Ah, Valentine's day. Hallmark holiday? Christian holiday? American holiday? Well, I'll tell you what... I don't really care WHOSE holiday it is- I think it's nice to be reminded (especially in this fast paced world where often we DON'T take the time to really be with our special someone) to spend a day, or an evening, with the one you love. I'm not saying it has to be expensive, it's more about time to me.
Earlier this week, or maybe it was last week, Joel was thinking about booking a bus to get to the clinic on Sat the 14th, because he had another check up for his broken hand. Last time he went to the clinic, he got there around 2, and left at nearly 8. So he put it to me, that if I was willing to go with him to the clinic on that day and sit with him all the hours that he would probably end up being there, then we could go out for Chinese that night, for Valentine's Day. I was impressed that he came up with this plan (points for him!) and agreed to it.
But then, it turns out, he actually had an appointment time - at 8:30 am! So he ended up getting up early on a Saturday (for that matter so did I!)- he left school at 7:30, got to the clinic at just past 8, saw the doctor at 12, went to get an x-ray, another hour before he got that, at 1:30 the x-ray was ready, and then YAY! He got his cast off. He was home by 3. If you're interested I got up early to go for a run- 7k! (and I did it- running the whole way!) and then went into town to go shopping at a store called Jumbo. I still got home way earlier than he did.
Anyway, so then we were both home in the afternoon, took naps (I was really tired after the middle of the night blogging and the long run that morning!), and then finally got dressed for the big night out! There was one small problem though- even though he had really tried his best, Joel had not ever been able to find the phone number for the Chinese restaurant that we wanted to go to. Not even the locals could find it for him. So, when we showed up at the Chinese place all decked out, we got turned away at the door. Darn. It really stunk because, we had even talked during the ride into town about what we were going to eat, etc. We were both pretty excited about it, I'd say!
So, after being turned away, we got back in the van, and told the driver to drive further along the Ilha until we found a restaurant. We knew there were a couple Indian restaurants in the same area, and thought it would be good to try to find one of those (Indian and Chinese can be counted on for vegetarian food- other, especially Angolan/Portueguese restaurants, not so much). We finally did spot the one and Joel ran inside to ask if they had any available tables.
He came out laughing to himself and with a big smile on his face. He opened the door and said that yes, there are still tables, but, the restaurant was having a "Valentine's Dinner and Dance" for a set price of 8,500 Kwanza (or $110) a head. We thought about it, and then said, "Eh, f-it. We might not find anything else- let's just do it!" So we told the driver to "stand by" and headed inside.
Lordy, lordy- the red, the white, the gold, the hearts, the balloons, the strobe lights, the lasers, the cheesy, cheesy, bad music, the flower arrangements, the peacock feather arrangements (!)- it was all VERY over the top!
When we walked in the floor was littered with heart shaped balloons that said, "I love you", the lights were dim, and as Joel forked over the ridiculous amount of money, the maitre d' handed me a rose (yes the one pictured above). I have to say that was a nice surprise, because aside from a few flowering bush type things, you don't see flowers in Luanda. You can't buy flowers. It's almost like they don't exist here. But I got a red rose on Valentine's Day. :)
So then we sat down, and ordered drinks. I wanted white wine, Joel (trying to do it up right for such a night out, skipped the coke and) asked for red. Next thing we know, they bring us whole bottles each- one for me, one for him. They say, "Sorry, we only have bottles tonight." We were like,"Uh, but is it expensive?" And they said, "No, you already paid for everything!" Well, ok then!
We sat for a long time, and our tummies started to rumble...finally we saw some people getting up and going to the buffet- and just then, our waiter came and told us to help ourselves, so we went. I won't go into details about the food- it was Indian, had a good spread of both veg and meat items, and we both stuffed ourselves. I also had dessert, although Joel just had one cracker with cheese. It was all very good.
The waiter kept coming back and filling up our glasses when they were not nearly empty, and we both got close to drinking a whole bottle of wine. Finally, we decided to leave- Joel was getting antsy, although, it was only nearing 11, and people weren't even dancing yet- actually because Angola has the Portuguese influence, people often start their dining experience somwhere between 10 and 11- maybe even later! So, as we were leaving, there were people just still coming in. And I'm sure the bad dj eventually got some people out on the dance floor, to boogie down to the awful music.
Anyway- if you're wondering about the "I love you" heart with the two monkeys in the picture with the rose- well, that is what *I* got Joel for Valentine's Day. When I was at the store that morning, there was a variety of totally crappy stuff like that, but no nice boxes of chocolates or anything like that, so I decided, "when in Rome..." :) I told Joel he should take the heart to his classroom so he can remember how much I love him every day- and maybe so that we don't have to see it every day in our house. :)
Hope your Valentine's Day was happy too! :)
