come away with me: November 2014

Sunday, November 9, 2014

when the wine flowed like water

So this is my last Sunday in camp for this hitch, and I realized that I will only have 3 more Sundays here for the rest of 2014...crazy! I cannot believe that my second round of holidays are about to start since I've started my nomad life, and I couldn't be more excited. Mostly, I'm looking forward to getting back home to some cool(er) weather...90+ in November just isn't right. The added bonus of getting to see alllllll of the family is just icing on the cake :)

I was talking to a few guys last night who were reminiscing about the good ol days, and how things have changed in the working world (and the entire world for that matter) since they started their careers. Needless to say, I got an earful of stories that got more and more interesting as the night (and beers) went on. Most of the stories revolved around having one (or 10) too many drinks and the trouble that guys can get into even when you're confined to a remote jungle camp. Now a days there are "just too many rules to have any fun." Our canteen is only open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays (days that have a T) and you can only buy 5 beers or 1 bottle of wine - for top dollar. So here are some pretty neat photos of 'old Malongo'...when the wine flowed like water...

Trigg's Malongo Beach Club circa 1981

There is a 9-hole golf course in camp, and this was the course bar back in the day...

And here is the bar following one of Malongo's infamous storms.

Malongo BBQ

This is Pipe Alley in 1968

This was Pipe Alley in 2007 (my project is running another line up this hill)

I also got some pictures from my training in Luanda last week, so here is the whole group from our Friday night dinner...

I felt like I was really building up a tan until I saw this photo...

This past week my other sweet Grandma had a birthday. Unfortunately, she does an excellent job at screening all her calls, so I didn't actually get to talk to her. So as a follow up - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA....I'm sure you'll be reading this, sorry it's 5 days late :) oh, and just to follow up on my quarantine, it was successful and I'm feeling much better. Today is another overcast, rainy day in camp...perfect conditions for my Sunday nap!

24 days down, 2 to go! xoxo...

Sunday, November 2, 2014

quarantine, and I'm right...again.

The good news is that I am still lice-free, the bad news is that my allergies are seriously kicking my butt! We are officially in the rainy season, so with the major downpours comes people coughing and sneezing all over the place, myself included. So, I've got 9 days of self-inflicted quarantine to get all the drainage out of my head before I'm homeward bound. I want to feel (and look) 100% before I start my journey back to the states to avoid any suspicion of the big E. Side note: there are still zero cases of Ebola in Angola, just fyyyyiii.

After a looooong week in Luanda, I'm actually really happy to be back "home" in Malongo. I didn't get to see any of the city besides the office and my hotel room because we were working from 7AM to 9-10PM every night. I was acting as the Project Manager for an exercise that we were going through, and all of my team members were Angolan nationals. Throughout the day most everyone was speaking in Portuguese. I was usually eavesdropping on everyone talking to try and pick out words here and there to participate in the conversation, and I think I surprised them when I would interject. Lucky for me, the phrase 'project management' doesn't translate very easily, so I always new when they were talking about something I needed to do. All in all, it was a good experience and, needless to say, I am really looking forward to my Sunday afternoon nap today!

So remember how I mentioned that Laurel and Jason's wedding was absolutely stunning and I couldn't wait to see how their pictures turned out - well I was 100% correct. Laurel shared huuuundreds of photos from the rehearsal, wedding, and reception and they are all pretty much perfect. Here are a few of my favorites (courtesy of Kelli Elizabeth Photography)...