The Valley of the Waves #72

Spending a few days at the Valley of the Waves at Sun City is like being in heaven for the girls!



Being in the water, catching those huge artificial waves, going down the slides called Black Mambo and Viper is fun, fun, fun!

So there is this huge swimming pool which looks like a beach and they create these artificial golf waves, every few minutes this huge wave comes up and the whole pool/beach gets flooded and the waves end up like in a normal beach. But you have to be aware that it is not sand but just a cement floor that is painted from white to darker blue to create the sea effect.

Fun, but you have to be careful to not scrape your bud when the waves take you all the way to the end....

The girls were good in catching the waves, they would go to the spot at the highest level of the waves, where the water is still deep, so they wouldn't be swept away so far by the waves to come to the undeep area. So much fun and anticipation waiting for the waves each time....



A bit anxious waiting for the waves...



How far is it??



We survived!! Each time I had to run to the shore to protect my camera... :-)



Another one is coming!



Whoa... how fun!!



And this went on all day... the first day they stayed at this level, the next day they went into the BIG waves and went all down, but daddy had to go with them first.

More tomorrow!
Mireille xx

Let's accept all colors of the rainbow #40

"Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination".



How is South Africa dealing with the Apartheid issues being illegal now since 1994?

Apartheid was a system of racial segregation enforced by the National Party governments of South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority non-white inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and white supremacy and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained.

How have South Africans after the end of apartheid been able to share space? You know that the laws that defined Apartheid in terms of geographical separation no longer exist. Now people are free to go anywhere, to live anywhere, where they can afford to live, so the space restrictions are no longer in place, but the historical reality of Apartheid in South Africa continues. You find that residence is still highly segregated and Africans don’t go into certain areas out of habit not to go into those areas.

The black and white issues are still deeply grounded in this country. This is not to say that nothing has changed. Quite a bit has changed, but a whole lot more needs to be changed. However, for the ordinary African life is still very much segregated, townships are still there and the white areas are still white areas.

For me, this is not always that easy. I have never lived in a country that cared that much about a skin color, it never really mattered that much what skin tone you had. But here in South Africa almost 20 years after the Apartheid it is still a huge struggle.

When I walk with my friends (my friends are from all cultures and backgrounds) on the street or we go out for lunch, many times we are being asked: "How come you are friends? What is your connection?? Because they are surprised to see that we are a group of friends with different skin tones, and obviously come from different cultures. This doesn't happen only once in a while... NO it happens frequently that we are asked these questions? The local people still don't mix! So they find it interesting to see how we can have so much fun and hang out together while having white, black, brown, yellow skin tones!

What baffles me the most is that they still find this weird, in this day and age!!

Shame on them! But then again.... they grew up with Apartheid and I guess it is not out of your system just after one generation!

I hope for South Africa that this Rainbow nation excepts all colors of the rainbow as equal rather sooner than later!! Because now I don't see it yet!!


source here.

How are people dealing with racism in your country? I know it is not political correct... but how is it for REAL??
Do you still hear derogative comments from people around you? And what do you do about it? Do you confront people about their racism? Or let it just go??

I wonder if standing up more for this subject matter would help or not??
Mireille xx

Job Day at AISJ #26

Yesterday the girls had Job Day at school.

So they had to dress up as a professional.

Juliet decided she wanted to be a Chef. My friend Candice had a chef's hat and glove for me from the Ratatouille movie, and I had a white apron, so her outfit was easy.

Jasmine wanted to be a professional Ballerina. When she saw that I made a black tutu for her the day before she decided she wanted to be just like the Black Swan, with make up, wings and the whole shebang. Well... she could do the black outfit, wings, but NOT the make up I told her... too much work at 6am!!

See here some pictures of the girls acting out in their profession :-)









So much fun these projects they do at school! I wonder how the rest was dressed up?? Maybe the teacher can send me a picture and I add it to the blog later.

BTW: if you like to make a tutu skirt yourself, it is a real easy project. Here is a tutorial for your own DIY no sewing tutu skirt.

