Before I started this blog, I was warned by an experienced blogger (aka R.O.) that if I didn't write things down as they happened I would start to forget the details. Well, dear experienced veteran blogger, you were right. There were so many times that something would happen and I would thing to myself, 'when I start my blog, I'll have to write about this...' Well, much to my chagrin (hehe, what a funny expression), I have forgotten many of those instances which I meant to write about. But fear not, my faithful readers, I shall bring you intriguing stories from my adventures even if they're not so fresh in my mind and many details are hazy. So for today's story, boys and girls, I'm gonna tell you about the first time I went to a 'cha de cozinha' or 'cha de panela'. This is the Angolan equivalent to a despedida de soltera or ummm... I forgot how you say it in English... someone please leave a comment and inform us all. No, I'm not forgetting my English, I just never really used that expression in English before. Leave me alone. Anyhow, it's kinda like the Bachelorette party but more respectable and not just with the brides friends but with the moms and aunts and church sisters and all that good stuff. (Wedding Shower? Ay, quien sabe...) Anyways, I loved it. It was so much fun. It was organized by the Woman's Ministry ladies and they made a whole show out of it. What happens traditionally is that a bunch of ladies who have been married for many years are asked to give advice of all sorts (financial, communication, sexual, cooking, grooming, etc) to the soon-to-be bride. So the designated ladies lined up and gave advice to the bride one by one. Each lady was given a category for which she was responsible. All of us single ladies were constantly encouraged to listen to theVERY important advice they gave. Each lady acted as if her category was THE MOST important in a marriage, and boy, these Angolan ladies LOVE the spotlight. Many of them would give their advice interlaced with funny anecdotes, others would bust out singing, others would break into dialect at random times (all the older ladies speak one of the dialects, and most of then in Luanda speak Kimbundu). Overall it was quite entertaining. What I loved the most, though, was the music. See, the Women's Ministry has a selection of songs that they play at every Women's Ministry event. I mean EVERY event: Campouts, retreats, funerals, baby showers, wedding showers, etc. These songs are all upbeat and catchy and they have a marching rhythm, so the ladies march to all of them (they call it marching, but it's really more like dancing. They're marching with their feet while swaying and clapping and turning and adding all kinds of personality to their march, lol). And every female in the church has heard these songs countless times. So in between each lady that went up to give advice, they would blast the track and everyone would break into song and dance/march for a few seconds til the next person was ready to speak. Have I mentioned before that Africans are BORN knowing how to harmonize? Seriously, it's the most beautiful-sounding congregation ever. And add to that all the joking and laughing going on, it's just an awesome experience.
When the advice-giving part was over, it was time for the gifts. And boy, that was quite a procession. Every single person in the place brought a gift. And the closer you are to the bride, the fancier the gift that is expected. So everyone lined up to give their gift (I had been invited by default because my cousin is a friend of the bride, so I brought a plastic salad bowl as a gift) and they started blasting the music again and we all had to march/dance to the beat in a long line. It started with acquaintances from church, then friends, then closest friends, then relatives, then soon-to-be-relatives in law, then immedate family, then mothers. Yes, this bride had two 'mothers', one was biological and one raised her. It was a LOOONG process, all filled with dancing and 'ooohs' and 'aaahs' brought by each present. As each lady proceeded to get in front of the bride, she would give two kisses to the bride and two kisses to the madrinha (the matron of honor) as a congratulatory greeting and move to place the gift beside them. Man that pile grew. It went from salad bowls, pots and pans, wooden spoons, to refrigerators and washing machines. She ended up with EVERYTHING she could possibly need for home furniture. The only thing missing was sofas, lol. (Oh, for the big gifts, the ladies would just present the box, they did not haul a whole refrigerator in...)
After that part was over, it was time for food. And yes, these ladies can COOK and they love the opportunity of a grand occasion for which to cater. So we ate a whole lot, sang and danced some more, and ended up exhausted but happy from the day-long event. It was so awesome. I wish I had taken pictures, but alas, my camera is a story in and of itself...
