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.
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| 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…. |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| A view out the side window of Fifi's. |
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| 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. 
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