Sapateiro (Portuguese)...Zapatero (Spanish)...Soyo's Shoe Station (English)??

What a better way to begin this blog than by posting a picture of the shoe shopping possibilities in Soyo....enjoy! :-) For those of you that don't live in Mobile, the title reference to Shoe Station is to a favorite shoe store with endless shoe types, sizes and colors. Seriously, I'll be sharing more meaningful pictures soon. I just thought I would begin with a bit of humor.

Sapateiro (shoe maker) and a car wash next door (pink bottles on the left)

Next Saturday we will have been here in our new Soyo home for 2 weeks. So far, we have had the pleasure of meeting some very nice and welcoming expats and Angolan nationals. The expat community consists of folks from all over the world. My Portuguese is improving (not hard to do when it was not very good to start). OK, so maybe I'd better ask the Angolans I have encountered for an objective opinion. Regardless, I'm getting things done despite the fact that I sometimes use Spanish, Portuguese, English words and I have even dusted off my high school French words (yes, plenty of cobwebs there!). To those of you who were my high school classmates at El Liceo Ponceño de niñas: "Wouldn't Ms. Armstrong be proud??" It turns out that some nationals have spent some time in the Democratic Republic of Congo and are more comfortable speaking French.

Accomplishments this week include:

1) A visit to the Catholic mission school to assist first graders with an arts and crafts project. It was truly a very heart warming experience for me. These children were eager to use the crayons and scissors provided in order to complete their fishbowl projects, despite the fact that many of them had limited experience with either of these. As each approached the end of their fishbowl creation, you could see their sense of accomplishment (and and for some, relief!) on their little faces. Believe me, with their smiles and their can-do attitude, they taught me something more valuable than I could ever teach them! I am looking forward to these weekly school visits.

Beautiful road to the mission school

Fishbowl project is complete

2) Education about our surroundings. I completed a security briefing class. It was interesting and chilling to find out that unexploded ordinance (different and more dangerous than landmines) abound in the area...that knowledge alone keeps expats very appreciative of our wonderful drivers that keep us "on" the beaten path. I was also briefed on the snake species that tend to visit the neighborhood (spitting cobras, puff adder, green mamba, black mamba....need I go on?) The health topic included importance of not skipping your malaria medication, not ignoring flu like symptoms no matter how mild and cleaning all fresh vegetables and fruits (OK, so they are scarce...but when you do find them) with a disinfectant before eating or cooking with them.

3) Multiple attempts to become Ms. Susie Homemaker 2012. I successfully made homemade yogurt with the yogurt maker that I purchased from New Zealand before I left the states. It's the little things that are going to make a difference to us during our stay here....and you would have thought that I had discovered penicillin when I opened the yogurt container and found the delicious plain yogurt. How exciting! Then there was the chicken that I marinated and attempted to bake in the small kitchen oven...I had to put the chicken on its side (I was attempting the beer can recipe chicken)...then it took me about 45 minutes to figure out that besides turning the power and temperature knobs on, it was the timer that would actually start the oven once it was set to an appropriate time...who knew??? Of course, if I had not stubbornly decided that I had to figure it out myself, I could have probably called one of my expat friends to learn the secret...but that would have been too easy and not quite as satisfying. :-) Nothing like surprising your husband with a wonderful home cooked meal...especially when it took you all afternoon. The good news is that he was just as thrilled as I was (or at least he seemed to be)...nice guy I married, huh?

 

Tomorrow I'm supposed to go on a shopping trip with one of my new expat friends. She has graciously offered to take me to different markets and introduce me to the best ones according to the items desired. I'm still looking for a mop...but have been unsuccessful in finding one. I have one for the house, but I have been advised by our wonderful cleaning lady that she will need one for all of the outside perimeter, as many critters abound outside and we don't want the "inside" mop to get contaminated. I'll also focus on getting food for the following week's menu. It is hard to explain how much advance planning must be done just to get one meal to the table. However, hopefully after a short time here, I should be able to whip up any kind of meal anywhere, anytime. :-) Yeah, that's me talking....Ms.Career Focus herself (prior to mid2011)....God has a sense of humor!  And He's working on mine too!  :-) Seriously, it is hard to complain when everyone here is so nice and you see that poverty abounds and yet people are so appreciative and happy!  What an important lesson in life.

I see God's work everywhere I go and with everyone I meet here...one more confirmation that He wanted me to come here to experience this way of living and to make a difference somehow...I will continue to "listen" for my cues on "how".

Most mothers carry their babies in a back carrier matching their attire...quite colorful!

OK, so if you haven't already quit reading by now because my first blog post is getting too long...I'll say goodbye (adeus or tchau in Portuguese) and hope that you will find this blog worthwhile in the weeks and months to come.