Our African Adventure

London and the overseas experience overall

London was beautiful. The weather was fantastic, being free to walk around where ever I wanted and still feel safe and eat whatever I wanted was even better. Lots of wonderful sights to see and things to do and shopping around every corner. I thought Luanda was an expensive place to be but London is very high as well especially compared to the US. I will never complain about a $10 steak or a meal that cost my entire family $50-$60 USD because that is nothing compared to where I live and where I have visited. I also think I have finally gotten used to the very, very, very slow life style here in Luanda. In London I always felt like I was being ran over or made to rush to do everything. People were always in a hurry and running. There were a few people that we had encounters with and we felt they were very rude. Maybe not rude in their culture because I felt that was how they acted towards each other but coming from the US it felt rude to me. I realize the differences in cultures a lot more now that I have lived and been to different places. I remember when my maid was yelling at my driver over the phone and I asked him if she was mad and he said no. Kenny told me later that is how they talk to each other. Now the people that I think of in the US that I have encountered and thought they were rude is really nothing compared to what I have experienced in the last 5 months. I know that once we leave Luanda in 1-2 years I will be a different person, my expectations will have changed dramatically. It's funny because in the US if I had something wrong with my house I would expect someone to come out the same day and fix the problem the first time. Living in Luanda I hope that I can get someone to my house within a couple of weeks and I never expect the problem to be fixed the first time they come out. If someone tells me they will come out today I do not expect them to show up until the next day. :-)

Even the boys have changed a lot since being here. The way they talk, I can hear different ways they say things now. The way Jared says mommy is different and for trash they usually say rubbish because that is what everyone calls it here. Also, instead of saying they need to go to the bathroom or restroom they say they need to go to the toilet. They have learned a little Portuguese...mostly phrases for hello, thank you, how are you, bathroom, monkey, dog, house, school, and several other words. They both have Portuguese lessons in school and I am sure they will get even better at it. I am getting used to living here and it is not nearly as bad as it was my first month here. It is still a little frustrating when you go shopping so I avoid it as much as possible. Today I went to get some ketchup to make BBQ sauce and I went to 2 stores and neither of them had ketchup. In the beginning I would have went to 3 other stores looking for it but today I just said oh well we will have to have something else. We have learned to make due with what we have for sure. ;-)

Thursday-Bus Tour London Part 2

After the Parliament House we went to Westminster Abbey, drove past St. Paul's Cathedral, and over the London Bridge to the Tower Bridge.

This is inside St. Margaret's church

St. Pauls Cathedral

St. Pauls

Tower Bridge

London Bridge and the Belfast ship to the left.

Up in the tower of the Tower Bridge

Inside the engine room of the Tower Bridge.

And that is all of London that we seen. We had a lot of fun!!

Thursday in London & the Big Bus Tour

Thursday Kenny was off most of the day so we went on the Big Bus Tour to see all the sights of London. First we went to the Marble Arch and Trafalgar Square.

Bus tour. I didn't realize how much I missed the fall colors.

Not sure what this statue represented but it was pretty cool. It was by the Marble Arch.

Marble Arch

US Embassy

Buildings around town

Street that Hamley's Toy store was on....off Oxford street.

Ship in a bottle at Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square

These lions were made out of cannons.

Jared was trying to climb on the statue in the picture above (after being told not to :-)) and he bit his tongue pretty bad.

From here we walked through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards.

The arches that lead to St. James Park and Buckingham Palace.

Captain James Cook

St. James Park

Loved the fall colors and the crisp air.

See me now.....Jacob

Jacob and Jared

I wonder where they get it from. :-)

Jared...sweet boy. He is getting so big and acts even bigger. :-)

I can not believe my baby is already 5 years old. :-(

It didn't last long.

Jacob....I can not believe he is already 8 years old. He is still just as sweet and rotten as he was at 2 years old. He cares so much for people and never wants to see anyone hurt or upset.

This picture shows his ornery side like his papa's. :-)

These two pictures make the boys look like they are best friends (which they are) but it looks like they never fight or argue ever (which they do a lot).

Jacob took this picture of Kenny and I at St. James Park and it turned out great.

Part of the band coming from the changing of the guards.

In front of Buckingham Palace

The guard at Buckingham Palace

The boys acting silly waiting for the changing of the guards.

The band marching in.

Changing of the guards.

Buckingham Palace

The changing of the guards was good to see...but I don't think I would go back if I went to London again. It was a lot of marching around and band playing and about 2 seconds of the changing and it took about 30 mins but you had to be there about 45 mins. before it started to get a semi good spot.