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.

Out and About on our First Safari Day

Oh my gosh, we're going on SAFARI!!!!! (If only we can get out of this airport!) Luanda Airport is not winning any efficiency awards.

The first day of safari after our arrival was all about discovery…. Just kind of figuring out what this was all about.  We were constantly being surprised by the scenery and all the superlatives I can’t think of to describe it, the experience itself (kind of pinching ourselves and giggling that we really ARE on safari), and enjoying the over-the-top fancy-pantness of the place we were staying. Here's our view!

Paul lounging outside our tent - we were snacking on watermelon dipped in gin as a welcome aperitif. Refreshing and delicious.

The extra touches that the And Beyond staff put into things was really impressive. We received little good night messages with roses every night at Bataleur, and we were woken by coffee delivered to our tent in the mornings. With us being just a little under the weather, they also brought hot water and salt for us to gargle. The And Beyond lodges have the best service I've ever experienced.

I'll need to do a blog just on the design of the And Beyond lodges… they were all breathtaking, creative, tasteful, and something I would love to call home

Here is the main camp tent. We were able to lounge about after safari each evening, and enjoy meeting other guests and hearing about their experiences too.

This was the view from the plane as we flew into Kichwa Tembo Airstrip. We ended up driving all over this area. It was so vast.

We spent the afternoon of the first day finding lions, giraffes, zebras, coyotes, and cape buffalo. Eric, our guide kept us out until the dusk of dusk; we were probably the last to leave the park our camp was just 10 minute’s drive outside of camp, so we had the luxury of staying late. On our way home ran into a hippo in the rain right in our path where we had to cross through a little stream in the truck.

The trucks themselves are pretty fantastic. Paul and I spent a good couple of days after we got back researching the practicality of owning a safari truck. I think we need to have a home in the Masai Mara for it to actually have any practicality at all, but they sure are rugged and chic in a rustic way.  I can just imagine rolling up to Starbucks on a Saturday morning in my forest green 8-seater Land Cruiser or Range Rover with open sides and a double diesel tank. Super fixe. (Super “cool” in Portuguese – Fixe sounds like Feesh).

 

Eric, our first driver was very knowledgable about the animals; he was great with Nico, and was really a good teacher for all of us.

One of my first zebras… at some point along the trip you start to become a little numb to the exotic factor associated with the animals. It's only because of the sheer volume of animals that can be seen. I still look at the pictures though and love the way they look.

Our poor General cape buffalo… he was such a lonely beast eating grass by the riverside.

Our first lioness. We were so amazed to see her up close and yawning like crazy… rough day hunting and eating, I guess.

We could hear the elephants trumpeting as they walked across the plane. The demonstrate such a tight bond to one another, never leaving anyone too far behind, and making sure the young are between the adults.  

If this was my backyard, I would never tire from the view. The colors of the grass and trees together are striking.

We got back to the lodge and were welcomed to a very warm scene including four tables set for the guests at the lodge. There are only about 10 tents that housed two people each, and the Bataleur Camp did an excellent job of keeping everyone’s space from each other so that you really felt like the only guests in the whole place if you wanted to. Alternatively, you could also engage with other guests in the comfy sitting areas.  Rose petals covered the table, and we enjoyed our first evening in the Masai Mara.

Again, I need to blog about the decor. I really do want to retire here…. and Munich….

Safari Time - First Day in Masai Mara

I haven't been great at posting about our safari. Mostly because I was overwhelmed by the number of photos that we had jointly taken between two couples with three cameras and two iPhones.

That said, I wanted to capture some of the stories about our trip before they started to fade away… that, and we're leaving on Friday for Victoria Falls, so I want to make sure that I've caught up to at least our trips in the 3rd quarter of last year!

We departed Luanda for Nairobi, and not only were we with our good friends Lina, Edgar, and their son Nico, but on the same flight were one of my co-workers, my big boss, and their wives. They were headed on safari too, and we ended up running into them again the next day at the domestic airport. (Good timing for a vacation, I can't miss emails from the big boss if he's not sending them!)


