A New Place...
In the early planning stages of our trip we discussed a couple of ways to get from the airport in Luanda to our host house in Malanje… about 450 kilometers or 280 miles. Ultimately it worked out that a pastor from the East Angola Conference, Rev. Andre Cassule, would greet us at the airport and shuttle us to Malanje by car. Although it was a bit tight with Jeremy in the front seat hosting a large duffel bag on his lap and Kristen and I sharing the backseat with two large pieces of luggage, the trip was well worth any amount of discomfort. While all three of us dozed off and on and drifted in and out of conversations with Andre, the road-trip provided us an incredible opportunity to begin the process of fully understanding what we had each signed up for. The nature of the landscape held our attention each time we opened our eyes from our moments of rest and began to paint a portrait of the nuances of our host country. The roadside was dashed with stretches of wild, untamed lands, infinite signs of humanity in the roadside villages, and with hundreds of people navigating the road on foot.
Following a few stops to stretch our legs and take pictures, a lunch break at a road-side café (or as Kristen refers to it, a truck stop), and about six hours of travel, we arrived in the city of Malanje, our host city for the next 14 days.
Malanje is the capital city of the Malanje Province and home to nearly 220,000 Angolans. For United Methodists, Malanje marks the home of the East Angolan Conference as well as the home of the Malanje District. The Conference office, Bishop’s office, and district office are all situated on the Property of the Central United Methodist Church of Malanje.
Stoplights in this town are non-existent as is any sense of organized urban transportation, similar to urban travel in many other countries of the world. The main mode of transportation is by foot with scooters and motorcycles coming in a close second, and automobiles being ranked third. From what we hear, the cost of living in Malanje is a tad higher than it is in Luanda… primarily because of the great distance that ordinary commodities must travel. Housing costs range from $10,000.00 US to $80,000.00 to $200,000.00. The exchange rate, at least that we are getting from the Black-Market folks, is 10,000 Kwanza to $100.00 US… about 9,400 to $100.00 at the banks. A coke cost us about $1.00, a soccer ball $10.00, an ice cream cone $2.50, a gallon of gas $2.40, lunch for the 3 of us at a café $48.00, and a one day fee for a rental car is about $220.00.
Malanje is a very busy place… from the moment the sun comes up until late in the evening, people are navigating the city streets and going about their daily tasks. The streets are lined with houses, shops, banks, and a variety of official Angolan Government buildings. Since we have been here we have only seen one traffic accident and had one Jeremy v. Scooter incident that was a close call with no actual contact. Our host house in Malanje is owned by Ana Ingles and is about six blocks from the city center and the Conference office. The guest house that we are staying in is attached to Ana’s house, has 3 bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen area, and a large fenced/gated courtyard.
Trish is our head cook and is assisted with daily tasks by a woman name Tresa… we also have two canine companions for ‘protection’ and two security guards that take shifts tending to us during the day and sleep in a small room in the courtyard at night. While I appreciate their presence, I hot not yet felt insecure, but perhaps that is because of their presence :-). Malanje is an incredible place that offers a unique expression of life in Africa.
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