A FEW WORDS ON THE SUBJECT OF OUR PLACE OF WORK

So, finally we arrived at our new home, and settled into our small house on the campus, as the school grounds are called in this international world we now inhabit. Life here is curious, very reminiscent of a Hippy commune in a lot of ways or an army post..... or a prison, depending on your feelings about sharing your life with a small group of previously unknown people.
Happily, most of the people we share this strange little expatriate bubble in Luanda with are very pleasant, civilized folk, so it works quite well. But it is strange, none the less.

General view of the school

We are surrounded by other brand new compounds, each more or less belonging to one oil company or another, and each as sterile as the other...... Somehow someone has managed to distill the idea of 'suburb" to its finest elements and reproduced them here in Luanda. Frankly, they are horrible. Tremendously desirable in one or two respects I suppose, but totally lacking in any sort of character. But, they are at least clean and have running water, electricity and drains, which in Luanda is quite something.

The school's Baobab tree......

The school is surrounded by a high wall, and guards - happily not armed - all over the place. It would be quite impossible to have any sort of secret love life with someone from another compound here, as everyone who enters the hallowed grounds of LIS (Luanda International School) has to sign in with the gate guards and is given a silly little lapel badge, saying "visitor" and then sign out when leaving.

Our sitting room, looking gloomy

There is not much to say about the school itself, it is a fairly typical international school, not tremendously good, and not bad either. About 270 kids of all nationalities, mainly the sprogs of higher level management in the various oil companies who are here. We start with kids not much older than two, and carry on up to 18, so it is a pretty complete school, I suppose, and for those in the educational know, it is an International Bac school, which is OK.

Our house, the one on the left, splendid, isn't it?

Lotty is working as the Middle Years Programme coordinator, which means she is responsible for all curriculum planning for the kids from about 11 to 16, a very full time job, I can tell you. Though she does have moments of free time, such as right now (she is off on a beach, learning to surf, I think). My work here is chiefly to do with computers, looking after them, helping teachers with any IT problems and generally being a sort of IT problem solver.... However, I am also gopher in Chief (going into Luanda to buy things for the school), general helper to any teacher who needs an extra pair of hands, and all round Man Friday.... In fact, it is one of the nicest jobs I have ever had.

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We are fed by the school during the week, only cooking at weekends, which I rather enjoy...Especially as the school meals are of a very high standard, if rather prone to chicken about 10 times a week.

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The down side of life here is that we cant easily get away from the place...... There is absolutely nothing within kilometers of the school, just compounds...compounds...compounds, all the same dreadful salmon pink colour...And that is it. So if we want to go somewhere, we are obliged to use one of the four school busses. As it can take up to 2 hours to get into Luanda proper, owing to the traffic jams, we tend to restrict such trips and do the best we can on campus... oh well...The wages are good.

So, that is our school..... I have not really got much to tell about it... it is simply a school, much like any other private school, full of good things and silly things.

The next instalement of this tale will be about my first ventures into the astonishing city of Luanda... now that is something about which I shall be able to write with passion. I love and hate the place. So, in another day or so, I shall lurch into that section of our life and times..... with pictures too! So come back and check this space again soon.