Powerlessness Continued.....

So we are into our third day with the power issues…..but we now have information on the planned times for power and who will not have any at that time so that we can plan.  This is actually much better.  The situation has not really changed but the information is clearer and what the problems are and plans for repair are open for all of us to try to understand.  Clearly the men from the plant, from the housing area and whoever else is helping are working late into the nights trying to make a fix.  When the software arrives it should help with diagnosing the real issues and allow for a quicker and better repair, I think.

So what do you do when you are ‘powerless’……..Yesterday, we wives had several times of joining together in homes that had power at that moment …..but when the power goes….we all move either to another home or to ours to do things there. ….and, of course, hope that when we walk in there will be power at our home…didn’t happen but kept hope alive.  Then I cleaned the spices and organized them…..and cleaned the house…..and then sat down and played a game on the IPad…..till Bryan came and took me out to dinner with Andy.  When we came home, we were to have power from 5pm to early this morning….but it didn’t come on till 6:30pm……off at 10pm….and came on some time during the night.  Off again at 6am but the freezer was hard frozen and the fridge wasn’t alarming anymore….so all good.  Today I’m hearing of the families that had no power last night and my heart goes out…..I can face this with sleep…..in a cool room.   Many of the families that knew they would have no power went to the hotel to rest.

So this morning as I’m trying to figure what to do without power, I saw our gardener outside and I went to talk to him.  He told me how sorry he was we had no power…..and he doesn’t live in this housing development but in the community where power is off so much of the time so I said….thank you for your concern….but, this is normal for you, right?  He laughed….and then took out his camera and showed me the outside and inside of his home…..water to his upper ankles……all his clothing and books wet…and the mosquitos….”Ah”…he said….and had bites all over his arms.  Apparently they built a housing development behind his home and the water can no longer drain with the rains so just sits like a lake that includes his house.  One of the cleaning girls said her wall fell down on the front of her house due to the water….and I’m sure the quality of the bricks…..Alexandre is going to the government to ask for a pump to pump the water out of his home and the homes of his family that all live together in that little area that is now a lake…..so…..

How awful is my situation????  Putting it in perspective….. minuscule…..and so I post this too….knowing that it shows growth in my awareness, I hope….at least a greater awareness of how the people here are suffering all the time….not just for a few days.  And, I remember the years I first went overseas…..granted I was 23….but air conditioning wasn’t an option….my second place had a kerosene refrigerator…..because the power was so unreliable….and it kept food cool…..not cold….and we had lots of food available all the time……but did I ever complain?  No….it was the life I had chosen to live….just as this is the place  Bryan and I believe God has chosen for us to live and work….

Snake alert!!

We received this snake alert today and I wanted to share it along with the photos.  I find this so interesting and hope you do too.

I would like to share an interesting snake capture we had recently. On Sunday night at 22h30 I received a call from the Angola LNG control room reporting the sighting of a large snake at the security observation post located at the north eastern corner of the  camp along the drainage ditch. The snake, an African Python (Python sebae) managed to get  amongst some large rocks as seen in the photograph. This resulted in an hour long battle to get the snake out. I would like to thank the night shift guys as well as Angola LNG and Bechtel Teleservice security team for their assistance. With out there help I would never have been able to get to the snake.

It was great to be able capture and relocate a large specimen like this as large African Pythons are becoming rarer and rarer due to habitat destruction and indiscriminate hunting. This particular specimen was a female and measured 3.6m in length and weighed 21kg. She will be relocated to an area with suitable habitat far from human habitation. These pythons are Africa’s largest snake species and can reach lengths of up to 6m.

Unfortunately they are not the most friendly snakes and do bite readily. They are non-venomous and kill their prey through constriction. Their bodies are pretty much one long muscle which they use to literally squeeze the life out of their prey.  They have about 80 needle sharp re-curved teeth in their mouth. The best way I can describe a bite from a large python is like having 80 fish hooks embedded in your flesh with 20kg of solid muscle pulling from one end. To take a hit from a large python will definitely ruin your day!

The good news is like all snakes they are shy and retiring animals, avoiding contact with humans as much as possible. They prey mostly on appropriately sized mammals such as rodents, monkeys and antelope. They will also readily take birds and are well known for making a dent in local chicken populations! There are a few recorded attacks on humans however this is an extremely rare event. We are basically just too big to eat. They are mainly nocturnal using their heat sensing pits located just below and behind the nostril to detect their warm blooded prey in complete darkness.

Please report snake sightings and other wildlife related issues to the Wildlife Advisors.  

