Joonas got an invitation for his very first South African birthday party this weekend. His class mate Ethan got 5. This was big fun. The children enjoyed the jumping castle and the bubble blowing machine. While they were eating pizza and cake, the parents indulged in milk tart, quiche and rooibos tea.
We were very pleased to see that Joonas felt very comfortable among his class mates and all the other children. Despite the language barrier, he just seemed to be one of them. The teachers in the school are saying more or less the same. Joonas' Afrikaans is getting better every day. He picks up some English as well, as a lot of the children in the school have it as their first language. It is difficult for him to avoid mixing all these languages. Let's go, die school is baie leuk!
Every day, we are reminded of the fact that we are lucky enough to join the happy few in a country that is riddled with unemployment, AIDS and poverty. Towards the end of the party, this became all too obvious. A homeless guy was watching the playing children and their chatting parents. The only thing that seperated the two worlds was an electrified fence. A fortified and fun-packed jumping castle as a metaphor for the lifes of South Africa's rich and famous?
We were very pleased to see that Joonas felt very comfortable among his class mates and all the other children. Despite the language barrier, he just seemed to be one of them. The teachers in the school are saying more or less the same. Joonas' Afrikaans is getting better every day. He picks up some English as well, as a lot of the children in the school have it as their first language. It is difficult for him to avoid mixing all these languages. Let's go, die school is baie leuk! 
Every day, we are reminded of the fact that we are lucky enough to join the happy few in a country that is riddled with unemployment, AIDS and poverty. Towards the end of the party, this became all too obvious. A homeless guy was watching the playing children and their chatting parents. The only thing that seperated the two worlds was an electrified fence. A fortified and fun-packed jumping castle as a metaphor for the lifes of South Africa's rich and famous?
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