Oh, I just HAVE to mention the best part of Angolan cooking: the cakes. Ok, seriously, I'm gonna have to research the history of Angolan cakes because they are simply delectable. I don't know why Angola is not famous for its cakes. The most ordinary housewife knows how to make some darn fancy cakes that look like something you'd see in one of those Barnes and Noble gourmet cake books! (I love looking through those! *drool*). So there was a table full of REALLY GOOOOD cakes that I just could NOT stay away from for longer than a few minutes. I kept going back for more til I was stuffed! I know, I'm gonna have to work on this temperance issue. But the point is that THEM CAKES WERE GOOOOOOD!!! And I wont even get started on the cakes at my cousin's engagement dinner. OH MY LANDS!!! Best. Cake. EVER. Yes, better than cheesecake, better than 3 leches. There, I've said it. And now that I've got you all good and salivating, I'm gonna go ahead and end this post right here :)
More to come another time. Much love to all!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Merry Christmas No More :(
For me, 'Twas always the most wonderful time of the year. I was a self-diagnosed Christmas fan. My favorite songs on the radio were on around that time (and I can probably sing along to all of them without missing a beat or a word), my favorite church services were the ones centered around Christmas, my favorite family traditions were about Christmas.
That is, until this year. This year will be my first official year no longer celebrating Christmas. For a recovering Christmas fan like me, it's my detox stage, I guess. You see, I've always heard of some Christians that don't celebrate Christmas. I've heard their reasoning and I, like a good Christmas fan, was always the first to defend the holiday and scoff at the absurdity of their argument. Until this year. I don't know what or how it happened. I just know that I can no longer stay in the mindset that excuses a pagan (which is just a nice way of saying Satanic) holiday.
I've always known that Jesus wasn't really born at Christmastime. I've always known that Christmas is nowhere in the Bible (being celebrated or established). I've always known that it was of pagan origin. But somehow, I've always been able to convince myself that things change, and that nowadays Christians celebrate it to signify the birth of Jesus and blah blah blah.
I am and SDA. As an SDA, I often wonder about many of the other Protestant denominations and their gullibility about the Sabbath. I nearly shake my head in amazement at how easily manipulated the members of those churches are to believe that somehow, something invented by man can somehow transcend something established by God. How could people be fooled so easily into thinking that Sunday is the Lord's Day as opposed to Saturday/Sabbath?
Little did I know, I was being just as foolish and gullible by celebrating Christmas.
Christmas and Sunday: Both invented by Satan to confuse God's children.
Both established by Constantinople to strike a compromise between
the Church and the Pagans.
Both blindly followed by ppl who consider themselves true followers of
God, but don't take the time to see Who/What they're honoring by c
celebrating these days.
Neither have any foundation in God's Word.
Both are excused by Christians by using lame, Biblically unfounded
arguments (Not trying to be judgmental, I'm including myself in this...)
So I have, after much reflection, decided to be no more a part of the manipulated masses and actually stand up for Biblical Truth.
Hope more ppl will join me as we await Jesus' glorious return!
Meanwhile, I'll try to figure out a way to live the rest of my earthly life avoiding the big jolly easy-to-get-pulled-into merriments. LOL.
That is, until this year. This year will be my first official year no longer celebrating Christmas. For a recovering Christmas fan like me, it's my detox stage, I guess. You see, I've always heard of some Christians that don't celebrate Christmas. I've heard their reasoning and I, like a good Christmas fan, was always the first to defend the holiday and scoff at the absurdity of their argument. Until this year. I don't know what or how it happened. I just know that I can no longer stay in the mindset that excuses a pagan (which is just a nice way of saying Satanic) holiday.
I've always known that Jesus wasn't really born at Christmastime. I've always known that Christmas is nowhere in the Bible (being celebrated or established). I've always known that it was of pagan origin. But somehow, I've always been able to convince myself that things change, and that nowadays Christians celebrate it to signify the birth of Jesus and blah blah blah.
