...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
