Stodels

Today we met our friend Louise at Stodels...what I'd consider to be the best play place EVER!  It's a beautiful greenhouse/ garden center store that has an outdoor restaurant/coffee shop right next to an amazing play ground complete with a bouncy castle, trampoline, pretend train, wooden jungle gym, a swing, and a rocking horse.   But that's not all!  There is a mini petting zoo where you can feed the goats, horses, roosters, bunnies, parrots, ducks and monkeys (though after we fed the monkeys we read the sign that said "please do not feed the monkeys".  Oops!)  And it's all FREE!!!  So while Shannon, Louise and I were enjoying our coffee (which we didn't mind paying for:)) at the cafe, the kids were happily playing in their  dream play ground...with the shade of trees above and soft sand below. After my delightful cup of coffee, I inquired about having Anya's birthday party there.  For $7/child they provide party favors, juice, soft serve ice-cream, food to feed the animals, a hot-dog, french fry, and chicken nugget platter, and the table set up and decorated with balloons!   All I have to bring are the cupcakes!  Sign me up! (and they did!) It was such a wonderful time...can you tell I was excited?:)  I meant to buy some flowers for our patio, but we spent the whole time at the cafe/play ground.  Guess we'll have to go back!  Soon!
Each Sunday we've been trying different churches around town.  We haven't found our fit yet, but have enjoyed elements of all three that we've been to.  Last week we went to Hillsong, which is an Australian church plant.  This week we went to another "mega"church called "His People".  The first three worship songs were in the Xhosa language, which was really neat to hear.  But after the third one we were beginning to wonder if the service was going to be in English...and it was!  It gave me more of a desire to learn at least a little bit of the Xhosa and Africaans languages while we're here.  The people are so friendly and welcoming everywhere we've been.
Tonight I started going to Bible Study Fellowship (BSF)!  After an 8 year hiatus, it's good to be back!  We are studying the book of Acts and following the American BSF schedule.  I'm looking forward to having some structure and direction in my times with the Lord.
Driving is still an adventure, but it's becoming more comfortable.  Today I drove myself (though it was only a few blocks away) to the store.  I ran an errand!  Success!  Our parking garage might be the scariest part.  It's like climbing a mountain to get out of it, and weaving through a really tight maze of poles to get into our spot.  But I am thankful we have a garage to park in!
It's feeling more and more like home.  Lily is really liking school now.  It seems like she is making new friends every day and will start a pottery class next week that's offered before school on Tuesdays.  I think she'll really like that!  Anya is begging for a "class" to go to, so I'm looking for a dance or gymnastics class to put her in.  It seems like ballet is a big thing here, so I'm sure I'll find something.
We'll be meeting for briefing and planning every morning for the next 10 days when school starts.  Please pray for teachable hearts, team bonding,  and God's leading.  We're excited!

"Chicken What?"

