A NZ summer and back again to Luanda

April 5, back to Luanda after a wonderful 7 weeks in NZ with family and friends. The land of the same old flag! Lots of debate about this possible change to a more modern, 'representative' flag.



NZ has chosen to retain the original flag (foreground) instead of an alternative

Always nice to visit with our friends Ian and Jill and to see which flag they have chosen to fly in our honour. For a dinner visit we found the Dutch flag. Gezellig!

I took the opportunity to get into lots of fitness..pilates, aquarobix and a couple of sessions with Shani, our own personal trainer. This is how you keep the mother-in-law to be in check!

Resistance walking around Liam and Shani's front yard.

 

 

A patient dog called Hulk...a big softy

I spent lots of lovely time with me ol dog, Jed and also Hulk and Liam and Shani's kittens, Harley and Bumper. Great to see Katelyn out riding, a big passion of hers.

Katie out riding Dream

And this is Jesse, my grown up nephew. Jesse is part of the Wanganui Army Cadets..great to go along for some time to see what this great group do. Cadets is a youth organisation with a military framework to inspire, encourage and challenge 13-18 year olds to become valued NZ citizens.

Jesse in uniform

This is my dear brother, Grant. He took part in the Relay for Life rally in Wanganui (remembering loved ones lost to cancer charity) and met up again with Kelly and her daughter. Kelly has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer and Grant decided to auction off his hair in order to raise a few dollars to support Kelly. He raised $1500.


They called him 'Jesus'

 There has been much ribbing of Grants luscious locks over the years...such dark and glossy curls they were...but not any more! I like the new look Grant. Respect!



Looking good people

 Since returning to Luanda it is very sad to witness the effects of the extortionately high exchange rate. There is very little sanitation with roads and public areas filled with dirt and rubbish. The people are more desperate in response to the 100-200 % plus increase in prices for everyday staples. There is also a yellow fever vaccine shortage in Angola after an outbreak of the mosquito related disease. Up to 50% of people without treatment will die - there are an estimated 130,000 cases reported annually worldwide with 90% occurring in Africa. During this outbreak Most reported cases (1500 plus) and deaths (250) have occurred in Luanda.

Poor Paco our little dog guest has been vomiting for nearly a week. Finally he is in vet hospital being investigated (first visit diagnosed him as having an infection when clearly his bloods revealed that wasn't true). I suspected he has a tennis ball in his gut.
While there with Chavel a couple of guys came in with two full large baskets of puppies who all looked very sick and I saw one pup who was dead. These pups all had a contagious disease and would all die rapidly. So sad to see.
\
When I was chatting with Chavel, my Columbian friend she mentioned that a friend had invited her to join her and others for groceries.
Chavel declined. And I agreed that if you don't need groceries, then you don't need groceries.
'Rosario, Sharon' she said!' Not groceries' - 'She invited me to say The Rosary together'.

May 1, a public holiday in Luanda. It's taken a month to get my head around being back here...so much violence (expat murder and kidnapping stories are weekly events at present), extremely poor sanitation...mountainous piles of debri sit festering in the 35 degree heat and there are only rubbish trucks clearing them on the main streets. Even then they are overflowing and regularly emptied piece by piece by street dwellers, looking for a meal. Last Sunday I went out for a brief walk to the nearby supermarket however was approached by no less than 7 people begging for food or money on my journey there. Much as I sometimes give a little, it's risky business now when you can be mobbed in an instant to give more.
There's been more torrential rain and consequent deaths from flooding in the musseque's and the roads with their massive potholes are constant navigational points.

Muitas chuvas (much rain)

And so, with increased security risks (we have been forbidden to go to certain areas of Luanda) I stay home more and keep house (fired the maid) and see my friends. I will return to language school on Wednesday to repeat the course I finished in February...just need to keep busy and keep my brain ticking over.
Check out this article about the penal system in Luanda. Please don't come over and fall asleep in a strangers car!
May 19, yellow fever is now a global concern and WHO have deployed a team to Angola to help combat the disease. Article here.



