Monday, May 11th, 2009

Joel collecting Carlota on the luggage belt in Luanda.

NOTHING TO DECLARE for Carlota!

Waiting for Teixeira to arrive and pick us up at the airport.

Carlota, luggage and Joel at our almost home sweet home.

Indeed dear readers, these 2 days were a test for our hearts, cold blood, fast thinking and immediate actions. Wow, I was VERY glad when the sun came up on Tuesday! I was glad to see these 2 days gone, gone gone forever!

Anyway, the trip from FRA to Luanda was fine, uneventful and we landed here ½ hour earlier than planned. Joel and I went through immigration quick and easy and I was happy to see already some changes at the airport. Way many more trolleys than in January. We were able to get hold of 3 of them, yyeeaaappyy!

The suitcases started coming out from the carrousel and, voila… with a “priority tag” madam Carlota shows up on the belt, how sweet! Joel got her out and again, she was ever so happy to see us and off she went showing her barking skills. Joel than called the person who was to meet us and clear Carlota’s customs only to find out that he was not there yet. So, in his absence, another person was used. We walked towards customs and as we approached the officer, he asked for Carlota’s papers, went through them and said:
- ok, all good, welcome to Angola. She can go through “Nothing to declare”, but
the luggage has to go through x-ray and opened.

Ok, not a big deal, we had only 8 pieces of luggage to be x rayed and opened… Joel went to the x-ray area and I went through the “green” with madam, who by then had made sure EVERY single soul in that airport knew she had arrived. Half way through the opening suitcase ordeal, the person who was to clear Carlota arrived,… thanks but too late sir! When Joel was done, we walked out together, only to find out that the driver was not there waiting for us. Oh how wonderful, after more than 24 hours on the go, with a non stop barking dog, 5:30 AM and no driver… so exciting that I don’t even know how to describe it!

After quite a few phone calls, Joel managed to speak to Teixeira, the driver, who says he was told we arrived at 7:30 AM and that he was still ½ hour away from the airport. Due to the wait, I decided to get Carlota out of her box and took her for some pee, walk and relief!

Teixeira, arrived with a Toyota Prado and… after loading the car, we managed to find some inches left for the 3 of us to sit on. Carlota went in between Joel’s leg. Poor Teixeira was terrified of Carlota!

We were taken to the serviced house we were to stay in the south part of Luanda. As we didn’t have the keys yet, Joel called the manager once we got to their gate, to find out he was also expecting us at 7:30. But not to worry, he told us the number of our house and told us he lived close by and was coming soon to deliver us the keys. We then found our new home, unloaded the car and dismissed Teixeira. The plan was to have the car back around 3 PM to take Joel to a supermarket. Carlota happily investigated all the grass around our house and quickly made her self at home. That was a good feeling, as a happy dog, makes happy owners.

Half an hour later, the manager arrives and with a very sweet and polite face asks if the dog was staying with us and after our positive reply he, very politely, tell us that it wouldn’t be possible, as they didn’t take animals in their houses. Ouch, that was like an iceberg melting on top of us. It just couldn’t be for real!!

Joel called Teixeira back, but by then he was gone for an hour which meant taking about 1:30 hour to meet us again, due to traffic.

There we were, sitting on the ground, homeless, surrounded by our luggage, exhausted, desperately needing a shower, clean summer clothes and with the morning equatorial sun hitting on us! The Historian in me, just could not stop thinking that the 3 of us looked just like true immigrants, carrying their most valuable and loved belongings which included the family dog, LOL!

Alice called us right at this moment and as always, she was a tsunami of sunshine and help. Together, we combed the possibilities and had a strategy in place. I called 2 friends we have in Luanda (Joel’s boss was in Madrid) and by “friend” I mean:
- a lady who is the daughter of the lady who is the god mother to my sister in law’s best friend in Rio. We've exchanged some emails and Joel had dinner with her while in Luanda in March and
- a lady who also owns a boxer here in Luanda, who I exchanged some emails with just before leaving HK.
They were both Spectacular, with capital “S”, and immediately said that we could stay with them. But honestly, tell me, how embarrassing is that? How can you parachute with all that luggage, a dog with her house into someone’s home, when you hardly know these people?? Anyway, the idea of our call wasn’t to ask for a place to stay, but to ask for some tips, where we could go that would accept Carlota.

Making a VERY long and VERY frustrating day short, at 3:45 PM, we were accepted at the hotel near Joel’s plant. The situation here is not ideal at all, but it became ideal, as it’s the only one we have. The hotel is fine with a rich menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but it’s not only located in a very ugly part of town, as it’s 2 hours away from where we are looking for houses and also, we kind of have to hide Carlota. It’s a horizontal type of hotel and they gave us a very suitable suite with 2 rooms. Loads of grass right in front of our room, so Carlota’s business are easily done.

Life, life, life…, life is certainly MUCH better and flows smoother with these angels, also called FRIENDS, we find in life. A big fat THANK YOU to you both, Hong Kongers and Luandenses. What a difference you made to these horrendous two days we had! Alice, many thanks goes to you too, for managing through so many phone calls all the way from Bristol, to bring ideas and solutions to our chaos. Love you all!