It's hard to remember how it started, but for quite awhile now Lily has jokingly been calling people she's comfortable with "chicken burrito". Now she and Anya throw it around randomly in prayers, comments, etc. Lacy (the Williams' 4 year old) has started using the phrase "chicken burrito" as well! All last year we were telling Lily that people in South Africa might be confused if she jokes with them in this way. So today we went swimming at our friend's house again (which was so great because I've been sweating for the past few days wondering how we will survive the heat). They are our friends who we met at the cafe one day...they just moved back from England. When we were leaving Lily said to Louise (the mom) "Bye chicken burrito!" and Louise (in her sweet English accent) says "chicken what?" I explained about Lily's humor, and Loise laughed and said "bye egg's nest!" We all laughed at the humor of the whole situation...I'm glad she was so understanding:). And I'm glad that Lily is feeling comfortable! She doesn't even like chicken burritos...can't figure it out:).
Lily scraped her knee today at school because she was "playing ball with the boys and she tripped". I was happy to hear a couple of things in that sentence. 1. She was playing with other kids 2. She was kicking a ball. She said she made a new friend today, but couldn't remember his name. She said "Mom, he's from Cape Town, and he talks like Ariela (Louise's daughter)...I can't understand anything he says!" I guess she's still getting used to the accent here. Maybe that's why she's not remembering anyone's names at school? She had a "plaster" on her knee for her scrape, and I could see this bright red stuff underneath. I thought "Wow! That looks bad!" But then I looked closer and the teacher must have sprayed some sort of red antibiotic on it...made it look worse than it was!
It sounds like the past few days have been atypically warm here. We've been kicking ourselves for getting a car without AC. The apartment hasn't been too bad...but we sweat most of the day. Sounds like it's really hot in February and then it starts to cool down. We will prioritize parking in the shade until then.
I'm getting used to washing the dishes by hand. But I'm not used to the stores closing at 7pm and not getting to do my grocery shopping in the evening. I haven't been cooking much because 1. It's been SO HOT (have I mentioned that?) and 2. I never seem to have the right ingredients for meals I normally make. So maybe I haven't minded the dishes because we've been eating out more?:) I was able to find some protein powder and organic peanut butter, so I made some peanut butter balls. They taste just like home! I'm so glad there is peanut butter here! But we haven't found any chicken burritos. We went to a restaurant called "Mexico Spur" fully expecting some sort of Mexican food...only to be disappointed. The only thing it had on the menu that was Mexican was a "cheese quesadilla with a chicken filling". And nachos with "sticky cheese" and "chunky cottage cheese"...no thank you. The cheeseburger was good though!
The chocolate and dried fruit varieties are my favorite treats so far. Oh...and the Magnum ice cream bars. The food is all really good, actually...we aren't going hungry!
We have some praises! The Stint guys found an apartment and it's close to the Stint girls' house! They are all going to share a car, so that will be perfect! The Stint girls have had a rough start in their apartment, as it seems to have a cockroach and spider problem...as well as a few other issues. Lauren hasn't been sleeping more than a few hours every night for the past week because she is deathly afraid of bugs. We've been praying for her (and helping them clean, paint, and shop for things to make it home) and 2 nights ago... she slept! Praise God! Continue to pray for them and the guys in their adjustment. That they would feel settled and comfortable.
A family praise is that we are officially a diaper free household thanks to Anya keeping dry at night!  Yay for reallotting the diaper fund in the budget!:)
And one final praise is that I drove by myself to pick Lily up from school!  And then Shannon successfully drove the kids and I to our friend's house to swim!  Two successful driving ventures in one day!  We are getting more confident...which is good, since the guys will be starting work next week.
We've been wrestling a little bit with the idea of leaving the kids with a babysitter (everyone feels like a stranger right now) so we can be a part of staff meetings next week. So we've opted out of a couple of things. But the Best's (the family who has been here for a couple of years) have had this high school girl at their church babysit quite often for their kids, and she comes highly recommended. So we are going to go to the Tuesday staff meeting next week. Just pray for peace of mind, protection, and a great experience for all.
Pray also that God will lead us and prepare our hearts as we learn more about the history, culture, and spiritual dynamics on campus and meet to plan for the year! We met with Leon (campus director) and his wife Melanie today, and we are really excited for all the Lord has in store this year! We are loving Cape Town and our team...should be a great year!
Thank you for your prayers!

My first blooper in South Africa

Today at our first CCC prayer meeting, I was telling my South African friend, Pravani, about how I figured out what "plasters" were for Lily's school supply list.  I thought I was sharing it in context, as we were saying we should have name tags ("plasters") for our next prayer meeting. She looked very confused.  I said, "That's what plasters are right?  Nametags?"  She said "No, for a child's school supply list, they are asking for bandaids!" Lol!  When I picked Lily up from school I explained to her teacher why there was a pack of name tags in her school supply bag...it gave us a good laugh!  She showed me a box of bandaids, and sure enough it said "plasters"!:)
I've been missing my flip flop that broke last week when I was at the Waterfront (maybe that was my first blooper?).  BUT, I was able to sew it back together and I have my favorite flip flops back!  It kind of made me feel like I can fix anything! :)
The rest of our Stinters arrived Wednesday night, and have been adjusting ever since.  Stephanie's bags were lost...until they miraculously came in on the flight that arrived last night!  Praise the Lord!  Besides the Stint girls adjusting to cockroaches and spiders in their new house...all is well!
Lily didn't cry when I left her at school today.  She says she made some friends.  Yesterday I met another mom who has a daughter in Lily's class and is new to Cape Town.  Both her daughter and Lily had asked girls to be their friend on the first day, and both the girls said no!  Sad!  So we introduced our daughters and hope to get together to play soon.
I've been driving more the past couple of days, and am getting more confident!  I'll still be dependent on the GPS though.
Thanks for your prayers and encouragement!

