One Year In Africa

September 11th marked our first year in Africa. I cannot believe how quickly this last year has gone. We have been able to see so many things and grow so much as a family it's been amazing. Everyone told us it would take a good 6 months to a year for us to feel settled, and I can say that was completely true for our family. It was a big adjustment for us; a new culture, country, schools, work for Chase, no work for me, it all affected us. Even with the stress of acclimating to this new life, we are so happy we took the leap to come here. Before leaving America Chase and I sat down together and made a list of goals we want to accomplish during our time here in Africa. Some of the goals are for us as individuals and some are for us as a family. Every so often we talk about these goals and see where we are in achieving them. One of our big goals in coming here was to grow stronger and more connected as a family of four. We are blessed to have the luxury of not having to do house or lawn work while living here so we do have more time for us. Chase works long days so it's nice that in the evenings and on the weekends we have time for the kids and each other.  We play more, laugh more, and appreciate each other more and that in itself has been a huge blessing and benefit of this last year. We are finding out what our family of four is really all about and it's so much fun!
For our one year mark I decided to barrow an idea from of few blogs of friends here and ask our family about some of their favorite things in Africa, and here is how we all responded...

What is your favorite thing about living in Africa?
Mitchell: All the Animals!! "I love seeing all the different kinds of Africa animals. It's cool that they aren't in cages."
Spencer: ANIMALS! "especially Elephants"
Chase: Time off from work. "It's different from the states. If I am not at work it's really free time. Play golf, ride bikes, do whatever we want. There's no yard work, no housework, we get to spend time doing things as a family".
Me: I love the weather here! It's fabulous that we can be outside every day of the year here. The summer can be hot, but there is typically always a gentle breeze and a shady spot to keep you cool. As for the winters they a chilly and we did miss our central heating, but if you put on an extra layer or step into the sun you will warm right up!  The climate has helped us to be a more active family also and I love our time outdoors together. We have gotten into golfing, biking, and soon hiking and in general just play play play!

What's your favorite place to eat in Pretoria?
Mitchell: Papachinos "Because it has a playground"
Spencer: Papachinos "cause I like it there"
Chase: Papachinos. Not the best food but just favorite place to eat.
Me: Pretoria has a lot of tea gardens around the city which are typically lovely little lunch places that serve salads and sandwiches. They usually have lovely landscaped outdoor seating and make great places for my friends and I to meet for lunch through out the week. My favorite is a place called Le Vie Liente they have a fabulous lunch and brunch, great to enjoy with a glass of wine or a coffee! I took both my parents and Chase's parents there and everyone loved it. My favorite date night place has been La Brassarie de Paris a cute intimate French restaurant where Chase and I celebrated our wedding Anniversary. I also love a popular place called The Tin Roof which serves a variety of good food set in a beautiful surroundings out in the middle of the country. Finally I too enjoy Papachinos, mostly because its our fall back for the nights I don't feel like cooking or when Chase and I just want to have a drink and talk while the kids play. I will for sure miss this restaurant when we move back and can't send our kids to the playground where there is a "child minder" to watch them play while we relax.

What has been your favorite place we have visited while living in Africa? 
Mitchell: "Krugar because we saw so many different animals"
Spencer:"Krugar because I like Elephants"
Chase: Krugar
Me: My favorite vacations so far have been Christmas in Australia and our Safari in Krugar with my parents. Getting to be with my sister for the holidays was amazing. I am so happy we were able to take the time and go to see her and the family. That was something we wouldn't have been able to do any time soon while living in America. Then the safari was just an all around fabulous experience not only was it wonderful to be there with my parents, but everything from the game drives to the food was the best! It was perfect.

What has been the hardest part about living in Africa? 
Mitchell: Being away from family
Spencer: no comment -
Chase: dealing with rude people... (though we have plenty in America too)
Me: Of course being so far away from family and friends. We miss everyone all the time and hate missing out on so many milestones from births, to birthdays, holidays, and more. That part gets tough and there are for sure days we go through spurts of homesickness. But the wonderful thing about our family and close friends is that we know you all will be behind us and there for us always when we need you. :)

What has been the hardest thing to get use to in Africa?
Mitchell: new schools
Spencer: "nothing"
Chase: The braii... figuring out the braii box and cooking with wood etc..
Me: The time it takes people to get back to you. When you call and leave a message or send an email it's common not to hear about from people for several days or at all. Typically I have to call several times and several different people to get things done sometimes. Also, adjusting to the variety of languages spoken here... the phrase "sorry I am only speak Enlgish" is one I say almost once a day! Also, seeing kids riding in cars without car seats... we are talking infants in laps in the front seat, it makes me soo nervous, especially with the crazy crazy drivers here!

