Finals round 7!

As unbelievable as it seems, the final exams have finally rolled around, the seventh time in my undergrad career. My first exam coincides a bit inconveniently with Marcio's arrival tomorrow morning, and so do the next three happen during the following three days that he'll be on campus with me. I see it as a new way to learn as a couple, since we never got to study for exams together. Concentration and focused minds will surely be needed around here!

I am all the more motivated when I imagine that in a week's time we will both be in Slovakia chilling with my-or what now will be "our" family and friends. Soon and very soon.

Rejoice always

Sophie, the 15-year-old daughter of my international studies teacher, passed away in late August after a year-long fight with cancer. It is yet another bitter reminder to me that the life passes way too fast for us to take it for granted. Sophie was keeping a blog where she would jot down her feelings, hopes and dreams for when she recovers, and where she also kept a list of things that she was thankful for.
It is one of the many legacies that Sophie left behind, and it inspired me as a beautiful habit to have.
Because as it says, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances." I think there is a lot of psychological wisdom in it, too. Reorienting your attitude on the things you have as opposed to those you don't, on the things that are going well instead of constantly complaining about what's not working out... An attitude of joy brings strength, healing and hope for the things yet to come. And it is also quite contagious.

So to make a little application, here is a brief list of 5 things that I am grateful for today.

1) The "fall-shadowing" of Chapel Hill. The sun, the leaves, the morning chilly air that all let you know that the fall is round the corner. Along with spring turning itself into summer, this might well be my favorite time of the year.
2) My Bible, a journal and colored pens. Sometimes I feel that with these three things I could easily survive on that deserted island. I'm a write-down-your-prayers person, and a lot of times a particular verse only hits me once I copy it into my notebook in different colors. Might be old-school (or middle-school), but it makes my time with God more personal.
3) My boo. And now I can actually say, my fiancé. I feel blessed for entering into this new season of engagement with him, learning what it means to commit myself to someone for life. He's been a great comforter as I am dealing with the loss of my dad, and an encourager throughout my counter-culture shock getting back to Carolina. The many new things that I am learning about him now make me look forward to the "new covenant" even more.
4) Classes, homework, books, honors thesis... simply put, school work. Four months of summer break really made me miss the academic drill. I feel like my brain is growing again! Now, let's wait till the finals come around... The jive might get a bit different then.
5) Rachel, my roommie. Living alone in France made me realize how refreshing it is to have someone there to check on you, grow with you, and know you as a sister. I am excited for this school year as we get to grow closer skipping though the academic and other hurdles.

Saying bye to the summer in the Old Quad- currently my favorite chill out place.

Scribbles of a senior Tarheel

A line of students queuing up to drink from the Old Well on the first day of class.

I am back in Chapel Hill, three years after I first moved into the sprawling campus. Watching the freshmen finding their way around, I remember myself as a first year, pulling out my campus map when walking to classes confused and a little overwhelmed, being reminded of those first days without a bike when a walk between lectures would take me 10-15 minutes... Good times. But I am glad to be where I am at the moment. I'm still getting used to the tag "senior" since I skipped the "junior" phase in Paris where they considered me a second year student due to their school system. I keep telling myself that change is good, and so is "aging" in the college life. Although I don't have all the nuts and bolts figured out for the time after college, I feel peace about the time after graduation. Not complacency, not apathy, but a sense that everything will fall into place. For now, I shall enjoy the feeling of being a senior, which might well be my last year being part of the US university system. Although it's true that University of Florida will become my new adoptive home for at least a year until my babes graduates.

With exciting times ahead, I am tarheeling forward, looking back to only get reminded that growth is the point ;)

Pondering what's next, Portuguese airport style.

A quick hello from the Lisboa airport!

TAP is a great airline by the way, considering the relatively cheap price (long live the European recession!). They boast in the first safety instruction video starring uniquely the passengers. The whole thing, from showing you how to buckle up to how to put on the oxygen mask is explained by random travelers they snatched into the shooting booth at the airport. Young, old, girls, boys, even a lady pregnant with twins. And since I am weird, here is the video.

So, eating my pastel de nata and sipping the cheapest Portuguese bottled water I could find in the overpriced airport lounge, I can't wait to see my family to show them the ring. Although something tells me they won't be too surprised.

IT HAPPENED! Get ready for a Mrs!

I have to admit I had a slight feeling when I was first embarking on this trip that things would shuffle around with us a little bit. And they did.

We are engaged!

A few minutes before I passed through the passport control, Márcio asked a passer-by couple to take a picture of us. And there he pulls out the little black box, kneels down, and says the long-awaited sentence with a beautiful smile on his face. At first, in the wave of hugs and excitement (that explains the blur), I forgot to say yes so he had to ask again. But I mean, it was so duh!

