One of those days....

Yesterday was one of those days. One of those days when you end up hating living abroad.

I have to admit, I don't have these days very often- but, when they hit, they are bad, usually especially because you don't really realize what's going on- you just know you're in a bad mood.

So, what happened for me happened in stages.

First, after a fairly good school day, I came home and tried to Skype with my mom and little brother. My little brother is home for Thanksgiving (tomorrow). Now for those of you that don't know- if I haven't mentioned it since LAST Thanksgiving; Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love it because you always get together with family (for me it was usually family that I don't see that often), you eat fabulous food (goodness I love the autumnal harvest feast!) and there are no presents. Don't get me wrong, I love giving (and certainly receiving) presents, but I find things like Christmas very stressful. I get VERY happy when I find presents that I know someone will really like, and that I am happy to give- but I'm really not into obligatory gift giving. Anyway, that is another tangent...

So I tried to Skype with my mom and brother. It was funny because they could hear me really well, but on my end it was all crackly, in and out and hard to hear. So they kept laughing when I couldn't hear them, or when I mis-heard what they were saying. Anyway, it was nice, but didn't last long because Joel and I had to go grocery shopping (when you have a bus booked, you have to go!).

When I got off the phone though- it hit me, they are there together, I'm here, not with them, or with anyone who is going to celebrate Thanksgiving and that all sucked just a bit.

So then we were in the store and I walked around the produce section for a long time, hoping to see something, well, fresh. I picked up some potatoes and some apples. I looked at the zucchini, cucumbers, squash, and really lots of other things- but honestly, it's not just that it's not the pretty, pretty produce we're used to in the States, its that it looks (and is!) old, and wrinkly and just well, not good. Hmph. So then I went to the frozen food aisle, and was thankfully able to pick up some broccoli and some of the good brand of spinach (one of em just tastes fishy, bleh!).

Then we walked up and down all the other aisles picking up this and that, but when we got to the end, I realized that, of the shopping list of ingredients for Thanksgiving foods I had, I hadn't been able to buy all of the ingredients for a single thing that I would have wanted to make on Thursday for dinner. I made Joel walk up and down the aisles one more time, just in case I missed something- but, I had done well the first time, and there was nothing to add to our cart. I got in line and just teared up. Suddenly, not being with family, and not being able to buy the food I wanted was all just too much. I swallowed my tears, but, just felt pooey.

I came home, in a bad mood, made and ate dinner (the frozen broccoli was nice) and was generally miserable for the rest of the night. This is what happens- when you're having a day like this, it sets you off, and then every next thing just makes you more cranky- suddenly the couch isn't big enough, there aren't enough tvs, it's too hot and then too cold- you get the idea.

The thing is when you choose to live like we do, a vital part of the arrangement is that you see, experience and enjoy where you are- but you also make sure you get out and spend some time in "normalcy" (normalcy of course being defined as what you are used to- which makes it a very subjective concept) as well. Usually you would do this during vacations. If you're really lucky, you might even get sent on some professional development trip to some place "normal".

In Latvia a trip to the UK or just across the Baltic sea to Sweden or Finland would count for this bit of normalcy. Of course summer breaks are the ultimate chance to get out and have your normal. How often you get out can really depend on where you are- and how far from "normal" the place where you are is - in Latvia it was enough to leave once a year, in China I left more often. Here in Angola, I have a feeling we might need a dose of normal more often than we did in Latvia. A hefty dose of fresh produce, nice shopping, and normal driving would all do me well.

When your "normal" reserves are full, you can really enjoy all that is wonderful about a place- but it gets harder the more depleted your normal reserves get- and obviously, the full 4+ months that we will have spent in Angola before we leave, is just a little too long without refueling the normal.

So...one of those days... thankfully it's over now... and I am aware, that I don't actually hate Angola or living abroad, I just need some normal. 17 days til Australia! :) (But, how normal will THAT be?)





(Oh, I'm just kidding all you Aussies!)

An unexpected and truly wonderful surprise

The following email just popped up in my inbox a second ago... unexpected, and truly wonderful... (details have been changed to preserve anonymity)

Dear Mara,
Mitch is in Advanced Language Arts this year. As an assignment they needed to write a letter to a person who has influenced them. Naturally, YOU were selected!!! ...I have to admit, I am a tad bit JEALOUS!!! (hee hee).

I will type you what Mitchell wrote...

"Dear Mrs. Putelis, (yes, MRS....)

You will be a teacher that I will remember for a long time. You are important to me because you were my first teacher. I was nervous on the first day of school but when you said my name, I felt better. After that day I wasn't nervous at all.

I'll never forget when we danced in the class to the Numa Numa song. You would play the song from the internet and we would dance all around the classroom. I told the other class and they danced, too. It was a fun time.

I especially liked when you let us have inside recess. The room that we got to play in was fun because it had a ball pit. We also played in the tubes that you can climb in. I had a fun time and I'm glad you took us there.

I'm in the fourth grade in Small Town, Ohio. I still remember my kindergarten class in China.

I just want to thank you for being a great kindergarten teacher.

Sincerely,
Mitchell"


...They had to write this letter in cursive. I must admit he has great penmanship!! He wanted to mail it to you, but then thought that this would be the best way for you to get it!

I KNOW he would LOVE to hear from you, if you have time to drop him an email!!! We think of you every time we see your name on MSN pop up. Mitch is too scared to type to you on it... Hope you are well and will enjoy the letter and upcoming Holidays!!!

Fondly,
Mitch's Mom and Mitch


One of the kids in the following picture may be Mitchell as I remember him- but I won't tell you which one. ;)


Some school years are tougher than others. I have to admit, I've had a run of pretty trying ones since I left Shanghai. The two classes I had there were really spectacular, and while I loved every single one of my students as individuals, as far as classes go, the ones I had in Latvia really made me work for my money. This year is tough for all sorts of reasons- but of course, there are still plenty of kids I'd like to stuff in my pocket and take home with me.

