Week 2 in Luanda, Angola

I’ve been trying to decide how I’m going to recap our time here in Luanda. While I could probably write a daily blog I think it will be best if I commit to a weekly post. This isn’t like our RV trip in that our time here is only 7 weeks, so to to say I will write a daily blog for years is only setting me up for failure.

I will go back and write about week 1 (highlights: virtual schooling is still terrible, internet issues are still frustrating, kids are loving it here), but to kick off the weekly routine I’m starting with Week 2.

Monday was a big day! The kids went to their first day of face to face schooling at Luanda International School. Here, Hudson is in Year 5 (4th grade) and Lucy is in Year 2 (1st grade). There are two classes for each grade. Luckily, Hudson and Lucy met kids in our neighborhood (compound… I’m not entirely sure what to call it), that are in their classes so while there were normal first day jitters they weren’t as bad as I was expecting. There are four buses that take kids ages 3 – 18 from Monte Belo, where we live, to the school. These aren’t regular school buses. Below is a picture of Hudson by the bus. There is a bus parent on each bus. The woman who organizes bus duty is a saint. She prints out a student checklist for each bus everyday and the entire process is very efficient. I love efficiency. The kids came home and reported they had a great day at school which was so wonderful to hear! The school is a lot of one story buildings on a lush and green campus so they keep saying how big the school is. They also have Portuguese, singing, visual arts, performing arts, PE and swimming classes in addition to their regular courses.

Monday was also a big day because Paula, our empregada (maid) started. Most families here have an empregada. Paula is here Monday – Friday from about 7:30 am – 3 pm. She only speaks Portuguese and I only speak English so we laugh as we make our way through the google translation app or our many hand gestures. She has four children ages 9 – 20. It feels strange having a full-time employee. I haven’t found my groove yet with this whole set-up. Someone said it’s a very American thing to feel unsettled by this arrangement. Jordan told me it’s important to remember that we are providing her a living wage. While the average Angolan makes $324/year (yes, you read that correctly) she makes significantly more. We also paid her a starting bonus since empregada work has been hard to come by the past two years. Covid has been very hard on the drivers, gardeners, and empregadas who work for expat families.

I’m not sure I will ever fully feel comfortable having a full-time housekeeper, especially since I’m not working, but she is so helpful! All of our floors are white tile and they get so dirty so quickly. We have become a “no shoe” house which helps, but not entirely. When Paula leaves the floors are so clean I consider asking everyone to stay in their room for the afternoon knowing that by bedtime they will look filthy again. She also is great at washing our produce. All produce here must be thoroughly washed with either vinegar or a solution that is sold at the grocery stores. When I come home from the store Paula will have started washing our produce before I have even put up all the groceries!

Other notable events this week are that three out of the four of us have started tennis lessons. Lucy’s group lessons are Monday and Wednesday in the early evening and Hudson’s group lessons are Tuesday and Thursday. Both kids are enjoying it so far! I play with a group of ladies on Monday and Wednesday mornings. The lessons are fun, but also really technical. Coach Joao (pronounced Joe-ow) is a stickler for technique so I’m having to unlearn some bad tennis habits I wasn’t even aware I had. Tennis is also very social given we play in groups and the parent chatter that happens while the kids are practicing. It’s a nice way to wrap up the day before heading home and starting dinner.

I have fallen into somewhat of a routine. I wake up early, have my coffee and play the NYT crossword puzzle. Playing the NYT crossword puzzle reminds me of my grandmother, and multiple times a week I wonder what she would think about me playing it on a computer. Would she find it amusing or shake her head in confusion? Maybe both. I wake the kids up, make their breakfast, get them ready for school. Getting ready for school here involves applying sunscreen and bug spray. Lucy is the one every morning who reminds us to take our malaria pill. We head out for the bus about 7 am. Once the kid are at school, I work out at the gym. The gym’s dumbbells are in kg and there is a gap in the weights. They have 5 kg weights (11 lbs) and then the next size up is 16 kg (35.2 lbs). I’m probably going to buy some dumbbells soon, but I am putting it off because everything here costs a fortune. After a quick shower, I run any errands I have.

This week I had to buy a local SIM card so I can have an Angolan phone number. I had to go to the school and pick up my access badge. I set up our water delivery. We bought a water cooler from someone who is leaving Angola soon, but we needed to set up the water jug delivery. Emerson, our driver (who I will tell you more about later, but the short story is we adore him), drove me to Saudabel, the water company. When we pulled up I was so confused because I didn’t see a building. It turns out this wall (photo below) opens up and you drive through. They then close the wall and the buildings, warehouse, etc are all behind it. Saudebel is closer to downtown and therefore there are more people on the streets. Usually Emerson will ask if I want him to come with me into the store. This time he didn’t ask. He just got out and walked me through “the wall.”