Hospitals are overcrowded

People waiting for the vaccine which is in short supply

A sad situation. A irony that Luanda is to host the World Environment Day main celebration next month.


TIA. This is Africa. You hear it everywhere all over Africa. When the power goes off frequently, TIA; when the hot water cylinder keeps releasing its contents all over the floor as the part that is needed to fix it is not available, TIA. Today the lifts, water and phones are not working - TIA. I am very blessed to have 1st world problems in a third world country.
Out on the street where Bob Marley reigns and cigarettes and alcohol are super cheap (I just bought a bottle of Baileys for $10). A kilo of kiwifruit costs half that.
A bumper sticker includes Jesus and marijuana. A couple of dead dogs and the news that Domingos (our driver) has a niece who went to hospital with fever yesterday and just died. RIP, age 16.

June 6th, a busy few weeks with Petra staying, back to school and various outings including a Women's Retreat day and a visit to my favourite place, the salt water pool.

Saltwater pool ladies

 Left to Right above: Petra-Dutch, lives in Lubango, Angola; Luza-Columbian; Anne-Marie-French; Rasa-Lithuanian; Cheryl-American and me.

My relaxing place in Luanda

Off to market

The chef and his wife

Delicious fresh lobster (2 each) cooked to perfection. I love the beer sign in front of the bar. Cuca is the National beer although there is plenty of bootleg booze around also.

Just hanging around outside Feliciano J. Catimba store

Remember Ana, the young Angolana that I helped transfer with Petra by road to Lubango to the treatment centre? That was 18 months ago and finally Ana and her Mum have returned home. She achieved the goal of getting to sit in a wheelchair which makes life much easier for her. Saying that, she still has great difficulty sitting..her body is fighting against it, having lain in her bed for so long. Hoping she will persist with what she has learned now she is home.

Ana in her chair with both parents.

 Ana's parents are divorced (or maybe they were never married in the first place) but it is nice to see them altogether.

Fernanda-Ana's Mum

I love this photo of Fernanda. This woman works tirelessly to care for her daughter without complaint. Ana is very blessed.

Lots of problems here in Angola, mainly that there is great pressure to gain American dollars. Lately the exchange street rate is 700 Kwanza:1 USD. When we arrived it was 1:1. So for expats, actually there are amazing bargains. Petra and I shopped for groceries in a beautiful new supermarket..we both had a full trolley of goods plus a vacuum cleaner and the total was $90! So different to when we first arrived and we heard one watermelon was $100USD.


In the new supermarket I met these lovely ladies promoting Dutch Lady milk. One woman was dressed in traditional Dutch attire and a free genuine Dutch tea-towel was given for every 2 cartons of milk bought! Wonderful!

The Dutch Ladies

Women's Retreat

 This was a fun time together with lots of women from church and beyond. We had a guest speaker, the only other blue-eyed person in the room! The only negative is that several women had food poisoning that night, including me....but it's been a while since last time. My gut must be adjusting.

Another international mix, Columbian, Kiwi, Malaysian and American.

Three years living in Luanda. Jeroen has permission to remain working here for another year. And then, who knows? More people have left or are leaving so we are a much smaller expat community now.
We continue looking after our friends, this week we have Felix and Boris.

These chaps arrived to settle with Jeroen within 5 minutes of arriving. Chilled!

June 19,  to the golf course and Imbondeiros (salted pool) with Cheryl and her boys from the USA. What a chilled place with monkeys and pigs on the course. A beautiful outing.

Ryan, Rysin, Cheryl and I at Imbondeiros

The Golf Trotters

I visited a couple of local museums in the city with a small group of friends.
The first is the recently opened money museum - O Museu de Moeda (coin museum). A beautiful building and nice to see a few locals checking it out.