Cut out strips of tule (height 80cm/ 30 inch and width 8cm / 3 inch) and measure an elastic band for the waist of your child. Don't make it too tight, since it will be tighter when the strips of tule are folded around it. Then just tie the strips around the elastic band by folding it double and looping it around the elastic band. No sewing needed, project done in about 45 minutes. You need about 50-75 strips. Depends how wide the waistband is... slide them close to each other, so you don't see the elastic band anymore.



Have a terrific Thursday y'all!
Mireille xx

A weekend at Thaba Metsi ~ Welgevonden Game Reserve.

2 weekends ago we went on a safari in Welgevonden Game Reserve. The lodge was a private lodge owned by Nissan who invited me and Dirk to join some other people. We had a beautiful time at the Thaba Mets lodge, a northern Sotho name meaning “Mountain of Water”.

The weather was quite nice, although a bit chilly on some of the game drives since it is an open jeep, but we saw a lot of game, had some great food and some fantastic times with our new made friends!

Jasmine and Juliet also had a great weekend, each of them stayed with their best friend for the weekend, so we had a child-free weekend and each of had a grand time, us and the kids!!

Here some pictures of the lodge and its surroundings, just beautiful!!







Relaxing and having a bite to eat on the deck, from L to R: Dirk, Sue, Brenda, Jenna and Will.



The first game drive and we ran into a mother and baby Rhino. The other Jeep has not seen these 2 yet, still looking at the dad in the bushes.



The mother and baby are charging us, we are in their way, and they start to stomp their feet and coming towards us...



And then, the other Jeep also see these 2. And look how the mom is looking at us, she doesn't like us...



We better leave... and let the other Jeep take a closer look at this 'lovely couple'



Even though we love to see the big game, I like to see these cute birds in the garden of the lodge. Since we haven't had rain in months here in SA, they appreciate the leaking hose and the fresh water.



Where water is, must be animals, so let's have a look around...



and of course there are, here are some Water Bucks. Lovely ring on their butt, so easy to recognize!





A lonely ranger... the wildebeest are most of the times in bigger groups, but then again on most of our safari trips we also see a single one. Just enjoying the space all by himself. Funny animals!



Elephants on their way to water, they are thirsty and on a stroll, no time for us to have a better look at them, before you know it they are hiding in the thick bushes. You would think such huge animals, but even up close and you can still miss them. Because they are very still when they walk.



And here, do you see this Klipspringer (rock jumper)? A small antelope looking at us?? Almost hiding so well and blending in with nature, but let me get you a close up... so you can see better.



Cute or what? It is only about twenty-two inches high at the shoulder, and weighs approximately forty pounds. Stocky and powerful, yet extremely agile, this shy and nervous antelope is unique. The male has delicate little horns about four to six inches long. Its ears are actually longer than its horns.



The highlight of the evening game drives are the sundowners we get. We step out of the Jeep in a safe and mostly open environment and have some snacks and drinks.



Some beers, wine and Amarula this time and of course the Biltong, a South African version of beef jerky... but better!



What animals are these you think?? LOL... that's the shadow of us ;-) I am just joking...



Nice reflection of a beer bottle Dirk is holding...



A group picture, nice weekend guys! Thank You Des & Brenda for inviting us!!



On the last game drive of the weekend we actually saw quite some general game, but this one is actually quite rare. A Roan antelope, don't see these often.



Look how great the face painting is, just absolutely amazing!! He is watching us and showing himself from all sides, so nice!!



And we see Zebra's. I just love them, so cute. But we still wondered are the stripes white on black, or black on white??





And look at this male Kudu, such a proud animal. Love it!!



And here his mate, the female Kudu. Gorgeous!!



We saw a couple of giraffes, but they were hiding in the bushes and couldn't get a real good shot of them, but I still love them. Such gracious animals. But I have some close up shots yesterday at the lion park, which I will show you in a few blog posts from now...



Here is Pumbaa the warthog and his girlfriend... they are hard to catch, very skittish. When you try to take a picture they run off. But our ranger was making some warthog sounds and these 2 were very curious to see where that other warthog was coming from... too cute!!