So I found myself leaving Luanda with a ring on my finger... It had to be the index since the ring was a bit too big, but a little adjustment at the jeweler will fix it.

Anyways! I guess that means I should soon start practicing a new signature!

Entertainment Angolan style

Voilà, some of the highlights of the past few days in Luanda.

On Sunday night we went to Njinga Mbandi theatre downtown to watch a comedy “Quanto pior melhor” (The worse the better). Márcio faithfully served as my simultaneous interpreter when I couldn't understand what was going on. The story revolved around a married couple living in one of Luanda’s slums, struggling to make ends meet as the husband squanders the little money they have on drinks. The experience was very different from watching a drama comedy in Europe or in the States. There was a lot more improvisation and spontaneity on stage- a freedom that automatically transferred itself from the actors to the audience. The spectators interacted by making loud funny comments here and there, laughing, and having small conversations among themselves all throughout the play. It created a chilled atmosphere that left me feeling more relaxed and amused than when I am usually leaving a drama theater back home. There the code of conduct is to mostly stay the quiet observer, apart from an occasional laughter or interaction at the actors' invitation. Watching Angolan drama was a welcomed refreshment to the more uptight European tradition I've grew up with.

I made a similar observation in the movie theater last night. Compared to going to watch a movie in Slovakia, the Angolans are much more free to voice their opinion there and then about whatever is happening on the screen. It was the same last year in Zambia when we went to watch Think Like a Man. While Slovaks would find it disturbing when people are talking loud during a movie, here it’s an almost obligatory behavior. I personally appreciate the African “interactive” style better. After all, we shouldn’t be passive, silent consumers of the entertainment we chose to watch.

And talking about entertainment... Who says you can't get entertained in a cab? 

This is something I've only seen in one cab so far, but I can say that the TV won't make me look for it again. Although I did get to watch an authentic Angolan freelance army movie while driving through the jammed roads of afternoon Luanda, it left me feeling super dizzy and hence unimpressed. But the times are hard for cab drivers and you gotta go out of your way to please the customer. Even if that means cramming a 35-inch into your vehicle.

Gildo's love therapy

To change the environment a little bit, I spent the weekend at our friend Rebecca’s house in downtown Luanda. She works at an orphanage called Lar Kuzola, which is a safe haven for over 200 children of all ages. Rebecca specializes on work with traumatized children, particularly babies, through what is called "the play therapy". Many of the children at Lar have mental problems, physical handicaps, or both, which unfortunately makes them much less likely to ever get adopted. Lar Kuzola therefore becomes their home until they grow up and are transferred into an adult institution. I spent a few hours on Friday and Saturday with Gildo and Assis, two boys with severe muscular tension and a mental handicap. They have most likely gone through a cerebral palsy as babies, which left them lying almost motionless on the bed. Rebecca started working with them two years ago, and through as little as being held by volunteers for a few minutes a day, being talked or sang to, they started making eye contact, smiling, stretching their crooked up legs and arms, and jolting happily when being picked up. The biggest joy for me was when I took Gildo outside to the playground. He saw the kids running around, and although he couldn’t join them because of his handicap, he started smiling and chuckling until it became a proper, laud laughter. That was what was needed to make him happy- being held and talked to while observing the life outside of his cot. I was amazed when I realized that even a few minutes of loving attention can make a difference in the lives of these children. I grew up with a mentally handicapped stepsister who has always been attended to very poorly, psychologically speaking, and she has made only little progress throughout her childhood. From this experience I learned to think that without specialized treatment from a very young age, handicapped children cannot change much later on in life. But seeing Rebecca’s testimony with the Lar Kuzola kids, I was humbled and reminded that love is the key treatment for any handicap at any age. "God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong" (1 Cor 1:27).

Luanda impressions

It's been over a week since I've arrived in Angola, so it's the highest time to check in for a small update.

If you’ve ever been away from your boyfriend/girlfriend for longer than a year, you probably understand quite exactly the heavenly feeling we’re experiencing of finally being together. Suddenly, such mundane activities as catching cabs, brushing teeth or heating up dinner in the microwave become coated in a glittery layer of daydream when you do them together again after 15 months. That is not to say that Márcio doesn’t get a quasi-heart attack when I run out on a highway crossing and almost get pancaked by a car, or that I don’t get annoyed when I have to wake up at 5am every morning during what’s supposed to be a vacation so we get to Márcio’s work on time. But in all this, little annoyances seem trivial compared to the realization of how blessed I am to be finally in my baby’s home country, seeing the places he grew up in, visiting the people he loves, AND eating Angolan food (while getting stomach ache only occasionally).