It's nice to know, sometimes even long after the fact, that you've touched a life; that you're remembered. My time in Shanghai was all kinds of things- but generally speaking, at school it was good. I'll remember Mitch and his classmates for a long time too. :)

Oh, and if you're wondering what the Numa Numa song is... have a listen and a watch here.

Explanation necessary?

I pondered leaving this picture without any explanation.... but, you know I can't not write something! :) So, for those of you who may not know, that is Australia's flag on my arm.

Why do I have a tattooed Australian flag on my arm? Fear not, it's not real!

Yesterday (oh man, am I allowed to talk about this?) was International Day at our school. It's a big, big event ALL ORGANIZED BY PARENTS (that's the kind of events we like!). It started with a parade of nations- kids, parents, and guests all dressed in patriotic clothing, whether national costumes, football jerseys, or gaudy t-shirts and sunglasses, walked a loop for the rest of us to ooh and aah over. I love it when my kids (that is my students) see me out of our normal situation- their eyes get big, they get really shy and hide behind their mom's/dad's legs, and just smile really big.

After the parade there were performances on a stage set up in the middle of the outdoor basketball court. It was great until it got REALLY sunny, and hot. But, well, I actually still wasn't complaining. :) Mostly the performances were either fashion shows or dancing. It was pretty cool to see performances from countries that have never been represented in schools where I have worked previously. The Angolans did a tribal dance (amazing how similar it was to what I remember from high school dances- it's obvious where African Americans get their inspiration!), the Nigerians did a very impressive fashion show, the South Africans did a very cool gum-boot-footed miner's dance. The Colombians and Brazilians also danced- hmmm, who else? I don't remember, but, they were all great. :)

After the shows, the stalls opened. All the countries that were there (not all our school's countries were represented) had elaborate stalls including information about their countries, pictures, knick-knacks and FOOD. Oh yum, the food. :) I am trying to keep to a pre-wedding detox/weight loss diet (and doing REALLY well, if I don't say so myself!), but I had my first splurge in two weeks. I had a custard tart from Portugal, a deep fried milk ball from Bangladesh, one bite of a New Zealand cookie and some falafel and hummus from Israel. YUM! I had to down a bunch of water after that though, because, since my recent diet has been sugar and carb free, those four bits of food sent my blood sugar soaring- I had an amazing buzz on!

At the same time as the stalls were open there was a silent auction on. Each country put together baskets of goodies from their country- food, toys, wine, booze, books, sporting equipment and lots more. The bids on the baskets started at $50 or $100. They looked good, but, um, yeah, we passed. :)

All the proceeds from the international day go to charity- I think to an orphanage (and those baskets went for as much as $500 each!). So, I think the money raised is going to be a nice contribution to the kids who will get it. :)

So, the tattoo then- obviously gotten at the Australian stall- Joel applied them (I have a matching one on the other arm) himself. Apparently I expended all the patriotism I have on election day- because I showed up yesterday in jeans and a black top- and then ended up with Australian tattoos on my arms. :) Joel just kept saying, "You're marrying one, you'll practically be one!" I went with the flow. :)

So, yeah, this is me today, with the tattoos still on my arms, which I think Joel thought looked funny with my "wife-beater" tank top. And if you're wondering, well, you're right- I haven't showered today- I've spent the whole day on the couch, reading, surfing the net, watching tv and getting up only to do laundry. :) Good day. :)

Look what came in the mail today!

You can't say I didn't try. You can say I didn't try hard enough. But you can't say I didn't try.


Thanks goodness Obama won- because I already cried about not voting before the election, and the entire day of the election. If he had lost, I would have felt personally responsible.

Look! We have friends!! :)

A few of you have written and asked how we're doing here- and specifically, if we've made friends. We definitely have made friends. Of course, it takes time to make your way into existing groups of friends- but I'd say we've done pretty well.

So, on Saturday we had some people over for a few drinks (and of course snacks made by me!), and I made Joel go outside and take some pictures so I could prove to you all out there, that we do, in fact, have friends! :)

The reason for the get together was put out there as to "celebrate or commiserate" the AFL Grand Final. Unfortunately, it ended up being to commiserate, as the Cats did not win the game. It had been a long day though- what with having gotten up at 5am to watch the game. We did take naps, but, I still got tired pretty early. So I went to bed around 12. Apparently I missed a bit by going to bed that early- most notably stark naked shotgunning of beers. I don't get it. Why would you want to? Anyway, at least Joel wasn't one of em doing it...




Anyway, so, there are the pictures of our first porch party. I would call it a success. There was beer left over, but, there was also a big mess in the morning. My food was almost completely eaten. I woke up at a decent hour and had a productive day, Joel (who has also been suffering a terrible cold this whole weekend) woke up late, and was useless all day. :) Too bad tomorrow is Monday again....

Score 1 for Joel and Mara, 0 for expensive grocery stores!

So this is the haul that we picked up this morning at the fruit and veg markets. NICE. I'm so excited! It's such beautiful looking food, and 99% likely organic (just because people can't afford to buy chemical fertilizers). The best news though- that whole lot of food cost us 2500 Kwanza- which comes out to about USD$24. What did we get? 5kg of potatoes, 13 onions, more tomatoes than I care to count, a few lettuce plants (roots and all!), a BIG bunch of cilantro/coriander, 5 giant soft avocados, 5 apples and an eggplant! I think I'll make salsa to eat over rice and beans. And I wanted to make some kind of sliced, roasted potatoes- like au gratin but not (I need a recipe that doesn't need cheese! Anyone?).

Now, what makes it interesting to go to the market here is that it's not an all in one place market like you have in Riga, or probably most other cities. It's just a dirt road that has a bunch of ladies set up all along. And you just walk up and down looking for the nicest produce, and asking the price (one place was selling 5 onions for 500 Kwanza, another place was selling 1 bucket (25 onions) for 1,000 Kwanza, and we ended up buying a bucket for 800), and then making your purchases.

Another interesting thing is that unfortunately, you cannot choose how much you want to buy. That is, you can choose a large amount, but you cannot choose a small amount. In this next picture you see how the apples I bought were stacked.

