It probably goes without saying that when you're exhausted after 5 days of work, and further exhausted by weekends, that perhaps writing a blog full of creative prose is less than prioritized on the list of "to dos" for down time.
But I will persevere!
This weekend was an exemplary weekend of Luanda fun. We started off with a quiet night at home hosting a neighbor for dinner ad-hoc. This was after the happy hour that we had a Fifi's, where one can find the coldest beer in town - close to having little crystals of ice in it!
We often drive by Fifi's as we go home on the low road through the Barro de Samba. You wouldn't notice the place except that we have all learned of it by word of mouth, and the drivers know where it is. Before we knew it was Fifi's, Emiquilson had stopped once or twice to pick us up a roadie.
So, a few of us stopped by on Friday for an after-work refreshment. Paul took pictures, and I'll see if I can add them to my iPhoto to upload here.
Anyway, Mac and Cheese from scratch on Friday night and a little vinho later, my neighbor and I decided to take a walk to a third girlfriend's abode (Lina - of Lina and Edgar, our Colombian friends with whom we went on Safari) to check in on her. Edgar was up in Malongo, and she was home alone with her 4-year old. We found her sipping on a diet margarita (Patron and Crystal Light Lemon Lime), and joined her for one more.
The next morning the three of us, and three others headed to Vanan Bakery for coffee and to order a birthday cake for a 2 year-old. Can you guess how much the cake costs? Guess.... I'll tell you at the end of the blog. I was dressed in my tennis duds ready to play in the mixed doubles championship at the rec center at 10:30, and in such garb, considering I hadn't played yet and was sipping on coffee, developed a new character for Saturday Night Live - Lady who only wears the outfits, but never plays the sport/does the activity.
When I got to the court, I noticed Paul playing doubles, which wasn't planned, but because Edgar was in Malongo, P took over for him. That went to three sets, which delayed our match significantly, and we ended up playing in the afternoon instead of the morning. Paul was exhausted!
The cool thing about this place is it's really like summer camp on weekends. All year. We had friends who went to coffee swing by to watch tennis, we had people who were just in the neighborhood stop by and check out the scene while their kids played, all the while chit chatting with neighbors, and Lina and Edgar actually held out and watched the WHOLE mixed doubles match, which started about about two hours late, and went from 1:00 pm to about 3:00 in the heat of the day. Talk about troopers and great pals.
Long story short, we earned ourselves a silver medal in the finals against a lovely couple from South Africa. We all cleaned up and went to their house for a visit before coming home to hang out a bit at home before a surprise 50th birthday party scheduled that night at the community hall. Paul left a little early, as he was tuckered out by the six sets of tennis that he played (not to mention the sun!), and I stuck around a little longer dancing my little heart out. That lasted in a progressive manner until 3:30-am or more, and when I got home I realized I had better make the seven sandwiches for our boat ride the next morning now, while I was still awake. Yes. Boat ride. The one that was scheduled to have us leave the house at 7:00 am? yes....that one.
So the sandwiches are made (5 for the passengers and two for the boat crew), and we take off with plenty of snacks and drinks for the ride. I favored iced tea, water, and a lone gin and tonic with lunch, if you can imagine! The gourmet item of the day was Tostitos Queso with tortilla chips. A rarity here, and something that people are willing to pay upwards of $10 per bag or jar of salsa/queso only because it's a little taste of unavailable home. Your's truly is a fan.
We took off on Miss Texas at about 8:10, and by around 8:45 we were watching a pod of humpback whales breaching entirely out of the water. This lasted for about 2-3 minutes before we got closer and the whales continued to float along by the boat coming up to breathe, diving down and tipping their tails, and moseying along during their migration from north to south.
We then headed north to Shipwreck beach, where over 20 ships are just stranded over the course of about 2 miles of coastline - some anchored, and others literally washed up on the beach all rusted and hollowed out. It's creepy against the shooting cliffs, and at once really beautiful. We had lunch around there, trolled for some fish, and headed back to home. I took a nap, woke up to go food shopping in a mad rush before the stores closed, and went to bed around 7:30 that night. I've been called worse things than a Rockstar before.
And you wonder why I was shying away from the blog! I still have Safari pics to post! In any case, we love it here, and I'll do my best to share more experiences with you along the way.
Oh, and the cake - for two layers and fondant in three-four colors = $220 USD ($10 per slice for each little kiddie). Sometimes you just accept that you live in the most expensive city in the world and move on.
