U.S., but it just feels right here, and they're all crazy about him!

I guess that's all for now. I hope I can share a bit more with you next week!

Love,
Elise / Liz

P.S: Lukas had his first doctors appointment today. We love his doctor and he seems very knowledgeable! I was a little worried about a couple bumps on his arms, but the doctor thinks it's just flea bites and suggests we have the house treated for bugs/fleas.