Hold onto your hats...

...TAAG has finally been lifted off the EU Black List and can fly into the EU once again. Only took two years! Don't expect them to adhere to any fancy departure and arrival schedules, though.

Direct flight USA - Angola?!

According to AngoNoticias, in September Delta Airlines is to begin a twice weekly flight to Luanda. The flight will originate in Atlanta and stop in Ilha do Sal, Cabo Verde before heading to Luanda.

In my opinion, it is a huge mistake to make Atlanta the US city of destination. I mean, it's not like Houston is a strategic city of interest to Angola, right? Yeah, I know Atlanta is the hub city for Delta and I clearly have a bias in favor of Houston. (In December I had the misfortune of Delta cancelling a flight, forcing me to stay in Atlanta.) Heck, there's not even an Angolan consulate in Atlanta to submit an application for a visa you will never get...

American Airlines: The TAAG of US airlines

I like to think I'm an easy-going person. Living in the developing world has taught me a great deal of patience and appreciation for people who have to work with limited resources. However, it has not taught me patience for American Airlines.

For the second time in 3 months, American Airlines has lost my luggage. The first time was during my tranfer from Angola to the DR. Apparently it was "lost" in Miami, which is pretty strange considering the flight there had been delayed over 5 hours, so they should have had plenty of time to put it on the plane. I didn't get it until a few days later which, in their defense, was due to a ticketing error (too long explain) that was made by British Airways in Angola, but would not have affected the arrival of my bag.

This time was much more frustrating. In spite of calling ahead the day before to make sure my flight was leaving on time, I arrived at the airport at 6:20 for my 7:45 flight to discover that the flight had been delyaed until 12:45. It wouldn't have had made sense to go to the office for just one hour, so I just sat in the Santo Domingo airport. (There's not much there, but they do have decent coffee and free wi-fi, so I was happy.) We finally left and upon arrival in Miami I picked up my bag as is required, went through customs and set the bag off to Kingston. Again, apparently 4 hours is not enough time to sort baggage and my bag did not make it on the flight. Hopefully it will show up today.

Since I only had one bag and I arrived much later than was scheduled (6 hours) and everything was closed, I asked the representative about the free hygiene kits I had seen him pass out to people in the line ahead of me. (There were at least a dozen other people in my situation.) He shook his head and said that he had run out. This was frustrating because I had lost my only bag- with all of my toiletries, clothes and work papers- but the people who had received hygiene kits had lost only one of a number of bags. I don't want to deny anyone their generic toothpaste and plastic comb, but to be turned away with nothing at 10:30 at night was a little frustrating.

In theory the bag will arrive today on the first flight, which arrives in a few hours. I checked the online located and according to the site the bag has still not been located. Wonderful. Hopefully this is not the case and the computer is wrong! Otherwise I will have to shell out some money for clothes, because I really can't wear this shirt for another day!

UPDATE, 2:30 PM: After repeated calls to the airport, can't get through to anyone. However, according to on-line baggage status, the bag has arrived in Jamaica. Good news, but I'll believe it when I see it!

Oh, the hilarity...

I wish this article was in English. The title is "'TAAG Shouldn't Even Be on the Black List,' Laments Luís Brandão [Minister of Transportation]"

Em entrevista quarta-feira ultima a Radio Nacional de Angola (RNA) Luís Brandão disse que “a última palavra é dos europeos. Para nós, a TAAG nem deve estar na lista negra.”

Rough translation: In an interview with Radio Nacional de Angola last Wednesday Luis Brandao says that "the final word [whether TAAG is allowed to fly in EU airspace] lies with the Europeans. According to us, TAAG shouldn't even be on the black list."

...Em Julho passado, Bruxelas anunciou a inclusào da TAAG na lista negra da UE por motivos de falta de segurança, depois do Comité de Segurança Aéreo, uma semana antes, ter aprovado por unanimidade uma decisão neste sentido.

...Last July, Brussels announced the inclusion of TAAG on the black list of the EU due to lack of security after the Air Security Agency, one week earlier, had approved unanimously this decision. [Emphasis mine]

Hee! Really, it's quite funny. Maybe Mr. Brandão should remind the EU that it's the carry-on bags that are causing the problem, not so-called "security problems." And come one, what do these "experts" on these EU "Air Security Agencies" really know that TAAG doesn't?

