Today is this man's lucky day!

Our friends suggested to get together at the Luanda’s newly opened boardwalk. It actually opened just three days before elections in the end of August. I’ve noticed this neatly paved palm-lined avenue running alongside a boardwalk already this Thursday while attending a board meeting held in one of the dazzling new skyscrapers overlooking the bay. The contrast between this fancy waterfront and the surrounding populous dusty neighborhoods with dirt potholes roads is so obvious that I wonder about its future.

Anyway, it is one of a kind in Luanda to go biking, skating, jogging or just hanging out to people watch.

We brought roller-skates for Maarten from Europe. Originally it was supposed to be a Christmas of birthday present but this was a good opportunity to try them on. Therefore, he got his skates now as a reward for his Dutch report card.

Afterwards we headed to the nearby Ilha, a peninsula that separates Luanda Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. This is a very popular place loaded with bars and restaurants and extremely busy during the weekends. What a difference compared to weekdays! It’s like a one big party completely different to our peaceful days at the Mussulo beach.

The children enjoyed their sumo de laranja and indispensable batata frita and we tried an Eka beer as suggested. Even though I’m from the beer capital I’ve never really tasted the difference between beers, except for some of the darker brews. Eka or Cuca, as long as it’s nicely cold.

It was hard to keep Maarten away from the impressive waves. And he was not alone! There were many local kids to make friends with.

Not only the waves were attractive.

The local children are usually attracted to Maarten, for whatever reason, but when the currents took his swim trunks everybody, kids and adults, they all had a blast! Our little nudist enjoyed himself tremendously.

Restaurante Coconuts

Snake man.

Waiting for the drivers.

Making our way through the partying streets.

Today is this man's lucky day!

Power, cakes and tomatoes

The last family just moved into our compound. Maybe that’s the reason for the permanent power outages because the generator cannot handle his load anymore. The whole neighborhood is without power because the owner didn’t pay his bills and supposedly it will take days or weeks to conquer the local bureaucracy.

Today Maarten’s school was closed because of the teacher’s workday. We went together to the supermarket which I really hate.

But it has to be done anyway and I also wanted to look at their cakes. I heard about the horrifying prices and recently heard about a birthday cake for 1300 US$!

I have quite some time to master baking it myself before Maarten’s birthday but I still hope I will find something more affordable. I also have to mention that today I bought tomatoes! For the very first time here in Luanda! Well, it may not sound like a big deal, and yes, I could buy them earlier but this time they also looked edible, meaning weren’t rotten already at the store.

Ups and downs

I know this is completely opposite to the years I spent in Belgium but recently I got so busy that I really have to make time to update my little blog. My agenda is agreeably full sometimes I even think I have to slow down a little. I haven't touched the boxes with yearn yet, well, only when I needed some rope to tight up the plants in the garden. Our empregada got ill last week, she suffered from malaria and wasn’t able to work and I finally admitted what a luxury it is to have her cleaning the house on regular basis. I still can’t say I enjoy her presence but I’m not in house that much lately anyway. A couple of weeks ago my neighbor told me about a volunteer position in a learning centre for children with special needs. When I saw the job description and requested qualification I thought they would not be interested but they reacted positively to my C.V. and cover letter and I really enjoy working there. I would like to go every day but also my Portuguese classes have restarted, I do communications for an international club and I discovered aqua aerobics at a nearby compound... Besides that there are also less fancy activities like being the bus mom, tutoring Maarten in his Dutch distance education and of course running the household. What also keeps us all busy, Maarten included, is making our new home a livable place. We can’t do much about the annoying pool pump noise which the builders placed right to the outdoor kitchen en patio! But we do our best to bring our yard to life by planting plants and growing vegetables hoping to create a wildlife-friendly garden as well. A lovely challenge! There were also some downers in the last couple of weeks. Maarten was complaining about stomach ache and had high fever. We spent the afternoon at the clinic. As usual he had to have blood drawn for the malaria test. But this time they didn’t do the simple finger prick but they drew blood from the vein. He was not happy with that and I kept telling him not to look while it was being done. Then the nurse was done filling the vial and put on a bandage. We were asked to wait downstairs but Maarten suddenly leaned against me and fainted. There he was white pale as the floor he was laying on and all sweaty. Scary view. Luckily the malaria test was negative; possibly, it was “only” a stomach bug. I experienced similar one week after that. No fun! I realize this blog is mainly about our dearest son and also my last little story in this post is about him. My arms hurt after the morning aqua aerobic and I really want to forget the feelings I experienced this Monday so I’ll try to be very brief. Maarten got lost at the school campus. As a bus mom I came to pick all the children from our compound up but there was no Maarten. You don’t want to know the feeling when you walk from one gym room to another, running down the halls checking classrooms and restrooms finding only cleaning staff or darkness. Don’t know how long it took before I found myself together with the school staff including the principal, bus drivers and older students calling to all compounds believing Maarten got on a wrong bus. After hour and a half there was still no trace of Maarten. I still feel like throwing up by recalling the event. Then our neighbor called that Maarten is happily playing at the compound. To explain: This was the first day of afterschool activities when the bus supposed to leave the school at 4:30 instead of 4. Maarten was looking for his bus and as he supposed to be the only one driving the bus that afternoon there was no one he could ask. He also doesn’t own a watch or a cell phone (something to consider?). The bus was not there at 4 as usually and he came across his (girl)friend he likes very much who offered him a lift home. Irresistible don't you think? She was on her own only with her driver so her parents weren’t aware of Maarten coming to the compound with her. That's why no one informed us.