Here are some small observations from the last few days:

- Angolans dress well (and expensive). You’d think it’s a tendency among the richer layers, but I noticed that looking neat seems to be independent of the salary. I'd call it more of a general cultural trait. Obviously, you do find copycat versions of clothes and accessories from street vendors, but owning an original brand is common across all ages and classes. The other day, a conductor in a cab that looked more like a can opener than a vehicle was wearing a Calvin Klein watch. In the afternoon, a driver of a similar cab was wearing a Lacoste shirt. I can imagine that owning these brands consumes a good portion of an Angolan’s paycheck. But the way you present yourself to others is valued higher than the money you spend on your look; most Angolans therefore find getting authentic brands and looking put together a worthy investment of time and money.

- Talking about  money... I was always a bit skeptical about the rumor that Luanda is one of the most expensive cities in the world. But I've learned the bitter truth shortly after arrival. It is very pricey and truly more expensive than what I've seen visiting London and DC or living in Paris. A basic lunch portion of traditional feijoada or funge costs not less than 15 dollars, the trip to and from work adds up to 10-12 dollars a day per person. Even the gas is expensive, despite the fact that Angola is the second largest importer of oil in Sub-Saharan Africa.This article by Economist describes the exorbitant prices quite engagingly. Mail&Guardian also helps to explain things for those interested.

- Another thing you can't overlook is Luanda's bad congestion issue. The roads are full most of the week except for Sundays, with peak hours between 7-9 am and 4-6 pm. Márcio's work is only 15 miles away, but we need to leave home at 6 am to get to the city center around 8 am. It's a tiring trip both ways, and I feel like I couldn't sustain a similar schedule for too long. Working close to home definitely becomes an advantage in Luanda.

I stole this picture from Dyllen Cafferty's blog since both my camera and the phone decided to resign right after my arrival.

- Catching one of those blue cabs to work is always an exciting experience. They are 9-people’s vans, usually stuffed to the brim (12 people plus occasional babies or children sitting on the lap), playing all sorts of local music at all sound and bass levels, with conversations of random strangers spanning from child rearing to AIDS to complaining about anything that's relevant. Although I don’t understand all that’s being said, the atmosphere inside the cab always lets me feel like I’m part of the conversation. 

- My Portuguese is progressing slowly but surely. I catch a few new words every day but I'm still shy to speak by myself in public. It's different with Márcio's family since I feel much freerer around them. But I still use the creolized Portuguese-Spanish version. I hope it will lose its Spanish influence by the time I leave... 

I shall be adding more news soon. Stay tuned :)

Safe and sound at 8 degrees south, 13 degrees east

After a seven-hour flight from Lisbon, I've happily arrived at Luanda's Quatro de Fevreiro airport. Getting through the passport control, a vaccination controller and the customs within 20 minutes was a much welcomed surprise. Last year in Lusaka, I ended up standing in the immigration line for 2 hours before getting to baggage pick-up tired and dehydrated, only to find out that my bags had never arrived (they were eventually found in Mexico City after a slight confusion by the Ethiopian Airlines, but that's a different story). Thankfully, this time in Luanda everything went very smoothly. The uncontainable wave of expectation to see all things new really hit me only when I saw Márcio waiting near the exit. It also brought an amazing sense of gratefulness to my heavenly Daddy for letting me come on a trip like this; all the money spent on the flight ticket, visas and pocket money came from my scholarship that I haven't used up in Paris. I can't see this as anything else but a huge, huge blessing.

Other than catching up on random dates, during the next two weeks we will be going to Maju's workplace, an international NGO called the Development Workshop. The remaining two weeks will be filled with further discovering Luanda, meeting friends and family, and hopefully traveling to Benguela province and possibly Huambo to get a peak on the Angola beyond Luanda. 

I'm also hoping to soak in as much Portuguese as possible to be able to communicate more independently and make friends more easily. As we say back home, "As many languages you know, as many times you are a human being". Whether it's on the linguistic, cultural or spiritual level, knowing the people's "heart language" enables us to understand them better, and equally be better understood ourselves. I believe the same goes for Portuguese and Márcio's family.

With this exciting schedule ahead, I pray my time in Angola with Maju is used to build us up as a couple, as individuals, and hopefully to inspire and build up those we cross paths with.

Vamos ver!

Heading out!

So here I go... A lonely traveler soon to be reunited with her babe after more than a year.
Waiting for my transfer flight in Lisbon, I am seeing lots of Angolan families looking forward to getting home to their relatives.
It gets me wondering how often I'll be making similar trips in the future.

