Luanda, Week 1

We have arrived, safe and sound! We've had some exhausting days at the embassy, meeting various officers (including a Federal Agent for a security briefing) and learning about my role and relationship, as the EL Fellow, with PAS (the Public Affairs Section). We get picked up and driven everywhere we go. In some ways, looking out the car window is the only way to see the city, unless you run in the expat HASH, which of course we did. Dining on the beach and swimming at night in the Atlantic was the perfect finish to our first weekend here.

The amount of Chinese construction is shocking! Driving along some streets, you might as well think you're in China. At any time of day, when I look out one of the windows of our hotel, I can see at least 5 cranes building skyscrapers.

This is a city of the world's richest and the world's poorest. Out one window of the hotel room, there's a shanty town (musseque) typical of the city.

But out the other window, there are beautiful sandy beaches for the elite, hotels with rooms that cost a minimum of 450 per night, and the infamous De Beers company.

 At my family beach - wearing down coats for the last time in a year!

Bom dia! We are leaving today for Cabinda, Angola. I've been awarded a US Department of State English Language Fellowship, and I have been assigned to Cabinda, "The Alaska of Angola." For the next year, I will be teaching linguistics and didactics in the English Department (EFL) at the Universidade 11 de Novembro, working on curriculum, and doing teacher training workshops throughout the country. I'm lucky to have my main squeeze by my side ;) Thanks for joining me Peter! I'll keep you posted about my life at the university and life in Angola. Love you all :)

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