Upcoming elections

On August 23 Angola will hold the first national election since 2012 and this is a BIG deal since the current president is stepping down after 38 years! Brief history lesson- Angola was a Portuguese colony until 1975- directly after independence the Angolan Civil War started.  There were 2 main groups fighting for power, MPLA who was backed by communist countries like the USSR and Cuba and UNITA who was backed by the US and South Africa.  Elections occurred during the war but as you can imagine they were hotly contested affairs but MPLA has held the position of president for the entire 42 year history of an independent Angola. The current president has been the leader of the MPLA party since 1979.  The civil war ended in 2002 with the death of the UNITA leader but elections didn't occur again until 2008 and then again in 2012, both times with MPLA winning by a landslide.

Their system is a sort of Parliamentary system so the party that wins the most seats holds the position of president.  We assume MPLA will maintain the majority and a new leader has already been identified but it might be an interesting 2 months.  We have been assured the Angolans don't have a taste for revolt after living through the horrors of a 27 year civil war that decimated their country (see side note).  But you do hear them wanting change - there is a lot of corruption in the government and many citizens seem to feel that corruption leaves them poor and without access to basic services like medical care, medications and clean water.  UNITA has had a few rallies - below is a video out our window of the most recent.  It was maybe 50 cars long, lots of chanting but no issues.



We expect election day will end up being a holiday for the company since all citizens are expected to vote in their home "precinct" and most drivers and employees live outside the city so they won't be able to come to work.   I figure it will be like a hurricane party for us here in the apartment :)

Side note- it is hard to grasp that every Angolan over the age of 20 lived through a bloody civil war.  Our driver is in his mid-40s and it hard to think his whole life included war.  I have yet to ask him about it but we know that he speaks some French so we assume his family fled to the Congo at some point.  Things here are sometimes frustrating and part of that has to do with what seems to be a lack of care about the future or progress but when you remember what they have been through you realize they have a hard time thinking past today or next week - survival is key here for the Angolans.

And a few random pictures from the past week:

Movies have an intermission here!

All day, every day!  Ladies carry items on the head, piled high, load changes but always entertaining to see

10 eggs not 12- what!?

Leak in our A/C unit (very common) - our building is Chinese built so the repair guys can be fun to try to communicate with but they are quick to help out!  This was 6:30 at night 

View from the balcony - those are 3 federal police officers- they roam the streets  - interesting sight

Cape Town

Cape Town from the air- Lions Head is on the far right, then Table Mountain - far to the left is Cape Point

We were exited to get out of Angola for a few days and see something new.  We flew the Angolan national airline, TAAG, and it was a surprisingly good experience.  On time, well equipped plane and a pretty easy boarding process.  We arrived in Cape Town Friday afternoon and went to our AirBnB to check in - we stayed about 20 minutes south of the city.  The cottage was part of a large private property which was pretty plush - the lady was from Mali original but lived in Europe most of her life so she was really interesting to talk to.  She had a house full of help plus a driver and gardener- fancy.  After settling in we went to a local mall - we had a great burger (and forgot that we could order in English!) and then wandered the shops.  We needed some specific things like new workout shoes and headphones but ended up with a few other niceties like new silverware to replace the cheap stuff we got with the apartment.  We also wandered the grocery store (Woolworth's) and picked up some things we can't find like tortillas, naan bread, quinoa, dried fruit, and licorice.

View of main house from our cottage steps

We arrived a few days after a huge storm in Cape Town and it continued to rain most of the time we were there which on one hand was really nice - rain is scarce in Luanda and it was cool (in the 50-60's).  On the other hand it did limit what we could do - so much of Cape Town is outside stuff like Table Mountain (only saw it as we flew in), Lion's Head, beaches etc.  Saturday we did get in a semi-dry 2 hour hike in the Cecelia Forest which was next to the cottage - Cape Town has a lot of nature very accessible.  It was our anti-Luanda experience - cool weather, slight rain, gorgeous views and outside walking!