And then some more zebra's, can't resist to take some more pictures. You never know when you get the best shot of the whole trip. Since you can't control the side of the best lighting when you are on a game drive, I try to take a many pictures as possible and see later which ones are the best.



A mother and child zebra, how adorable.



A group of Wildebeests, they are such funny creatures. As if there bodies are kind of mismatched... We have a skull of one of these quirky animals hanging in our hallway.



How great is this picture of the 'Beauty & the Beast'. This white bird is an Egret. The Cattle Egrets will perch on rhinos and eat skin parasites they find there.



Good friends these perky little birds with these huge Rhinos, funny to see them so close together!



A beautiful weekend, and here a glimpse from the Jeep on the way back to the gate. Look how red the earth is, stunning!!



We had such a great weekend!! Each game drive is different, surprising, stunning and unpredictable. So you get really hooked to more... I can't wait for the next one!! The girls were a bit jealous that they couldn't join us, but I know there will be more to come for them and us. We are so spoiled to live in such a beautiful country and we enjoy it tremendously. How can you not be grateful to be surrounded by such beauty in nature. It keeps taking my breath away, each and every time!!

I wish you guys could be here with us and experience this for yourself!!
Mireille xx

~ Parade of Nations 2011 ~

Last week we had the Parade of Nations again! 83 countries are represented at our school. AMAZING!!

How wonderful it is to see all these countries hand in hand, walking together in their national dress behind their own flag. This is always a very emotional day for me. I get tears in my eyes when I see all those beautiful children walk proudly around the field to show the world that YES we CAN be UNITED!!

All the kids getting ready on the field to parade. Each country walks a round the soccer field alphabetical order.



AISJ band is getting ready to play some music to start off.



The Pretoria campus is represented as well for the first time, and here they do a Zulu dance and music performance.



All the kids wear recycled clothing, like the Zulu's used to do...



We start with Argentina... I will show you a lot of pictures, but unfortunately not all countries I had a picture from.



My good friends from Brazil.



Hello Luciane & Candice!





Colorful Cameroon.



A sweet girl from Hungary.



Our friends from Israel.



Gorgeous girls in colorful kimono's from Japan.



Mexico is well represented with stunning girls in beautiful outfits.



Estela with her boys, walking proudly for Mexico.



Beautiful girls from Namibia.



A huge crowd from the Netherlands!



Here my neighbor Jaslynn and a friend.



And her younger sister Cathlynn and brother Daryll. Good friends of us.



Teresa from Peru with her boys. Such beautiful outfits!!



Cute girls from the Philippines.



And this sweet girl is from Poland in such stunning outfit!



A beauty from South Africa.



South Africa, our host country is well represented, here some beautiful women in gorgeous outfits.



And the big and beautiful crowd from South Korea. I just love love these outfits!!



Precious!!



Simply Adorable!!



Yellow & Blue from Sweden!



How cute is this girl with her beautiful flower wreath from Sweden.



And here I was waiting for: my girls walking for Thailand!



Our gorgeous girls, stunning in their Thai national dress.



Sweet Jasmine with her parasol.



and radiant Jen Su in a stunning Thai outfit.



A happy crowd for Turkey.



A huge group for the USA, love all the red/white and blue!



Stars & Stripes.



Colorful Zimbabwe.





And here some close-ups after the parade. Thailand & the Netherlands together.



Korea & Thailand, hand in hand.



Besties together: Elle from the USA and JJ.



4 of the 5 girls from JJ's class. India, Thailand, USA & UK.



Isn't this a wonderful blog post?? I always love love the Parade of Nations!!

For those who have been following my blog for the last 3 years, now that this is the fourth Parade of Nations our children are participating in. See here my blog post of the Parade of Nations of 2008, 2009 and 2010 and again 2010.

Each year this is a huge event, and I hope we can do a few more before we leave South Africa!
How about you? Is your school International? How diverse is it?

Have a wonderful day,
Mireille