"Vacation" to Namibia
We were so excited to get away from Angola for a bit and go to Windhoek, Namibia for a shopping trip/vacation. I had to laugh ... when we were first getting ready to move to Lubango, I thought Windhoek was only about 6 hours from Lubango. HA! More like double that ... depending on road conditions and border crossings! At the very least, it's a two day trip.
First notable part of the trip was the voyage to the border. Approximately 3 hours on nice paved roads, and then almost 2 hours on a dirt road! Then, suddenly, you're at a border crossing! Not what I was expecting ... what qualifies as a "road" here is very different from Canada!
Once we were in Namibia, Marcel had to remember to drive on the opposite side of the road. We had to be careful of donkeys (there were SO MANY in northern Namibia!) and cows crossing the road. Driving next to Etosha National Park was beautiful! We were constantly on the lookout for elephants or other wildlife, and we spotted a few wild creatures--two separate giraffe sitings, warthogs, porcupines, and a Palanca Negra! For those of you that don't know what a Palanca Negra is, see here. The fact that we saw one is incredible, especially from our car on the highway--they are incredibly rare!
Windhoek was thankfully uneventful for us. Thankfully, because many friends of ours have had issues of theft there. Which is odd, because Windhoek appears very safe--very clean, beautiful, RICH ... but if you show up in an Angolan vehicle, you become a moving target for theft. This is because Angolans typically come down with lots of cash. Praise God, our friends (two women) that we were travelling with had a close run in with some bandits, but fought them off!
We did a LOT of shopping in Windhoek (although we didn't buy much, just spent a lot of time in malls). We went out to eat. We ate A LOT. It was overwhelming to be back in a city that would easily hold it's own in a first world country. The malls were so ... BIG. There were so many OPTIONS in each store. There were so many restaurants to choose from. Things were AFFORDABLE. There were traffic lights, and order on the streets ... All things that we used to take for granted.
It made my stomach hurt. Seriously ...
I was worried that I wouldn't want to return to Angola, but by the end of the trip, I couldn't wait to be home. There is actually something to be said about not having a million choices of restaurants and stores and food items and clothing ... something to be said about SIMPLICITY. You don't take things for granted. You treasure things that aren't material. And the people ... oh the people of Angola are so lovely. I missed them.
And that's how I know Angola can become "home" for us. We're not quite there yet ... whenever we reference home, it's still Canada. And maybe it always will be like this--two "homes", one in Angola, one in Canada. Both a mere shadow of real home--when we join Jesus in heaven.
A Birthday Boy
Of course, I can't write this blog post without mentioning that our little boy--Ethan--turned one on April 5! We were travelling back from Windhoek, but we celebrated with a birthday gift--some shoes and toy cars. We had a party with our other ex-pat friends when we came back, and another party with our MAF staff with cake and "Parabens!" Ethan is walking now (although it's really more like "toddling"--oh! That's where toddler comes from!) and his new obsession is the kitchen sink and climbing up on a stool to help mom with dishes.
A Busy Week
Well, on the business side of things ... that is to say, the ministry side of things ... it was a busy week last week! First, I'll talk about Marcel's work, and then our exciting week at the school.
On Sunday, Marcel received a call from another pilot, from a different company, who had to land his airplane in Lubango, and was looking for some mechanical assistance. The next few days were very long for Marcel--working on the MAF planes and helping this pilot troubleshoot his own airplane. However, it was an awesome opportunity to meet someone new and share the love of Jesus with him. He had never heard of MAF, so it was a cool opportunity to explain the ministry of MAF as well. It was also a blessing to us because he helped us with our Portuguese!
At the school, it was also a busy week as we had a school camping trip/retreat. Normally, the kids would camp at Tchincombe farm (three hours from Lubango) or the beach, but this year, we decided to just host the kids at the Mitcha complex where the school is located. This made logistics a thousand times easier. We also could use the pool, go for a hike at Tundavala, and take the youngest students to an equestrian farm in town for a pony ride. It was an awesome couple of days, with the highlights being the food (donuts!), Marcel's tutorial on American Football, and a few awesome devotional times with Aimee Heyer! The kids enjoyed the fellowship and relaxation, and it was so cool to spend time with them outside of a teaching context. They really are a GREAT group of kids!
Well ... with all that said and done, I would be remiss if I didn't include a BUNCH of pics after these busy but fantastic couple of weeks. So enjoy ... and maybe all these great pics will make you want to come visit us in Angola! *winks*
Windhoek Trip
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| Giant termite mound ... one of the first before many, many hours of termite mounds! |
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| What do you suppose this sign means? |
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| Riding a rhino at Oppi-Koppi Rest Camp |
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| Eating an awesome dinner in Windhoek with Audrey and Sarah, and our random wooden friend! |
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| Who knew Marcel had his own yogurt store! |
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| Mugg & Bean! |
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| The birthday boy ... opening his presents. |
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| The extremely rare palanca negra! |
Other Photos (Mostly Camping)
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| Timna helping Ethan open his present at pizza night. |
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| All the school kids on some sweet rocks on our hike! |
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| At the viewpoint |
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| While the older kids hiked, the younger one played in this cool sand! |
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| Breakfast of homemade donuts ... oh my! |
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| At the equestrian centre with Aimee and the younger school kids |
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| All the kids got turns riding. |