The visa saga continues...

(Part 1 of 3)

Two weeks ago I sat down and counted out the days left on my visa- I had fewer days left than I thought I did so I had to get out of the country within two weeks. It didn’t make sense to pay a lot of money to go to South Africa or Zambia, so my supervisor and I decided it made the most sense for me to go visit our programming partner in Cunene and run across the border to Namibia for a few hours.

I got on the direct flight from Benguela to Ondjiva (the capital of Cunene province). The flight was scheduled to leave from the smaller airport in Catumbela, which is 30 minutes away from Lobito. For some reason that’s not clear to me (like so many things here), you must check in and go through immigration control at the Benguela airport (1 hr from Lobito), then drive to the Catumbela airport to wait.

You might remember my visa fiasco from the last time I flew out of the Benguela airport. (Quick recap: Angola has immigration checks on all domestic flights. Two Benguela immigration officials are convinced, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, that I am in gross violation of my visa.) Immediately after that run-in, Elisabeth, the head of our HR department, called some provincial government big-wigs, all of whom agreed that I was correct. The provincial people assured us that it would not be a problem in the future. We should have known better.

Just my luck, the exact same two officials who tried to arrest me last December were the ones on duty last Wednesday as I was leaving for Cunene. Great. Sure enough, they recognized me and my visa and once again threatened to arrest me and, in a new twist, fine me. Their supervisor happened to be there, so the called him over and explained their side of the story. This was frustrating because I have a feeling that had he looked at the visa on its own, he would have come to a different conclusion, just like every other immigration agent I’ve encountered in this country. Now that the three of them were against me, I plead my case, telling them in a polite way that Elisabeth called the provincial government officials and had the situation resolved. They didn’t believe me (!!!) so I called Elisabeth and gave the phone to the supervisor to talk to her.

The supervisor was reasonable enough, but not enough to be fully reasonable. He explained to Elisabeth that she had called the wrong people (even though they were the people they told us to call the last time). The three people then began to argue about what to do; the two original ones wanted to take me in, but the supervisor luckily won out and I felw out to Cunene because we showed evidence that we were trying to resolve the problem. “But you’ll have a serious problem when you try to come back in the country! Vai ver! You’ll see!” (Ha! They didn’t give my visa a second look at the border checkpoint.)

The bad news is that they DID make it very clear that if I showed up again without a written declaration from the people they indicated to us, I would be arrested and fined, no exceptions. That means that this latest trip to Cunene might have been my last, unless we can get this letter. It also means that I will have to drive to and from Luanda, which takes about 6 – 7 hours.
So, if I can’t fly in and out of Benguela, then how did I get back home from Cunene? A trip from hell, as evidenced in the following post.

TAAG - Mystery of the EU Ban Solved

(Part 2 of 3)

Because there are two immigration agents in the Benguela airport out to get me, I was unable to make the trip from Cunene to Benguela via air. There is major flooding in Cunene and the roads leading to the north, which were in horrible condition in the first place, are now totally inaccessible. My only option, therefore, was to fly to Luanda and then drive back to Lobito: meaning that a trip that usually takes 1 hour by air would take two full days.

The only available flight to Luanda the Friday I was scheduled to leave was on TAAG. You might know TAAG as the nationalized airline that crashed a plane in Mbanza Congo on they same day that they were put on the black list and banned from flying in the European Union. (A twist of fate that could only happen in Angola.) Needless to say, I was not excited, but the only way to avoid TAAG was to wait until Wednesday. I just had to suck it up and hope for the best.

Check-in was to begin at 6:30 for a 9:30 flight, so I got there at 7 am. Checked in without a problem, especially since I didn’t have any bags to check. 9:30 came and went. 11:00 came and went. Finally around noon, I went to the TAAG window and asked for information about the flight. “Has it left Luanda?” “Oh yes, it has.” “Really? When did it leave? When will it arrive?” “Oh, I don’t know. Soon.” Helpful.