The avocados were stacked similarly- in piles of 5. The minimum you could buy was 5. Of course you could get 10 if you wanted, but not 4, 3, 2, or 1. So, when it came to the onions, tomatoes and potatoes, we bought buckets and split it with another teacher, because yeah, you have to buy a whole bucket.

Oh, the other really good news, is that the tomatoes we bought today look good- nice and juicy and not horrible like the ones you get at the store.

And yeah, the next good thing is that you do feel good going straight to the person on the street to buy stuff, most of 'em were really smiley and nice and appreciate of our business- not exactly the treatment you get in most grocery stores (anywhere in the world). And you just feel good contributing directly to the locals like that.

Here's another shot from another angle of our loot. :)

OH MY GOD! or Christmas in August or A teacher has died and gone to heaven

Since we arrived to our school we've heard a phrase drop many a time. The phrase is, "It's been ordered. It's in a container."

Remember those container ships that I mentioned in one of my last posts, the ones that sit in port for 6 months before being able to unload? Well, you know, they are full of these containers of stuff (uh, hopefully not perishable!). Sometimes, these containers are full of stuff that our school has ordered. Had I mentioned that the container that contained the orders made in the 2006/2007 school year had never arrived? Well, it's here now. In fact, it arrived late last week, and starting on Monday they began to unpack it. Monday at lunch the cafeteria had several very large piles of boxes. Tuesday at lunch there were giant piles around the entire cafeteria and the stage at one end was covered.

Today was the day. Today, deliveries of sorted stuff came pouring into our classrooms. Men came with trollies piled high- at first there were three trollies and what seemed like loads of stuff. But then the guys said, "no, there's more." They came again, and again, and again, and yet once more, until our the inner courtyard of our class building was piled just as the cafeteria had been the day before.

I watched the boxes pouring in, and was well aware that we had just received more boxes into our classroom than my previous school received for the entire school in a year.

At 3:00 on the dot, we started the unpacking party. We did have to go through a fairly tedious process of doing a thorough check that every single thing on our order lists was indeed in the boxes. In the end we came up with a short list of stuff that was missing, and 4 boxes of pretty high tech science type stuff that wasn't on our lists and obviously belonged to the high school science dept.

Going through those boxes though... whoah... if DB gets excited over filling 13 pencil cases, she would have peed herself over these boxes. Just to name a few things (basically all in amounts big enough to make you pinch yourself): markers, crayons, colored pencils, blocks (OH MY GOD, the blocks- boxes upon boxes of several different types including the natural log ones), paper, paper, paper, paper, paper, more paper, colored paper, see through paper, stained glass paper, tissue paper, textured paper. newsprint, muslin, paint, fabric paint, water colors, paint brushes, pens, pebbles, beads, mosaic tiles, buttons, puppets, train sets, puzzles, bins (storage), bins, bins, and more bins, bean bags (as in to sit in), a new book display shelf, painting easels, clay, clay, more clay, chicken wire, dowels, art portfolios, glue, glue sticks, tape, clipboards, scissors, mirrors large and small, carpets...

Um yeah, and that ain't all of it.

Now, materials do not a good preschool make- HOWEVER, when you're running a good program (Reggio? check!), you've got experienced, passionate teachers (my team teacher, me, our assistants? check!) and you add in all these materials-- well, short of having the purpose-built EYC building that is in the plans, we've got the preschool to kick all preschools butt! And the best part is, that all those materials? We are NOT going to hand them out sort of standard issue- "pink piece of paper, a green piece of paper and a blue piece of paper, now make a flower in front of a blue sky!" No, these materials are so going to be up to the kids to be used! (Yeah, ok, of course we will guide them at times....but the projects, they are child driven!)

So, there you go... I'm kind of excited because it seems I may have "listened and observed" my first project. Four children asked me to help them build their tower taller than they could reach the other day. It worked, but eventually, the very skinny tower of Lego type blocks just kept collapsing on itself. So, I asked them, "Well, how could we build a tower that could be very tall, and would not fall down?" They sort of looked at me with inquisitive faces, and kept on taking turns holding the tower up. So- with a little guidance, we might restart this conversation, this inquiry- and then, we might start to draw ideas, construct ideas, etc, until we get to the point of building something- or, we might have to go on a field trip around school (or elsewhere) to find tall things that stand and see what is special about them, or look in books to see if we can find anything. It should be good. :) And can you honestly say, that through a project like that, children aren't learning? Yeah, I didn't think so. :)

Into the City...

We made our way into the city this afternoon. This was my first trip into the city. I wanted to snap a few random shots just along the way, just to give a feel of what we're driving through. It's not very easy to take pictures from a moving vehicle without being very obvious so Joel ended up doing the best he could. Shanan made a good comment on the way in. He said, "No matter how long the drive takes, it's never boring!" He's very right. There is so much to look at when you're driving down the narrow streets of this city. The reason is that unlike in the "west" where basically all business happens inside, behind closed doors, business in Angola happens on the street. Everything happens on the street. People sit and talk, cook, eat, play games, buy, sell, trade- they do everything on the street. And there are just so many people as well, that there is always something to look at.

I didn't think to get the camera out until we were out of the really small streets, so I'll have to do that, because when you're driving down the small streets it really is like there is only the wall of the car separating you from the people outside, it's just that tight, and there are just that many people.

But anyway- here's a couple shots of street life...

Here you can see the people, the littered streets, the small shops, people with their stuff set out to sell on the "sidewalk", etc...

Here's a shot of a market area (sorry for the fuzziness, it's the moving car...)

Here are more people sitting around, eating, selling, talking... as you see, some in "western" dress, others in more African clothing...

Here's a shot up a little alley. You can also see the women carrying their babies on their backs, just tied with a length of fabric.

We reached the city center, and the Freedom monument. This monument is of the man, whose name escapes me, that is considered the liberator of Angola.

A shot that I was desperate for- women carrying stuff on their heads. These bowls are not the biggest I have seen... but alas, the best we could get on this trip.

