The three
months that I spent in the States were a bit of a blur. After Adam and I said,
“I do” and the chaos surrounding the wedding calmed down, we began preparing
for our trip back to Angola. We started by making a list of all of the
essential items in the States that we couldn’t get and also those items that
were a bit too pricey for our liking
in Luanda.
Angola has just about everything that a person
could need. However, there isn’t much
of a variety and everything is A LOT more expensive. It seems strange, I know.
Most people would expect for things to be dirt cheap considering it is a third
world country, but in reality, it is quite the opposite. Luanda is the most expensive city in the world. For example, we bought
a few plastic hangers for our clothes. In the States, a pack of eighteen
hangers may cost $3. Now prepare
yourself. In Luanda, a plastic hanger is the equivalent of $2 PER hanger.
Face wash is another perfect example. There are a variety of brands of face
wash in the States, and it is easy to find a bottle of cleanser for under $5.
Apparently they don’t wash their faces in Luanda because most stores don’t even
carry it, and if they do, there is usually just one brand that runs about $28 a
bottle. Mind blown. And don't get me started on sunscreen. A bottle of sunscreen in the States may cost $8 but in Luanda it costs around $35. In the States, people pay a ridiculous amount of money to "fake bake" and now I am going to have to pay a ridiculous amount of money to keep my pale skin light.
Prices
aren’t the only reason we chose to take items from the States. Luanda doesn't have everything that we want and need. Because of my two-month trial period
in Luanda, I knew that I needed to pack my own hair products. Five minutes in
the African heat and my naturally curly hair is having a party.
Anti-frizz/calming serum has managed to tame the out of control party. I also knew
that dental floss, bug spray, tampons, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, and Tylenol among other
things would need a place in my suitcase.
After
packing our clothes and the necessities that were either non-existent or too
expensive in Luanda, we decided to tackle our wedding gift problem. We had
spent a lot of time registering for gifts and carefully selecting each one
based on its “packability.” We wanted to take as many wedding gifts as possible
to help turn our place in Luanda into a home. Adam took one look at our
guestroom that was filled with the items I wanted to take and said, “You think
you are taking all of that with us?” I was confident that my type A
personality, Adam’s Gold Star status, large suitcases, and plenty of vacuum
seal bags would help me get everything to Luanda. And they did just that. I was
able to pack the pillows, curtains, rugs, frames, vases, a comforter, and
towels into four oversized suitcases weighing about 75kg a piece. Thank goodness for the invention of roller suitcases. Adam
flies so frequently that his miles have earned him a Gold Star status with the
airline. The best part about his status, we were able to travel with all four bags FOR FREE!
With our
bags packed, we were ready to make the long trip back to Luanda. I was
originally dreading the flight seeing as the trip home was a complete disaster, but the dread quickly changed to excitement when I learned that we
would be changing up our flight pattern. We decided to take a direct flight
from Houston to Luanda on a chartered flight through the oil companies. No
foreign airports, no long layovers, I was elated!
Fourteen
hours and fourteen minutes later, we landed in Luanda. The dirt and shacks that
had been so shocking to me before were now welcoming. I knew that we were home.
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