Firsts

  Today was Lily's first day of Kindergarten (Grade R) at Welgemoed Pre-Primary school in Cape Town.  This week she'll go from 8:30am-12:30pm, and starting next week she'll go from 8:15am-12:45pm.   We drove over to the school yesterday thinking we'd just show her what it looked like from the outside.  But the teachers were there preparing, so we got to go in and have a tour and meet her teacher, Miss Trudi (who is very nice)!  We are very impressed with the school.  Everyone is very friendly, and they teach the Bible.  It was such a blessing for Lily to be able to see everything and picture it in her mind before her first day!  She was still extremely anxious and kept saying she wasn't going to go, but we had a lot of good talks about fear in the process.  We arrived early, as did most of the children.  After I dragged Lily out of the car, I noticed that the rest of the mom's were dressed up.  Really dressed up.  Many were wearing dresses, and some even had heels on!  My friend Melanie told me later that that is how it is every day!  I, on the other hand, hadn't showered and was dressed ready to clean the Stinters apartment later.  I looked like a Colorado hillbilly compared to the rest, but now I know:).  Skirts are a part of every woman's normal attire here.  I'm going to have to do some shopping:).  Anyway, we got into the courtyard of the school and all the kids played on the playground (without shoes) until the the teacher shook the tambourine, which indicates the start of class.  We said goodbye to Lily...she was trying to be brave and hold back the tears.  She kept clinging to me and looking at me with a look of terror.  But we walked away and prayed all morning for her.  And she did great!  When we picked her up, everyone had suckers in their mouths (smart teacher) and she had stories to tell!  She said a lot of girls have curly hair just like Anya's, and that she kept her shoes on because she was afraid she'd get splinters on the wooden playground.  Overall, a successful first day of school!  Thank you for praying!  The second task was figuring out her school supplies.  One of the things on the list was "1 packet of plasters".  I had to ask a man at the store to help me find them, and it turns out they are name tag labels!  Now I know!Today is also the day the rest of our Stint team arrives!  Lauren, Stephanie, Rett and Erik will be here at 9:00pm.  We have been getting Lauren and Stephanie's house ready, and will spend the next week helping the guys to find housing, and helping everyone to settle in.  We start meeting to plan on the 23rd, and then have our briefing conference.

That friend we met at lunch the other day (Louise) invited our families over to her house for a swim with her family on Sunday.  Our first time in the home of a South African resident!  We really enjoyed them and the swim!  The swimming pool was salt water, but it was refreshing in the intense sun of Cape Town.  The girls already have tan lines (and may have gotten a little bit burnt).  The kids had a great time with their children as well.  They have a 4 year old girl, Ariela, and a 7 month old boy, Gabriel.  Ariela had polly pockets, so we knew it was all meant to be!:)  I hosted everyone at our house for a playdate yesterday, and it went well!  The girls all played pollys on Lily's top bunk (their favorite spot) and dressed up and did a show.  By the end of the time I found myself enjoying tea and speaking with a British/South African accent.:)We went to a different beach (Gordan's Bay) with our friends/teammates the Bests on Monday.  The wind was fierce,but the fellowship and beach were great!  The sun is more intense here...but I couldn't tell if we got burnt from the sun or the wind!  One last "first" was today...I drove our little hot car to the grocery store with Shannon...and we made it!  Success!  Being on the left side of the road is becoming more natural and I'm not as scared to drive.  Now to learn the roads....

