For the first time since Angola closed its borders, I awoke the morning of Thursday the 26th of March with the sense that the time to go home was approaching, though I still had no clue how to make it happen. The events of that day were significant to the goal of my “vision trip.” My journal capture most of the day’s thoughts and events.
I think it may be time to go home…
I went to the school to continue painting the chalkboard texture on the walls with a bubble/cloud edge. Herivaldo came and watched and played music.
We stopped for lunch – rice with some meat, potatoes, and African potatoes. Afterwards, instead of just going back to work, I sat with the group of students on the couch. They asked me some things and I tried out some Portuguese, which pleased them and me. It finally dawned on me that they gather at the couch after meals, and I’m glad I stopped to be with them.
I went back to work after that. I sang “How Firm a Foundation” to myself. When it started raining, two girls from the neighborhood came and watched and listened to a few verses. They left when it stopped raining.
Herivaldo came back after a while, and I had him fill in where I had painted the edges. I sang “Take Me Home, Country Roads” which had particular meaning to me right now.
He asked about where I was born and other things. He said he had heard about Kansas and Texas from movies. He also asked if Sin City was Los Angeles, since I mentioned it and New York were maybe bigger than Luanda. I said Sin City was Las Vegas, and why it was called that, and how difficult it must be for good people to live there.
While we were working, Herivaldo asked me what my “spiritual gifts” were. I said I hadn’t really thought much about it. He said his gift was natural leadership. And then he said he thought mine was being a servant. He said a servant doesn’t talk much but is willing to help. That meant a lot to me. I talked about my teaching goals and how I had not been able to contact anyone who could help me.
I asked him how he thought I could be a servant to those in and around the OM base, and to the Luchazi people. He mentioned that I could teach painting and that young people around there want to learn skills. He said I could teach all kinds of technical skills and just help people.
Basketball
When we had finished working and talking, we cleaned up and walked back across the bridge toward the main house. Mission student Ricardo was alone on the basketball court, and he motioned that we should play a little one-on-one. Though my dad was a basketball star in high school, it was never my forte. The court was made of loose sand, which made dribbling unpredictable at best. And Ricardo was half my age. I didn’t stand a chance, but I played my best and had a fun time at it. In the end, I lost 12 – 8 and suffered a badly jammed thumb that took a year to heal. Afterward at the main house, I put some frozen fish on my thumb while Ricardo and I recounted our game to the others, though neither of us could speak the other’s language.
The basketball court
Strict lockdown incoming
I learned at dinner that evening that Angola was going on strict internal lockdown for 2 or 3 weeks. Group meetings would be restricted and business hours reduced. All travel would be severely limited, including domestic flights and overland travel.
I went to charge the satphone, and I realized that the battery and solar panel were left outside for at least 2 days in the rain. Wiped them off, and the battery still works, praise the Lord!
Barianne told me she was proud of me for sitting with the group of students after lunch, because she could tell that was not really my nature. She said the group really appreciated it, and it broke the ice, and they felt they could open up. I sincerely thanked her for her comment.
In his evening comments to the group, Herivaldo said that he was impressed with how I have been different from other guests. Like how I join in with life here, use my fingers for the “funge” like they do, and how in general he likes the way I have behaved. That really spoke to me, because that’s one thing I wanted for this trip – to stand out in a good way.
With all that’s happened today, I finally feel clear to go home. Now I need to find out how. The local lockdown starts tomorrow at midnight, so time’s running out. I need to send an email to the US embassy tonight, or I need to call the emergency # and wait until someone answers… I need it to stop raining so I can go to the field to call…I will get ready in expectation of that…Possibly a flight tomorrow to Luanda, but I want to reach the embassy before I do that.
Friday
Wessel had been using his contacts in Angola to glean information, and he was making calls of his own. Once he actually got someone on the phone at the embassy. He said that he told them, “I’m an American trying to get home.” Hearing those words in his accent made me laugh out loud.
I finished the chalkboard walls before lunch. I would like to do the edges of the red floor before I leave. Then they can paint the ceiling without worrying about drips and fill in the floor later. After lunch it rained the hardest that I’ve seen it here. It is beautiful and impressive.
Welcome to Angola 