April-July 2022

Howdy, y’all! Long time no see, definitely. Aside from my recent book review posts, the last blog I uploaded was almost three months ago. Sorry about that—been finishing up the school year and haven’t had a ton to post about anyway. But, lately, since I’m off school and my regular activities—dance and tennis—are starting to go on break as well, I’ve found myself with lots of free time. This means that I can finally get back on track with you guys and get where I want to be by posting regularly and frequently, as opposed to my sporadic drop-ins (oopsies). As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve changed the design of my website as well as added a super exciting new section of book reviews and recommendations. I’ve been meaning to add that section for a while, and I’m stoked it’s finally up! This revamping and expansion of my website was a definite goal of mine since I started blogging, and it’s great to finally put it into action.

But, the main goal of this post is to update everyone on the many plans and the change of plans that have occurred during the past few months. Now, don’t be alarmed, nothing drastic has taken place and, compared to other plan changes that I’ve blogged about, these minor adjustments are definitely not crucial to the future of Dafne or the Fam.

However, a few news reports on the whereabouts and plans of my sisters are due. As I mentioned in my last post, Cleo has been accepted to Pomona College in California. However, she has decided to take a gap year before entering university. Starting in May, she flew to the US to get a summer job while figuring out her plans for her year off. Meanwhile, Stella has also finished her school year and accepted an internship based in Chicago, where she will be staying for the duration of the summer. She’s also moved into an apartment with a few of her roommates that she will keep over the summer and into the school year.

As for us remaining in South Africa, we number just three now *insert sad face*. While I’ve been closing out eighth grade and graduating (Whoohoo!), dad’s been working his but off on his many projects and companies he participates in. The most exciting of these is Cicero, which he founded with my mom as their second start-up back in the fall. Based on a one-on-one method of teaching similar to what Cleo, Stella, and I did when we all first moved onto Dafne, Cicero finally started to gain traction in the past few months. As its first official middle-school graduate, I’m ecstatic to continue learning with such an amazing method.

Perhaps the most important news of the last few months is how far our house in Kommetjie has come. Since last summer, mom has been driving down multiple times a week to move things along and renovate the entirety of the property. She’s made many new additions to the house such as a pool, hot tub, and braai, as well as completely flipping the layout of the inside so that the main communal rooms are on the second floor. I went down just a week ago and was so awed at how much has changed. It was truly an entirely different place and I’m so proud of how much effort mom has put into it. Good job, mom!

Well, so many reports on the many things going on in the Dafne crews’ lives, but I’m afraid the same cannot be said for our beautiful mother-ship. Dafne’s been mostly docked at the marina for the past year-and-a-half that we’ve been in South Africa, especially as the months feed into winter here in Cape Town. Because of the Fam’s annual trip to the US during the Nothern Hemisphere summer, Dafne will remain vacant until our return in September. But, come January/February 2023, she’ll be up and moving towards Namibia and St. Helena! Can’t wait!!

I will definitely post about those places, but I also want to make a habit of updating you guys continually throughout the coming summer and start of the school year. Please remind me to keep posting!! Bye!