Home at Last!!!
Trip Start
Jun 07, 2008
1
189
191
Trip End
Jun 28, 2009
Where I stayed
Llandudno
Nantucket
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
A lot has happened since my last post, but the good news is that I have officially moved to South Africa with my family!!!! We have been exactly a month on Sunday, and it is great to be back in the place where I was born!
Here is a short version of what has happened since September 2009:
* We moved to a great five-story townhouse in New York City, on Minetta Street, in Greenwich Village. My room was on the bottom floor, and there were lots of people walking by at night, but I liked the house a lot!
* I started PS3 in grade 4, Beth Barbaro's class. The first day was tough - I did not know anyone. But by the second day, I met my best friend Ray, his twin brother Sam, Ralf, Wiley, Nic, and loads of other friends. Overall, I really liked PS3. I danced in a show to the song from "Slum Dog Millonaire" (Ji Hao), I played in a marimba band, and we went on lots of field trips all over the city. That was cool. I was actually sad to leave.
* I turned 10 years old on December 20, 2009. I celebrated by having my class go on an ice skating field trip and I invited a few of my friends to see the movie, "Invictus" about South Africa winning the World Cup in Rugby, and then we hung out. I will miss my NYC friends but I will see some of them in the Catskills because they have houses there. My cousins came for my actual birthday and there was a HUGE snowstorm (over a foot of snow) so we had got to explore New York in a blizzard.
* My sister turned 5 - she had a parade for her birthday. She really liked her school, The Blue School, a lot.
* We had lots of visitors to New York - all my grandparents, my cousins on both sides, and friends too.
We celebrated Christmas at my Gramae and Pop's house, which I loved! They have a huge tree and lots of great gifts and food. Of course, my Gramae made me a special chocolate cake!!! And we had a Christmas play. I was Joseph.
On December 28, we packed up all our clothes and things, shipped a few boxes, and got on a plane to Cape Town! We had to be here by December 30 for Big Julia's wedding to Joel. I was the ring bearer and Lu was one of the flower girls. The wedding was at the premiere of the Western Cape's house (kind of like the governor's house) and Julia seemed very happy. I feel asleep at the dinner because I was so jetlagged.
On New Years Eve, the entire family climbed Lions Head for my mom's birthday (her tradition). I made it to the top first and even Tallulah climbed by herself!
We moved into a super cool house right by the beach after spending a few days at our new farm (we own it with Paul and Lucille and Sienna and Ashlyn, and with Francois and Lindsey). Winston was visting from London and we hung out, and I went to my friend Alec's paintball party. And Dad took me and Dylan and Blake to Ratanga Junction where I rode the upside down rollercoaster over and over.
On January 19, school started here. I am going to Reddam House in Seapoint, in Grade 5, which means I only did half of grade 4! Luckily, Alec is in my class, and also Dante and Robbie and some other cool boys. There are also lots of girls but that is another story. We went on a three day camping trip right after the first day. I went sandboarding, hiking, swimming, and we did lots of team building exercises. I have 13 subjects and so many folders and I have to wear a uniform, but I really like changing classes every half hour and I like my teachers. We have tests every Friday - that will be hard. I am playing cricket and doing hip hop at school, and I am on the Llandudno Junior Lifesaving team. The lifesaving practices are super hard - you have to run in and out of the ocean over and over again. I have not been surfing that much, mainly because there have been so many great white sharks in the water. We had to get out once and then one time the flag was up when we arrived. Someone got munched in January so I am happy to wait! I am going to tutor some kids in Khayelitsha on Saturdays and take them surfing. I am looking forward to that.
So, I am now a Cape Town kid. We will be doing some trips around southern Africa this year, and a trip back to the States, but nothing like 2008! I am very happy to be settled once again, especially in such a cool town.
Comments
I read your blog and just loved to hear all of your adventures with your family! You are truly lucky to have had the experiences that you did!
I wish you luck in your new home in Cape Town!