Some more pictures

Birds come and clean up our eating area after every meal time at school. Good thing for these little birds, 4-year-olds are REALLY messy. :)

Our kids planted flowers and there were two that grew-
this one:

Oh, the moon was out today- but I went to look for it tonight, and couldn't find it. Weird?

A bush that grows by school...

And this one- the other flower that grew. This picture is my favorite.

Still figuring out how to use my camera...

The moon was big and full and heavy looking tonight. This is the best picture I could get. But, what's captured in the picture is very different from what I saw with my eyes. I messed with my settings as much as I could, but, alas, this is the best I could get. (Click on the picture and see it full screen for better effect.)

A short story of deep sea fishing

Here goes:

We headed out to sea. Everyone started getting sick. The captain spent 15 minutes setting up all the fishing poles. Joel helped. Everyone got sick. The captain spent 15 minutes taking down all the fishing poles. Joel helped. We went to the beach.

The end.

:)

So, as you can see, not much came of our deep sea trip. We headed out this morning around 9 or so. We got picked up by the family who was hosting us- the mother of one of my students (we'll call her M1), and both of her daughters, and then went to pick up another mother of one of my students (M2) and her eldest daughter (the one in my class was sick). So, poor Joel it was him and 6 females. He's such a trooper.

We got to the boat, everyone got strapped into their life vests, it was good. This was my first time going out deep sea I suppose ever, although I know for sure I have been out on boats on big water before like in the middle of Lake Michigan, which is big enough that you can't see either shore from the middle. It was not Joel's. It was also M2's first time. M1 and her daughters had been out before, on this same boat.

I guess the water was very choppy today. The captain said it was because of the wet season. There was a pretty big swell. Heading out it was ok though, because when you're going fast, while there is some bouncing on the water, it's not that sick-inducing (although I guess it starts to build). When we stopped to hook up the fishing poles though, we were totally at the mercy of the swell, and we were all over the place- up and down and up and down and nearly sideways.

My student who was there turned green and then puked, right there on the boat. Luckily she had an empty stomach, so it was just a bit of yuck, and then mom went and held her over the edge to finish. M2 started turning green at this point too, and I have to admit, I wasn't feeling 100% myself.

M1 though, was pretty keen on catching some fish- she said the captain told her that recently everytime anyone went out fishing they were coming back with 10-15 dorado. So she really wanted to catch one or two, just to have some fish, and enough to give her help at home some (the maid, the driver, the gardener). Well, she made the mistake of saying, "But whenever we get bored, we just tell the captain, and he'll take us to the beach."

Once the fishing poles were set up, it took about 10 minutes if that, of slow movement through the water for M2 to finally just say, "Can we go to the beach NOW?" She was NOT feeling well- you could tell. Her daughter had also really quieted down. Both of the other girls had fallen asleep. Joel and M1 seemed to be the only ones that were totally ok- Joel was even drinking a beer. But, sick people are not fun people, so, they took down the poles they had just taken so long to put up, and we headed to the beach, sans fish.

We didn't even take any pictures during any of this, because it all happened so quickly.
But, here are some beach pictures. You may recall that soon after we arrived in Luanda, we took a trip to the beach on an island just off shore. We headed back to the same island today- although to a different spot.

This spot had bigger shelters, but there is no restaurant or toilet. That is mostly ok, because we had all packed food today, and had plenty to go round. Pretty nice shelters at that- look like they are made of palm trees- trunks for structure, and fronds for shade. Works for me!

Just behind where we were across a little bay of the island are these "weekend houses" for local rich people.

This is the view down the island from where we were. Nice, hey?

This is the boat that we actually rode today. It was pretty nice.

These are the kids.

Me on the boat- these pictures were all taken basically when we were packing up and leaving.

Us posing at the front of the boat. :)

So we ended up having quite a nice day that was quite different than what we had set out thinking we would get. The beach was beautiful and really serene. There was one other group of people on the beach, but they were a few huts down, and weren't loud, so, it was really peaceful out there. Both of the moms we were with are cool, good for conversation, etc, so it was nice to just sit around and chat. The water there at the beach was nice and warm and clear- there were hundreds and hundreds of little fish. And they were swimming so close to us- we could see them through the water- there were just MASSES of them. We also found a few hermit crabs, and saw some tiny, tiny shrimp. But that was unfortunately all the wildlife we saw today- no dolphins, no turtles and no whales. Apparently it's not even the right season right now, which I didn't know until today. Oh well.

My souvenir from today? This is what you get from sitting on a boat for hours without having put sunscreen on yet!

