Well, it's been a while!

Hello all! Well, it's been a while huh?!? So many exciting things have happened since the last post. Most importantly, Libolo won the cup!!! Woo hoo Forca Libolo! After a devasting loss to D'Agosto the first game out, we came back and won the next two games. The team that we beat is considered to be the top team in Angola as well as the top team in Africa. They have won the cup for the last 6 years. It was history in the making as Reggie likes to say. He was also the MVP of the cup; what a personal accomplishment for him. the team had a great dinner that night to celebrate. Of course it was at our usual and favorite restaurant, Veneza. Most of the staff wanted to take pictures, which was so funny. Reggie kept the cup after the game. It is so huge! It stands as tall as my belly button. Not that that is saying much for me, but it's such a huge trophy. It's currently in our living room! :) After the final of the cup we went straight into TOP 4 games. We lost our first game against Petro, unfortunately. My opinion is that all the players were coming of a long demanding week and didn't have enough rest time between games. We won our next game against ASA, which was good. The next game is scheduled for Monday against Agosto, and I'll let you know how it goes!

This week has been wonderful. I have been in touch with another American woman who is living here with her family. Since I have been in touch with her, so many opportunites have opened to me. We met Tuesday at the mall for the first time. We sat and tlaked for a few hours. It's so nice to sit and speak English with someone with ease. Wednesday was my first meeting with the American Women's Association of Angola. This is a group of American and/or Canadian women. There are monthly meetings, and I jstu happened to catch the last one. This is a great opportunity to meet other Americans in Luanda. Another member of the organization was kind enough to offer me aride to the meeting which was so nice! Riding together was a great opportunity to get to know eachother. We have planned more events for the weekend and upcoming week and I can't wait! Going back the the meeting; the organization participates in lots of volunteer work, charity work, and establishing relationships within the organization. Since this was the last meeting I will have to wait until next season to become a member but I am so excited for the social aspect of the group and especially the volunteering opportunities. My friend was so kind to lend Reggie and I some movies, TV series on DVD, magazines, AND two boxes of MAC-N-CHEESE! Now if you know me, you know how much I love Mac-n-cheese. This was quite possibly the highlight of my day! It was such a nice gesture and a little bit of home.

Today a small group of women met for a yoga class. It was so nice to be able to remove myself from the teaching position and take a class for myself. I drove myself to the house that the class was held. It was very near to where we live so there wasn't much of a problem. Until I couldn't find the right street! After driving down a few different streets, making a few phone calls, and asking a security guard if I was on the right street (in Portuguse by the way!), I finally found my destination! The class was so much fun! Ironically, the teacher is from northern California. She has only been in Luanda for a few weeks and is teaching at a small studio in town. It's such a small world. I'm hoping to join her for her other classes, in addition to the weekly classes with the AWA members. It was a great way to start the day.

Tomorrow Pam, the lady that offered me a ride to the meeting, and I are going to Benfica market tomorrow. I am not entirely sure what to expect besides there are negotiations to be made when purchasing items! there are lots of arts and crafts which are great memorabilia to take home. We're also going to the local International School fair to support fellow AWA members and check out the school. It should be a very fun day.

Next week we have three games!! Woo hoo! I am also planning on volunteering with a group of women at a local orphanage and going fabric shopping! I can't wait!

Weekly Wrap Up

I went to the beach Tuesday with a friend. Her cousins were expected to join us but one slept in late and I don't really know what happened to the other. We still had a great time though. We left around 11am but didn't actually arrive at the beach until 1:00pm. With traffic, the drive to the beach is usually about an hour. Without traffic, you are there in 10 minutes. This time, though, it took 2 hours thank to the wonderful traffic Police of Luanda. We got pulled over. Actually it was my fault, but the guy wasn't very helpful by any means. The traffic cops here stand on the side of the streets and flag people down to occasionally check their papers or to pull someone over for an illegal maneuver. I was flagged down for an illegal maneuver. Apparently, I made a left hand turn when you could no longer make a left hand turn. So there was Mr. Cool Cop in his uniform and orange 'TRAFFIC' vest flagging me over to the side of the road. Getting pulled over while driving is my fear here; in addition to the crazy drivers of course. Usually cops, or a person with any kind of power are very macho. So I wasn't looking forward to this encounter at all. Thank goodness Rafaela was with me so she was able to communicate with him for me. One thing about the cops here, it is almost as if they get upset if you don't speak Portuguese. Almost a "how dare you" type of attitude. I understand it, I just can't speak it. Anyways, turns out one paper for the card was expired. According to him we would have to take the car to an office where they would hold it until we paid nearly $200 to update the information, then they would release the car to us. I was stressing out, needless to say. Luckily, Rafa's uncle is the manager for the basketball team. So we called him and he sent someone down to meet us with some money. Get this though, the money wasn't to pay to get the proper documentation-- it was to pay off the cop. That is how corrupt and backwards this country is. We've been told that some people go into the profession of being a cop just so they can earn extra money on the streets. It is incredibly common for cops to get paid off by the driver if the driver does not have current papers, or even papers at all. You'd be surprised how many people, in many professions, will turn a blind eye if you slide them a little cash. It's the unfortunate truth about the poverty in this country. I guess I do not have too much room to speak though because this tactic allowed us to continue on our way. After that we were EXTRA careful not to make and silly wrong turns.

