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.