Python skull showing dentition.

regards

Tim Baynham

Wildlife Advisor

We do live in a very interesting and wild place.  I have never seen a snake in the wild and hope not to but am cautious when I go out at night for any reason.  There are not many places like this left on the earth, I believe so it is an adventure to live here.....even with the power problems.....

Powerless in Soyo

As I make the postings on my blog, I am very aware….as my son Justin says…..once anything is out in the internet….you can never get it back….and so I do my best to make all entries honest and yet positive……and I’m sure by the end of this one, there were be enough opportunities to make this at least with some humor…..

Since November we have been having difficulty with our power supply.  Don’t know what the cause is but there have been power outages for several hours at a time…..and without warning…and most of the time this also means there is no water…..so a double whammy……but it always comes back on and we move forward. 

Yesterday, however, suddenly around noon the power went off and remained off for several hours, came back on….for about 5 minutes and then off again for several hours.  After 3 hours of no power and water, I called one of the other wives here, Ana, just to make sure she was having the same issues and it wasn’t just something on our street…..but all of Kimbumba was out of power and water.  I had to stop the quilting I was trying to finish as gifts….and since with no power there is also no air conditioning…..of course…..and no phone and no internet…..this did allow me to read for a while and do other things….and I had Praise music on my IPad to keep me encouraged.

Throughout the afternoon the power came back on for a minute or less several times and I took the opportunity to flush the toilets and get a big pan of water to wash hands…… I finally turned off the praise music with the songs about taking difficulties and trials and turning them into something wonderful as this was not working for me at that time……. It’s one thing to sing about it but another to live with the continuation of it for hours…..and I know that I sound like a baby…..but being honest….

Finally, Bryan arrived home at 7pm, he was so surprised….”We have no power?” he asked and I tried to be cheerful as the power had been off nearly 7 hours by then….had candles in the living room and bathrooms….which had great ambiance….but since these are decorative candles and so don’t really put out much light…..and the house does not have screens so we couldn’t open the windows for a cross breeze….but then it is the hot season now and so was still hotter outside than in……so we pulled out the two mini flash lights and after we talked for a bit and had something to drink, I tried to go and make some dinner…..but you don’t want to open the freezer or fridge much because we must not lose our food…..since it is the rainy season and the stores are beginning to have empty shelves again…..and I had a roast out for the crock pot….but no power means no crock pot…..so I pulled out hamburgers and cooked them on the stove with a mini flashlight literally in my teeth to be able to see what I was doing……and it worked…..and after we ate….with no water, we were unable to wash the dishes…so just rinsed them lightly with the water I had put aside for washing hands….and headed to bed…..but without air conditioning, it took a longer to fall asleep in the heat….

Sometime during the night the power did come on to our home and we were able to sleep more comfortably until 5 when I get up to fix breakfast for Bryan before he goes to work.  I had ants all over the stove….but now had water so could clean and things were looking up…..I got ready for my day after Bryan left and began to sew again when at 8 o’clock the power went off again and we start another day of wondering if there will be any power throughout the day.

I called Ana to see if she had power and she did not.  I then walked over to see Cindy who had just returned from the USA and she did have power.  We chatted for a while….she had no power all night and it just came on at 8 in the morning.  So when she had returned from the flight yesterday until this morning…no power, no water…..you get it…..  We then walked across the street to another house where there is a new couple, Nate and Alma.  Alma was there….no power since it went off yesterday and still none until 10 AM while we were there visiting.  The water was back on this morning and that was great!!!

I heard from Bryan….as he has internet at the plant….and apparently there is some problem…..someone else said a software problem…and so they can only use two of the generators which is not sufficient for all the power needs in our housing area, Kimbumba, so the plan is to rotate around the houses to keep the freezers cold…..2 hours at a time for the homes.  I’m now at 10 ½ hours without power….hmmmm….. we will see how this rotation plan works.

It was interesting that two of the ladies said someone came to their door around 8:30 last night and asked if they wanted to move to the hotel…..no one came to Alma, Debbie’s or my home. 

Cindy, such a smartie, said that she had moved in the garden solar lamps….great idea….dusted the dirt off and put them in the house for light….they last about 12 hours…..smart lady…..we will do that tonight if the power is still off.

Now of course, the rumors begin…..we have heard that there are three groups working on the problem and specific technical people are coming to help with the issues…..but the rumor is that they are coming by road…..remember the rains????  The road is not really passable…..so I think this rumor is wrong…..or hope it is.

So I’m thinking…..I have this roast sitting for two days in the refrigerator and am wondering not only if it will last…..but how to cook it?  Most of the local meat we get at “the brown store”….seriously that’s what we call it…..is usually tough and I’d check on line to see how to brine it…or if you can brine beef to make it softer…we do that with local chicken and pork but this is a large roast and so I don’t know what will happen if I leave it in salt water for some time and I don’t want to heat up the fridge with the placement of water and so I don’t know what I can do with this meat…..but…can’t check because with no power, the internet is down …..so….