I am and SDA. As an SDA, I often wonder about many of the other Protestant denominations and their gullibility about the Sabbath. I nearly shake my head in amazement at how easily manipulated the members of those churches are to believe that somehow, something invented by man can somehow transcend something established by God. How could people be fooled so easily into thinking that Sunday is the Lord's Day as opposed to Saturday/Sabbath?
Little did I know, I was being just as foolish and gullible by celebrating Christmas.
Christmas and Sunday: Both invented by Satan to confuse God's children.
Both established by Constantinople to strike a compromise between
the Church and the Pagans.
Both blindly followed by ppl who consider themselves true followers of
God, but don't take the time to see Who/What they're honoring by c
celebrating these days.
Neither have any foundation in God's Word.
Both are excused by Christians by using lame, Biblically unfounded
arguments (Not trying to be judgmental, I'm including myself in this...)
So I have, after much reflection, decided to be no more a part of the manipulated masses and actually stand up for Biblical Truth.
Hope more ppl will join me as we await Jesus' glorious return!
Meanwhile, I'll try to figure out a way to live the rest of my earthly life avoiding the big jolly easy-to-get-pulled-into merriments. LOL.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tales of a Transfer
So I stayed at Tia Sao's house that first week, and on Sunday night I moved accross the city to the other side, close to the port. This is how it happened: by this point I had been in Luanda for 5 days and hadn't gotten my clothes... I had bought a pair of panties in South Africa during my 24 layover, because they had checked in my carry on bag in Dallas. Apparently the laptop and the violin counted as a carry-on each :S so I found myself washing the same two pairs over and over and alternating between those two pairs all those days, lol. (Sorry if this is TMI for you sensible ones, lol). But anyhow. Finally my bags got to the airport, I showered and changed, and I happily went to visit the Tadeus Sunday evening. I took along my clothes for the next day, because it was gonna be my first day of work, and I figured I might as well spend the night there and go straight to work.
The next morning, when Tio Tadeu (Oh snaps, another shoutout!) took me to work, I realized just how close they live to the base where I work... So I asked them if I could stay for a month while I was in training before I get sent offshore. And they said sure, why not. And so I went back to Tia Sao's that same night, and lugged all my luggage (pun intended) back to the Tadeus'. And so I lived there happily ever after...
So the thing is, I work on what's called the SONILS base, which is basically a bunch of petroleum companies right next to each other in a limited access compound. and it sits right on the port... so I can watch the big ships coming and going right from my window... it's cool. Anyhow, I forgot where I was going in this paragraph... hmm. Ay quien sabe... anyways so I went to work, started working on Sept. 15. I immediately fell in love with my job. It was challenging, interesting, and it was an ongoing fountain of knowledge. I was given a textbook to study. I had to take online courses, and I got to do hands-on experiments with all the nifty tools we use to examine the well properties.
I got into a nice little routine for the next couple of weeks. I would catch a ride to work with Tio Tadeu, and then I'd catch a ride back from a guy who happens to work at my company who is also an SDA and he recognized me from my first Sabbath at church. I was learning a lot, and it was gonna be time to go offshore soon. I was SOOO looking forward to that. I was gonna have to do some helicopter evacuation training that involved being submerged in water inside the helicopter and getting out safely, because that's how we would get transported to the offshore platform. On the weekends, I would go meet a new family member and hang out with them and hear stories of days gone by.
