South of the city

Trip Start Aug 01, 2008
1
14
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Trip End Jun 30, 2010


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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

We were taken to a small "resort" south of the city for a day. Malonda Lodge, with a few thatched roof guest huts, open air restaurant and bar, pool and tennis court, all overlooking the coast. About 30 minutes from Pointe-Noire and the population thins out to not much more than roadside dwellings. The surf was pounding and the beach was deserted, but the food was delicious and the dog was welcome. The French owners have a very similarly colored yellow lab who schmoozed briefly with Lyle while we ate. Unfortunately, since we were not staying over we did not have pool privileges. Oh well, it's not been Africa hot at all and every day's been pretty much overcast. Apparently, with the rainy season comes more wind and much clearer skies for the most part. Go figure.

The school continues to progress, with a wall going up between the classroom for the youngest kids and the computer room/library Warm and Dry
Warm and Dry
 . Screens have been put up on every window and the new septic tank might be finished. It's a bit of a mystery how many students will actually show up on day one, and it seems still like a long way away. The curriculum shipment is due to arrive next week on Tuesday, so we still have a few more days to while away with not much real work to do. We met our car yesterday, a brand new Nissan 4 x 4 with room for seven, but then it was whisked away since we don't have licenses yet and we haven't gone through the requisite training.

Tomorrow I think we'll explore some more of the city in pursuit of some essentials: the French-English dictionary (how did we come without one?), adaptors that work, and maybe the health clubs that we've heard about. I'd also like to check out the market so that we can cut down on our food expenses. Today we bought bananas from our neighbor's roadside stand (3 for 25 cents) and yesterday we bought a nice bag of green beans from a vendor right outside the supermarket (I think I paid too much, $3.75 for less than a pound -- but delicious!). A video rental place might be nice, since there's no equivalent to the trustworthy programming of Sprout that we can find on the dial for our little guys. The Disney channel is hit or miss, and the other kid stations are not aimed at the littlest ones.
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Comments

iceholeg
iceholeg on Aug 14, 2008 at 01:53AM

Holy S
Should I send stuff what do you need? You are doin it in 3D!!!! Ann you should write a book. The computer for the boys projectplaylist for music its free. I'll ask my studenys about cool sites for kids.

Glenn

pointenoirexpat
pointenoirexpat on Aug 14, 2008 at 08:23AM

Re: Holy S
DUUUUUUUDE! So good to hear from you!! I hope I get a book outta this, that'd be sweet. How the hell are you? I know I'm crap at keeping in touch, but I think about you all the time. We went to MB's east coast wedding party, and I was wishing you were there. We're good, no sickness, no freak-outs. I think we made the right choice. Jump on the bandwagon, brother. Come overseas, get paid what you deserve, and teach kids who give a shit that come from families who give a shit!!!! No to mention, your kids would LOOOOOVE it! How's Melissa? Send her my love!!! Kiss those kids for me. Send pics:
amcloutier8@gmail.com
I love you!

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