Here is another monument of some sort.

We stopped in a Lebanese restaurant and had some lunch. I wasn't too hungry, so I had some hummus and flat bread. It was deeeeelish. Joel, Shanan and Danielle all had shwarma. From what I gathered, they all loved it. We bought some flat bread and hummus to take home as well. As we have learned in Angola, when you find something you like and might want more of, you buy it then, because you never know when you can get more. Although I'm guessing the restaurant isn't going to disappear, it's a ways to get there, so we bought several bags of bread to freeze.

After the restaurant we headed down to an area called the Ilha. I guess it's basically a very large sand spit that has become a sort of beach front restaurant/bar area. We passed by beaches that as I have been told are not safe. No one should walk there at night or alone, ever. It was scattered with locals, but there weren't lots of people anywhere.

There were a lot of boats on the beach and in the water. Also, along here in the water we saw LOTS of big container ships. Angolan ports/customs etc are a nightmare. Shanan told us that some of the ships sit out there in that water for 6 months waiting to get into port. Apparently they even send the captains home for months at a time, so they don't have to wait on the ship. A good example of this, is that a container ordered during the 2006/2007 school year has just been delivered to our school. It is sitting in the parking lot ready to be unloaded.

Some, possibly not used, boats lined up on the shore...

That was pretty much it... we went into a restaurant/bar called Miami and had a few beers. It was nice. The food looked good, although we didn't have any.

On the way home, I think we drove a different way which was the highway that follows the water. On the way we saw quite a few housing compounds that looked VERY impressive. The houses were massive, looked like they had pools and gardens and all other kinds of things that are reminiscent of American suburbia.

OK...well... yeah, so there you go. That was our trip into the city today. Danielle said on the way home that even though it can be a pain sometimes, it's a good idea to go into the city now and then for a little reality check. It's easy to forget where you are when you stay inside the walls of our compound. You can see that Luanda used to be a beautiful city- and if you find old pictures, you can see that it was true. But, when you drive through it, you also see what years of civil war will do to a place. From what we saw today, I wouldn't say there is a "nice part of town" which was something I kept thinking would be around the next corner. There are nice buildings here and there, but, pretty much everything we saw today still looks run down, old, dirty, littered, etc. But Shanan and Danielle also said that the way Luanda looks today is almost unrecognizable from what it looked like two years ago when they first arrived...so, change is happening.

Time for a new post

There is a bunch of stuff that I keep thinking I should share- but I haven't got it in me to go on all poetic about it (as is my usual style, no? ;), so what you get today, is a bullet list (which I heard this summer is now a politically incorrect term- what do you think?):

• There are these little birds that live around here that are BEAUTIFUL. They have a light brown back, and their whole tummy and bottoms of their tails feathers are a wonderful, fabulous, gorgeous shade of bright, tangy turquoise blue. I wish I could get a picture of one, but I'm just not patient enough to be a bird watcher, and not startle them away when I come clamoring out the door with the camera.
  
• We live (as our school is located) directly under the flight path of every plane that comes in and out of Luanda airport. I think I first noticed this at about 6:30am on our first morning here, when I woke up thinking the world was ending, only to realize it was a low flying 747. Since then, I have noticed that there must be about 10 planes that come or go throughout the day. Unfortunately, the one is quite an early flight, luckily, none are very late ones. Don't get me wrong, it's not like we're living in the hell that must be a neighborhood by O'hare, but, a few times a day, you do just have to stop mid-sentence and hold your friend's/colleagues/boss's/student's gaze while you wait for the airplane to fly over.
  
• I'm really excited about starting my new job as teacher on Monday! I am so excited to teach in a program using the Reggio Emilia approach because,
• this program is ALL ABOUT THE KIDS- it isn't about paperwork, it isn't about jargon, it isn't about what WE want for kids, it isn't about what we know and think that kids should know, it isn't about what we've planned, or about getting into the best (oops...now I lovingly gaze into your eyes as the airplane flies overhead...) university some day- it's about the kids.
  
• I am really excited to be able to validate and follow my student's own interests. Some other programs say they do this, but, um, not really- mostly they have a curriculum that you have to stick to, and well, kid, get into your own interests on your own time.
  
• I get to ( I just learned this yesterday), lead kids in physical self-discovery- this is done a lot through monthly self-portraits. But the first group work that we will do on self portraits won't involve anything but kids and mirrors. We'll all sit down mirrors in front of each of us, and I'll start asking questions (not telling anything, but asking questions!), "What do you see?" "How does it feel?" "What does it remind you of?" "What else do you see?" "Do you all have that?" "Are they all the same?" etc, etc, etc. I am told that through exercises like these, without ever telling a kid to "include detail" you find children age 3 and 4 drawing pictures of themselves that include eyes, eyelashes, ears, noses, eyebrows, freckles, hair, teeth, lips, tongues, etc. And I think those of us who have any experience with small children will agree that is pretty amazing. And what is even cooler is the conversations that the kids themselves have during these exercises, and the time that they choose to spend on their own afterwards just gazing at themselves in a mirror.
• I get to record the conversations of children. All teachers know that kids will say the darnedest things- that have us in awe, laughing, amazed, etc- but we usually forget these things within everything else going on in the classroom and our heads. But, in this program, my job as teacher has two main parts- to ask questions, and to listen (and record). Of course there is a LOT of other stuff I have to do- but these are the main things. I got a chance to look over some records that the other teacher took last year, and they are amazing- these kids say things, think things that are amazing, and they come up with theories, and they get to explore their theories, and then share what they think now. It is so cool. Mind you, kids the world around do these things- but generally, in a "normal" school, teachers don't have much time to pay it any attention, nor to allow their students to explore things, because you have to get back to the "real" curriculum.
  
• I am super, super nervous to start my new job as teacher on Monday, because,
• I will be team-teaching with my supervisor, who has lots of experience in this program, especially when compared to my lack of any experience in this program. I am trying to be really positive about this and see it for the amazing opportunity that it is for personal professional growth, but it's nerve-wracking none the less!
  