So one beautiful day, my boss' boss calls me to his office and tells me that I'd have to get ready to go offshore the next week, so I needed to get the saftety training out of the way. And then he asked me about working 7 days a week for 4 weeks. And I told him (as I thought we had already established) that I wouldn't work on Sabbaths. Well he insisted that it was a must and that it was part of the training program, and that I signed a contract, and blah blah blah. Well, to make the long story short, I refused, and (although he had initially threatened to let me go) he said he'd see what he could do and would get back to me. Well the next couple of weeks went by, and nary a word from him. I ran out of stuff to do around the workshop, because the next part of my training was supposed to happen offshore. Finally, I get called back to the boss' boss' office. And he tells me after looking for other positions for which I would qualify within the company, he had been able to find me one within the contract writing department and gotten me an interview. So I had the interview that afternoon, and it went well... although this boss seemed stern and no-nonsense, but it was cool. So that was a Thursday. He told me he would let me know the next week. So I asked my then boss to let me have Friday off so I could deal with some stuff, since I was about to transfer departments and had nothing else to do in the first one... So I took Friday off and went to try to get my national ID, which was a long drawn out process. At about 1 p.m. one of my uncles decided to fly me to Huambo, my mom's hometown, so I could meet some more family. So I spent a wonderful weekend touring the city (which is beautiful, it's my favorite place I've visited thus far) and going to see the old college where my parents studied, which is now nothing but ruins leftover from the war :( Man I heard so many stories of their college days. So cool. I took a bunch of pictures, but at the moment they're still in my uncles camera. I know, no me apedreen! I'm trying to get them. Anyway... so I'm getting tired of typing. But in a nutshell, I missed the plane for Sunday evening so I didn't catch the plane until Monday morning (oh I forgot to mention Huambo is in a whole other state, lol) and then I got caught in traffic on the way to work... so I was super late to my first day of work in the new department, and I hadn't been able to contact my new boss so he was pretty mad. Oops.
So the tales of my new job shall continue another time :)
Good night. Boa noite. Buenas noches. (well, for ya'll it's good afternoon :D)
The next morning, when Tio Tadeu (Oh snaps, another shoutout!) took me to work, I realized just how close they live to the base where I work... So I asked them if I could stay for a month while I was in training before I get sent offshore. And they said sure, why not. And so I went back to Tia Sao's that same night, and lugged all my luggage (pun intended) back to the Tadeus'. And so I lived there happily ever after...
So the thing is, I work on what's called the SONILS base, which is basically a bunch of petroleum companies right next to each other in a limited access compound. and it sits right on the port... so I can watch the big ships coming and going right from my window... it's cool. Anyhow, I forgot where I was going in this paragraph... hmm. Ay quien sabe... anyways so I went to work, started working on Sept. 15. I immediately fell in love with my job. It was challenging, interesting, and it was an ongoing fountain of knowledge. I was given a textbook to study. I had to take online courses, and I got to do hands-on experiments with all the nifty tools we use to examine the well properties.
I got into a nice little routine for the next couple of weeks. I would catch a ride to work with Tio Tadeu, and then I'd catch a ride back from a guy who happens to work at my company who is also an SDA and he recognized me from my first Sabbath at church. I was learning a lot, and it was gonna be time to go offshore soon. I was SOOO looking forward to that. I was gonna have to do some helicopter evacuation training that involved being submerged in water inside the helicopter and getting out safely, because that's how we would get transported to the offshore platform. On the weekends, I would go meet a new family member and hang out with them and hear stories of days gone by.
