Well - What about Fridays? Fifis and Fun at the Rec Center!

Before I tell you about Fridays, I'd like to share with you what a Friday in the US was like and what it has been like working for my company for the last five years.

When Paul and I were dating back in California, Fridays, on those that we needed to work (since we get a 9/80 work schedule and only work on every second Friday), started off with a conscious decision to not get into the office before 8:00. We knew we were wearing jeans, so the wardrobe prep for the day was generally minimal, and before hitting the desk for the day, we would enjoy breakfast at a little cafe by the office. We'd work the day, mostly catching up on things that didn't get done throughout the rest of the week. We'd have a nice lunch, come back and work until about 4:00 pm and roll out for the weekend by way of going to get something delicious to cook at home or plan a dinner out.

When we lived in Houston, the story was about the same, except on Fridays, we hop in the car and head up to the Woodlands to visit Paul's parents for the weekend.

Here… we lost the 9 part of the 9/80, and probably gained about 20 more hours.. so it's a 10/100 or so. Generally I optimize the wardrobe on my side (jeans), but Paul still wears his slacks because there is a probable chance that he has a meeting that day that warrants being dressed for the occasion. We still get on the bus at 5:00 am, and we still follow the general schedule detailed in A Day in the Life… During the Week, but we have started to either go offsite for lunch to the Ilha in a large group, or we take about 1.5 hour lunch upstairs just to treat ourselves and really enjoy just hanging out with our work pals. We then come back to the office to work until about 3:00 or 4:00. The dialog about whether or not Fifi's is in the future starts around 2:30.

After we took this picture, Chef wanted a copy brought to him so that he could
have it for the bar. Paul's printing one out now….

Fifi's apparently can get pretty crazy later in the night. But at 4:30 pm or so, it's all ours.

What is Fifi's you ask? Only the funkiest bar in the Bairro Samba! That is all! I'm not quite sure how Fifi's landed in our lap - other than the rumor that the last Business Planner that was here - a famous man by the name of Connelly, was driving home one day, and was almost dying of thirst. He came upon a 2-story place watering hole where the beer was the coldest in Luanda. And voila - a Friday (and sometimes other days) tradition began. 

It's not a busy place at the time that we go there, in fact we're often the only folks in the bar. And Fifi and the Chef welcome us all with open arms, put out some roasted peanuts and grilled plantains, and we enjoy a few cold Nocal beers while watching the traffic go by below.

Me looking down at traffic and playing with the kids downstairs. Samba Road runs up by where the three-story yellow building can be seen. We are down in the trenches on the dirt roads… note the barbed wire behind my head.

Sometimes, Fifi's neighborhood kids, potentially related to her, come upstairs to the porch area, and we play with them and chit chat in Portuguese. The last time we were there, we were sitting outside chatting, when all of a sudden, two little girls, maybe 4 and 5 yelled out "Kay-Ceeeee!!!" and all of turned and thought "do they know my name?" Somehow they do. And they called it again, and when I waved they ran off. We played a little peek a boo for a while. 

The other thing that catches people by surprise is seeing a female estrangeiro (we are a rare breed) sitting upstairs in the bairro with a beer in hand. People driving by can't help but stare - I'm sort of a novelty - so I smile and wave back. Paul calls it my glory moment. I call it being polite and acknowledging when someone is looking at you.

A view out the side window of Fifi's. 

Our good friend Carlos gave up beer for Lent. He brought his
own Hendrick's to Fifi's instead. No problem.

After we have sufficiently enjoyed the time there we generally head out to home and lay low for a bit until the sun goes down. Then we join up with everyone for Recreation Center Spectacular. About 10 families or so join up on most Friday and/or Saturday nights for a get together. We grill food, enjoy an adult beverage or diet Coke, and just have a good time chit chatting about anything ANYTHING BUT work. These are my co-workers M-F, but they are great company on the weekends. Their kids are fantastic, and we enjoy being part of the Monte Belo family here. 