• we will have 36 kids in one space (with four adults). I've just never worked in that kind of environment before!
• I won't be teaching letters or numbers or colors or shapes or vocabulary or anything else in the way I used to. Although our students WILL learn about these things it will be done without 90% of the resources I used to use to teach these things.
  
• I have to record the conversations of children. As excited as I am about doing this, those who have worked with me before, know that this has always been a weakness of mine, so it's going to be something I really have to work on. The same goes for the amount of pictures and stuff I am supposed to be taking of kids- I've just never been good at doing it well- and it's a huge part of this program, so... the teaching/learning cycle is going to be hugely active for me!
  
• Joel has gone off surfing this morning. I'm very excited for his report when he gets home. I didn't go along for a number of reasons, and am disappointed that I couldn't, but, I can't wait to go along someday soon- because, yes, I've never seen Joel (nor anyone) surf in real life. I suppose on one of my trips out to San Diego when I was a kid I saw some, but I don't remember it at all. So, I'm excited to hear how it went, and to go along next time.
  
• Hey, our school has no hallways! Again, I know some of you Aussies are like, "yeah...and...???" but um, for those of us who grew up in climates like Michigan's, having a school with no hallways is well, crazy! So yeah, most of the school is buildings that are like pods, each pod contains 6 classrooms with doors to the outside, and there are walkways (most covered- for safety from the sun) that join em all together. The classrooms also have doors on the inside that all come together on one inner storeroom or something- but really, there are no hallways! My class space is actually the former director's home transformed into a prep 4 building (the new director lives off-campus). Kind of cool cause we have a kitchen and actual separate rooms (one exclusively for building!), one large room with several areas, another room that is an art space, and more...
  
• There are no less than 5 full on vegetarians on our staff this year. There might be more, I haven't accurately counted up the numbers. This does mean that at lunch, there is always a veggie option, and at BBQs (like the one we had last night) there is a huge tray of some beautiful vegetable concoction labeled "FOR VEGETARIANS ONLY!!!!" in giant letters. It's really nice to be acknowledged and taken care of in a non-dramatic, non-you're-making-life-so-hard-on-us-with-your-stupid-choices kind of way. The school chef is Filipino, I've been told, and he doesn't make a big deal out of it either. He serves up his veg dishes with as much pride as the meat ones (as any chef worth anything would, if you ask me!) Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of people in my life who lovingly prepare veg food for me- but here is just seems a matter of fact kind of thing, and it works, and it makes me happy. And while I am definitely still part of a minority, it is a much bigger minority than it has been anywhere else I have worked!
  
• Downside to our cute little bungalow/living situation- community laundry facilities. It's not just the tedium of trying to find a time when no one else is down there using the machines, but it's also the fact that when lots of people are using machines that were not built for lots of people using them, they just don't work so well. The prep 4 building (my classroom) has its own washer and dryer, and my team teacher told me it's ok to use it for my personal laundry. That is cool. Now, I just have to figure out how to get my once-white whites back to white from the yellowish-gray they turned after one wash here. I think I have a date with bleach.
• Did you know that passion fruit grows on a vine? Well, I certainly didn't, until, someone pointed out to me that the vine growing on the fence along the prep 4 building was a passion fruit vine! Again, some of you, used to tropical climes might find this amazement "cute" but, I just think it's "wow!" that passion fruit grows right outside my classroom. I actually don't know if I like passion fruit or not, but, judging by the size of the fruit on the vine right now, I'll find out sooner rather than later.
• Joel is going to hate to read this, but, this is the first time that I have lived somewhere hot and humid enough to find out the difference that 100% cotton or linen clothing makes. It's winter here, which means we're hitting temps around 25C/75F during the day, but come summer, it's going to more like 35C/95F temps on a daily basis- made worse by the humidity. I'm already noticing that I just don't want to wear the clothes that I have that are a synthetic material. I can imagine it'll only get worse come summer. It's a good thing we're going to Oz at Christmas, and that it'll be summer there too (so appropriate clothing will be available for sale), so that I can line my closet with more appropriate clothing. I won't deny that I am some odd kind of a clothes whore, because obviously I am, but, I do feel that this is a genuine learning process. Vacationing in this kind of weather is one thing- living in it is a whole different thing, and I'm just learning now.
  
• We have a maid! Ah- a return to the life I once knew and loved so briefly! :) She comes three times a week (at our choosing, and yes, we could have chosen 5 times). She does the dishes, she irons, she changes our bedclothes (and I'm assuming washes the dirty ones, since I can't find em), sweeps, mops, generally tidies up, etc. It is lovely. It's a really cool feeling to run out the door in the morning leaving a mess behind yourself and come home to a tidy house. And yeah, it's one of the giant perks of the life we choose to lead. Of course, every situation has its downside too, and what I've encountered so far is just not being able to find stuff. She obviously puts stuff away where she thinks it should be (maybe that is why I can't find the other set of sheets), but it's not always where we found it, or where we'd put it. So far I have spent two separate times on searches that lasted a good five minutes for the bug spray (eventually found in the cabinet above the fridge) and the laundry rack (eventually found behind the bedroom door). I'm not complaining, because I'll spend five minutes searching for something she's put away if it means not having to do all that other stuff. I am NOT complaining. :)
  

OK- I think that is enough for today. Before I shower, I'll have my rendezvous with the bleach, and later today, I'm getting together with the two other brides-to-be (and maybe, hopefully more ladies) on campus to talk weddings. That should be fun!

Our new bedroom look...

I don't think even when I was a little girl and maybe dreamt of sleeping in a princess type canopy bed did I ever think I would be sleeping under a mosquito net. Ok, maybe that isn't the same- but the look is somewhat similar.

So, malaria. Yeah. It's a pretty big deal here. And we have to be really careful. Hence the mosquito net around the bed.

