Hotel Victory Palace Pointe Noire

... a set from one of the “Saw” movies. I vowed never to buy unpackaged food, fruits or vegetables from that place ever again. You can get sick from any restaurant here, I know at least one person who has been wiped out everwhere, and this has got to be the reason. But, since eating out is really the only form of entertainment, we all keep taking the risk, and hoping to become acclimated.

... the Chevron sign. 20 minutes later I’m hugging Madenga. It was great to see him, it had been 2 or 3 years since the last time I had visited them (they were then living in San Francisco and then in Australia where I unfortunately didn’t get the opportunity to fly to). We arrived at their house, the girls were asleep and Magali and I chatted a little before going to bed.

I won’t relate my stay in Pointe-Noire day by day, that would be pretty boring.

Pointe ...

... then tried to extort about a hundred and twenty dollars from us. Because, you see, it was his corner. Just like some thug at home. Needless to say we left him holding David’s license, in the dust. Customs officials pick their noses and wipe them on your passport. There is a guy has been kicked off the police, but still has his uniform, who wanders drunk around Pointe-Noire harassing people ...

... difficultés pour l'avoir fait et le chef de poste du commissariat de Nyanga a voulu me demander de payer 2 litres d'essence pour combler l'erreur du policier. J'ai, bien entendu, résolument refusé. Les 300 km qui me séparait de Pointe Noire furent douloureux à parcourir, les routes sont dans un très mauvais état, le goudron étant pas plus qu'une mirage de ce qu'il fût un jour, un jour fort éloigné, caché dans les ténèbres de la période colonial. Mais j'ai réussi. A ...

... it back to us at the house. They don't even leave a receipt, so we go back when we want to know how much it cost. So when I went in to tell them it really wasn't working and did they want me to pay for the new tire, Ismael was shocked that the a/c wasn't working. It was just a fuse he said, but he came out to confirm that it wasn't doing the job. I was going to bring it in tomorrow evening so he could repair the latest ...

... Many of the clothes that I brought with me have been destroyed. Whether it's from the washing machine, bleach, stains, holes, whatever, I'm down to a handful of work clothes. We planned pretty well in a number of areas, if I do say so myself. The huge jugs of no-paraben, no-sls shampoo and body-wash have lasted us until recently. So I'd like to try to find a health-food store and refresh our supplies, now I know to bring two bottles next ...

So food is one of the few forms of entertainment available here, and it's also a bit of a battle to maintain and refresh the supplies of staple foods at home that make life hum along with a greater sense of normalcy. I finally made it to the local meat wholesaler. Previously, we had shared a large order with some friends and one of them went to pick it up and divided it up and delivered it. The next time we received some meat from a ...

I watched m*st *f the Obama c*nc**t *n cable and was glad *f sev**al things; First, I wasn't standing *utside freezing my ass *ff. Sec*nd, I hadn't wasted my time *n mid-eighties has-beens. Why was the entire playlist fr*m my eight-grade dinn** dance p**f*rming? All we w**e missing is "We Are the W*rld" It all seemed s* canned. What is the deal? Why d*es ev**y*ne think that Am**icans just wanna see the safe, the familiar? Isn't that why we ...

Last weekend on Sunday we went alone to our favorite beachside restaurant, but it started to rain almost as soon as we got there. Light splatter turned to driving sheets and we decided not to wait it out. Instead, when it lightened up a little bit, we tried to find the nearby monastery. We've been told that the nuns there raise poultry and grow nice vegetables and maybe sell some baked goods. The turnoff is well ...

... right on the beach, a nice setting to begin their last night in town. The suggestion of sushi came up since apparently it was close by, although I didn't recognize the name of the place. It turned out to be at the posh hotel, Villa Madiba (?) right across the street. This place is swanky, you could be in New York or LA. The restaurant has a deck looking out over this pool with violet water which goes right up to the edge of the sides. I forget what our ...