A Day in the Life…During the Week

One of the questions that I get most often is: "What's it like living in Angola?"

My safe and light answer is "Great - we love it here. The work is challenging but rewarding, the days are long, and the weekends are short, but we love it all. The people we hang out with are really fun, and we really have a awesome time living here." Or something similar to that.

But it really doesn't answer the question from a day-to-day perspective… So here it goes....

4:00 am - Alarm goes off, we hit snooze determining what exactly it is that we need to do to get ready - for me that is a "do I need to wash and dry my hair?" for Paul it's "do I need to shave?" - hit snooze as appropriate to meet the grooming needs of the day.

4:45 am - Come downstairs fully dressed with heels in hand and flip flops on feet. Enter kitchen. Remark how filthy it looks from last night's cooking (or if Monday, the whole weekend) and how I might give a Tazmanian Devil a run for its money. Open fridge, grab pre-made 1.5 L bottle of Tazo Zen Tea - perfectly chilled. Pour into Starbucks branded insulated 20oz cup. Slurp a sip. Pretend for a moment that I am at Starbucks. Chuckle at the ridiculous thought.  Take multi-vitamin to prevent low iron and promote good bones, and take malarone to prevent malaria.

4:50 - 4:55 am - Stuff giant purse with shoes, bottle of iced tea, and head towards the door. Acknowledge Paul (usually for the first time that morning) and kiss good morning. Walk down the hill and around the corner together to the bus stop. Mingle waiting for the bus.

5:00 am - See the big bus drive by and pick up a subset of passengers. Hope that our little bus that trails the big bus is coming (sometimes it doesn't). Breathe a sigh of relief or call the dispatch depending on which it is. Get on bus.

5:00 am - 5:30 am - Take bus to work. Leave the Monte Belo complex, watch the Security Detail fall in behind us and close eyes. Hold hands with Paul for a last moment of being Hubs and Wife instead of coworkers. Listen to the day's random radio selections as determined by our driver and on-board security guy. Smile that the Fugees "Ready or Not" is playing on the radio in Angola. Correct more seasoned co-worker when he expresses his disdain for rap music on the fact that this is R&B, and that it's a classic. "There's classic Rap?" Enjoy slight age shock factor that ensues, forget about correcting music genre. Enjoy rest of the song followed by Tracey Chapman, Belinda Carlisle, Phil Collins, wtc. Drive by "24 Hour Fitness" an open paved area with pull up bars and a painted running track in the middle of Samba Road. Think that I should probably work out a little more.

5:29 am - Arrive at work with Michael Bolton singing a classic "When a Man Loves a Woman" as we come through the security gate. The bus, my friends, is one of the only things in Luanda that works like clockwork. We are at the office at 5:30 almost EVERY day.

5:30 am - Get off bus at South Building. Wish those getting off at the North Building a great day, week, etc. Say thanks to the driver and our security detail. Enter work through x-ray machine and metal detector. Say good morning to the security at the door. Ponder what level of sensitivity the metal detectors are at today. Decide to go all in - watch, earrings, belt, and all.  Gain sense of elation that I "passed!" Observe, as my bag comes through x-ray conveyor, the others come through metal detector beeping with belts, watches. etc. Marvel at the inconsistencies of this world we live in. Wish the security guards "bom trabalho" and mosey upstairs to the "first" floor. So Euro.

5:35 am - Greet colleagues who are also in early, unlock office door. Start work. Work work work.

6:45 am - Give or receive IM with Paul "have you got a moment?" discuss quasi-work-related topic or fully work-related topic. Continue to work.

7:30 am - 8:30 am - Watch most of the Angolan staff arrive at work. Greet them all good morning. Continue working.

8:45 am - Remember I have flip flops on and switch out to my heels.  Go to a meeting.