Packing up again.

It seems like my bags have stayed idle for too long and they are calling me out to explore again. I've spent the longest time in Slovakia in the past two years- two whole months! It's been a blessing mainly as a time of rest and rediscovering what I love so much about being back home. Food, public transport arriving uncompromisingly on time, speaking Slovak properly again, walking around in the tiny historical downtown in Bratislava with an ice cream cone, the spring scent of blooming front gardens in our tiny streets. 

This week I am wrapping up my internship at the Slovak Atlantic Commission, giving last pre-travel hugs to friends and family, and receiving all sorts of advice on how to survive "in the mysterious African lands". I wish sub-Saharan Africa was more known to Slovaks (and to the world in general) so that going there wouldn't seem any more dangerous (and, if we are to talk honestly, savage) than going to Brazil or "the Holy Land". But I interpret the travel warnings from my loved ones as signs of care rather than as a sense of discrimination against any particular world region. I believe a piece of the anxiety about the unknown always chips off of them when I get home safe and sound, with a pocketful of great memories, pictures and souvenirs (oh their joy over every new fridge magnet!).

So for those ever more curious among my readers, I made a little flight snap for Thursday:

Vienna -> Lisbon with a few hour overlay to explore the city -> Luanda on Friday morning = around 10 hours of flight time and a time change of only 1 hour :)

And my baby on the other end of the red line.

Angola, get rrready! Got the visa!

I met up with Mr. Pinto from the Angolan embassy in Berlin at a Bratislava shopping mall this morning. He brought me my passport that I sent to Berlin three weeks ago with all the necessary visa documents. Slovakia doesn't have an Angolan embassy anymore, and all the Slovak visa applicants have to send their stuff to Berlin. At first I was a bit anxious about sending off my passport, but it turned out working quite smoothly. It took them about two weeks to stamp it, approximately the same time it took for the Zambian visa to go through at the Washington embassy last year.

I called Mr. Pinto while I was in Serbia to ask about when the visa could be finished, and he said it was ready. When I asked him if he could mail the passport to me to Slovakia, he offered himself to bring it in person since he’s visiting Slovakia for a few days. What a blessing, and what a relief! We found each other in the mall (it’s still not difficult to spot out an African in Bratislava- we’ve got a long way to go to be more internationalized), and I got my passport, stamped for the whole period of the stay... It all seems so much closer now.

The things I will miss about Paris... and those that I won’t.

A week after coming home from the City of Lights it's finally sinking in. The Parisian living has come to a bitter-sweet end. I am glad to be back in Slovakia for a rare two months, to breathe the familiar air and enjoy the beautiful Central European spring. On the other hand, our tiny half-a-million metropolis lacks the variety of cultures and experiences that I got to soak in the ten-million Paris. Here is a little run-down of the things that I've already been missing from Paris, and some of those that I'm glad to have left behind. I will upload more pictures once I get a better connection :)

Stuff that I'll miss:

·      The ultimate afternoon snack when getting home from school- a Nutella crêpe or a piece of fresh, crispy, warm baguette with French cheese.

·      Little local shops which have not yet been destroyed by the supermarket chains- patisseries (with pastries), boulangeries (with bread), fromageries (with cheese), confiseries (with candy)... and the neighborhood markets.

·      Free cultural events for EU students/people under 26 (Go check out Kiosque Jeunes with your ID)- thanks to these I saved up dozens of euros going to galleries, museums, historical sites etc. for free or at a discounted rate.

·      “African mamas” and the spontaneous diversity of dress codes (from long Gipsy skirts through Orthodox Jewish hats to Indian saris and African boubous).

·      Multiculturalism and no overload of “political correctness”- talking about race for the French of all colors is natural and not a touchy topic as it is in the States (and especially in the US South).

·      Macaroons and all types of French/German/Lebanese/international pastries.

·      Studying, functioning, dreaming in French.

·      Public transport, Velib bikes, motorbikes, vesnas, and the fact that having a huge car is discouraged in the city. 

·      Interracial couples and mixed babies.

·      Meeting with friends at Place de Chatêlet, St Eustach’s or at 27 Rue St Guillaume.

·      Old elaborate architecture of the pre-1900 apartment buildings and peeking through their windows at night to admire the beautiful ceilings.

·      Availability of newspapers (I have read more printed press than ever before).

·     “Livres d’occasion”/second-hand bookstores where you can buy a good book for 20c.

·      Taking random courses just because I need some credits, e.g. Sociology of Arab states, Russia and its peripheries or Southeast Asia crossroads. 

·      People knowing where Slovakia is on the map.

