Whohoooo, Jac placed into Greek Twohooo!!!

Hi again,

A big celebration is in order! I have placed into Greek II today...whohoooo!

This does NOT by any means mean that I now consider myself a Greek master and I will definitely be auditing the Greek I class. It saves us quite a few pennies though:)

Thank you all for your support. And special thanks to my friend DJ who kept me accountable all this time and minimized my Greek birth pains noticeably by sharing his wisdom.

Till next time,

Jac

Bella's Visit to the Panelbeater

Hi everyone,

As you all probably know, Bella paid the panelbeater a little visit for some surgery to her right knee last Wednesday.

She is doing great and is already climbing the stairs to our apartment without the help of her crutches - although it takes her almost 10 minutes and still involves some pain:)

Here are a few photos for those who might be curious about how a tear in the medial meniscus actually looks. I can't say that I have a clue what's going on in these shots, but I'm happy if you can and hope you enjoy them.

Before:

After:

The surgery went smooth and the doctor promised a full recovery and a brand-new knee (yesss!!! we will soon be able to go hike the half-dome trial in Yosemite!)

According to the recovery nurse, Bella put up quite a fight when she came to after the anesthesia wore of...now they know what I have to contend with when Bella sometimes have nightmares:)

Thank you for all your encouraging emails and phone calls. What would we do without you?

By the way, I am writing my Greek placement exam this coming Monday (27 July) to try and test out of Greek I to save some money. My classes start on Tuesday. Study time! Finally!

Adios till next time. Don't forget to write us...it is easier than ever with the Stoffies Mailbox.

Cheers,

Jac & Bella

Independence Day @ Yosemite

Hallo hallo hallo,

We are back after a lengthy blog break:) So much has happened since our last post that I almost do not know where to begin.

I am studying frantically for my Greek placement exam coming up 27 July. The plan is to place directly into Greek II. I have already made good enough progress to allow me to tackle ten to twelve verses from the gospel of John every now and then with relative ease. In the meantime I also have to get through the Bible for an exam scheduled for September. I have only gotten as far as Judges, so there is quite a lot to be done. Hold your thumbs!

I have decided to complete my degree over the course of four years instead of the customary three. It will be a long time away from home, but it will make room for some fascinating electives and will definitely lighten the load somewhat - I am getting old:)

Bella is currently on disability leave for around two months. Her knee had been giving her trouble since we left South Africa. The twelve hour shifts at the hospital eventually became a little too much for her poor knee. After she had gone for some physiotherapy - without success -we decided to check it out with an MRI. The culprit: a tear in the medial meniscus. She is scheduled for surgery this Wednesday (15 July). Lucklily the success rate for this kind of surgery is very high with little to no side-effects. Please pray for Bella:)

We spent the past weekend camping with the whole family (Engelbrechts, Browns and Stoffies) just outside of Yosemite National Park. It turned out to be rather crowded with the Independence Day celebrations, but we managed to dodge the multitudes a little by getting up early. The park offered striking scenery around every corner and I confess that it was probably the most beautiful place I've ever been to. Toward the South of Yosemite (Mariposa Grove) we stumbled upon some of the world's oldest and biggest trees. The Giant Redwoods can get up to 3000 years old and they are absolutely massive! One of the trees is so enormously wide that you can drive through a tunnel in its base.

I made a lekker batch of 'skuinskoek' for the trip...and was it lekkerrrr?! It is small things like these that quench the thirst of homesickness.

And as usual we leave the best news till last:) We got some dirt cheap tickets to South Africa for the FIFA World Cup 2010! We plan to visit you for around 5 weeks next year June. Be sure to keep the charcoal and the meat ready:)

Thank you for the constant stream of updates from South Africa. We miss you all. Those who can afford it should make a plan to come and visit over the next couple of years.

Adios,

Jac & Bella

PS: Be sure to check out the Yosemite panoramas we've assembled for you at Stoffies Interactive Please let me know if you have trouble viewing them as we sometimes experience difficulty with the server.