Africa Day

The locals at the embassy hosted an “Africa Day” celebration for the national holiday.  Unfortunately, it was after the half-day work day, so the kids missed out on it because they were still at school.  There was wonderful singing and dancing, with music provided by some of the embassy local staff, as well as a local Luanda band.  They also provided a wonderful meal with a plethora of desserts to choose from.  

 The ambassador expressed her appreciation to the locals for putting the event on, as well as for all of the work that they do for us at the embassy.

 They presented Heather, our Deputy Chief of Mission, with a nice gift and kind words for her as she is getting ready to leave Angola after three years of service here.  It will be sad to see her and her family go!

Claudia, on the left, sings with Gabis on the right, accompanied by the guitar and drum.  I love Claudia--she is a sweetheart that goes the extra mile in her job.  She has helped me a lot in my job as the English teacher with contacting students, scheduling rooms, etc.  She has a lovely voice!  Here they are singing a song in Kikongo, one of the tribal languages spoken in the provinces.

A local band that was invited to participate.  

A couple with the band demonstrating a dance.  They would emphasize feet stomping every 4-8 beats or so and people would hoot and holler as they stomped.

 The local embassy employees joined in the dance.

 It was so fun to see some of my English students there.  Here is Santos in the front, then Miguel and Demario.

 The beautiful display of desserts.

 The kitchen staff.

We’re not totally converted to the local food yet, especially cassava (looks like mashed potatoes but is really the starchy root of tropical trees mashed up--The first time Briant ate it he asked for a big spoonful on his plate and dug into it expecting it to be similar to mashed potatoes.  He was totally disappointed!).  None of the Americans are keen on cassava.  As another embassy employee put it, “Cassava and I have reached an understanding.”  Basically if you mix it with other things, you have a slight chance of enjoying it more.  I dug around with a spoon in this pan of chicken, trying to find something I recognized.  I found two chicken feet and other parts that I had never seen before. :)

Claudia with a couple of sweet custodial ladies that work at the embassy.  Briant nominated the one left of me with the pink shirt for local employee of the month a few months ago, which she got.  He described her to me and I knew exactly who he was talking about.  She is the happiest lady (normally always smiling) as she cleans the embassy day after day.  She always greets me with, "Bom dia Dona" in her sweet way.  We call her "Tia Domingas."

This was our first Africa Day celebration and we enjoyed seeing a side of Angola we don't usually see during our commute and busy day in a dense city of 7 million.  It was fun to slow down and appreciate "the fun side of Angola," as the Ambassador described it, and the heart and soul of the local staff with whom we serve at the embassy.