Finally, around 3:30, the plane arrived from Luanda. There was a mad rush to the door and out we went onto the tarmac. There was a hold-up getting on to the plane; the airline people weren’t allowing anyone on board with their carry-on bags. For some reason they didn’t say anything to me, and I managed to get to the stairs. A baggage handler ran over and stopped me from getting on. “You can’t get on with any bags!” I asked for an explanation and was told that the crew in Luanda and second city on the route hadn’t complied with the carry-on restrictions, so they weren’t letting any people carry things on in Cunene. I said as calmly as I could, “TAAG has made me wait for six hours. I refuse to have to wait any more because of a mistake you made.” He still insisted- no apology, of course- and grabbed my carry-on. Assuming it was finished, I started to go up the stairs to the plane. “No, I need the other one too!” He was referring to my purse! Pretty ridiculous, if you ask me. I explained that I had my camera, wallet, passport, and money in there- if he was willing to sign a paper listing every single item with its value and be held responsible, then I would give him the bag. Finally succumbing to reason, he let me on the plane with my purse.

The flight attendant was not as “helpful.” Sure enough, all the overhead bins were in use, so I put the purse underneath the seat in front of me. For some reason, the flight attendants wouldn’t let anyone have anything underneath the seats, so she said she would put my purse in the back of the plane. I refused because, as I said, I had my camera, passport, etc and didn’t want it out of my sight. “Senhora. It’s because of these carry-on bags on the floor that we got citations and were put on the black lists in Europe!” I looked at her and just laughed. Oh, it’s the CARRY-ON bags that banned TAAG from the EU!? Mystery solved!

Her solution was as inane as her comment. He asked the man sitting across the aisle to get out of his seat and move to another one. She put my purse in the empty seat and strapped it in with the seat belt. The woman sitting next to me said, “You won’t let her put in under the seat so you put it on top of the seat?!” Glad to know I wasn’t the only one astounded by the whole thing.

A Tale of Two Visas

I’m currently in Zambia, assisting the country program here on a large, multi-million dollar proposal they are writing for USAID. (More on that later.) It’s always interesting to get out of Angola and do a little bit of comparing between it and other African countries. What sticks out the most right now is the way the two countries handled tourist/ordinary visas.

The visa I have now for Angola is a multiple entry visa that is good for 2 years, with stays of up to 90 days. In other words, until I get my work visa I must leave every 90 days and am technically a “consultant” according to my employer in Angola. (Consultants are allowed to perform work in Angola on an ordinary visa because they are technically not residents.) This is how it must be done until I get my work visa. Work visas are even slower to process than other visas, so it’s sort of an open secret in Angola that many foreigners- NGO employees, oil workers, whoever- use these ordinary visas in the meantime. The ordinary visa differs from country to country- the one I have is specific to the US, apparently. My visa expires in July, so I hope to get my work visa before then. If not… who knows what will happen!

I’ve entered and left Angola several times on this visa. Each time the immigration official looks at each and every entry and exit date, sees that I am in compliance and lets me go through. I’ve never had a problem… until Thursday.

If there was any doubt that Angola used to be a Soviet-backed state, then the internal immigration controls should erase it. Every time I or any other foreigner flies domestically, we must present our passport and visa. It’s a pain, but not such a big deal. Thursday I flew from Benguela to Luanda. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m currently using my expired passport containing my valid Angola visa, attached (via paper clips) to my current, valid passport. When the immigration folks took a bit longer than usual to authorize me to fly, I assumed it was because of the passports. The female official began to ask me how many times I’ve entered and left Angola. I answered honestly, that it has been several times, but that the last entry was on 25 Oct so I was in compliance

Then all confusão broke loose! The woman explained to me that I have been in Angola for more than 90 days. According to her, the visa that I have is valid for ONE 90-day stay in Angola, to be used between the dates printed on the visa (between 17 July 2006 and 17 July 2007), and during those 90 days, I could come and go as I pleased. Let's say I came to Angola for one week then went back to the US- according to her logic, I would only have 83 more days to come back to Angola. According to her, since I had clearly been in Angola for a grand total of more than 90 days, I was breaking the law.

I pointed out to her that the date on the visa was for 2 years, and that it was for multiple entries of 90 days each. She wouldn’t budge, however, and called her colleagues over to confirm. She explained her position to them, and they all nodded their heads in agreement.