We had a two hour presentation/Q&A session the other day about all of the risks and the ABCD (Awareness, Bite-prevention, Chemo-prophylaxis and early Detection) of malaria. It's not looking too good for me. The thing is the doctor made it sound like a pretty darn good idea to take the pills right now from the get-go...we were told about 3 pills that are available- here the thing...

Pill A is an antibiotic. Straight up. ***Warning, TMI coming up!*** Even when I have to take an antibiotic for 10 days for an ear infection or something I end up with ridiculous diarrhea and raging yeast infections (common symptoms to be sure, but I get em BAD). That is only from 10 days of antibiotics. Can you imagine what I'd be like on permanent ones? **shudder**

Pill B is a once weekly (the other two are daily pills) which sounds nice- but, it has three known symptoms- headaches, nausea/vomiting and psychotic dreams! Um yeah. Again I will say that I have enough issues with my stomach, etc to not want to take anything that might have the side-effect of extra nausea or vomiting- and although Joel thought the idea of psychotic dreams was interesting, I'm not really down with that either. I dream pretty vividly anyway- Joel knows that if I have a nightmare he ends up awake longer than me afterwards, so, it's probably just not a very good idea.

Pill C doesn't seem to have any side-effects. But it is a daily pill, is hard to get, and costs $5 a pill!

So... given all that... I'm kind of leaning towards really, really focusing on the A, the B and the D in order to prevent the C. Joel seems to be on board and we're working on making our home into a fortress against mozzies.

Did you know that mozzies kind of freeze if it's too cold? They don't die, but they just can't move. Maybe eventually they die. But anyway, another of the preventative measures that the doctor who presented to us advised was to use the air con in the bedroom and have the temp between 18 and 22 degrees- temps at which, the mosquitoes will freeze (and therefore not be able to bite you!). So, lucky me, I get to have the bedroom at a comfortable (for me) sleeping temperature, and Joel, well, I guess he might have to wear more clothes to bed from now on (because he likes it much, much warmer than me) but hopefully, any bug that does get in there will just be frozen into place.

That said, I've woken up with some kind of bites on me every morning. They don't really seem like mosquito bites though; they're not itchy. Maybe I have spiders biting me... goodness knows that are enough of them around to be doing it all night!

Well, anyway, so that is the latest- protecting ourselves from malaria (in Latvia it was the ticks, every place seems to have it's deadly insect)... just another day in Angola...

Our new digs...

So... here are some photos of our new place...

Our front door comes right into the kitchen. I like the kitchen. It's an open plan with LOTS of counter space (SUCH a nice change from every apartment I lived in in Latvia!) We have an oven and gas stove stop. I'm glad for the oven, I wasn't sure if there would be one. There is plenty of cupboard space as well, and the fridge and freezer are both a fine size.

This is the view onto the dining/living room. There are so many windows/doors in this place- it's bright and sunny all the time! Off the living room there are three sets of sliding glass doors. We'll have satellite tv on the tv there soon (we need to pick up the card from somewhere...). And yeah, you can see Joel's scarves all around. (Mook, we've already agreed that someday when we have our own house, he will have his own special room where he will hang them, for now, since there isn't such a space, they get to be in the living room.)

There he is now, at the tech corner he's set up for himself (computer, speakers, cameras, ipod, etc all in one place for him!) And here you can see our dining room table and chairs as well... we have room for four! Visitors? :)

Here is the bathroom... pretty simple. I do wish the shower was just a tad nicer... the shower head is really high up on the wall (not just because I'm short, but it is really WAY up there) and it's also quite small, so by the time the water hits me, there isn't much pressure. It's also just a little stand up one- so you have to be careful about the curtain being tucked in well, otherwise the floor floods, etc. I miss my shower in Shanghai. That was probably the best shower I've ever had.

Here is the bedroom. The bed is nice enough- I slept ok last night, so it's comfy too. There is lots of cupboard space as you can see, and it's nice- although it's a lot of kind of small spaces. We almost don't have enough space for our hanging clothes, but they just fit. Anyway, regardless of the practicality, I like the look. :)

This is the view from our bed. Another pair of sliding glass doors looks out onto our "back yard". Unfortunately, I don't know how much we will be able to keep these curtains open because, well, our little triangle of backyard isn't exactly private, and everyone else's backyards are right there too...so, we'll have to see what the deal is with privacy.

And here it is, our little triangle of backyard. You can see there is a fence that denotes our area- but it is open on the sides, so we (or anyone) can get in and out easily. There are a few flowers planted there- it sounds like people do tend to "garden" their little spaces if that is what they're into. Joel already said, "Can I mow this?!?" So I guess we'll see how much we end up doing with our little space. The grass, by the way, is a very different grass than what we are used to- it's kind of crunchy, really big blades, and by the looks of it, lots of blades grow out from one root system.

Here's the grass. :)

Here is our patio. Those two pairs of sliding glass doors open into the living room. It's nice to have that outside space- but again, there isn't anything we can do out there that would be private, so we'll just have to see how that goes.

For now the other teachers are not back yet- but it will be interesting to see how the feel of the place changes once we have neighbors, instead of just empty houses.

There are little things to get used to - like spiders running around the house. We also are still figuring out how to deal with the mosquitoes...we have one door that has a screen on it, but of course, just having one door open doesn't do much for getting air moving inside the house. So right now we have another door open, and already one fly in the house- I don't know how many mozzies are flying around now during the day- haven't seen any yet. But last night we had one door open a bit too late, and got a few mozzies in, who promptly decided to buzz our ears at 6am. Maybe we won't even need alarm clocks. :)

Like I said, the other new teachers are meant to be back sometime this afternoon- and the colleague we met yesterday at lunch time invited us over for beers tonight if nothing official is planned- so we'll see!

First Impressions

I want get my first impressions down before, well, before I forget!

So, after a 7 hour flight (basically midnight to 7am) of tossing and turning in my airplane chair we finally arrived in Angola. The flight wasn’t bad… and I did sleep, in fact I slept most of the flight, but, that is not to say that I wasn’t waking up every 45 minutes to an hour because my leg was asleep, my neck was cramped, etc. It’s not like this is the longest flight I’ve ever been on- far from it- but, it was precisely during sleeping hours! Given that in the last two weeks we’ve gotten pretty used to getting a good uninterrupted 10 hour sleep in every night; it was a tough sleep on the plane. Even after we landed, both Joel and I closed our eyes again and napped a bit longer while most of the rest of the passengers disembarked.

