I have a home in Africa, my own little piece of heaven...

It has been months since I last wrote an entry and so much has happened. Most significant, which some of you may or may not know, is a contract extension with UNICEF in Angola!

Hotel Marina was my refuge for three months and the day I left I attended a funeral without leaving my room; the Church across the street filled up early in the morning with hundreds of mourners dressed in black rather than the jovial crowds that usually sang their way into my room each Sunday. Was it a sign that my welcome there had expired or just a perfect pathetic fallacy.

So where have I been sleeping the past month you must be asking and all I can say is: in heaven. On the Marginal, officially named 4 de Fevereiro, the palm tree lined strip that runs along the water I now use as my home address, well at #52 that is, on the 6th floor, (physically the 8th floor if we are counting the number of flights of stairs you have to scale when the elevator is not working). The angels must be watching me because the apartment is amazing. I was simply in the right time at the right place when a colleague mentioned they were moving. Now I really have a home in Africa with a large high ceiling living room, raised dining room (mini-second floor), large bathroom, bedroom and kitchen where I have the absolute joy of creating delicious, scrumptious specialties...oh home cooked food beats restaurant grub any day!

Last week I had the fortune of traveling to South Africa for work. Although the professional networking was good the real jewel of the trip was the home decor shopping spree that I indulged in! WOW! SA is cheap...not just in relation to Angola which would be any country in the world, but significantly more affordable that Canada - or maybe I am totally out of the loop and was just on cloud nine choosing candles, pillows, tapestries and other delight-able details to decorate my palace.

What was not that enjoyable was the cold. Who ever thought that a place in AFRICA would have snow? Luckily I stayed in Pretoria, a suburb of Johannesburg where only the frost reached us. Nevertheless it was bitterly cold, a shock to my system after a mild winter season in tropical Angola where days can still be sunny and easily reach 25 degrees (Celsius that is for any Americans reading this). The highlight of the trip was watching the sun set on Sunday from a 4-seat er plane. My cousin Andras took up flying as a hobby years ago in Kenya and after lunch at the airfield he took us up for a spin!

It has been so long since I last wrote that I do not remember what I have and have not shared.  I don't think I talked about my sailing day with Luis, Takaho and the angels at the Luanda Boat Club. Every weekend a group of boys. one as young as 5, is sponsored by a local Church and a few caring foreigners to learn how to sail. These boys were recruited off the streets in the hopes of saving them from so not so nice situations in which they found themselves, whether it was drugs, violence or alcohol and of course poverty. At the boat club they are kings; they learn to sail, eat hearty meals, participate in team building and leadership exercises, receive tutoring for their school studies and get to escape for two days into a world that would never be accessible to them if not for the generosity and humility of the priest and people like my friend Luis, On that memorable Sunday we took out a Catamaran onto the bay. Our captains mate, Nuno, quickly became my little sweetheart. His big black eyes, tough little man demeanor and loud boasting to his friends that he was coming on our boat could not hide the innocent little angel who peeked out in moments when his guard was down. Nuno told me he was 9 years old but I never would have thought he was more than 6 looking at this tiny little body. That day there was a Regatta and the Bay was full of aspiring little sailors zipping around in what apparently was an organized race which we mistakenly sailed though more than once. From my new home I look out over that same bay and whenever I see the water dotted with sails I remember my sweet little angel who took good care to make sure owe did not topple over and gave me stern instructions on how to steer the boat!

Not having my own vehicle has been difficult in terms of getting on with things in Luanda. Whenever possible I have hitched a ride with friends to buy groceries or visit a new place. In the hotel I made two friends, Diogo and Rui, who ironically work for a company that is managed by my friend Alvaro...such a small world. Diogo was kind enough to take me to a place called Caicacuo where in the middle of no where, on top of a hill, is a huge Portuguese furniture store. Who would have thought that in such a place, far removed from the city, I would find beautiful furniture and decor bits...but the prices - AHHHH! Angola is ridiculously expensive.