The first evening we stayed at the Norfolk hotel, which was just lovely. This is where we learned about dawas the "medicine" drink - dawa means magic potion in Swahili.  Honey, lime, and vodka on ice?... okay! This was especially nice because we were fighting a bit of a sore throat/cough for a fair part of the trip, so whatever could help was welcomed. The boys quickly became fans of Tusker beer. The beer was named after the elephant that killed the owner and brewmaster. Nice.



We woke up early the next day, and after a quick breakfast under the veranda at the Norfolk, we hopped a car to the domestic airport to take us to our first airstrip.

The airport is itsy bitsy, but it works… we were quite limited in what we could pack. Each of us was constrained to 30lbs (including my camera and lenses?) - luckily they let that slide. We hopped on a plane that looked like a bus inside, which took us to the Okiombo airstrip, where we waited for our next plane.. In the end, this was sort of like taking buses - where Okiombo was a central station.

Nico at Okiombo - He had just received his first pair of binoculars….

Several visitors would first land, and then either a safari car would be there for some of them, or another plane would land and pick us up in smaller batches to go to their respective camps. The Masai were there to help move the luggage from one plane to another. This was the first time I saw Masai in person, and their tartans were in striking contrast to their deep chocolate skin tone and the blond tones of the Masai Mara. It was really beautiful.

We had a little time to kill at the air strip, so it turned into "photo shoot" at Okiombo. Here's a nice one of Lina and Nico. I was practicing my portrait shots…

We caught a little hopper to Kichwa Tembo airstrip, where we landed and were welcomed by our hosts for our first safari stop in the Masai Mara at the And Beyond Bataleur camp.

 We were warmly welcomed with a little mid morning snack, right at the airstrip, we had a little table set up with a full bar, snacks, champagne, and our first view of the Masai Mara and of zebras. They were all over the place. Our safari guide was there with the car waiting for us, and on our way to the camp, he gave us a little mini safari, where we met a General cape buffalo. Generals are the oldest cape buffaloes, and they have effectively been retired from the herd, and go rogue and become loaners. Generally younger buffaloes have given them the boot.

When we got to the camp we were in awe. We very quickly checked out our tents, which were amazing, and spurred me to consider living in the Masai Mara when I retire. I quickly set up the tripod for some photos (the airstrip is in the far far distance, and we could see a plane parked when looking through my telephoto lens.) Sure enough we were lucky to have visitors almost right away.

Edgar and Lina were one camp over from us (we couldn't see each other, but we were able to hear them) and all of a sudden we hear "guys! look out your window!" We ended up having a pack of elephants welcome us to the Masai Mara by crossing about 400 m in front of us as one of our very first experiences. We were pretty much overwhelmed at this point. Something Lina commented on early on in the trip and stuck with us was that "these animals weren't placed here…. this is their home!" You see a lion in a zoo, or an elephant, and it's just not meaningful compared to this. Do this trip in your life.

We were all pretty pumped up by this time, and we walked down to the main camp to be seated right by where the long grass kicks up. Out comes a delicious first meal (keep in mind we live in Angola, and food is not something that we take for granted anymore). And so began the gin and tonics, which, along with Dawas, Kilimanjaro Ales, and Tusker beer, became the favorites on the trip.

A delicious first lunch in Kenya at Bataleur Camp. We are just in awe of where we are...

This was the view from our lunch table...

After lunch we hopped in to the safari car with our guide Eric. The first day we saw many giraffe, a pair of lions, zebra, cape buffalo, ostrich, hyenas, and more, I'm sure, but these are what I can remember off the top of my head. The picture below is taken close to where part of Out of Africa was filmed. I think I was most amazed by just how much space there was. I was never bored just looking at the landscape - it was ever-changing as we drove around, and it gave me a sense of both peace and awe all at once. I loved the Masai Mara/Serengeti the most.

In the middle of the night, I woke up, with a full moon lighting the "back yard" of our tent. I could have sworn that there were elephants right up close eating something… I got out of bed to take some pictures and then went back to sleep... Of course, my eyes were fooling me, and as the world woke up, the elephants turned into bushes and trees. But I did get to catch a nice sunrise and some moonlit shots of the bushes… what a goof. More to come - I will put together some stories from our outings into another post. I just wanted to introduce you to the Masai Mara part of our trip, and the Bataleur Camp.

Throw KC from the Train

Well, everything was going just splendidly until we sat in the wrong rail car and, three minutes before train departure, realized as much.