Not in any hurry, we finally got off the plane. Straight into immigration, upon showing proof of having the yellow fever vaccine, we received a fairly standard form to fill in. I think the only kind of funny phrase that we had to fill in was something called the “body of movement” which was asking what kind of transportation we would have from the airport I suppose…but obviously badly translated. Anyway, we actually stood in line in immigration for 2 hours, which is surprising only because the line wasn’t actually that long. We could see the front of it the whole time, but it was just moving that slowly. When it was finally our turn, I walked up first, handed over my passport (visa finally inside!) and my filled out form. Then I just stood there smiling while the man did whatever it is the man does behind the counter. Happily the big STAMP! STAMP! came fairly quickly, and I was on my way- no questions asked. I wanted to stand and wait for Joel, but didn’t want to piss off anyone, so I slowly made my way forward. Luckily, since immigration had taken so long, our bags were long since strewn across the baggage area floor. I collected some, and when Joel joined me a few minutes later, we got the rest. We loaded up two baggage carts and made our way outside. We did choose to go the green, “I have nothing to declare” route through customs, and they let us pass no problem. Whew.

Once outside we were looking for someone with a sign, but TK, an employee of the school who has been working with us (helped us with basically everything having to do with getting to Angola) saw us and figured we were us. Considering all we’ve been through in the last weeks, we have had a lot of correspondence with TK, so it was good to finally meet her. As we made our way further along, a lot of young men were coming up to us and offering to help us with our bags… but TK let us know that they what they do is help you and then make you give them $500 to get your bags back! Needless to say, we were swatting them away after that!

We loaded our stuff into a Land Rover and off we went.

As we pulled onto the street there was a nice banner type sign welcoming us to Luanda. After that, things just started to come at me, hit me, kind of like BAM, BAM, BAM! Cars driving way too close to each other, dirt roads, men, women, children wandering amongst cars on the road some of them selling things- toys, off-brand Pringles, watches, sunglasses, an iron, a dvd player… buildings/projects/blockhouses, laundry hanging out of windows, little shops dotting the side of the road with hand painted signs offering things like copies, repairs, food…most people dressed in “western” clothing, but here and there women in brightly printed sarongs and head wraps… babies strapped to their backs, not in a fancy schmancy sling, but well, just attached with another piece of cloth. It’s dirty. There is garbage everywhere. The streets are littered, even though everywhere you look there are men in yellow jumpsuits with “WASTE” written across the back, whose job it is to clean the streets.

TK asked us, “So, what is your first impression?” She herself is from Zimbabwe, and said that it’s very different from here. She was blown away by the appearance of things when she first came to Luanda a few years ago. Joel and I responded as might be expected… “There is a lot to see!” She asked, “Is it like anything you’ve ever seen?” To tell the truth, the block houses reminded both of us of Riga, and me also of Shanghai. It is dirtier here though.

Then, the thing that might seem trivial, but made the biggest, “I’m in AFRICA!” impact on me. It was the women carrying enormous baskets of stuff on their heads; giant baskets of food, cloth, all kinds of things. Then there was the woman that must have been at least 7 or 8 months pregnant and was carrying more bananas on her head than I could carry in my arms. That was amazing. I don’t know exactly how that all works- do they have incredibly strong necks? Is it easier on your body to actually carry that weight on your head, rather than in your arms? Who knows…but I found it amazing, and yeah, it was the thing that made me realize, yeah, I’m in Africa.

Once the block houses cleared out, the highway was lined with shanty towns as far as the eye could see. Houses on top of houses, brick walls, tin roofs, bricks weight down the roofs. Garbage *everywhere*. And so many people! Saw some dogs and some chickens. Lots of people sitting all along the roadside selling stuff… fruit, vegetables, knick-knacks, brooms… Lots of them had blankets laid out with an assortment of goods.

School is not actually that far from the airport (I think with no traffic the drive only takes 20 minutes, but with traffic can take up to two hours). Luanda is experiencing the same kind of growth that Riga is right now, in that its streets are not built for a lot of cars, but there are so many cars on the road now that traffic just doesn’t move. Thankfully for us, we only have to deal with any of that by choice. :)

We got to the compound and got into our new home. Joel and I are really quite happy with what we have here. It’s a one-bedroom/one-bathroom bungalow, filled with sunlight. It comes with simple furniture, a nice stocked kitchen (as in plates, utensils, pots and pans, etc) with lots of counter space which opens into the dining and living room, we have a back patio and a “backyard”. We’ve already unpacked most of our stuff, so my books are on the shelves, Joel’s football scarves are hanging all around the living room, and our clothes are in drawers. It pretty much feels like ours already. :)

We had lunch in the cafeteria (for FREE) for the first time. Lunch today was spaghetti Bolognese- with a salad bar, bread, water and fruit for dessert. I had Latvian style spaghetti- noodles with ketchup and mayo and a salad. During lunch we met one of our colleagues and chatted a bit. She said that usually the food is pretty good, and that there is a salad bar every day. So, seems like we should both be able to eat pretty well for free once a day, which hopefully should save us some money in groceries in the long run, because….

We went for a quick grocery shop already too. The prices of some things seemed quite on par with what we’ve been paying in Riga. Other things however, whew. We knew that food would be expensive coming here- but when you actually see the price tag on a medium sized squash that says it costs USD$15, you can’t help but balk at it. Our shopping today cost 14,000 Kwanza. That comes out to about $200/100Ls. Of course, we’re just starting out here, trying to figure out what to buy from where- there are two grocery shops near by- one is a specialty import kind of one, and the other is a more local type. We went into both, and bought stuff from both. We were comparing prices and hopefully sooner or later we’ll get a handle on what to get from where for the best price. I don’t know anything about produce markets or anything yet. We’ll see. Oh I do have to say though, when we were in the expensive shop, there was a lady shopping there whose running total had gotten up to 70,000 Kwanza…and she wasn’t done yet. Yikes!

