Hotel Residence Saint-Jacques Centre ville Pointe Noire

I cannot seem to get healthy. We have been here for over a month and I am still struggling with assimilation. Last Thursday I came down with a sore throat, on the heels of what we like to call here "Africa bum". I let it ride, convinced that it was nothing, but went yesterday to the clinic, where the doctor confirmed that I had an infection. A whole day of sleep yesterday and I am back in the ...

... OF THE OTHER MOMS HERE WORK!!!!!!!!!! I wonder how "lucky" her husband would feel if he had to take his kids to work with him 8 hours a day? It has been only a week since we opened the school and I am already day dreaming about teaching in a normal school, just responsible for one grade or even just one subject. I dream about other teachers and administrators, I am tired of feeling like we are mired by the apathy of others.

... I had the feeling I wasn’t doing the right thing. I walked back to the same man and then another guy asked me if I was with Chevron. Chevron is the company of Madenga, the friend I was visiting (with his wife Magali and their two daughters Madenn and Mae, lots of “Ma”). I had seen that person outside with a Chevron sign but didn’t think much of it as I was coming here as a tourist and not as a Chevron employee. So I answer him that I am indeed staying with someone ...

... J'ai eu droit à une démonstration des phrases en portugais qu'ils avaient appris lors de leur formation militaire en Angola, de laquelle ils en étaient plus que fiers. Je dois passer la nuit à la frontière et quand j'approche le chef de l'immigration pour lui demander permission de planter ma tente, il refusa me disant que je dormirais dans une chambre qu'il s'offrait à payer. C'est bien parti. Lendemain matin je fais le tour pour dire au revoir à tout le monde ...

... on his car (among other things, he had locked his keys in the car while at the beach and had to resort to smashing a vent window... that needed to be fixed before his wife and kids returned from Paris). So he introduced me to the Lebanese-French brothers, who did what we needed, although the air conditioning was not exactly what you'd call cold. Still, it was blowing better than before so we lived with it okay until there was ...

... I gave her my order three different times and she still never brought it, she brought Melanie the wrong order, twice, and never apologized, never smiled, nothing, just scowled. We couldn't find her to get refills on our drinks all night, but when it came time for the bill, she stood over us, hawking us to pay it. After the check had been settled, she actually had the gall to stop us on our way out the door and tell us that there was a (centimeter ...

... through the swamp dump thicket. Now it's quite common to see the whole family of them along the road or in the swamp up to their nostrils. Lyle is prone to darting out of the gate around the corner when he smells them, and if they're there he can get pretty close to them, barking and dancing, and they hold their ground until he gives them just enough space so that they can get ...

... Another aspect of shopping is that when you see the products you want at the local supermarkets, local expat wisdom says to buy as much of it as you can because you don't know when you'll see it again. So about two months ago I spotted Green Giant corn in a can, unsweetened, and I bought up about twenty cans. I continued to see it for the next few weeks, and I continued to re-supply with five or six more cans each time. Then ...

... sing the s*ng she sang? Then th**e it was, G*d Blessed, M*st H*ly, the pr*phet that is B*b Marley, and H**bie Hanc*ck, "One L*ve" Will.I.Am and Sh**yl Cr*w. Let's get t*geth** and feel alright, indeed. US Naval Academy Glee Club with Renee' Flemming, t*rtu*us, she s*unded like the m*th** sup**i*r fr*m "The S*und *f Music". Sn**z** While t*tally praying that Jack Black dr*ps an F n*te, and giving it up f*r Teddy, Save A Tree, R**sevelt ...

... a normal week. It looks like we're getting two new students in the school, brothers who will be in the early years class together. Today we'll probably do our regular Saturday routine: some time at the pool followed by time in the park to ride bikes (the boys have grown tired of the "gym" class and only sometimes go in for the swimming lessons), and then we'll wind our way through the afternoon before ...