At this point, I was completely dumbfounded. Either my employer, the Angolan Consulate in Houston and immigration officials in Cunene and Luanda are ALL completely wrong, or this band of paper-pushers in Benguela who are paid to know these visas simply do not know the visas. This is a common problem in Angola. People who are paid to enforce the laws- police, bureaucrats, state lawyers- don’t usually know the laws of the country. Luckily I’ve avoided any real problems associated with this ignorance up until now.

I was getting very upset and angry. One moment I was taking deep breaths to not burst out into tears and the next moment I was trying my hardest to stop rolling my eyes and not say anything to insult them. (How do you tell someone they don’t know how to do their job? It ain’t easy!) I supposed it’s possible that they are right- but how would I have slipped by so many other officials for over a year? Unlike other countries I’ve been in, Angola is very serious about who they let in their country and how they monitor them. (My employer must send a copy of my passport, visa, and entry stamps to a local immigration office every month.)

Luckily, my favorite driver, Manuel, was with me. Manuel has helped me out with visa problems at the Benguela airport before. He knows all the people and has a very nice, calm way of not taking crap from anyone. I decided to follow his cue and simply stop talking and crossing my arms. It seemed to work. They backed down on their threat to take me into custody (my second threat of being taken into custody in this country!) and let me go. As they stamped my ticket, they said that I had to call their immigration headquarters in Luanda and get an explanation. Yes folks, if they don’t know the law, it’s YOUR responsibility to call THEIR supervisors and get an explanation.

I was very upset about this. I like Angola but sometimes the hassles overwhelm you and you just want to scream. That, coupled with a 4 am wake-up call in order to make check-in at the airport in Luanda, put me in bad mood on my way to Zambia. Zambia requires US citizens to buy a $100 visa, available upon entry to the country. During my last visit in July, I bought one that was good for 3 years. However, that was in my old, expired passport, so I assumed that I would have to buy a new visa.

When I presented my new passport to the immigration officer, he asked if I had ever been to Zambia before. When I said that I had, he asked about my old passport with the visa. I had it with me, so I presented it to him. He said, “Well, you shouldn’t have to pay for a new one. Let me just transfer it to your new passport. Is that okay?” I was floored by his flexibility and shocked at his politeness! It certainly restored my faith in bureaucrats. At least Zambian bureaucrats.

UPDATE: I wrote this last Sunday. In the meantime, my collegaues in Luanda and Benguela have visited the immigration supervisors in their respective cities and, indeed, have confirmed that the Benguela immigration officials' interpretation of my visa is incorrect. We'll see what happens next...

To the Baggage Handlers at OR Tambo International Airport

I’m sorry- really, I am.

When they told me I might have to wait up to 4 weeks to get my 3 suitcases, I automatically assumed the worst. I’ve heard many a rumor about theft in the Johannesburg airport- about wily workers who can get around suitcase locks and unmercifully take things like prescription medication.

But not you! Oh, how I was wrong. My suitcases arrived to Luanda on Friday, albeit a week later. When I finally got them in Lobito, not a thing was missing. So, thanks for not stealing. I appreciate it.

But I still will never take SAA to the US again.

South African Airlines is out to get me

South African Airlines is out to get me

I never considered myself to be an unlucky or lucky person- just normal luck, I guess. Lately though, the tide has turned for the worse. Last week during my return trip to Angola, I had possibly the worst luck I could have had.

My flight from Houston to Washington left late. I arrived with only twenty minutes to make my connecting flight to Johannesburg. I ran up to the gate with my boarding pass and they directed me to the ticket counter to get my passport verified once again. After anxiously waiting in line, I was finally called over to the agent, who promptly ignored me. As the people behind me in line sped past, I tried to get the woman’s attention. I like to think that I am a polite person, but perhaps I asked, “Excuse me, ma’am?” in a nasty tone because she responded, “You need to wait.” She was having a conversation with her supervisor, and all I could hear was, “…before we close the gate… passengers need to get off… unload bags… no more passengers on the plane.” What?!

Apparently, the plane was too heavy. They weren’t letting any more people on the plane- boarding pass/ticket or not- until they could resolve the weight issue. They found 12 suckers- sorry, I mean, volunteers- to give up their seats for a free ticket. (Having done this once before I know it is more of a hassle than it is worth.) As I finally boarded, they assured us that if we were on the plane, so were our bags, and we were, in fact, NOT going to crash into the Atlantic. Great!

