We Have Arrived!

First sight of Luanda

After a whirlwind of activity we arrived in Luanda on Thursday, April 13.  So let's back up a bit - Jason had been rotating to Angola for about 18 months. He was working 28 days in Malongo Angola which is about an hour north of Luanda (by airplane) - he worked in a camp setting for awhile and most recently was working offshore.  Conditions were not great and we were tired of living apart half of the time.  He was offered a residentially assignment (to a better job) in late January and after waiting a bit for the official offer letter we got started in the visa process in mid-February and by the end of March we had my visa in hand.  We sold the cars, put the house on the market, packed, terminated my employment (sad!) and finally got on a plane.  We also sadly packed up Roux and sent her to live with Jason's mom while we are here.  We are sad to not have her but after being here for 2 seconds I know it was the right thing for her!

Last Meal- Rudy's BBQ!

Ok back to the original story - the flight is a direct chartered flight from Houston to Luanda - 14 hours!  The flight, called the Houston Express (or HEX) flies to and from Luanda 2 days per week and is oil company chartered.  It is pretty nice set up - I enjoyed a glass of champagne and a few movies and then off to bed.  We checked 19 (!) pieces of luggage as this is the preferred method of transport for immediate needed items (like linens, food items, medications, etc) and everyone does it the first time.  Our sea shipment will take at least 2 months to arrive.

Our luggage at check in

Cheers to new adventures

Thankfully all the bags arrived on the other end and after a bit of an adventure we got all the bags through customs without much issue.  We didn't have to open one bag which surprised me.  The company showed up with a van to collect us and our driver.  I will come back to the driver in a later post so stay tuned.  We arrived at the apartment in the center of the city - we are on the seventh floor of a very modern building (called the Palacio Real).  The apartment is nicer then you may expect but a bit smaller then we were thinking but we think it will work out okay.   After a quick shower and reorganization we had our driver take us to a closer grocery store (Kero).  Quite the initiation but we made it work and got dinner and a few days worth of food.  The grocery store is like Norway with some similar brands and a somewhat lacking produce section but did have some variety of items I was surprised with.  There was a sale on whole chicken and the locals were going nuts over that - lots of yelling and running - I stayed clear.

Friday was a holiday so we did some errands like ordering internet (which is fun in a foreign language) and went to the big "mall" in the south part of the city called Talatona - it is were many expats live in compounds.  Then we took a walk along the Marginal which is on the bay of Luanda and is a safe place to walk.  We experienced flying fish in the bay which was cool but there is tons of trash in the water which is sad to see.  That evening we headed back to the company compound called Monte Belo - if you have kids you live here.  The community is gated and is mostly our company - the houses are large and have a small yard.  The downside is the commute in the morning (at 5am) is 40 minutes and in the evening (at 4pm or so) can be 90+ minutes due to traffic.  By comparison Jason's commute so far is 8 minutes each way.  We meet up with a few families and had a BBQ - one expat had been hunting in Namibia and we got to try all kind of game meet including zebra, warthog, kudu, and hartebeest.  It was a fun introduction to the social scene here.  Saturday we had another adventure which warrants it's own post but we finished out the weekend and Monday (which Jason had off) with some more exploring and setting up the house.  Tuesday was my first day alone and the internet was installed - amazing fast for Luanda.

The "mall" - consists of a large grocery store (like a wall-mart) and a few other shops and movie theater

Overall Luanda is similar to my expectations.  Hopefully I can give you a feel for it as we go - pictures are harder to come by as the locals are not too cool with photos.  The language will be harder here then Norway but I hope to learn more (as I will need it!).  More adventures to come!