(Unfortunately, the tops of my arms look similar!)

The post-engagement pre-wedding party

Last Sunday, the 28th, Joel and I celebrated our engagement and our upcoming wedding with quite a crowd. In three hours at an afternoon cocktails and canapes event I met more people than I can possibly remember. I was honestly moved by the sense of love and community- by the very clear fact that I am being welcomed to join a wonderful group of people. It was really lovely. Thanks to Joel's parents who hosted the event. I would say it was quite a success- and here's the photos to prove it. :)

Joel and I before the party

The cake
The smiling, standing up straight and tall, small talk, answering the same questions over and over again, etc starts... :)

To us!

Family...

Jon and Courtney and old friends of the Smedes....

That guy was from Texas and she liked my shoes- this I remember. :)

Jamin, Luka and Julie enjoying the party.

Lovely people...

Jon and Courtney talk to one of Jon and Joel's cousins

Joel: "Yeah, Angola is good... I teach year 4, and Mara teaches 4 year olds..."
Mara: smile and nod, smile and nod...

Grandpa's and their grandkids...

Cousins and an uncle...

Oma Oma, an uncle, and the guy from Texas ;)

Aunties and Oma Oma

Luka!

One of Joel's friend's dad

Good friends of the to-be in-laws

Cutting the cake

Joel and an old friend

One of Joel's friends and his former boss

The lady in white reminded me a lot of my Aunt J- I liked her immediately. :)

Talking with K's mom and the ex's dad

Jon catching up...

Cousins... possibly discussing when the one in the middle of the picture might deliver- she was VERY pregnant and 5 days past her due date. :)

Joel's and his ex's father. Well, it's true.

People started saying their goodbyes, as K's mother is doing here...my cheeks hurt so badly by this point- I'd been smiling non-stop for three hours.

Courtney's dad talking to that old friend of the Smedes...

Smiley, happy people

Guys Joel used to play soccer with

Center of attention...he did well...

We were talking about running into old students, because the guy standing next to me is a teacher, I'm sure...

The kids had lots of fun. :)

I'm sure no one got hurt...

Whew. There you go. Mook, that was mostly for you, because, who else that reads my blog wasn't there AND knows anyone of those people? :) I think you have to admit that I did fairly well remembering who almost all of those people were. I will admit that some of the older folks, who all had subtle, or not so subtle Dutch accents blended together, but even them, at least some of em, I can name, just obviously, not here on the world wide web. :)

It was a really nice party- and now I really can't wait for the real thing! Whoohooo!!!!! I loved being the center of attention, I loved the heart-felt messages that people gave us, and the whole fact that they were congratulating us on getting married (soon)! It was great. Thanks again Maria and Gerry! :)

Happy New Year! (and hanging out with Joel's friends...)

NYE this year was pretty chill- we didn't have big plans, which was fine by me. I find that often NYE has been a let down. It's always one of those nights when I feel like it's supposed to be really big and monumental- a night you're not supposed to forget- and yet, they usually end up with me being bored, tired, not drunk or too drunk and well, anyway... I was happy to have some simple plans. Hanging out with Joel's friends, heading into the city to see fireworks, coming home again. So that is what we did. Unfortunately, one of Joel's best friends, K, was busy and had other things going on, so we didn't see him- but R&D were around, and the four of us had a nice time.

After a fair few drinks at D's place, we head into town- here, R and I wait for the tram.

Then R flashes his gang signs and I do "peace" because it's the only thing I know how to do.
And then we add D into the mix- gang signs all around- but I'm still flashing peace. :)

In town, Joel and I sit and wait for the fireworks.

Fireworks!

(And can I just say that the show lasted a good 12-15 minutes, and fireworks were being shot off from several different locations, resulting in the entire skyline being lit up, and one needing to continually turn one's head left to right to try to keep catching what was going on- after three years of LV fireworks, Joel and I were in awe!)

After the fireworks we headed straight for the trams to get back home. The crowds were huge, and it took us about an hour to get on a tram. We did witness a cat-fight in the wait time, which was interesting. Some girl got a whole lot of hair torn out of her head. Ouch! Once we got back to D's place, we had some more drinks, but around 2, I found myself assuming a more and more horizontal position on the couch, until eventually, I was asleep. From what I remember, R was doing the same on the floor. So, we passed out. Ah well. :)

We got home thanks to Joel's wonderful dad picking us up- and proceeded to have a good long sleep. Nothing like waking up at noon on Jan 1st! :)

Here's wishing all of you a very happy new year! I know I'm looking forward to lots this year- hoping you're all as excited as I am (about your own lives!). :)