Remembering SA: New Year's and the Fountens

It being New Year's Eve, I can't help but remember last New Year's.  It was one of the most fun nights I've ever had.  When Aaron and I were told we were going to stay up and ring in the New Year, we didn't know that we were literally going to stay up all night -- but that's what you do in South Africa!  And we didn't know that that night was going to be the beginning of our relationship with one of the most beautiful things South Africa gave us: the Founten family.

As we prepare to ring in 2013, I just want to take a moment to remember our dear friends, who from that first night treated us like family, who laughed with us, who shared family recipes, who taught us about everything from what it was like to grow up under apartheid to how to make a proper braai fire.

These pictures were taken at our send-off just days before we left South Africa.

Here are two of the cutest girls on this here earth, Miss Jamie Lee and Micah!

The boys, chillin':

The girls doing likewise:

Anton made a delicious potjie:

Mutton and bean curry -- my favorite!

Superstar!

She learned it from her mummy!

As always, the food was AMAZING:

Petula and Terrance are one of the sweetest couples I've ever met.  And Petula sings like a songbird!

Here are (from left to right) Auntie Angela, Trevor, Mark, Charmaine, Auntie Poppy and Anton:

The fabulous Liza and Fiona:

Girls, girls, don't argue about the cake!

Janine with her gorgeous baby Allyah:

And the whole clan!

And don't you know that they surprised us at the airport as we were leaving?  They are truly such a sweet, loving, fun family.  Saying goodbye to them made me cry like a baby!

Dear Foutens, we will be remembering you this New Year's!!!  We will miss the midnight braai and the dancing at 3 a.m. and watching those first rays as the sun brings us a New Year.  You are ever in our hearts! 

And to everyone, I want to wish you and yours ¡un Feliz Año Nuevo! May 2013 bring you lots of peace, joy, fun, adventures, growth, learning and love and love and love.  Gelukkig Nuwejaar!!!!

A Year in Cape Town

Exactly one year ago I arrived in South Africa ... what has followed has been the most amazing year of my life. Thank you to my family for enduring the distance, to my husband for giving us this opportunity, to South Africa for charming and educating me and mostly, to the people we have met here. It is true what they say that friends are the family you choose. I feel like we now have a bunch of SA cousins, big sisters, aunties and uncles.

We are so thankful to them for opening their homes & hearts to two slightly oddball Americans! With them we have eaten new foods, learned new words and created new, life-long bonds.  They  have made what could have been a very lonely experience a rich, beautiful and fun adventure!  

And speaking of adventure -- oh my word!  There's been excavating on an archeological dig, horseback riding, hiking, ziplining and 2 safaris (with 2 more to come!)  We've traveled to the Southernmost point in Africa, driven across the country, seen whales, lions, rhinos, cheetahs, elephants and so much more.

I feel like South Africa has added to the already very diverse influences that make me, me.  I now automatically say "lekka" when something is good; "shame" and "ag" and "kak" have also been added to my everyday vocabulary ... and I can't imagine life without a good source of rusks and biltong.   I feel so grateful to have lived in a place so complex, so beautiful and that has given me so much.

In short, I feel so incredibly, INCREDIBLY lucky.  I know now that no matter where I go, no matter where Aaron and I end up, South Africa will always be a second home to us.  I know that we'll always be coming back to SA -- for Aaron's work yes, but I really hope that when we have kids they can come back and know this incredible place and get to know all their SA aunties and uncles!

I ♥ South Africa!