A Beautiful Day

It's a beautiful day in Cape Town...about 75 degrees and sunny.  I think we'll head to the beach this afternoon.  We did end up buying that car I mentioned.  It doesn't have power steering or AC, but it is very clean and in good condition.  It was a staff friend's car, and he has maintained it very well.  Christian took me for a driving lesson yesterday morning in a neighborhood nearby.  I got in the driver's seat and thought "I can make it to the end of this street".  I found first gear and off I went...all the way home!  It turns out, driving wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!  I just kept thinking "left"...stay on the left side.  It was stressful and unnatural, but doable.:)  I was excited to have hurdled the obstacle I was most fearful of upon coming to South Africa!  Thank you for your prayers!  I'm still not jumping at the opportunity to get out and drive, but at least I know I'll be able to take Lily to school.
Speaking of, Lily starts Kindergarten next Wednesday, the 11th.  The same day that the rest of our Stint team arrives!  The school won't be open until that day, so it doesn't look like it will be possible for Lily to see her classroom and meet her teacher until then.  Please pray for peace in Lily's heart.  She gets anxious and fearful when she doesn't know what to expect.  If anything, we can go the first day, meet the teacher, see what it's like, and then leave and come back the next day for the first full day of school.  We'll see how it goes!
We made a South African friend!  Yesterday we were eating at a cafe nearby and I commented to this woman about her baby bijorn thing...it was a wide belt with this platform thing on the hip where you can carry a baby or the baby can stand up while you hold on to it.  It was really cool!  Anyway, it turns out she and her family just moved back to Cape Town from England, and she used to work as a personal assistant for one of the national Campus Crusade staff in England!  Small world!  She has a daughter that is 4yrs, and a son that is 7 months, and invited Shannon and I to meet up and let the kids play sometime.  She and her family lived in England for 11years, and just moved 3 weeks ago, so we are in the same boat in many ways.  I'm excited to get to know her!  Oh!  And, we also sat down by at the same table as a pastor, and visited with him at lunch.  God is so good!
I've been learning different words that are used here.   Here are a few:
Refuse (SA)= trash (America)
Napkin (SA)= diaper (America)
Serviette (SA)= napkin (America)
Petrol (SA)= gasoline (America)
The expression "shame" is used like we would say "Oh no" or "Oh wow!"
Night frill (SA)= a bed skirt
Robot (SA)= traffic light
We've been learning that you tip 10% at a restaurant, and a few rand (some change) for people who stand along the streets to "watch" your parked car while you are gone.  It seems these parking attendants are self assigned to areas, but are trying to make a living.
The more I learn about Cape Town, the more I come to realize how popular shopping is here!  There are HUGE malls, and a lot of nice shopping centers.
We also discovered that there is a mountain biking trail right from where we live!  Christian hasn't found a good, affordable bike yet, but when he does, this will be his highlight I'm sure!  And it sounds like there is a mountain biking club on campus, which would be a great way to meet students.
Life is calming down a bit, as we are feeling more comfortable each day.  If you think about it, here are some things we could use prayer for:
~Pray for Tyler and Shannon to find a good car, from a reliable source at an affordable price
~Pray for housing (2 apartments) for our 4 Stinters arriving next week
~Pray for peace in Lily's heart and mind as she starts school next week
~Pray we would be able to get wireless internet hooked up this week

Thank you for your prayers!