We then proceeded to sit on the tarmac for an hour. No explanation, other than that we were experiencing some delays. We finally take off, and the 15 hour journey began. I was able to sleep a bit, which was nice. As we prepared to land, I looked at the “Local Time at Arrival” on the screen: 1520. Whoops! My flight to Luanda was scheduled to leave at 1550. I prepared myself for the worst.

As I ran to the international transit check-in lounge, I could see the TAAG screen on the monitor. Filled with hope, I ran up to the counter and presented my ticket. As I did, the TAAG logo changed to an Olympic Airways flight to Athens logo. The guy looked at me as if I were crazy and said, “That flight is already in the air.”

Somehow still calm, I checked in with the South African Airways people. The guy looked at my ticket and said, “We are not responsible for putting you up in a hotel because this is an illegal booking. There is only one hour for an international connection. Whoever did this is responsible.” With immense satisfaction, I showed him the address of the South African Airways office in Ft. Lauderdale that issued me the ticket.

They put me up in an acceptable hotel that was at one point nice, but by the time I got to it, it had passed its prime. By now, I realized just how stinky I was going to be the next day, because I had no change of clothes. Luckily I had saved the travel toothbrush from SAA, so I could at least brush my teeth.

As I checked in the next morning, the ticket agent asked about my bags. He took my claim tickets and said, “Okay, they’ll be fine.” Excellent! I don’t know if my body knew something before I did, but I began to feel ill and immediately ran to the bathroom, where I puked. In the end, I managed to get on the flight alright, feeling better.

Ah, the joy of arrival in Luanda. Always a genius, the Angolan government has decided to change the way you get your passport stamped. Unlike most other countries in the world, Angola no longer distributed custom forms on the plane for you to fill out with plenty of time. No, no! You must first get in line to show your proof of yellow fever shot to the agent in the airport- THEN get your customs form- THEN fill it out- THEN get in line for the immigration control. Of course there is only one agent with papers for the entire plane and crew, so you can imagine how long it must take.

I got through immigration with no problems, which was surprising. I got the little cart of my three bags- I paid US$180 extra in the US to have a third bag checked- and was relieved to be back in Angola and on my way home.

My relief was short-lived, for not long after I got to the baggage area did the handler com out yelling, “Acabou! Não tem mais! It’s over! No More!” As in, unloading of the flight’s baggage has finished and there are no more suitcases. Wonderful. I go to the claim line to fill out my form of missing baggage.

I got to the agent and he asked what happened. I said, “Perderam a bagagem. My luggage is lost.” He responded in a typical Angolan way: “Não, não se perdeu. Só que não veio. It’s not lost. It just didn’t come.” Of course he could give me no guarantees of when it would come or with which airline, so I was out of luck.

Trying to be positive, I thought, “Well at least I don’t have to check bag for my flight back to Lobito.” I went outside to meet the driver, and he said, “Hurry! The flight is supposed to leave in an hour! Check-in’s already closed!” I had nasty flashbacks to the last time this happened, but I just tried not to focus too much on the nice shower and change of clothes that was waiting for me.

Since I didn’t have any bags, they let me through without much complaint. The flight was 2 hours late, but finally at 1700 they called us for boarding and we got out onto the tarmac. We boarded the plane and started to move- about 100 meters. Then a flight attendant comes on the speaker and says, “O vôo está cancelado. The flight is canceled.” A minor uprising ensued, and several angry passengers demanded to know what was going on. We weren’t given an explanation, of course; just that it was canceled and we had to be at the airport the next morning at 5:30.

By then I was ready to burn my clothes. It was Thursday night and I had been wearing them since Tuesday. I had no deodorant, no conditioner, no other toiletries, nothing to sleep in. I was not happy. However, I was too tired and jet-lagged to really care, and at out guest house I fell asleep at 6:45 and slept until 5 the next morning.


From there, I didn’t have any more problems. My luggage has still not appeared. I don’t have any of the things I bought in the US- clothes, shoes, presents, medicines, toiletries, contact lenses, DVDs, etc- and the longer it takes, the less hope I have of seeing them. This happens a lot- I’m surprised it’s the first time it’s happened to me. I bought locks and put them on everything, but I’m sure the airport workers are smart enough to get around them.

