Angola, Week One

Looking back to the post written one week into our time in India, I could pretty much rewrite those exact sentiments again today. It has been a smooth landing here so far, jet lag is still a thing, and our boys still ask billions of questions. 

Of course a few things are different this time around. For one, the kids are seven years older than they were when we arrived in New Delhi (Jonah and I, however, have not aged one minute). This, along with perspective gained from a heap of travel experience, has allowed them to anticipate the challenges and potential rewards of another transition, determine their own hopes for - while managing expectations about - this post. As we begin our eighth year overseas - third country, third continent - our boys continue to demonstrate resilience, curiosity, and an adventurous spirit. 

A more tangible difference from our previous moves is that this time around we had no shipment either by air or by sea. All that we were bringing along was to be packed in suitcases. So, we sorted, donated, debated, and prioritized. Working in our favor was a fully furnished apartment and only needing clothes for one (warm) season.  Jonah brought six overstuffed duffel bags and the kids and I just four. And somewhere in all that was our camping gear, one big bundle of Lego, a 128 ounce jug of Frank's Red Hot, and my cherished Descoware dutch oven. 

So, first up was an Emirates flight from New York City to Dubai (12+ hours). Below is the lineup of our baggage the night before takeoff from JFK. We had the four big duffels and one small bag to check (because it contained lots of cheese and corn tortillas), plus three backpacks and a tote full of snacks to carry on board. 

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On our second flight, the map showing our route from Dubai to Luanda (about 8 hours):

A few highlights from our first week on the ground: Settling into our apartment, unpacking all those bags, watching our boys race around barefoot with the pack of faculty kids, venturing out to nearby grocery stores to stock up the pantry, Asa's birthday (12!), and the first day of school. 

The view from our balcony: residence playground, school soccer pitch and swimming pool:

The faculty pool which so far, we have had all to ourselves. In the background is faculty housing. Our place is on the left - three bedroom units for teachers with families. The taller building contains two bedroom apartments for singles and couples:

To celebrate Asa's birthday, we checked out "the best" pizza place nearby and returned home for cake. Since there is no public transportation, Uber, or local taxi service in Luanda, the school provides a (free) shuttle service, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This got us to and from dinner and the pizza was indeed pretty good. I forgot to take pictures that night so here is one from the celebration with cousins a few days before we left the USA:

On our first Saturday, we traveled with another newbie family to Sangano Beach, about an hour and twenty minute drive to the south. The views out the window, particularly as we drove through the city's outskirts, were reminiscent of the views in India: sidewalk vendors, women carrying huge bundles on their heads, street dogs (though not as many), informal settlements called musseques with trash spilled down the hillsides behind them, dust, hardship. Luanda is relatively small, with less sprawl and a much lower population than Delhi (something like 6 million compared to 26 million) so we quickly felt away from the city, bumping along the rural highway that stretches along the coast toward Namibia.

Once at Sangano, we were rewarded with big, chilly waves and a nearly private beach to explore.

After a few hours of beach time and a picnic lunch, we hopped back in the van and made our way home. 

On Sunday we were back on the shuttle, this time headed to nearby Shop Rite, a gigantic grocery store. And while we had read that Luanda is the most expensive city in the world, we found prices to be totally within reason and the availability of products better than what we had at our previous posts.

So, after a very nice weekend and with all of us mostly over jet lag, it was time for the school year to begin!

Here is "Mr. Jonah" on his first day as a school administrator:

"Taking a breath before the first day" photo:

And on the first day of my "grown up gap year" - more on this later - I accomplished this:

All in all, a very good start to the new school year to cap of our first week in Angola. So much about our surroundings - both school community and city - remind us of what we enjoyed and found most interesting about India. And for this, the four of us are feeling positive about what this chapter in our overseas life has in store. In the meantime, thank you for following along and as always, your questions and comments are welcome and truly appreciated.