I also have been making the rounds at the grocery stores to see what they have. Once I’m home I usually have a little less than an hour before the kids come home. I read or answer any emails/texts. I know that as more people move into the compound there will be more to do and my schedule will shift. For now, this works.

Grocery shopping is an ordeal here. It’s getting easier for me, but not having a debit card is a hassle. I’m currently having to pay in cash which makes me mildly uncomfortable especially since the currency here is so different than US dollars. I have to carry a large stack of bills and then whip them out and count out the correct amount for my bill. I generally feel safe, but we have been told that because of covid people are more desperate than they have been in the past and robberies and muggings have increased. Puling out a huge stack of bills isn’t the smartest thing to do, but this is how we have to pay right now. We are waiting on a letter from Chevron HR before we can set up a local bank account to use for things like groceries, restaurants, etc. I have found most things I’m looking for, but it’s all just a little bit different. I’m still learning how to cook here. That may sound weird, but we currently have one pan so in a way I feel like I’m camping. I don’t mind camping for a night or two, but this is what we have until our sea shipment arrives hopefully in March. We are all ready for our shipment to arrive.

Friday evening after an early dinner we went to the recreation center! The kids swam, played soccer and tennis while the adults chatted and played some beer pong. A random lady told me living in Luanda is like “college, but in your 40s with money.” As the beer pong table was set up I thought… that statement might be kind of true. Although I never played beer pong in college. True story.

Yesterday, we drove to the Ilha which is a peninsula that has great beaches and restaurants. A picture of the map is below. Our destination was Cafe Del Mar which is a favorite among our neighbors. As we were approaching the restaurant the police had set up a check point and motioned for us to stop. They checked out Emerson’s paperwork and then asked to see our passports. We had copies (as we have been told to not carry our originals), but they weren’t notarized so they weren’t compliant. We were on the side of the road for about 20 minutes. The police were speaking Portuguese, of course, so we weren’t following. While I knew in the end we would be ok (Chevron has provided us an emergency number to call for any instance), it was still stressful. Later, Emerson told us they were asking us to come to the police station. He told the police we didn’t have time which made me laugh. In the end, we paid them $20 and drove the last 300 feet to Cafe Del Mar. A friend in America asked me why the stopped us and I said “because they wanted to.” I don’t think police here have to provide just cause for a traffic stop.

The restaurant was delicious. Our food was great. The service was amazing. The views and sea breeze were relaxing after the police run-in. In what seems to be a recurring theme here… it was incredibly expensive. I can see us going to Cafe Del Mar or a similar restaurant once a month, but we have to save some money for trips!

Speaking of trips, I booked our first vacation in Cape Town over a long weekend when the kids have off of school in March. I made sure that we can cancel up until the last minute given COVID. I’m really hoping it happens.

Saturday also included a birthday party at the pool for a sweet neighbor turning six and FaceTime calls with grandparents. We watched The Wonder Years (the new series narrated by Don Cheadle), which seems like it will be a good family show, and then called it a night.

All in all, I’m proud of all of us and how we have adapted to our new situation. I asked the kids “On a scale of 1-10 how much did you think you would enjoy living here?” In true form, Hudson replied 1 and Lucy replied 5. I then asked them on the same scale how much they actually enjoying living here. Hudson replied 8 and Lucy said 9.7. She said it wasn’t a full 10 because “it’s easier to live in Sugar Land because you don’t see so many people suffering.” I call her little Buddha sometimes because she drops these little nuggets of wisdom. The abject poverty can sometimes take my breath away. Hudson is very uncomfortable with it. I told him one evening “We aren’t any more deserving of the material things we have than the people on the street we see” he said “I know. I think about that every time we drive.” I’m not sure I’m handling the whole discussion on global poverty well. In fact, I know I’m not. I’m stumbling through making mistakes, but we are talking about it and hopefully, I will learn along side the kids. I don’t want them to feel guilty, but instead feel grateful for what they do have. My biggest hope in making this move was that my kids realize just how big the world is and to be grateful for all they have in this life (and not just the material things)!

And just because we are settling in more quickly than I expected is not to say that we haven’t had hard moments. There are a lot of hard moments. In the span of two hours I can go from thinking “Wow, let’s live as expats forever” to counting the weeks until we are home for several weeks in June and everything is easier. America is convenient and I have to admit I miss those conveniences a lot of days.

Here are some photos I took of Luanda as I have been venturing out.

Until next time…
Sarah