Hotel Palm Beach Pointe Noire

Last year, before we left, we chose a school called Les Poussins, for the kids. We were told that the school began on Monday, September 7. On the 5th we were having a small gathering at a local restaurant for the school families to get to know each other, when a friend of mine informed me that the school had delayed opening until the 14th. They didn't even call us to let us know! We ran out the next day and bought all ...

... is the second biggest city in the RC. It&#8217;s a 1-million inhabitant town (rough estimate) which is also the main port of the country. There is a quite large expatriate community because of the oil industry. One can see the oil platforms from the beach and most expatriates either work for an oil company or for a company related to the oil industry (platform maintenance etc.). <br><br>There are not a lot of touristy things to do for sure. I wanted the trip to be about enjoying my ...

... the street for cash. White guys strut around the pool side, ordering the teen-aged girls that they&#8217;ve bought for the afternoon, to bring them a drink, a towel, a menu. Chuckling as she scurries away. The power to say no or to say yes to something that someone needs or wants is better than actually supplying them or denying them. Money equals power equals abuse of that power, however minute ...

... du matin on me dépose devant le commissariat du village à 30 km de Pointe Noire (autres 30 km jusqu'à la frontière). L'anxiété commence à remplir mon âme, je sens déjà l'Angola juste devant et plus proche à chaque pas, plus proche, je me fais avancer, plus proche, j'ignore la fatigue, j'ignore la chaleur, j'ignore l'accumulation de poussière qui me salit jusqu'à l'âme, avec une seule certitude dans mon coeur : aujourd'hui j'atteins Cabinda, l'Angola, aujourd'hui je ...

... go figure-- lots of puddles and bumpier roads as a result?) and take care of the a/c, but today the car died on Ann-Mary while she was at the kids' school. A classmate's dad gave them all a lift home, and I went back this afternoon with the mechanic's employees. They tried a new battery to no avail, then recruited some guys from the bar that the car was parked in front of to push-start it. The car that we came in then lost ...

... I think mostly I just need to get away. I was in touch with a friend recently who also lives in a developing nation and he said that the ignorance and inefficiency are really getting to him, so at least I know it's not just me. For example, the toilet off my classroom has been running since the beginning of the school year and recently deteriorated to the point where it also does not flush. I have asked that it be fixed multiple times. Plumbers ...

... who was also relatively new to town and mistakenly bought an entire box of about fifty pounds of beef tenderloin, then looked to divvy it up after the fact. So we'd been about a month without the fine meat and unwilling to pay the hiked up cost at the local supermarket, but the nanny has been cooking for us a couple of times a week and that filled the gap nicely. She cooks in large portions (being a mother of 7 herself) so that ...

... elected Obama? Because we're sick *f the same *ld reheated ****? But apparently when it c*mes t* *ur p*pular culture, we just keep dusting them *ff and pushing them *ut *n stage. I think missed a Springsteen set, thankfully, (I can't really f*rgive him aft** B*rn in the USA, which I can *nly assume w*uld have been his ch*ice t* p**f*rm) and JT is a gimme; s* accessible, s* bland, but must ev**y*ne d* the greatest hits instead *f less ...

... right in the same area as where we have been to some beach houses, but the dirt roads quickly fork and there were no other signs to help us out. The first way took us toward what looked like a campus of some sort, with a large multi-story building by the water. We passed one sign that indicated it was a university, but as we got closer we could see that it was totally abandoned. We continued past it to see ...

... friend called it, but it was a very cool effect. And it was true, they had sushi, at somewhat outrageous prices, but it was tasty and the whole experience was totally refreshing -- like stepping out of Pointe-Noire for a few hours. There was only one other table of people there, and we ended up starting the meal at around 10 o'clock. The fact that it was a Thursday night enhanced the feeling of escape...or was it the wine? Another quick story. Ann-Mary and I ...