Carlota already has a boy friend!

Can you believe this? We have not even landed in Luanda and Carlota already has "Atlas" waiting for her... how about that?

My dear friend Vanessa, who lives here in HK has 4 friends in Luanda (honestly, how can someone have friends in Luanda and not 1 but 4, I don't know, but Vanessa has and we are very happy she does) and very kindly, she gave me these friends' emails. I then wrote them to say hi. They replied and one of them said that she also has a dog, a male boxer from Portugal, called Atlas, 1.5 year old. Of course I could not hold my excitement and gave her a call. After a short chat, I found out that Atlas goes to the same vet as Carlota will and that he is a gorgeous bouncy chap. Oba, looking forward for this encounter, LOL!

They are here!!

Before

and after

Wow, they are here, the packers have arrived and it's now for real, we are indeed moving and leaving HK! Our private tsunami has started! John To, this sweet and smiley Chinese man, the supervisor for our move, has named all rooms according to the way we call them, so that boxes can go to their new spots on the other side. Carlota, of course, wants to be part of everything going on in the flat and therefore wants to thoroughly participate of every box being packed... never mind, it has always been like that... the 1st day is a bit chaotic for her!!

An interesting common thing that all the countries Joel and I have moved to have: in a way, they are all "new" countries. We moved to South Africa in 1997 and dearest Nelson Mandela had been voted president just 3 years earlier, after 46 years of intense Apartheid. Then we moved to Hong Kong in the year 2000 and again, HK had been handed over to China only 3 years before we arrived and was experiencing, after a long colonial time under the Brits, the adventure from being a non colonial country to being part of blooming communist China. And now, we are moving to post war Angola, once again, a "new" country in the sense that after 27 years of war, all they want is to leave it behind and re-build their beautiful country! Must say that it's kind of exciting, not to say completely exciting to be part of a joint effort of re-building a country!

Wish us luck and may God bless us!

Coincidence or Godincidence?

So, in our long "to do" list, today was a packing day, where we would pack for the 4 months it will take us (or so we think) to see our boxes again. However, because the night was not well slept I ended up sleeping up until 10 AM. Then, when I woke up, I went to help Joel, to re-do our insurance list, because the lady from the moving company had pointed out some blanks we had left. These two things, delayed considerably my packing start.

Must say that counting with precision the number of knives, baking trays and underwear I have is not my dream, but apparently insurance companies are imposing new policies and off we were detailing our insurance list.

Due to all the above, I was only able to go into my room for packing much later, way later than planned, but never mind, at least the day today, was in line with this move, where nothing, absolutely nothing, I mean NOTHING has been smooth. We are having glitches in every aspect of the move. I mean, EVERY ASPECT of this move. Everybody is being very kind and polite with it all but nobody has ever been part a move to Angola, including us. No dogs have ever gone from Asia to Angola, at least not in recent recorded history, Alice & David could not come for the farewell party, the vet has never sent an animal to Angola, Joel's company has never sent a family to Angola, a melanoma was found in me and I had to go for 2 minor operations and so on... we are being guinea pigs and my friends, I tell you, you soon learn to add a considerable number of extra hours to have anything decided/ finalized!!

Concerning our travel itinerary from HK to Luanda, we are already in our plan C, i.e. our third itinerary. The first and quickest would be via Johannesburg, but going through South Africa meant Carlota would stay 28 hours in her box, leaving it just for a quick pee and poo. Then, itinerary # 2 was via London. Everything was ready for us to fly via Heathrow, including Alice spending the 12 hours of connection there with us, when we learned British Airways does not take boxers in their flights. So now, we are flying via Frankfurt and praying that the 1st leg, HK/ Frankfurt, does not delay, because we will have only 2.5 hours in Frankfurt to go through customs, meet Carlota, take her for a pee and poo and deliver her back for the second leg, Frankfurt/ Luanda. I'll tell you later how the connection went.

Anyway, going back to my packing... so there I was, in my room, looking at my closet with that "I want my mother" type of look... seriously not knowing what to pack and what to leave for the packers. To break my despair, I decided to turn on CNN to update myself a bit. I haven't been able to hear news and therefore am a bit un-knowledgeable on recent facts. About 10 minutes after I turned on the TV, CNN had a commercial break and voila... a beautiful advertisement on Angola never seen before nor after (CNN is still on, I want to see the add again)! I just couldn't believe and of course my eyes were filled with tears. What a positive support it was coming to me at the very right minute... coincidence or Godincidence?

Time to leave HK is getting closer and closer!!

Ai ai ai ui ui ui time to leave HK is right here, knocking at our door. We're taking off May 7th. Ouch, this will be quite a task to accomplish!

Well, in my mind it works kind of like this. When you allow yourself to go into a gypsy life - style, you must be prepared for many good byes/ hellos and quite frankly, I think I can deal with that ok. Of course, someplaces are much harder than others. For many different reasons, HK will be a difficult one and today's posting I'll focus on one of these hard aspects, the city itself.