Heard on the school bus

I fly first class only. My dad always gives me 400 $ to buy better food on the plane. But, please, if you have to fly the economy class never eat the food! The economy class is for beggars! (10 yrs old boy)

Chinese sizes

Just like most new constructions after the civil war also our compound was built by Chinese workers. While doing the gardening and digging in the soil we find a lot of garbage and building material all with Chinese signs. There are many imperfections and the maintenance team has hands full fixing it and adjusting the house into a habitable dwelling. At the first sight the houses look quite luxurious all is done in marble, floors, bathrooms, but on closer look...

However, there is one problem that would be difficult to fix. The showers are far too small. To get inside is also challenging as the shower doors slide aside to give an opening with a width of 30 centimeters (11.8") only.

Bread and yoghurt

When we first visited Angola (August 2011) we were told that it is not possible to buy whole wheat bread here in Luanda. In the supermarket there was only white toast bread, same as we used to have in the States which we didn’t like. Besides, one bag was around 10 US $. Similar with yoghurt.

That’s why we brought a bread and a yoghurt maker from Europe. But as the choice and the food diversity at the local supermarkets improves day after day, meanwhile, you can buy some very nice bread, both whole wheat or white, different kinds of crusty rolls and even ciabatta. If you are lucky. That’s why it took me a while to read the manual and try the "makers" out. Except for the first time I’m doing quite well.

Yoghurt is a different story. You don't have much choice and it is very pricey. Same as the bread maker also the yoghurt maker is pretty easy to operate and even though my first yoghurt making was successful Maarten still prefers the store bought strawberry yoghurt.

Back to normal

Luckily we didn’t notice anything of the demonstrations organized throughout the country by the opposition party. Last Thursday I went to the supermarket to hoard food and water for 2 weeks for any unforeseen occurrence, as recommended. This wasn’t the best time to go. Due to the election on Friday most stores were closed therefore the supermarket was extremely busy as expected. Also Maarten had two days off. What a challenge to keep him away from all the $$$ candies! Anyway. Lately, he claims to be a camel that doesn’t need to drink all the time when I bother him with a glass of water, begging him and warning about dehydration and the other unpleasant side effects. Well, speaking of which, it started itching again just when we joined the endless queue. Screaming, jumping, crying, yelling… everybody was looking at Maarten who got really hysterical holding his pants. Many pointed the direction of the restrooms and I had to explain several times that no, he doesn’t need to go. Other kind ladies arranged for us that we could go straight to the cashier. I wasn’t feeling comfortable leaving the pregnant women and moms holding their tiny babies behind as the security made place for us to jump the queue. When we finally got out of this crazy place I tried to call Bernardo to locate him (or us) on the parking lot. But! He wouldn’t pick up his phone! Because of the loud music in the supermarket and hundreds of people, he didn’t hear his phone. I went back to the security and asked to call him over the public address system. It took a while but finally they got permission and called Bernardo over the loudspeakers. Friday the Angolans voted. All Angolans have right to vote therefore also our drivers had Friday off and we had to remain in or around our residence. It felt strange.

I was really glad when all went back to normal and we could head (at least) for the beach again.

Maarten traditionally spent the day fishing and hunting for any kind of sea creatures.

In the late afternoon we embarked together with the beach stuff and some other expats to cross the bay back.

We were more than half way when the boat started slowing down. I thought it’s because of the big waves being a little surprised by sudden kindness of the captain. Usually we bounce and shake around in the waves.

We will probably never find out what exactly happened. The captain said we didn’t run out of fuel but you never know.

After half an hour other boat came to rescue us and we safely reached the shore.