Monika tries to lift the gold ingot

NZ's contribution to the museum...one cent

Government meeting table

Checking out the Angolan Delft

 We also visited O Palacio da Ferra..the Iron Palace Which sits opposite the Diamond building.
The history of the structure is shrouded in mystery since no official record of it exists. It is believed to have been pre-built in the 1890s in France and was destined to be placed in Madagascar via boat. Instead, the building ended-up in Angola's Skeleton Coast after the ship carrying it was drifted by the notorious Benguela currents. Portuguese rulers of the colony then claimed the ship along with all its contents, including the palace.

Tribal mask

Monika, me, Cynara, Elaine, Kasia, Jan

O Palacio da Ferra, Luanda

 July 1, keeping busy with looking after a couple of international missions students, so lots of to-ing and fro-ing to domestic and international airports. In between, I hurt my back shifting furniture out of the way of our flooded dining room, lounge and kitchen. The hot water cylinder is finally fixed after several months of sitting on edge having to race to switch off the mal-functioning release valve.
We all find things to do here..Cynara and Alex decided to plant a pineapple and this is the result...3 years on! EVERYONE has their eye on it. Makes you wonder about how cheap they are to buy here and the cost to produce.

An Angolan pineapple

 Keeping in touch with family is enhanced by Skype...often its a laborious process with our power knocking out regularly but we just reconnect and carry on. Loved chatting with you Tinka!
I have recently been called a dinosaur as I use a beat-up old nokia and don't do Snap-shut or Blue teeth. ;)...emails and Skype do us fine.

And today, I happily received an email from my Dad...thanks!

Skyping with Tinka and Pap and Mam

 Last week, Jeroen had a training day which finished mid afternoon. He arrived home, happily playing with Paco and suddenly his back went...he ended up on the floor and couldn't move. As my back was still poorly, I called the medic and off we went in ambulance, bumping over the Luanda potholes to the clinic. One CT scan, IM muscle relaxant and 5 hours later, we arrived back home.
Not a clear picture but you get the idea.

An Angolan wheelchair with Dutch patient

 But, we have absolutely nothing to complain about. With the continuing destruction from malaria, malnutrition and yellow fever, these are some of the common sights around Angola.

Overcrowding and overstretched resources

Families waiting outside of the hospital to take in food and comfort to their children

When the rains come, no-one is exempt. Paediatric hospital in an outlying area

People are struggling everywhere you look. Check out this article on Yellow fever crisis.

Recently, the Presidents daughter has been promoted to Head of State Oil 

There has been much conflict on this appointment. Here is one commentary on why.
And, on a lighter note: here is my SIL Sue with her new pup.

Hulk's new sister

 

 

Don't eat that ball Paco!

Turtle that came home with me from market

 

Bible study friends..Loriat, Happy-Birthday-Jane, Lanre

July 10, nice weeks with friends and outings. Walking in the sunshine at a secure condominium, discovery of two craft shops, lounging by the ocean at a restaurant ...pretty nice for me. Also looking after cats, then when they left, Paco came and now Milli is here as well. Busy but fun.
Back to school for level 3 tomorrow....the final chapters in my study book.
Work as usual for Jeroen and he's ready for a holiday...Holland, here we come in August!

Back to the fish restaurant with our Columbian friends, Luza and Jorge...my first time to eat fish eyeballs...you'll be proud of me Liam!

Full fish on the bone...delish

The fish restaurant is exclusively fish...no English spoken and our first experience to go there without Jeroen's Portuguese speaking colleagues. We chose our own fresh fish, and it was served grilled and whole with an assortment of Angolan accompaniments ...gindongu (a chilli sauce), fresh onion chutney-type-thing, banana pao (plantain), potato doce (sweet potato) and a yellow bean stew. To top it all of there was a farinha manioca..a breadcrumb type grit. I sprinkled it all over the plate and the waitress laughingly came to scoot it off the fish and banana...supposedly its best served on the beans. Oh well, when in Luanda...

Jeroen with Jorge...or 'Hor-he'