9:27 am - Come back from a meeting to see that Paul has shot me an IM at 9:15 stating that he was going upstairs to Sandwich.com for a Tosta Mixta - this is a sandwich that is panini pressed with ham and cheese inside. A marvelous breakfast almost 4 hours into the day. (blog to be drafted specifically about Sandwich.com as a microcosm of Luanda)

9:35 am - Join Paul for 10 minutes. Say hi to the Sandwich.com gals. BS about whatever activity has gone on that morning, or some ongoing subject. Steal part of Paul's Tosta. Receive death stare from husband for behavior unbecoming of a colleague. Bat eyelashes for forgiveness. Go back to work.

10:55 - Receive IM from Monte Belo pal and co-worker as part of a group chat. "What time is lunch?" Agree on 11:15 based on someone's meeting schedule.

11:15 - Meet upstairs for lunch. Order food.

11:30 - Watch people who ordered their food after you receive it - tell them to go ahead and start eating.

11:35 - Remind Sandwich.com girls that you ordered food. Convince friend who was going to eat at his desk to sit around and enjoy a break for a moment or two.

11:40 - Receive wrong order from Sandwich.com, receive empathetic laughs from lunch time pals. Consume meal, laugh heartily with friends/colleagues for 25 minutes or so. Enjoy at how great and diverse the Colombian, Scottish, US, Mexican, Canadian, South African crew of company is at the table and how great this hour of respite 5.5 - 6 hours into the day really is. Stand in line for 10 minutes trying to pay for the meal that you ordered that was wrong.

12:15 - Go back to work.

14:45 - Start IM-ing about ETD. Agree we can make it out of here by 16:00.

15:45 - IM that I have a meeting until 16:15

16:15 - Receive IM from Paul from 16:08 that he has a project that he needs to close up that will take him until 16:45.

16:50 - Receive IM that he's ready. Respond with "Okay, give me 5 minutes, can you call Emiquilson?"

17:05 - Meet Paul downstairs in the car - hop in the back. Greet Emiquilson and ask about his day. Buckle seat belt - Emiquilson will not move the car unless we are buckled in. He's such a pro. Get on the road. Debrief with Paul about the rest of his day/my day. Start talking about what our next meal or vacation is going to be.

17:10 - Hit traffic.

17:35 - Move 10 feet from when we hit traffic. Extrapolate based on this data point that we will be home by midnight. Buy popcorn from the popcorn vendor. Watch life happening on the streets of Luanda - children playing in water coming from a pipe, vendors selling everything under the sun, taxis crammed full of people jockeying for position, motos zooming by threatening your side mirrors, Generals and their convoys somehow budging through the parking lot of gridlock by way of a police siren or escort or something like that, little boys jumping on the back bumper of a truck only to be chased off moments later. All part of the show.

17:55 - Introduce a topic of conversation to Paul about something deep and meaningful by way of a poignant thought or question - receive no response back from the front seat. Note that Paul has fallen asleep. Read a book, do some work, or fall asleep myself.

18:45 - Arrive at home. Get Emiquilson a water or Sumol (sparkling sweet juice) and thank him for the day. Smile with pure joy that the house is magically organized, the bed is made, the kitchen is clean, and the air conditioning is on HIGH. Turn off the A/C. Praise and thank Veronica over and over again.

18:50 - Decide what to make for dinner based on what kind of food is in the house. Resort to soup made with peppers and onions from the garden and some guacamole and chips, and a mango.

19:30 - Reflect proudly on the nice meal I just made and the nice mess I have left. Wonder what's going to happen when I go back to the States and have to actually clean up after myself. Confirm primary reason why to stay overseas.

19:45 -  80% of the time, make an excuse to not work out. Surf the web, read a book, etc.

20:00 - Go to bed… to do it all again.

20:05 - Kiss Paul goodnight while listening to him watching You-Tube videos on RC Cars, real cars, or watches. Contemplate how that can be interesting, then dismiss it and fall asleep.

Repeat.