The last blue sky we saw

Views from the morning hike- this one overlooks the wine region

After that we headed to the Constantia Wineries which are basically a suburb of Cape Town and date back to the 1600's.  It was a $3 Uber ride away (yep they have Uber in Africa!).  We went to Buitenverwachting first and enjoyed a 5 wine tasting with very generous pours for the grand total of $8 which was waved since we bought 2 bottles of wine.  Part of Blood Diamond was filmed here so the wine we bought was called Rough Diamond as it came from the vines that Leo was in during filming.  Then we had an amazing lunch in their fancy restaurant which included an amuse-bouch, pallet cleanser, bread and wine for $25 total - so food is cheap here to say the least!  Then we headed to Constantia Glen and had another tasting and a meat plate - similar prices but busier.  As it was raining we headed back to the mall to wander a bit more inside - we picked up some Indian food at the grocery store and headed home.

Stop #1

Amazing lunch (yep- fish and chips!)

National flower of South Africa (King Protea)- I am obsessed

Stop #2

Meat plate- two new delicacies Biltong and Droewors along with Rooiboos smoked butter

Very pretty architecture

Winery Dog

Overcast skies and winter vines but still pretty scenic

Sunday was raining again but we headed into the city proper to see some of the touristy stuff.  Went to the V&A Waterfront and the rain let up so we could walk around.  Got some steps in, saw some boats and architecture and then headed to lunch.  After lunch we went to the Aquarium - saw a huge leatherback turtle and African and Rockhopper penguins.  After a lovely dinner we headed home.

Waterfront

Not much to see of Table Mountain

Cool building that used to be a grain silo near the port but transformed to a hotel

Jelly Fish

Next morning.... I am sick!  I can only assume it was the lovely dinner I was so excited about - salad!  New lesson: salad is not safe on the entire continent not just Angola.  Spent all day trying to feel well enough for our evening flight home.  Flight was good again and got home about 9pm.  Sadly I spent 2 more days pretty sick and finally headed to the company medical clinic where I was tested for Malaria (sure makes that risk more real!).  Thankfully I don't have Malaria but did get a boatload of medications to make me better (for free I might add!).  So after a week I am finally on the mend - moral of the story - no salads.  Cape Town was great but we need to go back when it is not raining to see it in all it's glory.

Headed home

My collection of free meds

**Follow-up on Malaria - yes it is a real concern here, Angola has a deadly variety of it  (P. falciparum) and people get it all the time (estimated 3 million cases happen each year).  We both take Malarone (a high effective anti-Malarial drug) every day and avoid mosquitos as much as possible.  

The apartment

As I have mentioned the apartment is a bit smaller then expected but overall really nice.  Here are some photos to give you an idea of where we live.  All the furniture is provided but we do have a few items coming on the sea shipment including rugs and drapes so it will look more lived in once that arrives.  We did hear our sea shipment is on a boat and is expected in Luanda by June 30th - fingers crossed for a smooth voyage and customs.

View from the front door

The kitchen - very little counter space!

Living room - photo taken at night hence the reflective windows

View into the master bedroom

Master again

Master Bath with a separate shower out of view

The "office" which will become an office/store room once our shipment arrives

The second bedroom which will become a home gym

We have 3 full bathrooms in the apartment - one of which has our washer/dryer combo unit which takes quite awhile to do a load of laundry but works well enough.   We also purchased 2 dehumidifier units off another expat and they really help keep the humidity down. We have 2 units running 24 hours a day and we pull about 16 liters (roughly 4 gallons) of water out of each one 2-3 times a day - pretty amazing! It is similar in humidity here to Louisiana but the apartment is much damper I can only expect it is due to poor construction quality.

Hustling and updates

My view while I workout each morning

This week will be 6 weeks in Angola!  A few updates:

• Our sea shipment has NOT left the US yet.  It was supposed to be on a boat last week but got selected for a "random US custom inspection" we are hoping it will be on a ship May 25th which puts it in Angola June 30th (and then we deal with Angola customs!)  Not really sure what the US wants to look for leaving the US but hopefully it is a quick process.
• I have a resident visa and passport again!  My first visa was a 30 day visa (which is good for 3 years but only allows me to stay 30 days at a time).  Jason has to reapply for his work visa at the end of June and then I have to reapply since my visa is tied to his.  But the good news is we have a window to travel since we both are in possession of passports so we are heading to Cape Town for a long weekend in early June - I am very excited. Cape Town is supposed to be amazing!
• We are crossing our fingers that we are in the last steps of selling the house in Covington!  We got a nice offer but had some inspection hiccups.  Nothing major just a disagreement from HVAC guys on our A/C unit condition but we are past that (nothing was wrong!) and just waiting on the appraisers now.  

