No more airports, strange currencies, left-side driving, or xenophobia fear. Before we left, we made sure that the kids benefitted even more by your giving through purchasing some much needed items for the main play area.

A quick recap about the center that we are there at in the picture:

Thembalitsha Foundation

Thembalitsha Foundation in Cape Town is a registered nonprofit organisation and was established in 2006.  They  provide medical and HIV/Aids care and support to the  community at large. It runs 24 hours a day for seven days a week. It also provides follow up visits to patients who are discharged from various hospitals.

It provides improvement to the health of its patients through programmes such as medical care, nutrition to start them on antiretroviral treatment, education and awareness.

In addition, palliative care and a hospice service is provided. The organisation provides overnight facilities for terminally ill patients. Thembalisha has been running support groups for women and children infected with HIV/Aids. It provides an environment which promotes dignity and boosts the morale of patients.

Coming back was seamless  and the weather was a huge shocker. (Again, it is average of high 50’s in Cape Town right now.) We got back about 2 weeks ago- had a little time in Tallahassee to see our friends and sleep off our jet lag. Good friend, Jared Primus, let us stay at his house and we are so grateful. If we could only stop pulling out on the wrong side of the road and being hyper-paranoid about crime, we would be fully assimilated. 

Last Tuesday, we started the 2000 mile drive from Tally to Phoenix, where we are relocating for good. (After much home work, we learned that it is cheaper to hire a company to pack and move everything rather than doing it ourselves. These fuel prices are just shocking!)

SOOO Hot in Tallahassee! Can this be over yet?

Phoenix holds Jesse’s brother, Sean, and his best friend, Justin. They both are married and we girls are getting along famously! Phoenix also has a spectacular housing market and is the fastest growing city in America, (next to Las Vegas) so it shouldn’t be hard to find jobs. Jesse is taking his pick of training studios and my next career move will hopefully be in event coordinating. Time will tell. It is good to be back on the West Coast close to family (although we could do without the 115 degree weather, humidity or not. Whoo hoo! Go Arizona. [straight face] )

Meanwhile, we have been adjusting to the culture shock of being back in normalcy, although I suppose that term is relative. South Africa will always have a serious hold on our hearts and we hope to go back in a year. I am so moved by the ocean-meeting-the-mountains and all the rolling hills that I may want my ashes scattered there when I die! (Not to sound morbid.)

(The view from our temporary apartment… it was cheap rent too!)

We have been getting asked “when are you going back?” often and that answer is: “annually, if we can manage it”. Job-wise: Jesse was offered a position with the University of Cape Town rugby team, however, there was no pay. They said they “really need american training expertise but will have to work on creating funding for the new position”. We may get a call in the near future with an offer to come back but meanwhile, we need to go on with life here and find a way to sustain ourselves. Doing either is fine with us. Only God knows the plan.

I have not forgotten my promise to post more pictures and video. Stay tuned for those. We have gotten the needed fire-wire, but I have not figured it out yet. However, I am just positive that once you see my favorite baby, Luvo, your hearts will break too and we will be getting a phone call about where Themba Care is and how do you volunteer. Our good friend Susan Reed is in fact going to leave on Friday to go work at the same facility. She is a full-time Campus Minister but a registered nurse by trade. While the students are sparse on campus this summer, she is going to be in South Africa for 5 weeks, picking up where we left off as volunteers at this amazing AIDS relief center. I will put in a plug for her that she had to raise all her funds to go as well, and if you have some extra cash from that stimulus check, she sure would appreciate the help. (wink, wink!) susan.reed@everynation.org

Thank you for all of your emotional and financial support and prayers. We know that God’s hand was over us and protecting us. We never did get stolen from, physically hurt, or experience any travel problems. After traveling 2400 km’s and then the 2000 miles across the US in safety, we owe everything to the Lord for His loving kindness. 

I will have to change the blog a bit to reflect our new life status, but it will remain our best tool to stay in contact with you regarding the adventures of the Adarmes. 

Our new  contact address: (cell phone numbers will remain the same for now..)

36618 West Barcelona Lane

Maricopa, Arizona 85238

Please update your personal files with our new but, temporary address. 

….Here are some more fun pics from the trip to occupy you in the meantime.

 

Chris, the Themba Director and Leletu- the day she went home with her mom; happy and healthy! it was a bittersweet day.

 

The Stellenbosch ladies! Oh how I miss them! We had such good times.

A nice modern version of the Cape Dutch style of buildings. (Usually the roofs are done in black thatch straw. Its very unique and beautiful.)

The backside of Table Mountain. Normally roads go AWAY from mountains, not towards them. But this mountain is different….

 

 

Oh, My hero !!!

“I am Woman! hear me roar!!”

Do you like my halo made of cirrus stratus clouds? Jesse was “laying his life down for me”.

Wish you were here…

A revisit to O’neill’s: home of the Bap (breakfast sandwich).

They still have it! I am way too excited about this menu item, the Bap, and Jesse is too tired to see straight. (He didn’t sleep a wink on the plane, poor guy.)

Cetic (dog) art. yeah.

And we are officially back in the Western world. There is no escaping Starbucks. Thank you Heathrow for all the good window shopping. Too bad the Pound is 2.7:1 right now. Geez!

And videos will be coming! TTYS~