Highlights and Changes

Has it really only been a week since we left?  It feels like it's been a month!  Each day has come with its ups and downs, but overall, we are really liking it here.  Yesterday we finally got a rental car (highlight)!  It was amazing how it lifted our spirits to have freedom to get out and go!  College students are on summer break until the end of the month, so we have some time to get settled and explore Cape Town...we decided to start with the beach (of course!).  Though it was a stressful experience for Christian to drive from the right side of the car, shift with his left hand, remember that turn signals are on the right side of the steering wheel,  and drive on the left side of the road (a big change), he did a great job and we made it to Camps Bay beach!  It is actually a little stressful being on the passenger side too...especially turning right in oncoming traffic. Yikes!  But the beaches along the base of Table Mountain are BEAUTIFUL!   Lily and Anya loved the beach!  Especially finding sea shells.  The water is freezing and full of sharks, so we let them get their feet wet as the tide came in, but avoided swimming.   It was a fun adventure!
Another change that has come has been the humidity.  It's not super humid, but definitely more moisture than Colorado!  This means a few things...1.)  Anya's hair is full of tight spiral curls and is oh so cute.   2.)  My hair is frizzy, wavy and a bit unpredictable every day and 3.) It can be blamed for the zit on the end of my nose, which is still looming.  However, I have had a much more positive outlook on life here in spite of my hair crisis and break out since my last blog.:)
God is answering so many prayers!  We have enjoyed time with our staff friends who are here (Leon and Melanie Best and kids (American), Rose (American), and Nicholas and Pravani Kelderman (South African).  Melanie and Rose took Shannon and I on a 5 hour shopping adventure for home decor and food.  They were so helpful and patient with us as we looked for what we were needing.  The first thing I learned at the home store was that there were only two big shopping carts and they are called "trolleys".  I asked a woman as she was leaving if I could have her trolley and she graciously gave it to me.  I stopped to look at duvet covers and all of a sudden my cart was gone!  I looked around and didn't see it anywhere.  Finally, I noticed a man pushing a cart that had the catalog in it I had put in there, and so I graciously confronted him and got the cart back. It was not a big deal, but I felt a little like I was on a shopping game show or something!  It was fun to get some things to make our place feel more like home.  By the time we got to the grocery store I was a little overwhelmed.  It was getting mentally draining to convert rand into dollars, and to make decisions.   Plus, I hadn't even thought about what to cook, let alone the groceries we need.  It seems like we won't be going without too much...their food is very similar to ours.
Today was full of highlights!  We have our own temporarily unlimited internet!  We have to have a bank account in order to get wireless internet, and after doing a lot of leg work before we came, Christian and Tyler were able to get us bank accounts here in South Africa!  It is very difficult to get bank accounts here...our director has tried for the past 3 years he's been here.  So this is a huge praise!
We had our friends Pravani and Nicholas over for "tea" this morning.  We are enjoying the Rooibos tea, and the girls like it too!  Christian would say the donuts he's had here are the best he's ever tasted.  I would probably agree. :)
We were able to have bars installed on our windows and get a dead bolt for our door today, which makes us feel that much more secure in leaving our windows open at night.  However, we closed the door to go to lunch and were unable to get back in!  Tyler crawled over from his 3rd floor balcony to ours to try and crawl through the top of our patio windows...which didn't work.  But he got the door unlocked with a broom handle- pretty impressive!  Ends up something was wrong with how the lock was installed, and we got it fixed.
I also got first hand experience in the South African way of walking around town barefoot...though not on purpose.  My favorite flip flop broke as we were walking outside along the waterfront...so I walked with one shoe on and one shoe off.  It wasn't as bad as I imagined, but I don't think you'll catch me walking around barefoot in public places again.  We've seen people walking around in the mall and outside without shoes on.  The girls have already tried it!  We've been told that everyone goes barefoot at school.  I think Lily will do well with that.
After doing a few loads of laundry and having the drying rack take up our entire living room (we don't have a dryer), I decided to try out the laundry service that many people use.  It's just down stairs and they wash (and do stain removal), dry and fold your laundry and charge you by weight.  Today I picked up my laundry and carried it home folded and bagged...and I was almost giddy with excitement!  This is the BEST service EVER!  Then, as I was coming home, there was a man washing the windows of our apartment!  And I thought "when does this happen?  Someone washing my windows and doing my laundry in the same day?" It was a total highlight!
A few last highlights...1.) Skyping with Paul and Kathy  2.)  We may have found a car to buy...we know the owner and it's been VERY well maintained...but it doesn't have power steering, which makes me even more nervous than I already am to drive.  Many of the cars in our price range don't have power steering.  Please pray for wisdom and that I will overcome my fear of driving here, and go for it!
Thank you for all of your prayers and encouraging words!  I've got to get to bed!  "What time is it" has become my most frequent saying these days...I've got to get a watch and a clock for our house!

Keep in touch!