We wives have decided that if the power is still off at 4pm…we are going to make this the time to tell our husbands we are going out for dinner tonight….nothing fancy…after all, this is Soyo….but at least no cooking by feel and flashlight.

The sewing????  Just have to let it go till I can resume…..and today I have put on the praise music again.

It can happen anywhere

I have been thinking about a situation that occurred here during the holidays and wondering if I should blog about it....and then I thought that since all countries have similar issues and Bryan and I had a similar situation in the USA several years ago.....it is ok to write about and does give another facet of life here........

While we were living in Azusa, California, I came home from work one day and there were two policemen outside our apartment with their guns in their hands.  I was startled and said...."I live here" pointing to the door right in front of them.  They told me to go inside and stay there.  They would not talk to me about what the problem was that brought them there and so I went inside and Bryan was home.  There was no shooting....but some running outside and we stayed inside until the police said they were leaving......

So, several years later and now in Soyo......Bryan was up checking the time for football games to be on the TV......the games are played during the afternoons in the USA which is the early morning here.  All of a sudden he heard a commotion outside our home.  He looked out the window and saw two trucks in the street.  One had workers in it and the other had armed military men and then went into the home across the street from us and took 4 people out of the house and put them in the truck.  Then both trucks drove away.  This all happened quickly and efficiently.

The next day there was no movement in the house across from us.  The doors and shutters were closed.  The second day there was a door at the side of the house open in the evening but then closed again and no one visible.  Four days after the incident the front door was open again and the large number of people that have lived there off and on for the past 2 years were back....children and all.

We have no idea what occurred that brought the military.  We are living on a tributary of the Congo River and there are many people from Congo who come to Soyo for business.....they bring most of the fresh vegetables....and there are times when they are all sent back to Congo for some time.  Don't know if this was one of those sweeps or not.  But what I do know is that this type of incident can occur anywhere and without frequent recurrences that would raise anxiety and therefore makes for a good story to share......

Christmas in Soyo.....once again....

We returned from our daughter's wedding on December 3rd and began to prepare for Christmas.  One of the couples here, Kris and Craig, had brought a Christmas Tree from the USA and were planning to move to their next location before the end of the year.  Therefore, they were willing to let me have the tree for our home......but I must say, I felt terrible to take it because they have been delayed here in Soyo for business reasons....and I offered them to keep the tree one more year and we would put it up next year.....altho we are planning to be in the USA with our kids and grand children at Christmas 2013.....

Anyway, Kris insisted that we take the tree and enjoy it......  We had brought some unbreakable ornaments back with us and put them on the tree.  I had been warned that the tree....being from the USA...was pre lit and 110 volts......so I carefully looked at the surge protector that I believed was hooked up to a small transformer...and I plugged in the tree with great relish......and watched as each strand of lights....the really cute pine cone ones.....stopped working.......   Now nothing smelled burned so that was a good thing and Bryan has said that he thinks there are fuses for the strands of lights so when we take the tree down tomorrow....we will see if we can find the fuse and bring some back for next Christmas.....  We did have a strand of multi colored lights that I bought in Indonesia last year and we put that on the tree....and had the driver go find any similar lights here.....and they are all from China so also in Africa.....We put on the new Christmas colored lights....new for us....blue, green, red and light orange......and these lights have a box that allows 8 different ways for the lights to be shown from always on to manic flashers......and we set the lights to be always on and they remain so for a short time and then move to the rotation of different modes......but it is a tree and it does make the house look much more Christmas like and with the air conditioner on.....it feels like Christmas to me......

On December 23rd I had the opportunity to speak in our little church and we ended the service with candle lighting and singing Silent Night together....a custom from our church in the USA.  We had the hotel where we meet give permission to light the candles because we didn't want the smoke alarm to go off and the entire hotel to be evacuated.  When the manager came in the check, he said not to worry that this smoke alarm was not active.......good for the candle lighting.......but........

At the end of the service, a couple came to say they were with an oil support group here and were from Cameroon.  It was really nice to have this new couple and their baby and such a surprise to find they had heard about the church meeting at the hotel from this blog and so had come to attend!!!  It has motivated me to write more regularly......who knows what other friends we will make here in Soyo from this........

We had the 2nd annual Kimbumba (our housing development) Progressive Christmas Dinner......on Christmas Eve.




Again we started with appetizers at our home.....and had food from India, Indonesia, Thailand, and the USA with the exciting dish being a relish tray of carrots, cucumber and real celery and dips from the USA.