What do you miss most about America? 
Mitchell: "All our stuff, like my toys that we didn't pack"
Spencer: "My kitchen and grandma and grandpa"
Chase: Internet
Me: Convenience shopping. I miss going to one store and getting everything I need for the week! and to narrow it down I miss TARGET the most! :)

What is the first thing you are going to eat when we go home for Christmas? 
Mitchell: "Make our own pizza night" - with our favorite crust
Spencer: "Macaroni and Cheese!"
Chase: A Burrito
Me: Mexican, any of our favorites! Stop number one off the airplane La Fuente Mexcian Restaurant


In a nut shell the first year has had ups and downs, but we feel very blessed to have experienced so many new and exciting things! We look forward our trip back to America at Christmas time and can't wait to see everyone and catch up!
See you all soon! Lots of Hugs and Kisses to all!

Some of our Favorite Days, I have soo many favorite pics it's hard to choose but here are a few:

Biking in the neighborhood

Playing on the beach in Durban

Enjoying the wineries of Cape Town

Grandpa and Grandma Hartz at the Farm Inn

Utterbacks in Klassarie Reserve - Krugar

Golfing with the boys

Just being silly at the house

Mitchell's Ale House: Cape Town Waterfront

Evening Game Drives

The Safari Truck

Morning Coffee with Amarulla 

An African Sunset

What's new

It seems like the last few months have been flying by here, we are fast approaching our one year mark of living in Africa and before we know it we will be returning home for the holidays. I thought I'd take a moment and simply write about some of the fun things that have been going on in our lives the last couple of months.

In July Chase and I went to our first Rugby game. We went with several other couples to watch the Blue Bulls play. The whole idea of Rugby is confusing to me there are different leagues and they seem to play all the time, I can't keep track of when seasons end and begin. The Blue Bulls are part of the SA Rugby Union league and are based out of pretoria, so they are easy to go and watch. They play other South African teams around the country. In August Chase took the boys to a Springbok rugby game which is the National South African team, they play teams from other countries. The afternoon he took the boys they were playing Argentina. I was sick so I missed all the fun, but the boys had a blast and loved being at the game with dad.
At the end of July Chase and I went with a group of friends to watch a local soccer match. Soweto the largest township outside of Johannesburg has two soccer teams The Orlando Pirates and the Kaizer Chiefs and when they play against each other it's a huge match. They held the match at the FNB soccer stadium where Mandela held his first speech, It was later increased for larger sporting events and the World Cup. The stadium holds roughly 90,000 people and the game was sold out! We took a shuttle to the game and as we were driving up we weren't sure what we had gotten ourselves in to. There were people every where and they were more then excited for the game. Before we went to the game we had been told by several local South African's that we would probably be some of the only white people at the game and they weren't joking. White South African's warned us about safety at the event, saying things like we would be targets for pick pockets and violence if the game became intense. But, once we walked into the stadium I think we all realized there wasn't any threat there. Most of the fans thought it was great that we came, and several asked to take pictures with us.  This is just one of the many examples of the racism and division so prominent in this country and the world; white people afraid of black people.. etc. Chase did have an encounter with a pick pocket, but the guy was unsuccessful, he dropped Chase's phone as he tried to run away. The game turned out to be so much fun and we were happy we went for the experience.
We have missed our American sports this year, but have found some good ones to fill the place of Football and Baseball. We haven't gotten into cricket as much, but I am sure we will try to attend a match before we leave here!

 In June we added a new member to the household and decided to get a cat. Friends of ours were moving back to America and were unable to take their cat with them. We decided to go ahead and take her and see how it goes. The boys changed her name to Tiger because of her Black and Gold coloring, but she doesn't really come to anything except "Kitty" and the rattle of her food dish. The first month in our house she was pretty timid and didn't want to interact much with us. However, now that she has gotten comfortable she is your standard house cat. She comes around when she wants attention and lets us know when her food bowl is empty. She tolerates the boys well and seems to be pretty easy going. We miss our Dottie terribly, but can't justify getting another dog while we are here. Though she's no dog, Tiger is a good substitute for now.

Other things happening these last few months, I finally got my own bike and we now can take regular family bike rides. We've had fun riding through the game reserve and before we know it we will all be out on the trails with Chase! I want to start Mountain Biking with Chase and am making it a goal for the next year. I need to over come my fears of falling and getting scraped up, but I figure I've overcome so many fears this last year why not keep going!

In other fitness news we I spent the month of August doing a Pilates Challenge at the studio I got to here in the neighborhood. The Challenge was that we attend 5 classes a week 2 - mat pilates classes, 2 - pilates rebound classes (which is a fun aerobic workout on trampolines), and 1 surprise fitness class. Everyone in the challenge took before and after pictures and there is one winner at the end of the month who can win 3 nights at a beach resort. It's been fun pushing myself to go to all these classes and even though I had a stomach bug in the middle of it all, I was able to make up the classes I missed and keep going. We don't find out the winner for another week, but either way I am happy with the results of the last month, and am going to keep up with it all as much as possible!


