Michelle Obama, Girls Visit Nelson Mandela

Arriving in South Africa today, Michelle Obama met Nelson Mandela for the first time and said her husband was unhappy he couldn’t join them. “Michelle Obama certainly convinced the dignitaries she is excited to be here, and said her husband is 'pouty' that he isn't,” tweeted a journalist at a South African newspaper. Michelle Obama’s daughters, mother, niece, and nephew were there, however, to meet with Mandela and his wife, Graca Machel.

Mandela, 92, has a portrait of a 2006 meeting with then-Senator Obama on his wall, said Michelle’s aides. The group toured the apartheid museum, and the first lady viewed notebooks and letters from Mandela’s archives. She also met with one of the wives of South African president Jacob Zuma, Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma. Later in the day, the Obamas read The Cat in the Hat to a local preschool class, ABC News reports. The first lady also will visit Botswana during her weeklong trip. (More Michelle Obama stories.)