gogo (grandmother Rosemary) and Adia

Hello to all. This is my first time back for several days. We have been very busy; toured many wonderful museums and had great safari's (punctuation--and my husband is a retired English teacher--but I'm not so i get a pass because of age and fatigue).
Last night we had a ceremony releasing "Speedy" the gecko Jonah and Adia caught and nuturued for 2 days and released him in hotel patio.
The last few days have been sobering with visits to Apartheid museum and the Hector Pierson museum in Johannesburg and Soweto. Our tour of Soweto was great....again more and more learning. Spent Monday afternoon in Pretoria--Adia saw a museum with a giant dinasour skeleton in front and that's where she wanted to go. She could have cared less about the Africans monument about the "Great Trek" but once there got into the immensity of it and the echoing that was possible in the rotunda and the many steps and marvelous garden surrounding it. She has taken lots of pictures of the fauna for her mom as her mom is a florist. She has taken that responsibility very seriously.
Adia and I are the last at the hotel as we are not going on to Malawi as originally planned. Collette and Emily are also returning per their plan on the flight tonight. They have gone onto the airport and I wanted to do this last blog from South Africa before we left and figured 5 hours hanging at the airport was sufficient for us. Adia is playing games on the computer and is in 7th heaven.
I remember when the Soweto uprising happened and had followed so much of the history of the liberation struggle throughout the last 40+ years so it was maravelous to visit the museums and to actually see the places where this sad but couragous struggle occurred. Part of my desire to take my grandaughter to see South Africa was to help her learn more about the world than just the U.S and also to hopefully learn about the power that young people and women hold when they fight injustice and to learn such lessons of courage. And i think she is learning that. She spent a lot of time at the Apartheid museum in the political cartoon section and we had a great talk about what a political cartoon was and the purpose. She and Jonah had great times together and she also at times enjoyed listening into the conversations of the adults and the "older girls" on the trip. Emily, Meredith, Ellen and Aly, you were all great role models for her so I thank you and wish you all well in your future studies and careers. I look forward to a reunion of the group sometime this fall where we can swap pictures and maybe fix a South African meal together.
Sunday was South African's Women's Day commerating the interacial march by women in 1956 protecting the injustice of the Pass Laws. So since it fell on Sunday. Monday was an official holiday and we were able to glimpse a couple of celebrations which we passed as we travelled. We also heard singing and saw a group of women celebrating this at the Catholic Church we visited in Soweto.
I thank all of our fellow travelers for their hospitality to Adia and I. We will keep them in our hearts and prayers as they journey onto Malawi and ask for your prayers for safe travels for Colette, Emily, Adia and myself.
Be Well, With love and much gratitude The "Gogo Girl and Adia.