Craig, Sukardi, Mo, Filomena

Gene and the tree.....

Tari

Debbie, Kris and Tari

MaryAnne, Rajesh, Mike

Greg and Pat

David

Next we moved to Pat and Mo's for a fabulous mushroom soup......and were able to enjoy it outside because altho it is the hot season, it had cooled down by the time we went to their home.

Rajesh

Gene

Mike, Kris, David and Debbie

Filomena, Mo, Craig, me, Tari and Hadi

Our new residents..... Nathaniel and Alma 

Singing a song about Soyo

Dinner and dessert were delicious and again and international flavor.....

After we were finished, David gave us a wonderful treat of singing his published Christmas song "Pennies Come From Heaven" and several other ones that made the evening absolutely perfect!!!

Bryan, Mike, Debbie, Gene

David

Before we left, we had one last time to take pictures of those who had been the first residents here.....except that Richard and Eileen had already left....  As each of these leave, we will miss them and what they brought to this small community on the Congo river in Soyo.  No matter where they go next....this is a place they will never ever forget!!!!

After such a delightful evening and such a time of celebration together.... we came home around midnight....cleaned up and wished each other a Merry Christmas before going to bed.

On Christmas day we had the privilege of inviting the Eduardo, our pastor, his wife, Sarah, and son, Bez, along with Tari, Hadi and Sukardi from Indonesia and two of the rotators, Kevin, from Trinidad,  and Lancaster, from India to our home for Christmas dinner.  I must say that I was unable to make a pumpkin pie.....our tradition...because I don't know how to make a pie crust.....too bad I can't just go buy one, right?

Altho we missed our children and grand children so much.....the friends here in Soyo helped to make Christmas easier.....but let's remember that Christmas is about Jesus being born on the earth as our Savior and we can celebrate that anywhere with thanksgiving.....

Farewell to MaryAnne and Mike

We had another family leaving this past month.  MaryAnne and Mike had been here for nearly 4 years and it was time for them to move.....  Kris and Craig hosted a 'happy hour' at their home to say goodbye......Once again it was a delightful time together.......here are some photos of the evening.

MaryAnne and Mike

Mike, Bryan, Rajesh, Pat, Hadi, Craig, David

It is funny that we seem to gravitate into the men group.

Kris, Mo, Anna, Debby, Tari, Margaret, MaryAnne

....and the women's group

Rajesh brought his new camera and I'm sure took many good pictures.....

Even tho we meet weekly for Majhong.....we still have lots of things to talk about on special evenings......

Tari has impressed all of us....she came to Soyo less than one year ago speaking only a little English and now can converse very well.  She has also 'studied' Majhong and wins frequently.  She will miss MaryAnne so much because MaryAnne was her English teacher.

Debby, Craig and Alma

Mo, me, Kris

Alma is the newest resident to the community.  She and her husband, Nate, arrived 3 weeks ago and already have gone thru a farewell......  It is great tho that when someone is leaving, there are new people that come to join us here.

Hadi and Mike enjoyed sharing time together during this evening.  I know that Hadi will miss Mike and the experience he has shared with all of us......he will be missed.

David, Nate, Bryan

Kris, MaryAnne, Tari, Ana, Filomena..

Mo and MaryAnne lived next to each other.....they both came here around the same time.....and are going to different countries for their next assignments.....

One of the common threads that we have seen in all the places we have lived overseas.....is that of meeting new friends and saying good by to others who leave a lasting memory in our minds.  Living overseas we miss our families in our home country and therefore the friends we make here become like extended family.  Because of the diversity of living overseas, we meet people that we would not normally have opportunity to meet in our home country......  We do hope that someday our paths will cross again with MaryAnne and Mike.

wedding......

I last wrote in October when I was leaving to go to the USA and help my daughter with her final plans for her wedding.  I must say that I'm so proud of her.  She did an incredible job planning and getting everything done so when I came I went to a wedding shower and helped with a few last minute touches.  She had it all done!  What a wonderful wedding.

Bride and Groom.....Amanda and Chris

Bryan with Amanda

Everyone looked so beautiful but none as lovely as the bride....as it should be!!!

Milo, Justin and Jeremy

Bridesmaids....including my two daughter in laws Sophie and Alyssa on the left of the Bride.

Proud grandpa with the flower girl (and granddaughter), Mikayla

We had friends come from around the world......Venezuela, Canada, and around the USA.......of course we came from Africa.  It was such a wonderful time for all of who attended.  I'm so thankful that our daughter has such a delightful husband......God is good to us and we can continue to trust Him to watch over our loved ones as we have returned to Soyo.....