The beach is usually really crowded during the weekend so it was nice to go during the week when only a few people are there. We enjoyed the afternoon soaking up the sun and talking-- good old girl time. We even had entertainment. Usually vendors walk along the beach trying to sell items to people on the beach. There was a lady selling roasted peanuts and bananas, a man selling African statues and jewelery, another man selling some sort of sheets or bedding, and a group of kids eating coconuts. I was able to take pictures of everyone except the lady selling peanuts and bananas- she wasn't too exciting anyways, haha. I have noticed that people here love to have their picture taken. A complete stranger will walk up to you and ask you to take their picture. This is what happened with the sheet man. He was whistling to get our attention then wanted his picture taken. Of course after the picture he gave us the universal sign of a thumbs up. Then he casually walked away and that was that. When we first saw the group of young boys, I was fascinated by what they were doing. They had walked across the beach carrying these large round, ball- like, fruit. At the time I was not sure what exactly they were holding. Once they got to the rocks nearby they started banging the fruit on the rocks to break them open. I kept watching in fascination and wondering what they were going to do next. Once they cracked the body of the fruit they would hold it above their heads and drink the juice-- talk about fresh. After, they continued to slam the fruit against the rock to break it completely open so they could eat the inside of the fruit. It turns out that they were coconuts. I thought this was so innovative and functional. I'm sure it is common practice here, but it was a first time sight for me. After we went back to our towels the second man came up with his statues and jewelry. Rafaela, my friend, had jumped in the water so I was alone to talk for myself. My usual excuse is to say, "no fala Portuguese"- I don't speak Portuguese. Unfortunately, he replied asking what language I spoke. Of course once I said English, he started speaking English; asking if I want to buy a statue or jewelry. I simply told him that I did not have any money, but asked to take a picture. That didn't really seem fair, but I really wasn't interested in buy any of his product and only really wanted a picture. Luckily, he let me take his picture then he was on his way to other potential customers after asking again if I had any money. After that we were not bothered, aside from the crabs that were crawling around near the water! Reggie and I had gone to the beach during the week once last year where I first saw all of the crabs. I did not like them at all. They obviously don't bother you because they scurry down their little hole when any activity occurs near them. But some of them are huge! And they look so funny when they 'walk' or 'crawl', which ever you would like to call it. It gives me the chills! I did face my fear and crouched near a hole to try and take a picture. Once they poked their head out and saw me they dove back in. I was lucky enough to snap a quick shot when one was half out of his hole. We left the beach around 3:00pm in order to make it back to our houses to get ready in time for the game. this time, it only took 45 minutes to get home; and no complications besides the usual traffic. :)

I have not described traffic on this blog yet. Let me give you a little insight. I like to compare it to New York with out traffic lights or rules. I'm sure there are certain driving laws here because we see cars with Driving Schools sign on them... so they must be teaching them something! However, when you drive around, it is as if no one follows or cares about rules. Everyone is in such a rush to get to their destination that is actually causes more harm than good. I do not think I have seen so many impatient and careless people ever. I keep saying that I am going to record a video of the intersection below our apartments. Words simply can not explain the craziness. Although, at a later time I will try my best to give you a very descriptive view of the traffic and driving experiences here. Since there is so much traffic people often sell stuff in the streets to people waiting in their cars. You can find ANYTHING in the streets. Water, soda, juice, mops, brooms, buckets (which I still need to buy), sunglasses, air fresheners, TV Antennas (yup, I've seen it), popcorn, butter cookies, fruit, laundry baskets, briefcases, irons, shower heads, toilet paper, wine glasses, belts, CDs, DVDs-- you name it, you can probably find it. When we were driving home though, we saw something that I had never seen before. A man was walking with two small cages. As he got closer you could see that one cage was empty but the other cage contained a mouse or a rat. It was disgusting! I don't want to know why he was selling them, who would buy them, and what they would use them for. Some things are better when they are left unknown. This was definitely a first though, and one for the memory books.

All in all, the beach was a lot of fun and I look forward to going back soon. I need to work on my tan. I took a picture yesterday for my Visa and I pretty much blended into the background. Once I got over the embarrassment, it was pretty funny. Didn't help that I was wearing a white t-shirt too. I sure didn't plan that well!

