Under Water

There was a line of 6 taxis, all with "Jesus" on them.

Yesterday was a pretty good day.  JoAnn and I left the compound early in the morning to go fabric shopping in the city.  It took about 2 hours to drive the 15 miles or so into town, which is about what we expected.  On the way, we played our favorite game in Luanda, "What crazy stuff can you spot on the street?"  This game is very entertaining, and there's really only one rule - don't point!  With your car surrounded at all times by people attempting to sell their wares to passengers in cars, pointing at someone means they will assume you want what they are selling - and they will chase your car and knock on the windows to sell it to you.  As always, I'm too chicken to take pictures while we're driving, so JoAnn 'No Fear' Jones handles the photography.

Brooms - not heavy but tricky to balance!

Tupperware

         There  should  be  a  TV  program  showcasing  Angolans' talent for balancing outrageous loads on their heads.  I could nominate a few impressive people.

Fabric shopping was fairly uneventful, but the real excitement started after Adam got home from work. He went upstairs to change his clothes, and yelled out, "We have a problem!" Water was pouring out of the ceiling in our master bedroom, covering the entire floor. Apparently the water heater that was replaced earlier in the week was either A) not installed correctly, or B) the second water heater in less than 2 weeks has broken. Either way, not really a fun way to start the evening. We called the maintenance supervisor, and got a recording that the number no longer exists. We called the help desk, and got no answer. We called the condominium emergency line, and were told, "No fala ingles." So....just a typical experience here! Repair guys finally showed up at 8pm, when the kids were going to bed. They managed to mop up the water in the attic, and disconnect the leaking water heater. When Adam asked if they'd be back to fix it today, they said, "Maybe." In case you don't speak Angolan, let me translate for you - that means "No way it's getting fixed tomorrow!" So now we have no hot water, but hey, there's a pool in the compound, so we'll get clean one way or another.

I'm always being reminded how fortunate we are.