We have continued to take in the sights in Luanda.  Headed back to Mussulo beach 2 weeks ago, enjoyed another BBQ with expats last weekend and took in a movie at the local theater.   There are 3 movie theaters in town - we saw a movie in IMAX and it was pretty comparable to the US except for prices - the ticket was $8 and popcorn and 2 bottled drinks cost us $3.50!  The popcorn was so good - you can choose between salty or sweet corn- I went with sweet and it was just like kettle corn.  After the movie we went to a Lebanese restaurant and I found hummus which made my day!

Few random observations/thoughts and photos:

• Angola employs a lot of people to stand around - there is security at every door and in the grocery stores watching the registers. In addition to that there is a huge cleaning staff at every store/building.  We went to the company recreation center  (pool and some outdoor courts) the other day and I kid you not there were 15 cleaning people, I guess it is a way to ensure everyone has a job. And to be fair the rec center was amazingly clean!

Pool at the company recreation center- 40 meters (!) and super clean

• Angolans are hustlers.  Example one: they "sell" parking on every city street - yep city street, no meter, public land but there are guys working every street in town collecting money to park.  Pretty sweet racket.  Example two: you can buy anything under the sun from a street vendor in traffic.  We have heard it is illegal but it happens everywhere - men sells goods like beer, bug spray, sun glasses, cell phones cases, white boards, bug zappers, you name it you can find it.  Women sell fruit, nuts, fish, and bread - typically carrying the load on their head.  The gender lines of street vendors are very clear - women sell food and cleaning supplies (maybe) and men sell drinks and everything else (and randomly limes).  Traffic is never boring here to say the least.
• They have colored toilet paper here -  maybe the weirdest thing yet.  Lime green, red, black (!), yellow, blue, orange, pink- so weird and expensive at that.  Normal toilet paper is just fine even though we were warned to bring our own (we didn't!)

Colored toilet paper

• Food at restaurants is pretty decent - we have not eaten out a whole lot but overall it is good.  We have done a pizza place, a Portuguese skewer type place (amazing), Lebanese, seafood and Brazilian steaks.  Food is better and cheaper then Norway but you run more of risk of getting sick.  We have not yet but we are trying to be careful - it is a normal discussion of how good a place is by how many times you got sick eating there
  

  

  Seafood cataplana

  

  Portuguese skewers - yummy!

  
  

  

  My happy find of the week- cost me $9 but well worth it!  Since then I have found them cheaper which is even better!

Aqua

The pursuit of water in Angola is never ending for the locals and expats alike.  The municipal water is not safe to drink so there is a constant need for clean water.  If locals have access to tap water they don't drink it so bottled water is a huge business here.  That bottled water also leads to a lot of plastic trash - more then you can imagine in some areas.  You see people in the poorest areas of town carrying water jugs home - either on their head or on a makeshift cart (like a wheelbarrow).

I am not sure if the water to our building is provided by the city/government like at home or through a water delivery truck - either way the water is yellow and unsafe to consume.  Our company provides a UV filter for some of the water in the kitchen but we do use the building water to wash dishes and shower - I just think positive thoughts (and keep my mouth closed in the shower) because I can't imagine another option.   The UV treated water is supposed to be safe to drink but is still a bit yellow so we use an additional step of filtering it again through a Berkey Filter.  This water is very clean and we use it to drink, wash produce and cook with.

UV filtered water source

Berkey water filter

YES all produce has to be washed in clean water - there are various methods available to clean with but I am using the most common which is a bleach solution.  You can choose to just scrub them good and peel everything or do a vinegar wash but for now the bleach feels the most secure way to ensure the food is safe.  Basically you fill the sink with filtered (or bottled) water add a bit of bleach solution (available at the grocery stores specifically for this use) and then let all your veggies/fruits soak for 15 minutes.  Then you can rinse in filtered water and let air dry.  It is a bit laborious (and takes a LOT of water) but so far we have had no troubles.  In case your wondering why the need - first the produce is physically much dirtier then the US - lettuce has bugs/dirt in the leaves, potatoes are covered in dirt etc.  Second there is no guarantee on the growing process - what water was used or how it was fertilized (if you get my drift!).  Third there is very little cleanliness in the shipping process and at the stores - most produce sections have lots of flies hanging out and I can only imagine what the store room might look like.  Availability of produce is not as bad as I expected but still leaves a lot to be desired most days  and there is no guarantee you can find what you want or expect it to be there the next day.  Think about me washing veggies next time you open a nice bag of baby spinach and just throw it in the bowl for salad! :)

Produce bonanza!  Strawberries and cherry tomatoes made me giddy at the store!