We played Agosto Tuesday night. It surely was not the game that we were expecting it to be. We ended up losing, by a lot. It was pretty bad. In my opinion, not that I'm and expect analysis or anything, people didn't show up to play. Reggie as the only player with double digits until 6 minutes left in the game. When you play a 48 minute game, that just doesn't make sense. Especially when we have so many good players. The other team had 5 players that had double digits majority of the game. It's very hard to compete with that and win. It was just an off night. We play them again tonight. If we win then there will be a tie breaker on Sunday to determine the winner of the Cup. If we lose, then we take second place. Hopefully, tonight is better, way better, than Tuesday night.

Last night we went to the airport to pick up our delayed bag. We ate popcorn and had a soda, bought off the street, as we waited in traffic on our way to the airport. The popcorn is surprisingly good. I was a little frustrated when we picked up the bag because we have special TSA approved locks that allow TSA to search your bag if needed but keeps your luggage locked so people can't get into it. Well, when the bag arrived, the lock was missing. What's the point of having a special lock it people don't put it back on? There were a few things missing from our luggage which is never fun but at that point there is nothing to do about it. Considering that the entirety of the luggage was basketball shoes to be sold to other players, a few jerseys and pancake mix were small items. One of our friends specifically asked for pancake mix... of course it was taken. I felt horrible! I knew how much we was looking forward to it! Poor guy! I could understand his longing because I often lay in bed dreaming about food that I miss from the States.

We have had the morning off before the game tonight. We watched some of the NBA playoffs last night and have been relaxing (AKA napping) all day. It's our usual pre-game ritual! haha! I will write again tonight, or tomorrow, with the outcome of the game.

Wish us luck tonight! GO LIBOLO!!! FORCA LIBOLO!!!

Off To The Beach!!!

My friends and I are going to the beach today! I am so excited! I still have some child like manners, I was so anxious I had a hard time sleeping last night. Which is going to make for a long day today. Coffee, please! We have a game tonight against the top team in Angola. This is for the Final of the Cup. We need to win tonight and Friday in order to take the cup. Good luck Libolo! I'll let you know how the game, and the beach, go. Pictures to come also.

Until next time,

beijo!

Weekend break from blogging!

Well I did take a little break over the weekend! haha! Our last game was Friday so we had Saturday and Sunday off which is usually unheard of! We relaxed Saturday and went to the beach Sunday. My friend Rafaela joined us at the beach. It was kind of comical getting in touch because our cell phone doesn't work. I called her from our computer, Skype, before we left but she was expected another call when we arrived at her apartment. So we sat out from waiting for a while but she never came out. We then drove around the corner to her cousin's house thinking maybe she thought we were going to pick her up there. After driving around the block a few times we finally came back to our house to call her again. This time we straightened everything out and we off to the beach! The temperature was cooler than usual but it was still nice to get to the beach. Unfortunately, the trip did not do much for my tan as I had hoped. We hadn't been to the beach in a very long time. It was so nice to go again. Rafaela and I decided that we need to go more during the week because there is simply no reason not to! Hopefully we'll go once or twice this week. We already have a trip planned for tomorrow - I'll take my camera :)

Another adventure of the weekend was my encounter with our neighbors. Now if we're friends on facebook (things always seem to relate back to facebook :/ ) you have probably seen my posts about my neighbors... Not that they are bad, we just don't see eye to eye! haha! I think the main problem, if you can even call it that, is the fact that we think differently. I think there are certain ways people do things here and I am unaware of them because we do things differently in the States. A perfect example is how we deal with the water that leaks from our air conditioner. Reggie and I are not really into buying a whole lot of household products while we are here. Not to mention that things are incredibly expensive here, we don't want to only use them for a short period of time then leave.I guess we are kind of stingy in that sense. Well, that stinginess translates to our air conditioner story in a way. Once we noticed out air conditioner was leaking I acknowledged the fact that we have to find something to capture the water so the whole walkways doesn't get wet. Well we only have one bucket in the apartment and that is for the mop. I couldn't use that because I wouldn't have a bucket for my mop then! So I in turn, cut of the top of a 1.5 Liter water bottle and used that as a 'bucket'. Granted it was much smaller than an actual bucket but it served the same purpose did it not? Apparently, according to my neighbors, it's not the same. They continually told me that I need to get a bucket. I just kept nodding and smiling as I thought to myself, "the water bottle does the same darn thing!". There isn't water on the floor any more so the problem is solved. And mind you, my neighbors use a water bottles as pot for plants. If you could use them for that, then I could use them for my leaky air conditioner. To make an even longer story shorter (wink wink), I was told once again by my neighbors this weekend that I needed to put a bucket under my air conditioner to catch the water. It has gotten to the point in the past where they put their own bucket under our air conditioner. I just don't see the big deal with a water bottle when it serves the same purpose. different means, but the end result is still the same! Side note: Reggie and I are not so stingy that we won't buy a bucket. I mean come on, it's a bucket! The only problem is, we don't know where to buy a bucket! haha! I have looked when we go to the store and they don't have simple buckets. I know you can buy them on the street, but I don't go out very much. So our problem continues! It is one of the many encounters with my neighbors.