It's indeed a fascinating place to be in. Small as nowhere else I have lived in:
- you are ALWAYS sharing your space, whether it's out on the streets, in the elevators, supermarkets or inside your home... there is always someone there, right there,
- polluted as it could not be (but much better than other places in China),
- fluent on a damn hard language to learn (but thank goodness it's bilingual, English and Cantones) and
- there is always a road work on the go.

However, inspite these complicated aspects and more, living here was AB-SO-LU-TE-LY fantastic and yes, we will miss HK terribly much!

I don't think I could word why it's so good to live here... it's a whole bunch of things together, like
- the many cultures that meet here in such civilized way, leaving us with wonderful life long friends,
- a wonderful public transportation system that includes a sweet double decker tram and a mega long (800 m long, 135 vertical metres) urban outdoor escalator,
- modern and old architecture,
- a very fast pace for everything,
- high tech,
- old Chinese culture,
- back dark alleys (quite often smelly),
- restaurants for all pockets serving food from all over the planet...

... I don't know what it is..., I guess I could simplify it by just saying... I so love it's mood and will miss it terribly much!

Just as I am sure I'll miss HK, I'm also sure I will have many memorable memories of Luanda, when time to leave Angola comes to us. We've been in contact with quite a few people who have either lived or are living there and the reports are all good and that is very encouraging. Amen!

Thanks Hong Kong, for receiving us with wide open arms and making sure we felt totally at home from day 1!

Funny or am I really getting old?

Ok, here is my big doubt, am I getting really old or what?

So, my friend Priscila is turning 40 and decided to have a big party. She suggested that the guests who were in the mood could dress up as hippies or 70's. Most friends had to go down to the good old " Pottinger St, aka as "The Steps" in Central HK, to buy stuff for the party.... as for me, all I had to do was to open my closet and choose from my "hippieish younger days outfits", what to wear. These outfits were once part of my everyday life and because, like my skirt, we've had so much history together, I haven't had the heart to give them away and the most deared ones were kept. LOL!

Joel had just landed back from Angola, so was not yet ready for all the dress up, so he went as himself.

Oba!! He will be home for lunch tomorrow!

Oba, my Darling husband will be home tomorrow, in time for lunch. A special desert (the one he loves best) is already in the fridge and the whole flat is in a "welcoming" type of mood (or so I hope, LOL).

I'm so very happy to have him back after the stressful 3 weeks we've had, which were much more stressful for him than for me. Nothing was easy for the poor man, so although we still have 1 million things to decide within the next few days, at least we will be together, looking eye to eye and inside our comfort zone, that even though it's constantly changing, it's the one we have and the one we know, so, it's working for now.

Welcome home Darling Joelito!

The Global Village and my Parents

My Darling Parents, José Carlos & Stila

If you've read my blog on Shanghai, you probably remember my comment on the surreal moment at the Brazilian Restaurant. After posting that entry, I got thinking how true this is, our world is indeed becoming smaller and smaller. Of course, not in real distance, because going from HK all the way to Rio de Janeiro to hug and kiss dear family and friends, takes anything from 32 to 38 hours, which is nothing compared to what my Portuguese ancestors took to go from Lisbon to Asia in late 15th century, but still, huge amount of hours to reach the opposite side of the planet. However, despite these geographical facts, people are not intimidated and they go up and down, moving East and West, North & South, quickly mingling with everybody they come across with.

The other day I was having lunch with some Brazilian ladies in one of the islands here in HK. At some point of the lunch, I started chatting with my friend's mother, who was visiting her also from Rio. After a couple of questions, we both discovered that she lived literally behind my parents in the huge city of Rio de Janeiro, which is located in a huge Country called Brazil. That on its own, is already a coincidence. But that is not all. When I was leaving the party, I suggested the lady to call my mom when she got back, because they're both of similar age and could go do stuff together. She agreed to it and started taking mom's details. I first gave the proper address, then the phone number and for last, I gave mom's name.

For those of you who don't know her, mom has a VERY unusual name, "Stila". I've only seen her and the cosmetic brand. So, when I told the lady "Stila Coelho de Sousa", the lady stops writing, looks into the air, quickly frowns her forehead and with a vague voice, she says... "hum... Stila... I remember having lunch at a Stila's house, back in 1973 in London... she was the wife of a Brazilian admiral posted in London". After collapsing and having a heart attack, I got back on my feet and said, "... so you had lunch at home"!

Can you believe it? This lady had been to our home, back in the 70's and there we were, having lunch together in one of the many islands HK has, so far away both from Rio and from London, thirty odd years later!!

Stories like this, are not my prerogative. We all have our own stories and that is really cool!

As I get ready for this move to Angola, which by the way will be my 21st "home sweet home", I stop to thank my parents. They did a pretty good job, engraving in my veins an adventurous fearless spirit that has helped me tremendously throughout life. I started this gypsy life at the age of 3 months old and till this day, this is the only life I've known. It's not bad nor good, it's just a fact and because of the diversity exposed to me, weird stuff tend to be not so weird after all!

That doesn't mean that my moves are all trouble or pain free... seriously, not at all, ... but I have learned with my parents (sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail terribly) not to turn the problems into "divas" feeding it until it becomes huge and out of control. Thanks mom & dad and trust me on this one, I'll need this spirit I inherited from you, as we move to Angola, LOL!