A New Year in Cape Town

It is the first day of 2012 and once I glanced in a mirror this morning I saw that I had a zit on the end of my nose.  And my thought was "this is just like how I've been feeling".  On our first night in Frankfurt, the girls woke up at midnight their time, and would not go back to bed...until 8am (midnight our time).  Then they slept until 4pm!  So we didn't end up going into Frankfurt, but enjoyed the culture from the airport.  The German I learned in high school started coming back to me (a tiny little bit), though I keep wanting to speak Spanish.  We boarded the plane in Frankfurt at 10pm.  The airplane was huge and the individual touch screen TV's were a life saver and highlight of the trip for the girls!  They slept a little bit, and then were served there "kids" breakfast, which consisted of hot chocolate pudding, chocolate milk, and Nutella spread for their bread.  Basically their breakfast was a plate full of chocolate, which I knew wouldn't help us throughout the day!  But it must be fun to be a kid in Germany!  Thankfully they gave us extra yogurts for some sustenance.:)  We got to Johannesburg sometime in the morning.,,by this time I don't know what day of the week it is, let alone the time.  Once we got off the plane it was like running yet another marathon.  We got through passport control,  loaded all of our bags (12 in all) onto two carts, walked to the other end of the airport and checked the bags back in, went through security, and found our gate right as they were boarding the bus for the flight to Cape Town.  Whew!  The flight to Cape Town was only a couple of hours, but our patience and energy were running low.  When we touched down, I felt a mix of excitement and nervousness...thinking of all the next steps.  It was sometime mid-afternoon, and as we rolled our carts of luggage through the gates we were welcomed by our South African Cru staff family.  I teared up.  It was so nice to know we had help and that we didn't have the stress of driving ourselves to our apartments!  It's summer here, and beautiful!  We arrived at our apartments and my first impression was...that it is REALLY small, needs a lot of decorating, and felt a little dumpy.  A little depressing.  But our friends had put some groceries in the fridge for dinner and breakfast (such a relief), and Leon (our director) took Tyler and Christian to get their phones working, and internet (though it's not working on our computer :()  The first thing I did was put the girls' new sheets on the bunk beds and tried to make their room feel like home.  There isn't a closet or dresser in their room, but there are two closets in our room.  They were excited about their bunk beds and played on the top bunk for a long time.  As I was unpacking and girls were eating dinner, Anya went to the potty...which was great until I went in to help her and somehow there was a poopy mess all over the toilet, floor, her back and hair.  I went to give her a bath, but had to find which suitcase had everything I needed...plus I didn't have any cleaning supplies in our apartment.  On a normal day this would have been a little bump in the day.  Yesterday, it pushed me over the edge.  I got her bathed and found some clothes to put on her, and went next door to Shannon's apartment...and cried.  I was tired, overwhelmed, and struggling in liking our new apartment...especially since the Williams' apartment is completely renovated, bigger, decorated well, more secure, and was move-in ready.  I had a little break down, came home and tried to empty a few more suitcases while still being completely oblivious to what time it was.  Christian was falling asleep eating his dinner, the girls were starting to break down and I realized it was 9:30pm!  Lily threw a fit, which was expected in her overtired state.  She fell asleep right when her head hit the pillow.  Anya was excited to be in her new bed, and was asleep in no time as well.  Christian went to bed, and I sat in our living room thinking about how I could make it better when the restaurant across our "lake" who was throwing a very LOUD New Year's party played my favorite song "Footloose".  I chuckled at how it made me feel a little bit more at home, though normally I wouldn't be able to hear it without dancing!  I headed to bed knowing my perspective would be better with sleep.  Anya woke up at 3:30am, but after an hour of her trying to go back to sleep in our bed, her bed, and back to our bed, she finally did and still didn't want to get up this morning at 9:30am.  I woke up with some inspiration to settle in and make our apartment feel like home.  It's a beautiful day...the breeze is cool and the sun is warm, and our apartment feels light and fresh.  It's a new year!  And that's when I looked in the mirror and saw the zit on the end of my nose.  The zit is like this apartment...at first it's a very visible bummer.  But after I took care of it, it's barely noticeable.  I think we're going to be just fine.  I'm thinking of it like I'm on a TV show on TLC or HGTV...kind of excited about the challenge.  And I'm finding more places for things.  Plus, the mall is actually a beautiful little walk away.  We walked over there with the Williams to get lunch and pick up a few things.  Since it's New Year's day, most of the stores were closed, but the mall is HUGE!  Plus, when it's "holiday" and school isn't in session, they have a place in the middle of the mall where I can drop the kids off to do crafts and play for FREE while I shop!  And the employees are all back ground checked and safe.  So great!  It's also encouraging that shopping (even for groceries and Walmart type things) is so accessible and close.  We don't have cars yet, and the public transportation is dangerous to use with the kids, so I've felt a little paralyzed in how we are going to get anywhere.  We'll get rental cars tomorrow and will begin the adventure of driving with the steering wheel on the right side of the car and driving on the opposite side of the road!  Lily is excited to see the beach, which I guess today is the busiest beach day of the year in South Africa.  It's like 4th of July here.  We'll wait and go tomorrow.
Thank you for your prayers!  Really, I think it's going to be great!  Sleep makes such a difference in perspective:).  The girls are having fun and doing well!  Please pray for us as we settle in and make this home.  Pray also that we'll find a great affordable car, be able to set up a bank account, and enjoy this time!   Happy New Year!!