I'm not exactly sure what today holds but if there is anything exciting I will definitely post it on here. Maybe I'll write again tonight and start catching up on some old memories. We have a game tomorrow against the top team in Angola. We play this twice this week for the Final of the Cup. I look forward to the games, I just hope everyone plays well!

Until next time,

Beijos! (Kisses)

In case you are wondering why I always 'sign off' with beijos it is the phrase used here to say good bye. Also, giving someone kisses, one on each cheek, is the common greeting and exit in Europe and here. Instead of giving kisses as you leave, people just say 'beijo' which is Portuguese for kiss. There is a little Portuguese lesson for you. :)

I told you I would post more frequently!

See, almost two posts within 24 hours! I told you I would be better this time! I have spent majority of my evening, my evening means post nap and into the morning hours, on the Internet scouring recent sites about Luanda. I can't believe that I have not come across these before in my many "Luanda, Angola" searches. These new sites have encouraged and inspired me. Yet they also discourage me because there is only a month and a half left in the season. I am working on establishing myself for the next season though. I have scoured websites about an American Women's Association of Angola, Angolan tours, and field trips. These are all organizations that I wish I could have come across earlier in the year. Although, I do look forward to next year and being involved with these organizations. I am planning on going to a few meetings next week to see what these organizations are all about! I will definitely update you more then.

Other than being on the computer all night, we did have a game. Libolo (our team) actually lost but we were within the point range to advance to the Final game of the Cup. It's pretty confusing I know. We played Petro on Tuesday and won by 11 points. We played then again tonight. In order to advance to the Final we had to a) win, or b) lose by less than 11 points because we won by 11 points on Tuesday. Next week is the Final of the cup then we return to the regular season. The regular season is in the final phase where it is only the top four teams. We have very high expectations for the rest of the season. With the team that we have, we should win the championship. The only potential problem is ourselves. We have so many good players that people occasionally want to be the 'main player' to get everything done. Then things start to fall apart. I hope we can keep it together these last few weeks! We have everything to succeed!

Going back to tonight's game, Reggie played great. He had 24 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists tonight. He started the game with 17 points in the first quarter then didn't see the ball for a while. All in all, he is playing great and I couldn't be more proud!

After the game we went to dinner at our usual restaurant, Veneza. We usually have a beef dish but tonight we tried something different. We had" Acorda de Bacalhou" (spelling?), Assortment of Codfish. It was completely different than I had expected when it came out of the kitchen. I was expecting to see a fish on a plate, or something along those lines. Instead a single serving bowl came out... It was almost a soup. I was not very fond of it, haha! Don't get me wrong, it tasted great, but the texture was a little funky. It was in between a soup and a paste... In my opinion it either needed to be a little more liquidy, or a little more solid. Reggie didn't have a problem with it! He used to eat a similar dish, but with shrimp, in Portugal. Good thing we ordered rice and beans on the side for me though! I don't know if we will be having that dish again, but it was worth the experience.

The game and dinner were pretty much our outings for the day. I am unsure of our plans this upcoming week, outside of practices and games, but I am going to try to back track and create a picture of our life here for those of you who are just joining the blog. I am also going to add pictures and plenty of stories. We are going to the airport to pickup our lost bag tomorrow morning, then we are heading to the beach. There will be stories to come of that adventure, I'm sure!

Thank you so much for following my blog!

Until next time, beijos!

I found my motivation!

People always ask if I have a blog to record our memories and experiences while overseas, of course I had a blog but I was never consistent in writing. I have since found my motivation. I was searching American Idol Gives back in Angola because I was told that they did a segment in the city where Reggie and I live. While I was searching, I found a family who is from Houston, Texas who moved to Luanda, Angola three years ago. They have a blog that documented all of their experiences since their move. Granted and family of five with children who go to school daily, they have different experiences than Reggie and I do. But that was my motivation to create a blog and stay with it. We have so many wonderful experiences here that I want to share with everyone. I also don't want to forget any of our memories! So this is my new project. I am going to write as frequently as it is worth reading. I access this blog website more than my previous so I will remember to write more frequently! Coming across this family's blog has inspired me to share the small things that we take for granted in the States. I look forward to blogging more!