Spencer is enjoying being three and is more crazy then ever! He want's to do everything Mitchell does and scares us with his stunts sometimes. He had a musical concert at his school over the weekend in which he dressed up like a bear and danced around the stage with his class. It was pretty funny to see these kids dressed up in their costumes.. the teachers had their work cut out for them that's for sure!

Finally, the biggest news of the last couple of months, Mitchell started Kindergarten at the American school here in Pretoria! Mitchell has been so excited to start at the big school and thankfully is in love with his class. Like all the schools here in pretoria his school is an outdoor/ indoor campus. He walks across campus outside to his other classrooms through out the day. He enjoys having all he various specialties like art, music, and PE, and always has something exciting to share about his day. The campus holds both elementary and middle school children so there is a large mix of ages, but his classroom only has 13 children and every other day has a teaching assistant in the room. This makes for the kids getting a lot of one on one time with the teachers. The School does teach in the common core method, which is under a lot of debate right now, but Chase and I both like some of the principles behind it, so aren't too concerned right now.   I was impressed with his teacher's teaching plan for the year, and enjoy the fact that they have a no homework in Kindergarten rule! With being in an elementary school we have also found out how busy we all can be, there is always something to volunteer for at the school, and I signed up to be a room parent also. Mitchell does golf and swimming once a week after school and we are considering letting him choose a musical instrument in January (piano or guitar), just because we need more on our plate.. haha!

Mitchell with his new BFF Miles, All I hear about in the afternoons is what him and Miles did today

Mitchell at his back to school picnic

Mitchell brought home the class "pet" CoCo the cow for the weekend,
We decided CoCo needed to go for a bike ride with us!

That's the basic news here in the Hartz household we have a few more trips planned before we come home in November, but other wise we are just going about our new normal routines! We hope everyone back home is well and happy and we can't wait to see you all soon!
XOX

Beach Birthdays!

This year Chase and I decided that instead of throwing birthday parties for the kids we would celebrate by taking trips and exploring more of this amazing country!  Spencer and Chase's birthdays just happen to be four days apart so we decided to celebrate their 3rd and 30th this year at the beach! About seven hours from Pretoria is the popular beach town of Durban, outside of Durban along he coast are several other smaller beach towns that are also popular places to stay. Our good friends Chuck and Mandy came along with us on the trip and we found a beach front house in an area called Umdloti that fit us all! The boys do great on car rides and so the journey there was easy. It was much like driving through Kansas to Denver with a few Mountains in the mix.

About an hour outside of Durban is an area called The Meander, which is full of rolling hills and lots of small artisan shops. It's a great place to stop if you have time to look for pottery, artwork, or as Chase found out for us wind chimes. We stopped at a shop on the side of a small mountain known for their hand made wind chimes. The shop is about the size of a large two car garage and you can hear the chimes ringing as you drive up. It's owned by the nicest gentleman who can tell you all about each chime and the sounds they make. When I went to pay I found they do not accept credit cards and he simply said that "it's alright, because people are in too big a rush these days", and he wrote me an invoice to pay when I got back to pretoria. I told him that was very trusting, but thanked him for being so accommodating. 

The Meander is also known for the famous Nelson Mandela capture site, the place in which he was captured before serving his 27 years in prison. Now the site is home to a beautiful sculpture that was put up at the 50th anniversary of his capture. The sculpture is made of 50 steal poles and set at the end of a brick path that symbolizes the "long walk to freedom". Along the path 30 meters from the sculpture you can stop and see the image of Nelson Mandela's head. I thought this sculpture was really impressive it took a lot of careful planning and thought to make it fit together so well. 

 

Once we got to our house it was nothing but relaxation and beach time! Chase and Chuck got to play a round of golf while Mandy and I spent time on the beach with the kids. We were only there for two full days, so it was a lot of sand and good food. I ordered a cake from the local coffee shop to take with us and the first night there we ate at a seaside restaurant and sang happy birthday to the boys!  The house was perfect it was situated on the beach, had a fabulous braii area, and even a pool (though it was too chilly to swim in it). Even though it is the middle of winter,  the day temperatures and the ocean water were both warm enough to enjoy, and because it's off season the beach and restaurants weren't busy at all.  Where we were the Ocean was pretty rough, there were a lot of waves and rocks especially at the beach outside our house. However,  walking distance from our house there was a spot along the beach with a large tide pool protected from the waves by larger rocks. This made for a perfect swimming spot, and when the tide was out we could go and climb along the rocks and look for sea life such a coral and urchins. 

 

The boys LOVED having Mandy and Chuck around to play with them! 

Sunrise from our deck

 

Mitchell asked to be buried in the sand... he couldn't stop giggling!

                                                   

Looking for sea life! 

Dad telling Mitchell about the different creatures and looking for crabs! 

Coral

We all agreed it was a great trip and have added it to our list of repeat vacations!