It’s going to take some getting used to dealing with money in the thousands on a normal basis. The money is all notes… the smallest is a 5-er and the largest is a 2,000. The funny thing is that items in stores cost not-round amounts- like 498.50. But, they won’t give you that kind of change! So, like, today our bill at the one store was 10,133- and my change should have been 67, but I only got 65 back! It’s really weird to NOT get exact change back. But that is just the way it is…they just round it up or down.

Ah, one more thing about the grocery store… Joel was sad to see that a slab of his elixir of life (Coca Cola) was the same price as a slab of beer. 24 cans of Coke, or 24 cans of beer… same price, you choose. :) I suppose only Joel would be sad about this. As for the rest of the food- choices were adequate. Found some soy based products for me, but no soy milk, which stinks- although the lady that took us to the store reckons you can get it here somewhere. So will have to keep looking.

Well, I guess that is about it for the first day. I think I got down all the really important first day/first impression type stuff. The rest of the new teachers should be back on campus tomorrow (they are at a resort doing a new teacher thing for three days….we do wish we were there, but alas…).

I’m feeling pretty sleepy… might be time for a nap… J

Lost in thoughts...

I have found myself lost in thoughts about the last few years a lot lately. I've been randomly spending way too much time looking through my photo archives on my computer (when I should be writing a paper or something...). Maybe it's because so much is changing now- leaving another "home", earning my masters, moving to a new country and a new job, planning a wedding... there is a lot in my future (yay!), but for some reason right now, it's making me appreciate the past. So, I thought I would just put up a bunch of random pictures from times in the last few years (in somewhat reverse order) that were really, really good. :) Enjoy.

Celebrating my birthday with Joel. This was when I got the present of going to Venice. Best birthday present I've ever gotten.

Bumbi the baby. Look how tiny he was!

Ha! My first trip with Joel (to London), and my first Cats/AFL game- and my first streaker!

The Robbie Williams concert. The only substantial amount of time I've ever spent in Sweden.

Meeting my goddaughter. How little was she?!?

The end of the first summer in Madrid. Good times.

Jumping way back- Halloween in Shanghai- myself and the other Kindergarten teacher dressed up together. Pretty good costumes eh?

At AW's (she was AV then!) rehearsal dinner. I was her maid of honor the next day!

It was a summer of weddings... three generations of women on my mom's side of the family, at my mom's wedding.

Riding an elephant in Thailand. Awesome.

Getting massages on the beach in Thailand. Double Awesome. Still being able to wear a bikini, endless awesome.

Another Halloween in Shanghai (or the same one?)- our version of Charlie's Angels. Pretty good no? Man, that was a crazy night.

Freezing every part of ourselves in Harbin, PR China.

Warm weather, beaches, snorkeling, friends, and more in Malaysia.

The Red and Black Gala at SCIS. What fun it was to dress up!

Hosting Thanksgiving in Shanghai- I think we had around 50 people show up. A totally random and awesome group.

Wasn't that a fun trip through the last few years? Of course, there are lots of events missing from these pictures...which doesn't make em any less special...just means I might not have a good pic to share. :)

The Bug Report

So, my ole China chum the Dom Nem recently wrote a blog post called The Bug Report in which she let the world know about the bugs living in her apartment, and how she deals with them.

Well, unfortunately, I've got a bug report of my own. We never had bugs in this apartment last summer for the record. I mean, ants or mosquitoes or something I guess, but... this year....

We have roaches.


Vomit.


Yeah, it's gross. In the two weeks we've been here, I'd say we've killed 10. That means there are approximately 10,000,002 that we haven't killed.

Of course, we complained to the lady who handles the housing for us right away. Also, we cleaned the kitchen very thoroughly. Well, our landlady has been around numerous times spraying buttloads of chemicals into every corner of the apartment, putting out little roach traps (I don't know how they work- I'm assuming there is some kind of poison inside) and muttering to anyone who will listen about how the boys who were here before us were "muy sucio" (very dirty) which is what brought on the roaches.

One of my roommates CK has another theory, which I think makes some sense. Right outside our apartment there is a lot of construction going on- they are building an underground bus station I believe. So CK figures, the roaches used to live down there, underground...but now it's all loud and dangerous and stuff, so they've (literally) moved up.

So, that is my bug report. I have only had to kill one myself, because most of the time, all any of us has to do is scream a bit and CK will come running with a towel or a tissue or a shoe or something, and she'll take care of it. Brave woman that one. There have not been any sighting in my room so far (knock on wood!), so I feel ok about that. Let's just hope for the best.

In other news, our metro station entrance, starting TODAY (couldn't be two weeks from now, no, TODAY) is under construction and closed. So, we now have to walk waaaay down the block to get to the other entrance, and it's just a pain in my behind. Adds 5 minutes to our morning commute, easy. Phbbt!

In more exciting news, on Friday, I got my cap and gown and tassel and HOOD. Of course, when I got home, I tried it right on. I couldn't quite figure the hood out, but, I'm sure someone will help me with that when the time comes. I have to say, I was very proud. And I know I will feel very proud when I get to wear it in the ceremony in a couple of weeks. It's been an intense year this past year- and well, I have to admit that I respect education (good thing, since I'm a teacher, huh?) so I think it's a pretty big deal that I did this, and darn it, I'm really proud (did I already say that?)!!!

But also, I do have to say, the Masters' gown is sillier than the regular undergrad one. Funny sleeves and the hood... yeah, it's really silly looking. I remember thinking last year when I watched the graduation how cool it was that they were all up there...but then I remember thinking also that caps and gowns in all their silliness must really go way back, cause they are just plain funny looking! :) Anyway, I'll be happy to wear it anyway! :)

So, there you go...the bug report, plus a little more. 2 weeks/courses down, 2 to go!