A Flying Visit to South Africa

One of the monkey invaders in Jane's garden. They are always looking for something to steal, and are bold enough to raid the kitchen, 

even when there are people are around!

The week in South Africa went by so quickly, and here I am back in Istanbul again. We had a wonderful time there, even though the weather was fairly grim. We had a couple of days of sunshine, but the wind was cold, so neither David nor I had adequate clothing for the weather. We had expected it to be somewhat warmer, but we should have known better; the British chose Natal to settle in because the weather reminded them of England! The weather was so gloomy that I didn't take many photos at all, so Jane and I just had to shop, there was nothing else we could do. Fortunately, on the day of Shannon's Sports Day it was bright and sunny, although chilly.

There were some fun races, this was called "Flutterbys".

Jane and Shannon line up in the parents' race 

called the "Dung Beetle Derby".

Most of the parents should have been disqualified for cheating, but Jane and Shannon completed the race with style!

I do enjoy the way that sportsmanship and competition is still nurtured in South Africa. Sports Day had a theme, The Nature Trail, and all the races were named accordingly. The event began with the children marching onto the track in their houses. The music was the same one they used to use for Monty Python's Flying Circus, so we half expected a huge foot to descend from the sky to crush the parents!

 

Shannon carefully balances her block.

 Shannon runs to add her hoop to her team's pile in "Harvest Time".

Shannon had all four grandparents there to watch her, lucky girl! The day coincided with our visit, and that of Harry and Yvonne. We were all so proud of Shannon as she showed great spirit in all her events, and was obviously enjoying herself. She was quite disappointed that her house didn't win the trophy, but cheered up at the thought of another chance to win next year.

We were all so proud that Shannon was chosen 

to represent her house in the Year 1 relay.

Can you believe it? We only arrived back in Istanbul yesterday, and already Jane says that the temperature has soared, and is approaching 40°C. Just our luck!