The Difficulties of Dog Sitting.......

This past week we had visitors again here in Soyo.  These are people from the consortium of companies that are partners in this project.  It was a rather large group of people from around the world....all looking at the different departments and how they are meeting their goals for start up of the plant.  Of course this meant that all of our husbands were involved in the presentations.  In the end, the group was quite pleased with where things are in the process....that is encouraging to all.

This past weekend there was another group of visitors from Chevron and we had dinner at a place we have not eaten before....the Kwanda Base Hotel.  It was delightful....  Cool weather, great food and good company....

Currently I am dog sitting and have found that you are either a dog person or not.  This dog, Luma, is a nice....local dog....and taking her for walks and feeding her twice daily is great....gets me out and walking and she is friendly.  The issues is that there are local dogs here and so I have to really watch when I take her on the street.  She wants to get to the other dogs but thankfully they are not so interested in her.  She is also at the end of her season for being in heat and when I went to the house Saturday morning to feed her, I was shocked to find another dog was in the yard with her.  This is one of her puppies from a past pregnancy and all has been done to protect her from getting pregnant again.  This dog is a male and was "with her".....when I got there.  I couldn't believe it.  He is a nice dog too but in order for him to get to her, he had to scale the 7 foot fence at his yard and then scale the 8 foot fence at hers.  But there he was.....so I waited until his owner was told by the guards that he was out......again....and came to get him.    Then in the afternoon I went back to feed her again....and she was gone!!!!  Bryan was with me and we searched to see if there was a hole in the fence she got out of or what.....nothing!!!  I was thinking, how can I tell this family that I am a failure as a dog sitter and she has disappeared....and is she hurt?  We went to the guard and asked if they had seen her.  They said, "Cobra 1" took her out.  Now Cobra 1 is the radio sign for the wildlife guys so that if you find a snake or other wildlife that needs to be relocated, you call them on the radio.  Bryan understood what they were saying but I thought they were saying that the people that live in "Casa de Cobra" took her.

Casa de Cobra is the name that has been given to one of the homes here near the river.  A very nice Danish couple live there and this house is closest to the river and is where near the river they found a 17 foot python a little over a year ago.  Cobra is not just the cobra snake but is a designation for all snakes....here.....  They find this label for their home amusing.....and they are careful at nights when they go out....

Finally the guard took us to the house where the dog was and she was back with her male puppy....but with supervision.  All I can hope is that she will not be pregnant again....  I do believe that my days as a dog sitter are over......  Just hate to tell our friends of all that has happened over the past weekend with their dog...  They will learn about it when they return on Thursday......

So life continues....the clouds form each day but still the rain is holding off.....and we are thankful.

Quilting.....and ....What is hiding outside?

Finally finished the quilt.  I think it is great!!!!  Sewing this all my machine...even the quilted finishing.... is was a great new way to make the quilt and I seems to have developed into a fun keepsake.


I have invited the ladies to come to my home on Friday mornings to work on any sort of hand craft that they might we involved in.  I do not know how many will come but it doesn't matter.  This helps me to stay on task to get my work done and allows another venue to getting together.  It is interesting that here in Soyo, if you don't make the effort, you can stay in your home and not socialize.....and for me, this is not how I have lived my life overseas.....

My friend, Doris Gregory, started the quilting group in Bangkok and taught me this skill and even though I cannot teach this to others like she did, we can learn together and I have so many of the patterns and materials and some basic knowledge to share.  This is sort of a thank you to Doris......in Soyo.....and if there are enough people who want to do charity quilts....I have those patterns and we could start that too.....we will see.....

One of the issues here in Kimbumba, our housing area, is stray dogs.  This is a problem every place we have lived because the dogs tend to run in a pack and rabies is an endemic problem.  Now is the time for the females to be in heat so we have a pack of dogs waiting for any female to come out to play......  Yesterday as I was walking home from checking the house of my neighbor who is out of town.....for water leaks and to feed her dog....the pack at the end of one street came to me and one dog either touched me with it's foot or nose on the back of my leg.....actually, it startled me.....but the guard came immediately and shooed the dogs away.  These are clean looking dogs and one had a collar on....so I think was wanting to play....but it was unsettling.  Today, no dogs in sight when I was walking.....and that is better for me anyway.....

