Field Trip and the things that come up...

I took my class on a field trip today, which was a good excuse to snap some shots of daily life in Luanda. Don't know that I got anything too impressive...but...well, here are the streets of Luanda as seen from my car window.

Lady carrying baby selling food (also you can see stacks of stones for sale)

At Benfica market...

The market itself- looks inviting no?

Paintings for sale

Loads of em...a regular art gallery!

Some tunics and dresses

This lady was balancing a big ole tub of stuff on her head, and I think she dropped an ear of corn- she bent down, tub still on head, and picked it up without dropping anything else- like the whole tub

Street-side market

We just submitted a similar picture for this week's 4 windows- street-side "cafes" serve drinks and food

Ladies cooking and selling their goods

The purpose of this field trip was to look at shelters, as this is what my class is studying right now. We drove down towards a beach to check out these huts built of reeds which serve as car-park and sun-shelters on sunny weekends.

But when we got near the huts, we also found this:

and these:

which meant my kids spent exactly no time looking at the shelters, and instead chased pigs for 15 minutes. They were cute.

One of our last stops was at the golf course (can you tell that is what is in the foreground of this picture?) where a panoramic view of Luanda is available.

A bit closer...

One of the moms that was with me on the trip was also taking pictures of the view and she said, "It is beautiful, isn't it?" I didn't really know what to answer. Honestly, I don't find it particularly beautiful at all. It is an expansive view certainly. But it's drab and gray and just miles upon miles of slums.

Joel says I just have a bad attitude. He said it was rugged beauty. He says I won't ever be happy anywhere.

I agree, I can find something to complain about anywhere I go. Sue me. But, I also think that I can usually find things I like too. For instance, I loved Riga in summer time- I mean, especially when it was actually hot. I loved being in Old Town then- sitting in beer gardens, enjoy the late nights, the midnight sun. I'm not really a country girl, so yeah, heading out to the country side in summer isn't really my thing- but, I love the energy of the city in the summer. And for that matter, I was just thinking of it the other day- I loved Riga, LOVED it, in the few days that it transitioned from fall to winter. The first snow, the arrival of winter markets- being cold and then going inside somewhere to warm up with a hot drink. Did I love that this winter kept going and going and going until you thought you were going to die? No, I did not. Did the darkness and the accompanying depressive state that hit pretty much everyone nearly kill me? Yes it did.

I loved all kinds of things about Shanghai- like the food- oh the restaurants!!! The best Chinese (you would hope), vegetarian Chinese, Indian, Thai that I have ever had in my life! So much good food! And there was so much choice! And you couldn't complain about the massages and the some other services that you could get easily and relatively cheaply- like getting your nails done. Yep, I'm a girly girl- I used to get my nails done once a week or once every two weeks in Shanghai. I LOVED it. The produce in China was amazing- I ate so much healthy food there it was ridiculous. THE GREENS!!! Spinach, bok choy, pea sprouts...stuff I don't even know the name of, but I learned to cook (all you had to do was stir-fry!)- and it was so delicious! And the weather in China, well in Shanghai, wasn't bad either. I didn't mind a winter that only lasted from December to February. That seems about right doesn't it? Ah, and of course, I have to mention the yoga studio in Shanghai. Although I began practicing yoga before I moved to Shanghai, it was in Shanghai that I had my love affair with it- and it was all about the studio and the teachers there. Now, did I have issues in Shanghai? Yes I did. Do I think most of those would be solved now that I have Joel in my life? Yes I do.

So, I don't think I hate all places. I think that mostly I do ok in Angola, but, I'm starting to miss my freedom here. The city is dirty (just LOOK at the pictures!) and not inviting. It's not the kind of place *I* want to go wandering around the streets- and it wouldn't be safe for that anyway. There are restaurants, but, between the time and money you have to spend to get to them, none of them are really worth it. When the weather is nice, it is definitely nothing to complain about (not for me anyway). And yeah, it's lovely to get a big ole paycheck every month.

Call me impossible or optimistic, but, I'd like to think that there is a place out there that is a little more normal than where we are, that has good food (restaurants and grocery), and weather that maybe isn't perfect, but let's say- even if there is a COLD winter, that the sun still shines, er something. I do think a place exists where the positives will outweigh the negatives for me- in such a way that while I might complain about something, it isn't followed by, "so get me out of here!" I think so...let's see if we can find it.

Laugh Out Loud

Why not? It's good for you!

I'm feeling quite stressed recently about a number of things, not least of which is that I STILL don't have my passport and we're meant to travel internationally in exactly one week!!! Director did send out a message today to the effect that the school is going to do everything in their power next week to make sure everyone gets them back, but, the truth is there are just no guarantees. Anyway...

I have been home all week this week (except for the big mistake that was Wednesday) with a cold. My nose is raw on the outside and stuffy on the inside. In the mornings I can blow a good 5lbs of snot in like an hour- you know it builds up while I sleep. (Too much information?) Well anyway, I've been home, and basically had enough energy to eat every once in a while, blow my nose and read. For some reason I haven't been able to tolerate the noise of the TV so I have just been reading lots.

I was recently turned on to a blog from a reader who "has been reading it for years." The name of said blog? Dooce.com. It is officially my new favorite thing.

This lady, Heather, started writing the blog in 2001 I believe- I haven't gotten that far. I started from the present and am reading backwards- and have just today reached back to Sept 2007. Yeah, I've read a lot. She doesn't post every day- well actually she does- she posts pictures every day, and some days she posts words too. Anyway... I find her writing hilarious, although apparently a lot of people find her offensive. She lives in Utah with her husband, two daughters and two dogs. She used to be Mormon, and now just makes fun of them. As a mother though, she has an interesting story- she has long suffered clinical depression and after the birth of her first child she suffered postpartum depression so bad it landed her in a mental institution. So, she's not your every day mommy blogger that is all hearts and roses and all is perfect and lovely (although she also doesn't focus on the negative, she just tell it like it is, but makes me laugh while she's doing it). She tells a very straight story. She writes about her kids and her own ups and downs and her marriage and life in general. She also posts fab pictures of her dog with things on his head and more.

Anyway...the long and short of it is that I have, even in my cold-laden misery, been thoroughly entertained this week. And not just that, but I have been laughing out loud- often. The way she talks about her kids I TOTALLY get that she loves them to pieces and would go to the ends of the Earth for them- but she is also willing to suggest picking her own screaming child up and holding her by the ankles until gravity takes hold and her jaw closes. I don't know about you, but *I* laugh out loud.

This week, this blog has been great for me, taking a bit of the edge off as I worry about this and that- and making me laugh out loud along the way.

Whatever it is that makes you laugh out loud- might be something a bit more or less sophisticated than reading about some stranger's life- I hope you're getting a whole lot of it these days. Cause I've noticed that laughing out loud feels good.