Oh I had my first night out in Luanda just last Friday! At a bar/club on the water called Bay In, I danced until 2:30am with a view of the sparkling city and glittering bay! The music was just ok but the ambiance and my great friends made up for it. Actually just last night I had my second night out in Luanda. Dinner at Chill Out, a great ocean side restaurant with great House music and delicious fish carpaccio! The waves were so high last night that one jumped over the railing into the restaurant washing up two tables and flooding the floor around us...it was like being in a movie but no one seemed to mind and went back to their seats as the waiters mopped the puddles around them. I didn't know if the waves would reach us again and wash us up entirely but no one seemed to care. The music never stopped when the lights went out and people just kept dancing so I too decided not to worry about it.

Going to South Africa made me realize just how comfortable I am in Angola. Life is simple here and there is a lot to enjoy, this comment coming from someone who has never left the province of Luanda! I have been told that Lobita and Lubango are the most beautiful places in the country so when Jill comes from Canada to visit me (11 days and counting!) we will take a road trip. Oh something I noticed is that things like the presence of land mines, having my own security guard, the flooding in the streets and power cuts for example, don't faze me anymore...when I mentioned to a colleague that I want to drive to Lubango they reminded me to check with our Security team about which roads are blocked because of land mines...ok. Only when I talk to friends back home do I think...wow, this just wouldn't happen in Toronto or Shanghai (well the flooding in Shanghai during the Plum Rains yes).

My friend Charles has told me that I do not talk enough about my interaction with Angolans in these emails...but I am not sure what to say. Ines is a young mother of three who keeps my house tidy and clothes clean...we chat every day and she helps me with my Portuguese, which really needs formal classes. Honestly I do not find much difference between her and Irma who worked for me in Panama. She is eager to work, needs careful explanation, is inquisitive about me and my life, jovial, wears sexy outfits and cannot wait for me to get a TV connection so she can watch Brazilian soap operas all afternoon.

After seeing a snippet of the widely popular Brazilian soap operas it is no wonder that Angola has one of the highest fertility rates in the world: MADONNA! Talk about steamy action in the middle of day - my goodness! What happened to Parental Guidance and the Family Channel?

Work is busy and challenging. Unfortunately I am not spending as much time on Private Sector as I would like however I have been assigned to a special Malaria Task Force with 5 other colleagues for the next month. Our main job is to ensure that half a million insecticide malaria nets are distributed across all 18 provinces to the health centers...not an easy task considering the acute time line and logistical challenges that grace this country. Angola is receiving a lot of attention and money from donors around the world...sadly it has the second highest infant mortality rate in the world and malnutrition here is comparable to southern Sudan and Afghanistan.

Despite my environment I am still amazed by the contrasts here. Construction is everywhere, investments are pouring in and BP and Sonangol are soon to open their new shiny glass office towers that sport helicopter pads on their rooftops! And then the slums, the poverty, the alarming statistics...I am grateful to be here at this time of change and I look forward to seeing Angola evolve over the next few years.

Oh for any of you NBA fans...do you know the Spanish player Pau Gasol who I think plays for Memphis now? Well he is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and is coming to Angola next week...talk about celebrity high maintenance!  

Angola is really coming out of its shell in a big way, with only five years of peace on its record since the civil war ended in 2002...actually quite amazingly. The country is hosting Afrobasket, the regional basketball championship, next month, then the Women's World Handball Tournament, followed by the World Summit of Diamonds in 2008 and the African Soccer Cup of Nations in 2010 to precede the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Many people are incredible dedicated to seeing Angola achieve great things. Like my friend Alvaro who has the most hectic schedule I have ever seen between his venture here and back in Portugal. Really it is nice to meet someone so passionate about their country and seeing it unfurl to its fullest potential.

Well my Sunday has started nicely, with two cups of Earl Grey tea, a view of a ship in the Bay waiting to dock at the port and the melodic tunes of my latest favorite African singer AYO..check her out!