So one beautiful day, my boss' boss calls me to his office and tells me that I'd have to get ready to go offshore the next week, so I needed to get the saftety training out of the way. And then he asked me about working 7 days a week for 4 weeks. And I told him (as I thought we had already established) that I wouldn't work on Sabbaths. Well he insisted that it was a must and that it was part of the training program, and that I signed a contract, and blah blah blah. Well, to make the long story short, I refused, and (although he had initially threatened to let me go) he said he'd see what he could do and would get back to me. Well the next couple of weeks went by, and nary a word from him. I ran out of stuff to do around the workshop, because the next part of my training was supposed to happen offshore. Finally, I get called back to the boss' boss' office. And he tells me after looking for other positions for which I would qualify within the company, he had been able to find me one within the contract writing department and gotten me an interview. So I had the interview that afternoon, and it went well... although this boss seemed stern and no-nonsense, but it was cool. So that was a Thursday. He told me he would let me know the next week. So I asked my then boss to let me have Friday off so I could deal with some stuff, since I was about to transfer departments and had nothing else to do in the first one... So I took Friday off and went to try to get my national ID, which was a long drawn out process. At about 1 p.m. one of my uncles decided to fly me to Huambo, my mom's hometown, so I could meet some more family. So I spent a wonderful weekend touring the city (which is beautiful, it's my favorite place I've visited thus far) and going to see the old college where my parents studied, which is now nothing but ruins leftover from the war :( Man I heard so many stories of their college days. So cool. I took a bunch of pictures, but at the moment they're still in my uncles camera. I know, no me apedreen! I'm trying to get them. Anyway... so I'm getting tired of typing. But in a nutshell, I missed the plane for Sunday evening so I didn't catch the plane until Monday morning (oh I forgot to mention Huambo is in a whole other state, lol) and then I got caught in traffic on the way to work... so I was super late to my first day of work in the new department, and I hadn't been able to contact my new boss so he was pretty mad. Oops.
So the tales of my new job shall continue another time :)
Good night. Boa noite. Buenas noches. (well, for ya'll it's good afternoon :D)
Friday, November 21, 2008
I left my heart in Texas
So I finally get to post a blog!!! Hopefully I'll be dedicated enough to write at least a couple each week... There's a lot of stuff I could write about, and have been wanting to write about. I don't even know where to start.
I guess I'll start at the beginning and work my way up to the here and now :)
I got to Angola on Sept 10 around 10 a.m. and immediately realized how ineffecient certain things are outside of the U.S. For example, baggage claim was an absolute mess, to put it kindly. Basically I stood around waiting for my bags to make it from the plane to the "Baggage claim" area for about 3 hours. No lie. And they never got there. I had to fill out a missing baggage report and wait 4 days (driving back and forth to the airport all the while) before I finally got them... Fortunately everything got here eventually. Tia Sao picked me up from the airport (shout-out! lol) and my dad's brother, who happened to work at the airport, met me there as well. It was so cool to meet him, but I chose to stay at Tia Sao's house at the time. So off we went.
The day was a blurr: Seeing Luanda for the first time, running around doing errands with Tia, observing the people and the customs. So interesting, so much to take in. If I were to describe my first impression of Luanda, I'd use two words: Chaos and Contrast. It's so chaotic! The traffic is always jammed. And I mean ALWAYS. From morning til night. I don't know what kinda rules of the road there are, but there didn't seem to be any. People do anything they want to do in order to get from point A to point B. The fact that the same one-lane road is used by 18-wheelers, cars, motorcycles, scooters, bycicles, pedestrians, and dogs does NOT help the situation. Oh, and when I say one-lane, that's just depending on who's on the road at the time. Many ppl decide to make it a two or three lane road if it so pleases them. To top it all off, everyone honks and yells at everyone, as if to blame everyone else for the chaos they so readily contribute in creating.
The contrast was also surprising. There are mansions next to huts and Beemers next to beat up old Corollas at any given main road. There are some beautifully paved roads that connect to the most dusty, pot-hole-ridden roads, all in the same neighborhood. Oh, and dust is everywhere. That's just a fact of life here. And I don't mean that light little layer of indoor dust you see on your furniture if you go two weeks without dusting it. I mean the kind that gives you a raspy throat by the end of a long day of driving around. It's crazy.
So since then, I've grown accostumed to those things that shocked me so much that first week. I don't even notice how dusty my shoes get anymore. I don't even notice when we come thisclose to getting in a car crash (it happens at least once a day, but we never actually crash. Somehow, this chaotic system works). I've also gotten used to other random sights that used to puzzle or shock me (people peeing out on the street, disabled people walking with their hands for lack of a wheelchair, little naked children playing in a puddle, emaciated dogs struggling to stay awake while prancing around, etc...)