·      The abundance of art- concerts, expositions, metro musicians, creative graffiti…

·      International students at every corner.

·      Studying for finals in a one of the parks in the historical downtown.

·      Hillsong church and every single amazing person I met there.

·      Hillsong choir and getting up at 6am every Sunday before choir to see the city wake up.

·      Easy and cheap travel from Paris to most of Europe (a bus ticket home cost me 35 euros as compared to a flight ticket for 800 euros home from the States).

 

Stuff that I'll NOT miss...                                                                                              

·      Joined female+male bathrooms.

·      The absence of toilet seats in the public toilets because of such joined bathrooms.

·      The ever present cigarette smoke.

·      Waiters chasing you away because it’s the end of their shift or because you’ve stayed for more than an hour without ordering something else.

·      Strangers on the metro reading your texts, your book or your magazine along with you and not even trying to hide it.

·      Metro stares/street stares/stares everywhere and people not quite getting the signal when you stare back at them.

·      The cockroaches in our kitchen.

·      Dog poop on the side walks and especially in the posh quarters where the rich inhabitants subconsciously think they have people even to pick their dog's mess after them.

·      Terrible weather for most of the fall, winter and spring. I think there are stronger ties to London than many people think.

·      Polluted air (visible especially on a sunny day from Belleville, the top of Montparnasse or Montmartre) and the heat island it creates, melting the snow into a slush or burning you up in the summer.

·      My landlord’s girlfriend who said hello to me only once in the seven months that I lived there.

·      High prices of everything necessary for a dignified student life, from food through transport to stationery.

·     Feeling like I am always supposed to be stressed out (a sense that the exchange school, Sciences Po, promoted quite vehemently). I think this is something about the big capital cities in general- too many people in too little space with too little time on their hands.

Looking back at this year, I don't know if I am made for big city living. I guess the experience would have been different if my housing situation was a bit better (e.g. living with someone I know instead of renting a room in an infested high-riser from a family where the landlady despised my presence). On the other hand, I am glad that I got to live the real life a lot of people in Paris live and one which doesn't get shown in the tourist guides- often struggling to make ends meet, living in a tiny apartment, changing housing because of the high rent, living in the suburbs and taking the night train home. I also left so much unexplored in Paris that I would be willing to come back and give it a try the second time around, yet again not as a mere tourist but as an inhabitant. I am grateful for the opportunity to live "Parisian style" (whatever that means!) and it would be exciting to write a chapter #2. But we'll see what the time will bring :)

Un peu de calendrier

Alright, so here is a little time-line of my summer for those interested.

End April: Back home (SVK) from Paris.
May-July: Intern at the Slovak Atlantic Commission in Bratislava. Holler at me if you're anywhere near Prague, Vienna or Budapest. Gotta love Central Europe and its miniature distances :)
Mid-June: My first business trip (ever!) to Belgrade and Nis in Serbia where we're organizing a Serbian-Slovak business forum, a security seminar and visiting the Cepotina military base.
Beg. July - beg. August: Angola. More info to follow.
August 16: The U.S. of A. after a year. NYC first, then down to good ol' North Carolina.
August 20: End of the summer- start of the senior year. Back to (joyful) reality!

Some Parisian peculiarities.

Here is a random little assortment of some strange/interesting/bizarre things I got to snap while roaming around town. They are not the best quality, for which I apologize, but they serve to me as reminders of that particular look/sound/smell I can only find in Paris.

 

My friend Patricia babysits for one rich family in the 17th arrondissement near l'Arc de Triomphe. This is the room of their 4-year-old son. (Up on the wall hangs the boy's great-great-grand uncle)

 

"The first site of extra-marital encounters designed by the women. 1st in France, 1st in Europe, 1s in the world." These posters have been advertising the website for a few months now. It never ceases to amaze me how creative the human perversion can get. As a child of parents who divorced because of an "extra-marital encounter", I am definitely not flattered by this ground-breaking website.

The dogs form an inseparable part of the Paris' aura. They even have their own traffic signs.

You can buy a bottle of pure French perfume extract for a mere 3000 euros at Galleries Lafayette. Paris has definitely introduced me to a new concept of price tags.

A faithful companion of every metro musician. A stereo and a collection cup attached to an adapted shopping "caddie". An efficient way to accompany your musical instrument while on board.

This is a common sight in the quarters around Paris, and especially on the suburbs where there is a large African immigrant/heritage community. Kids like these attend French schools in "French" clothes, and walk around with their moms on weekends in their wrappers. Of course, this doesn't go for all Africans living in Paris, and people from other parts of the world wear their ethnic clothes as well. I just love the ease with which people of different origins wear what represents their culture.