Last evening we ran out of gas for the stove.  When a new bottle was brought to the house and the locked cabinet outside the back door was opened to change the bottle, 2 frogs and a crab came out of the cabinet.  It kind of gives you chills at what is hiding in any dark place......but at least it wasn't a snake, right?

Went to teach English to the drivers....but no one showed up today.  This happens occasionally but I still wait for about 45 minutes just in case they can come late.....We will see what happens on Friday.  Sitting in the garden of my friend's home and watching the birds come to feed on the rice we put out is relaxing and enjoyable.....

No rain to speak of yet.  A few sprinkles during the day and some rain at night but not much so there is still plenty of food in the market.  Sure do enjoy this time.....cool weather, food available, and good neighbors.....

Living in the 3rd World

Growing up in America there are certain expectations that you assume will always be available.....ample food, water, shelter, and safety.  This is not always the fact but I still hold the expectation....and this is true, I believe, of many other areas in the world.  Living here in Soyo has caused me to re evaluate the entitled expectations that I have held....and over the past 10 days, the water has been off more than it has been on, I think.  We have had one or two days when it was on the full day....but just when you think the problem has been repaired...whatever the problem is.....then you go to turn on the faucet and no water flows out.  Now I am not complaining.....just informing......  How can I complain when many times when I am in the car going through town I see the following picture.

There are many men pulling and pushing carts through the sandy soil with containers of water to sell to the local people who do not have running water in their homes.  I heard that this costs approximately $1.50/can of water but think of how much water we use daily and how we would need to change the usage if we are buying it by the plastic container.  Living in Danville, California, before we moved to Angola, we had water rationing....and this was a change in pricing if you didn't cut your usage....but I didn't know of anyone without water during that time.

So we have adapted in our home.  We keep a bucket of water by the toilet and a dish pan of water in the kitchen for washing hands and rinsing dishes until the water comes back on.

Yesterday morning Bryan had a meeting at the office and half way through his shower, the water shut off.....but he was able to get the soap off by using the bucket in the bathroom......  I must say that it is an adventure each time you shower to wonder if the water will stay on?  Will it be hot water?  Will it be clear or brown???  

We all continue to hold hope that the water issues will be resolved soon.....because the changes in water pressure has caused significant water leaks in several of the homes here....they are repaired and then reoccur when the water comes back on with high pressure then next time.  Thankfully we have not had these issues in our home.......

Friday evening was the Happy Hour at our home.  It was really a lot of fun.  Everyone brought food to share and then we had hamburgers and sausages on the grill.  About 24 people in all....and at the end our neighbor, Isabel, came by too.  We had this outside on the patio slab that Bryan had put in....and it was so nice.  One of the ladies even put on a sweater......not that cool to me but was to her.  We started with the wives at around 4:30 and people went home after 9pm.....  Next time it will be at Anne's house.

 

 The rains have started at night.  It is cool most days still.....but some days are quite hot already.  It is funny to have fall decorations in the house and we are heading into hot season here.  I do so enjoy living in Soyo.

Grilling for the staff in Soyo

This past week I have been focused on finishing one of the quilts for family.  This one is made of Tee Shirts from Whattaburger and has come out really nicely.  I used the shirts from Tarek and then fabric from Africa..... and I'll put a picture on when the last of the hand stitching is finished today.

Many of the foreign workers here are on a rotation basis.  They come for 28 days and then return home for 26 days.  Bryan did this for several years and it is tough on them.  They work 7 days a week during their time on and it is a 12 hour day except for Sunday when they work 6 hours.  The work is stressful and then the isolation adds to the stress.....so Bryan and I invited all of his rotators that are here in Angola now and had a barbecue.....with our gas grill from California.  It was great.  The men come from the Philippines, Romania, India, Canada and Trinidad.  They brought sausages from Romania, Indian sausages and snacks and wine to share.  It was a really nice afternoon.


 Bryan is so happy to have his grill here.  I think there will be more times of cook outs over the time we are here.

note the Romanian sausage in the pan

In the background you can see the garden greens.  We continue to get okra, peppers, spinach, two kinds of lettuce, and our watermelon is growing.

Later in the afternoon one of the newer couples dropped by for a visit.  They had just returned the day before from a conference in the USA.  Good to have them back.