Merry Christmas!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Every now and then a dream comes true...

Buenos días...

...from a steaming hot Escondido:). Everything is going just great...maybe a little too great!

There has been some exciting new developments in the past week. I am talking about the kind of developments for which one just have to go on your knees and say a prayer of thanks.

A very quiet week offered me and Bella the oportunity to spend some quality time together - something that very seldom happens when the rat-race has you dangling from its vicious claws.

After a lot of sweat we managed to send a bulging file with my petition for 'change of status' off to the U.S. immigration services. We're holding our breaths and only hope that the official that opens our package is in a good mood that particular day:).

The rand-dollar exchange rate dealt our savings for seminary a nice blow with the recent developments in the world-economy. We were truly amazed when we received a letter from Westminster Seminary announcing an extremely generous financial aid award for the upcoming semester.

Thursday kicked off with a big trek to Oceanside in the search for a nice beginner surfboard on which me and Bella could tackle the world-famous Californian waves. We decided on an egg-shape/fun-board - a good mix of stability and maneuverability:).

The two brave (albeit naive) amateurs went out Friday on Haloween to challenge the mighty waves at Encinitas. I might have been just a little too brave and ended up with mouths full of sand more than a few times. Bella proved a little less brave, but much much wiser:). Well, toying with death certainly got us one step closer to being pro-surfers!

We got a nice big fairytale pumpkin for Haloween. We pitched in with sharp knives and before long we were a friend richer...a nice chap with a good sense of humor, sunglasses and a South African cricket cap.

Trick-o-treating died an unfortunate death as children were unable to get to us through the security fencing. The three of us decided to head into the streets to find some children to hand out our sweets to - this resulted in a kind of 'reverse' trick-o-treat which struck most of the people we met on our excursion as a rather novel and revolutionary idea:).

We concluded the weekend by camping out with Bella's mom and dad at Cuyamaca Lake. It was dad's birthday and we had a great time with braaivleis (barbeques), hiking, cold evenings around the furnace in cosy camp-style wood cabins. Hooray Dad!

That then in a nutshell the latest news from the U-S.A. Thank you for all of you who take the time to write to us. We love to hear from you.

All the best,

Jac en Bella

Hola de Escondido

Hi there,

Greetings to all our friends and family from our new home on the other side of the big blue-and-green marble.

We have decided to hang around in the U.S. for a while as our bottoms are making rather strong objections against any mention of transatlantic voyages.

In a nutshell...

(1) Rump-steak (Top-Sirloin as it is called here) turned out to be among the cheaper cuts in America and since that's our favourite it suits us just fine:).
(2) Charcoal is hard to find and we were forced to downgrade to briquettes until Jac's 100 ton shipment landed from South Africa.
(3) We stay in a cozy little studio apartment until a bigger apartment becomes available. The place has its downsides, but it is rather nice to be able to have a bath or sit on the toilet while laying the table and preparing dinner:). The road that passes our unit very conveniently turned out to go just about everywhere...except to the beach:).
(4) Bella works hectic twelve hour shifts three times a week to keep us alive. She is getting much better at handling the workload after her 5 month vacation in South Africa and she even manages to smile and walk in a straight line when she gets back from the hospital.
(5) Jac is still desperately trying to resolve issues with his visa, but God has already tarred so many of our dirt-roads that we simply cannot look ahead with doubt. My bet is that it would probably take less effort to sort out my visa issues with U.S. immigration services than it took me to sort out my internet banking account with my bank in South Africa:).
(6) The Westminster Seminary campus is a little slice of heaven and we received a very warm welcome. They have a nice big lawn, a great bookstore and we attend chapel on campus too:).
(7) Our apartment is a mere 20 mile drive to our favourite beach (Encinitas). Large firepits, fewer buildings to spoil the scenery and long stretches of sand for refreshing walks all add to the magic.
(8) Our most recent house rule is to spend our Sundays to explore the literaly hundreds of hiking trails around the coast and the surrounding mountainside. Our surroundings are breathtakingly beautiful!

We look forward to hear from all of you and duly appreciate all the support so far.

Adios,
Jac en Bella