The Sam Scoop

I have many thoughts and stories about my trip but first want to update about the Sam and me situation. It is kinda long and complicated and I need to write it out. Many people speculated or wished (or feared) that we would get married while I was in South Africa. We attended his sister's wedding and many of his family also made the comment, "Next time it will be you two." and they welcomed me as part of the family and called me "sister-in-law" but no legal actions were taken. We very much enjoyed our time together and were even more comfortable and natural as any other couple, or as normal as we can possibly be considering our very abnormal and extreme circumstances. I made him dinner each night at the guest house and did laundry while he went to work and entertained me with stories of his day. We even learned to fight, or more accurately, bicker. We also visited friends of mine from the states in Cape Town and got to change roles slightly with him being the one out of his element and in a world that more closely resembled mine. We traveled together and picked out gifts together. All the best things that 2 weeks could bring. We postponed talking much about our situation until I had been there over a week. I'm glad that we did because we needed the time to get comfortable in each other's space again and let the heightened emotions die down a bit. We had a series of wonderful conversations that showed me how wonderful of a match we truly are. We discussed the fact that he is currently enrolled in an internship/practicum program where he is learning and working in the banking business. The education portion of the program completes in April. At that time he will get 3 weeks vacation which he will use to come to the US and get to know people and places here in preparation for a permanent move her later in the year. It seems like a long way away and another "setback" but I don't see it that way. I see it as time for both of us to just live our lives and prepare for where the future takes us. I have every hope and intention that we will be together and that each visit I have made there and visits he makes here and all the time in between are all building blocks of our lives as individuals and our relationship together. I made a vow to him and myself that I will not live "in the meantime" or "wait" for April to come around, I will live in the present and enjoy my life each day. I love him more than ever and have every intention of spending the rest of my life with him but I am not sure what life has in store for me. For that, I will let it be my guide and show me the way and only focus on what "is".
Anyway, that is the Sam Scoop. More info on my travels coming soon.