Tomatoes and an avocado - avocados are strange with huge pits but taste okay

Beaching It

 Working our way into week four in Angola! Last week Monday (May 1st) was International Labor Day so Jason had the day off.  We decided to try out a day trip to a beach on the barrier island close to the city called Mussulo.  The "company" has a private section of beach on Mussulo and 2 boats to service it.  We went to the spot where the boats leave from and thankfully our driver knew where to go because it was a mad house.  Lots of locals, people selling everything you can imagine, taxis dropping off people, a box truck in the water at one point and us. We found the check in spot, waited for our friends who's driver didn't know where to go and then got in the private boat to the island. After donning our "vests of life" as the boat captain called them and signing a wavier we had a safety briefing (in true company fashion).  It included in broken English details like if there is a fire go to the front of the boat and if someone goes overboard "don't make the panic" or jump but instead throw the life ring.  The boat ride is about 25 minutes and the beach we arrived at was very nice.  There was 2 other couples there and 2 families arrived later so it was very calm.  The beach has umbrellas, palapas, chairs and multiple decks areas with shade along with spots to cook and a kitchen and bathrooms.  Really nice set up - the families went in the water but I was still a bit hesitant as it is still pretty close to the city.  We had lunch and stayed for few hours then headed back in.  We had some boat trouble and were told several times to "not make the panic" which became pretty hilarious.  Not 100% what was wrong but we think we ran out of gas!  We made it to shore but we almost had to make a little panic!

My view from Mussulo

Looking back on the property at Mussulo

The rest of the week was filled with typical stuff- my days seem to revolve around grocery shopping as you can't quite find everything at one or really two stores- it is more like a store every other day maybe to find what you are looking for.  I am still in the hunting mode of trying to see what everything is and what I can and can't find.  I have done pretty well on cooking - no major fails yet but I am sure it is coming!   I did forget to say I had quite the visitor on our balcony this week - check him out - he was pretty huge and I think he lives in the neighborhood tree!

African Grey Parrot! Or maybe just a grey parrot here?

This past weekend we took a trip outside the "safe" zone to a surfer beach called Caboledo.  It is safe to travel to this area from a personal security issue but requires clearance from the company so they know your whereabouts and requires you to have 2 or more cars to travel together in case of car trouble.  We had a group of 8 and headed south about 2.5 hours in 4 cars.  The drive was pretty nice minus the road cyclists who we think were attempting suicide by biking in a group of 40 on a 2 lane windy road in Angola.  After we passed them it was smooth - we crossed the Kwansa River (also the name of the Angolan currency) - once we crossed we saw monkeys!  They were basically sitting and begging for bananas.

Kwansa River

Finally turned off on a dirt road and drove another 3K down to the beach.  The beach is pretty remote but there is a parking lot and some locals make palapas for shade- total cost: about $6 to park and have a shaded area.  We also give our driver money to head back to the local village and eat lunch.  Caboledo is a surfers paradise as the waves actual run parallel to the shore so you can walk up the beach a bit and then catch them and ride them back - very interesting.

Caboledo - surfer's paradise

The waves start around that corner and run parallel to the shore

I did decide to not try my hand at surfing in Angola at a beach 2.5 hours from medical care (your welcome mom!).  The water here was very clean and cold.  The beach was crowded (for Angola) as the surfing was predicted to the great.  We stayed for a few hours then trekked home - we did see a fire on the way home that burned all the way up to the road and the thick smoke made for almost zero visibility.  Our driver was not a fan of that but thankfully it was a short stretch - he said they burn to control the grasses.  We forgot to check back in with security when we arrived home so at sundown we did get a call inquiring on us- made us feel safe!

Rustic palapas at Caboledo