Mother and Son Make The World Their Classroom for a School Year: September 25, 2014

I was surprised not to be woken by Peanut the Grundy's bird, I was almost looking forward to it having heard it "talk" the night before. But Natasha had kept him at bay. Sam could hardly wait to get up to play with their many animals. We started the day off with a hike. We took the boys on motorcycles down to the river a couple miles away. Equipped with water, bikes, boys, a piece of hose in case we needed it as a weapon I suppose and a walkie talkie to contact security in case of any situation arising we enjoyed a beautiful walk down dirt roads surrounded by golden fields that soon would be green when the summer rains come. It was nice to walk and talk after being on a train for 3 days with no exercise. Sam and Gray were up ahead on their motorbikes while Wade, 6, tagged along with us, as we kept needing to start his 4 wheeler as he would turn it off to pull off and wait for us. He would then spend time playing in the dirt and making "signals", little castles with a stick out of them on the side of the dirt road. He is a little boy you would write books about- fascinated by everything around him and full of personality. We made it down to the water where the boys threw rocks for a while, it reminded me at being at the stream at our farm in Virginia as a kid. Sam was in heaven being with the boys and Gray was a great playmate for him as they spent a while having throwing contests. It was great seeing boys being boys. I took the motorbike for a little ride before the boys and us moms headed back.

The hike back became more interesting as one bike got a flat tire and the other wouldn't start;) All in stride we kept ourselves entertained and finally made it back to the house with a little help from the truck Natasha grabbed and we loaded the bikes onto. It wasn't a typical day in Africa but it was a reminder of what do you do in remote areas of Africa when you have things broken and the postal service has been on strike for 6 weeks and no one has received mail, so good luck getting a part or anything. We are so used to our Amazon in America where Nate even orders batteries and they are delivered at home without having to go anywhere. But, here in Africa it is not as easy.

After a tasty breakfast prepared by their maid Natasha was kind enough to take me around Witbank to get an idea of what life was like there. It was fascinating and exciting to think how different their lives would be as they move to Utah in a few months. The town is very industrial with it being primarily a coal mining town filled with miners and those that make their living from mining. We saw where Glen used to work and where Natasha works. She and her mother Susan are quite the entrepreneurs, I was very impressed by the business they have which supplies mining companies with cleaning supplies. But she explained about the many issues she has working here and how their building gets broken into and how the place can be lawless, since the law and police can't be relied on since the municipality has run out of money and so things don't get done. Her office had been broken into and the police have never come, only their insurance agent. A year later and they are "waiting for the police to come and take fingerprints."

We drove by the boys school and it was a very nice school with nice grounds and lots of kids out playing on the grounds as we went by. She took me through the center of town which was very typical of what you would expect to see in remote African towns with popup markets and popup barbers along the road. We didn't see one other white person in these areas. It was clear there was still very much a separation of people, although the schools are all very integrated. We also went to areas and modern malls and very nice neighborhoods. The town had a huge mix, including a casino, fast-food restaurants, a golf club, but also sports fields and parks that had no longer been maintained by the city and dotted with litter. Natasha told me that waste isn't picked up on any regular basis, another issue with their municipality, which to their defense they are now trying to spread the funds outside the town to the outer lying areas where there are shanty towns that have no plumbing or electricity. These areas are also under the municipality, which they are now trying to provide these basic necessities to those people.It was very interesting and made me think what a stark change it will be for them to live in the homogenous surroundings of Salt Lake City but also the overall easiness and reliability of things that we just take for granted like waste management and highly functioning local government agencies.

Back at the Grundy's the boys had been playing with the animals, the dogs, ducks, and Sam and Wade had even felt great success in catching a chicken. They also enjoyed a swim in their small pool out back, which was a nice relief as the day was heating up. Sam loved having Peanut on his head. Nate, he is wanting a bird. Good luck stopping this :) We were so appreciative of the hospitality and time Gray, Wade and Natasha took to show us a around and spend the day with us away from work and school. It was very nice to get a look inside their lives. Next time we will see them will be in Utah!

In the afternoon we had a driver pick us up and take us back to Joburg. We checked into our hotel just a couple blocks from the LDS Johannesburg Temple. One of the things that is part of our journey is to visit LDS temples along the way and do service inside the temple. We were able to do that tonight. It was so peaceful to walk into the temple and feel the spirit there, feel a familiar feeling that I have when I go to the temple back at home. It was Sam's first time inside a temple and it was a great experience as we joined some other youth that were there from a local ward nearby. We felt very welcome and had a really special experience there. It was the first of many temples we will visit over the coming year.

We came back to our hotel and had dinner and then Sam skyped with his homeschool teacher back in Utah and worked on math until our internet went out. Tricky, never quite know when we are going to have it. For instance at the Grundy's they didn't have internet, it hadn't been brought out to their area yet. Just another thing that will be great for them to have when they get to the USA and something Natasha noticed in the US, another convenience we just take for granted now.