New Chapter Beginning

A new chapter is beginning in my life -- I'm moving to South Africa in 2015.  I feel I'm destined to live in South Africa.  Below is why.

In 1964, while living in London, I saw an ad in the London Times seeking people to immigrate to South Africa.  The article said that passage would be paid and a job would be found for you.  I was ignorant of the Apartheid laws so I went to South Africa House to apply for an immigrant visa.  At the same time, I  read another ad in the London Times recruiting bilingual French-English secretaries to work for the World Health Organization in the Congo.  WHO headquarters worldwide is located in Geneva, Switzerland.  Sooo, to make a long story short, after hitchhiking in Europe for two months with a friend, I finished up in Geneva, where I interviewed with WHO for the bilingual secretary position.  In March 1965, I left Geneva for Brazzaville, former French Congo.  My immigration visa to South Africa was forgotten.

Fast forward to 1996 -- after completing my tour in Madagascar in June, I finally made it to South Africa for a visit.  Samantha and I spent two weeks there, driving from Cape Town up the Garden Route and then inland to Johannesburg.  Samantha fell in love with South Africa and decided to stay while I had to leave to go back to the U.S.  Little did I know that the next time I saw Samantha she would be married to Malcolm Ellis, a young South African man she met a few days after we separated.

Fast forward to 2002 -- After living in various places in the U.S. and  Africa, and losing their jobs in NC at the same time, Samantha and her husband decided to return to South Africa where Malcolm had family who would take them in temporarily.  Samantha was eight months pregnant when she took the journey back to S.A.  Her daughter, Oriah, was born a month later.  Six years later, Samantha and Malcolm split up and divorced.

Now fast forward another 12 years -- after traveling to SA every other year for the past eight years to spend a short amount of time with Samantha and the children, I decided that I have to move to SA to become a part of their lives as well as them being a part of mine.   I'm not getting any younger and in fact, it would be more daunting to make this move when a few years older.

While taking a Google Earth course last year, I floated across South Africa with my cursor and saw a yellow spot which said "Amber Valley Retirement Village."   I went to the website site and was amazed at what I discovered.  Amber Valley is a community similar to Carolina Preserve but not quite the same.  It is not just for seniors but it's an adult only (over 18 years of age) community.  It has a community center, two swimming indoor swimming pools, and a care center which you go to only when sick.  

On the Move Again

I thought I would be going to SA in April/May but it was a false alarm.  The rental agent where I want to live sent me an email that a house would be available to rent as of April 1.  I wrote back that May 1 would work better for me but that I would take it on April 1 if the owner required it.  It looks like the rental agent didn't read the second part of my sentence as she went ahead and contacted the second person on her list who said he wanted to rent that house.  So it's back to square one for the time being.  An April rental would have worked better for Samantha's schedule so it is disappointing.  On the other hand, it will give me more time to start sorting, distributing and packing.