But there were some good shocks too. For example, I live super close to the beach. So anytime I wanna go, I just grab my towel, my flip flops, and go. I love that! Also, it's summer here. It's so weird to see Christmas lights and decorations lighting up downtown while it's 106 degrees... lol. Yeah, that was the temperature today, and summer is barely starting :S
And the fruits. Oh, I could go on and on about the fruits. They have so many fruits here I had never seen before. And of course, I'm on a quest to try all of them! The ones that I've tried so far, have been absolute bliss :) The mangoes are SOOOO good! The strawberries are super sweet. And of course, juice at the grocery store comes in like 10000 flavors, all natural and organic. Made with locally-grown fruits. Yummy!
Anyway, I think that's enough for one blog... this pretty much covers my first impression of Luanda. Pictures coming soon. Thanks for reading!
I guess I'll start at the beginning and work my way up to the here and now :)
I got to Angola on Sept 10 around 10 a.m. and immediately realized how ineffecient certain things are outside of the U.S. For example, baggage claim was an absolute mess, to put it kindly. Basically I stood around waiting for my bags to make it from the plane to the "Baggage claim" area for about 3 hours. No lie. And they never got there. I had to fill out a missing baggage report and wait 4 days (driving back and forth to the airport all the while) before I finally got them... Fortunately everything got here eventually. Tia Sao picked me up from the airport (shout-out! lol) and my dad's brother, who happened to work at the airport, met me there as well. It was so cool to meet him, but I chose to stay at Tia Sao's house at the time. So off we went.
The day was a blurr: Seeing Luanda for the first time, running around doing errands with Tia, observing the people and the customs. So interesting, so much to take in. If I were to describe my first impression of Luanda, I'd use two words: Chaos and Contrast. It's so chaotic! The traffic is always jammed. And I mean ALWAYS. From morning til night. I don't know what kinda rules of the road there are, but there didn't seem to be any. People do anything they want to do in order to get from point A to point B. The fact that the same one-lane road is used by 18-wheelers, cars, motorcycles, scooters, bycicles, pedestrians, and dogs does NOT help the situation. Oh, and when I say one-lane, that's just depending on who's on the road at the time. Many ppl decide to make it a two or three lane road if it so pleases them. To top it all off, everyone honks and yells at everyone, as if to blame everyone else for the chaos they so readily contribute in creating.
The contrast was also surprising. There are mansions next to huts and Beemers next to beat up old Corollas at any given main road. There are some beautifully paved roads that connect to the most dusty, pot-hole-ridden roads, all in the same neighborhood. Oh, and dust is everywhere. That's just a fact of life here. And I don't mean that light little layer of indoor dust you see on your furniture if you go two weeks without dusting it. I mean the kind that gives you a raspy throat by the end of a long day of driving around. It's crazy.
So since then, I've grown accostumed to those things that shocked me so much that first week. I don't even notice how dusty my shoes get anymore. I don't even notice when we come thisclose to getting in a car crash (it happens at least once a day, but we never actually crash. Somehow, this chaotic system works). I've also gotten used to other random sights that used to puzzle or shock me (people peeing out on the street, disabled people walking with their hands for lack of a wheelchair, little naked children playing in a puddle, emaciated dogs struggling to stay awake while prancing around, etc...)
But there were some good shocks too. For example, I live super close to the beach. So anytime I wanna go, I just grab my towel, my flip flops, and go. I love that! Also, it's summer here. It's so weird to see Christmas lights and decorations lighting up downtown while it's 106 degrees... lol. Yeah, that was the temperature today, and summer is barely starting :S
And the fruits. Oh, I could go on and on about the fruits. They have so many fruits here I had never seen before. And of course, I'm on a quest to try all of them! The ones that I've tried so far, have been absolute bliss :) The mangoes are SOOOO good! The strawberries are super sweet. And of course, juice at the grocery store comes in like 10000 flavors, all natural and organic. Made with locally-grown fruits. Yummy!
Anyway, I think that's enough for one blog... this pretty much covers my first impression of Luanda. Pictures coming soon. Thanks for reading!
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