Luanda International School

We are so pleased that they have a school here that our kids can attend.
Most of the teachers are South African or British.
There are about 400 students total and that number has doubled in 2 years they say.
Gwen seems very happy here. She takes swimming once a week, music and art also.
She is very disappointed that she has no homework though.



This is a lovely view of the parking lot. Jana rides on the "high school" van. (the one behind the guy) Jay, Gwen and Maren ride on one of the longer white buses.
A Mom (or Dad) must be on the bus or van on the way to and from the school for safety purposes. Off in the background you can see a structure going up, it's a new auditorium I think.

around the compound

This is such a cool looking tree! I think they call it a imbondeiro tree.



our home!













This is a view straight from our driveway the very attractive white building is a hotel, it's where John stayed when he first got here. They have a resturant there and Tuesday's are Chicken Fried Steak night. Very popular amongst the older teens.

Sights of Luanda

Here is a typical street in a nicer part of town, how you tell it's a nicer part is that they have sidewalks and the roads are paved. On some streets you see people sweeping up all the dirt on the sides. We drive through a poorer neighborhood to get to the school and we see ladies out sweeping the dirt out in fron of their shops. There is always a pile of garbage in between the shops.
The public transportation is in the vehicles in the picture that is blue and white, they cram in like sardines and drive like crazy people. They use their horn like a blinker, I don't think that I have gone over 40 mph since I have been here traffic usually doesn't allow any faster.

This is a posh side of town, I don't know who lives in this area on the beach but it is not a compound each house has their own guard.

Did I mention that they have a slight garbage disposal problem. Today at church I saw first hand what may be a factor. 2 adorable three year olds were having their snack a juice box and crackers and when they were finished the went to the front door opened it and threw their garbage out the door!

Our compound, a view from the main road.

Church in Luanda

I cannot express the joy that I feel that the church is established here! We have now been here for 2 Sundays and have been warmly recieved by the members, even though we don't speak portuguese yet the have been very helpful to interperet for us. We sang Come, come ye saints today and I did my best to pronounce the words correctly, the Spirit was so strong and I was so grateful for the familiarity of the music.

This is primary. Jay gave a talk today on the Sacrament. Gwen is glad to have friends there that come and take her hand and lead her to primary.

This room is where Sacrament meeting is held. It is very loud, because the sound just bounces of the walls and floor. Thank heavens it is air conditioned!

This is right out front of the building. You can see the sign behind us. I should of taken a picture of the street, it has huge pot holes and is full of mud puddles because the people just throw their used water out into the street.

Here we are in Africa

We made it! It is everything that I expected with some nice surprises, like a grocery store that is big and clean and not to far from home. The kids are in social heaven, about 30 kids on the compound of all nationalities. Jay has about 7 kids his age and
Gwen has 5 kids her age on the compound. Jana has 2 boys and 1 girl her age and Maren has 2 girls her age. I have to say that I don't know if I like having them gone after school everyday but I think once homework starts up it will be differnt. And it is nice for them to make new friends.
The pictures are right out of our front door. The girl watching is the neighbors nannie. And the last picture is off of our balcony of the gorgeous ocean. I took it at about 5:00 pm.
I will post more when I have some more time! We would love to hear from you our internet is now working. Whoohoo!!