We were on the right train, but we were at the back of it in car 36, and it splits in Salzburg... With that back end of the train staying put and the other (where we should have been sitting in car 26) moving onto Munich. This would most certainly prevent us from getting back to Munich and onto Paris.

And so begins the three minute train dash - please, if you have it, play Chariots of Fire now (especially if you have the version by Zamphyr). I am carrying a duffle, a large purse full of junk, and a suitcase. Paul has two big suitcases and his backpack. When I hear that we have to go to get on the right part of the train, I realize we have to go fast. And I grab everything and start heading out the train to run along side to jump back in. Paul stays in the train and tries to navigate from the inside. Just so you realize the train is parked at this point, so take that visual of me successfully catching a running train out of your mind. We are not in a movie; this is real life people!

Side bar on the visual associated with this:

In our cold, yet fashionable Euro Winter Wonderland, I am dressed for the occasion and for the weather. I have tights under my jeans, boots over my tights, a tank under a turtle neck, which is under a cashmere turtleneck, which is under a quilted coat with a very warm scarf. And I haven't really worked out since August, so running with luggage and all this clothing is not a pretty sight. Worse, stopping after running with luggage, and trying to lift said baggage into the train while freaking out that you've abandoned your husband officially dismisses me of all cool euroness that I might have just picked up in inklings along our journey thus far. I'm arriving in a train car completely out of breath, sweaty, irrational, and I can't describe how opposite of that everyone else was around me. Chalk me up to being a super tourist today.

So my logic is that since the trains are linked, they most certainly connect inside. I figure we will meet up. Knowing that I have a little less stuff, I rush to get to car 26.  Genius that I am, my thought was that thought if only I can wait at this door until Paul pops out of the car behind me, we can link him back in at this car, no problem. Well, if you couldn't already tell, I'm not well-schooled in train logistics; they don't connect from the inside, and no one is going to let me wait for Paul. And as the conductor is waving me on, I'm being told we can figure it out at the next stop. And so Paul stayed on the back half of the train. Without a ticket. With no idea if I'm on the train too.

The train starts moving, and while I'm trying to remain somewhat calm and discuss the situation with the conductor, my phone rings. Of course, it's Paul. Rightfully so, it's the closest he has come to being truly upset with me. What a scene. Him feeling quite abandoned, and me feeling quite terrible that we aren't together, and we are both a little panicked. "Is your train moving?" "Yes! Is yours?" (mine is in front of his, so yes, it's moving - it's pulling your with it I hope!). "Are you on the train?" "Yes! are you?" "Yes, barely, but yes." So now what?!

Conductor Fritz to the rescue! Luckily at the next stop 15 minutes later we will be able to get Paul to the front of his train half and over to ours. Our Conductor has also called the other ticket checker to let him know that Paul won't have a ticket. Let's say that Conductor Fritz was less than impressed, and we are totally lame tourists, but whatever, the problem will be solved. So what's a girl to do but order some sparkling wine that she can't pay for because her hubs has all the cash on him?

That was probably a bit more salt in the wound than needed, "honey, while you were dealing with the stress of potentially missing our train, I ordered something a little bubbly to soothe my nerves." But all's well that ends well, and Paul is now quasi relaxed, sitting in front of me, watching Game of a Thrones in he right car on the right train and contemplating how he can make my death look like an accident. 

Cheers!

KC

UPDATE: Paul has offered me some of his sandwich. He took the first bite, so I think it should be safe... Only time will tell if this is a token of peace or a gift of war paired with the hope of a choking incident.

Also, it's hard to tell from the pictures below, but everything has a lovely dusting of snow on it right now, which is different from when we were headed toward Vienna. Very beautiful. I could die peacefully here if Paul chooses.

UPDATE TWO: I may have quelled the anger of my husband by getting him some pretzel sticks... Hopefully this puts him on a path to recovery. I got myself a second mini bottle of sparkling wine, so even if it doesn't completely erase his fierce frustration with his wife, I'll be in my own happy weinland!

Cheers again!

Gondola Lunch!

Paul and I are having gluhwein and schnitzel for lunch... In a gondola outside the Vier Jahrenzeiten. That is all.