I’ve not heard any info on where they could be. I suspect they didn’t make it on the flight I was on to Johannesburg, due to the weight issue and my delayed flight from Houston. However, SAA in the US can’t give my parents any information, and conveniently, the office in Luanda doesn’t have a phone.

Welcome back to Angola.

Luanda - Beijing on TAAG

Starting October 23, TAAG (the infamous national airline of Angola) will start a Luanda-Beijing route. (Link to article in Portuguese.) Unfortunately it's just a charter flight, but it's indicative of the growing relationship between China and Angola. According to my sources (sources = random people in my office prone to gossiping), it's so they can ship in more Chinese prisoners to build the railroad! (Gotta love China rumors.)

TAAG is also increasing their flights to Addis Abba and Dubai. No word on the Luanda-Houston route.

Human Error Cause of Mbanza Congo Crash

It's in Portuguese, but this article explains that after analyzing the black box of the airplane, pilot error cause the crash in Mbanza Congo. This confirms what Nate, who was on the plane, suspected. With this news, I don't know if I should feel safer or not!

Add one to the list of places I have cried in Angola

Sunset in Zambia. I did not cry here.

-My office

-My house

-The beach volleyball court

-In the car after getting stopped by the immigration cops

NEW!- Luanda domestic airport

My family will tell you I am a crybaby. During high school I was a mess and would cry at the drop of a hat. I mellowed out in college and later in life, but it seems to have all gone away in Angola. I don’t know if it’s the stress of living in Angola, but I seem to cry easily here and often in situations that don’t deserve the emotional effort required by shedding a tear. Sometimes they work to my advantage, especially in this macho society.

Angola is hard to fly in and out of. My training in Zambia ended on Friday and I left for Johannesburg early Saturday morning (got up at 4:45 am). My priorities in Jo’burg were shopping at the Eastgate Mall and seeing my SIPA friend Karena, who is working in Jo’burg. The mall was oh-so-nice, so I didn’t get a chance to take a nap before meeting Karena at her house before dinner. Dinner was a restaurant that had a floor for salsa dancing, so we stayed until around midnight dancing. I was quite pleased. However, this meant very little time for sleep, as I had to repack my suitcase with my new purchases AND get up at 5 am to catch my flight. I only had about 8 hours sleep in two nights before catching my flight to Luanda.

Why is this important? I was completely exhausted when I got to Luanda. I had been up since 5 am (on less than 3 hours of sleep), had a layover in Windhoek, Namibia, and all I could think of was getting home. I knew there was a good chance of me getting to Lobito in one day, so I was very excited about sleeping in my own bed and playing with my cat, Willie.

My bags were literally the last ones to be put on the luggage conveyor belt. I didn’t get out of the international airport until 2:20 pm. I thought the last flight left at 5 pm, but our frantic driver, Firmino, informed me that the flight was supposed to leave at 3 pm! Banking on the fact that every single one of the flights (international and domestic) I have taken in this country has left at least ½ hour late, I held hope that I would make it.

Getting into the ticketing area, there was no one at the check-in counter. We went to the migration check-point and the immigration guy waved us on, telling us that the Sonair check-in guy was in the passenger waiting room. Firmino went into the room to ask the check-in guy if there was still a possibility that I could get on the flight. Sonair Guy said that I could still check in, but that I had to hurry as the little busses that take passengers to the airplanes. Firmino rushes to get my bags from the hallway and bring them in. The guy in charge of the waiting room suddenly stops him and says, “You can’t bring those in here.” Firmino, whose job it is to make sure I get on the plane, hurriedly tries to explain that I have to get on the plane and tries to push pass. Waiting Room Guy gets an attitude and starts yelling in Firmino’s face. I try to intervene, because Firmino is getting angry and I sense trouble. I try the humble approach, “Oh sir, I’m so sorry, I just got in and my colleague here is just trying to help,” etc. etc. Waiting Room Guy wouldn’t even look at me, and continued to yell at Firmino. I notice another couple from the same flight I was on come in the waiting room, and Waiting Room Guy waves them on. Seeing this, Firmino tried to push past the guy, but Waiting Room Guy PUSHED Firmino away.

This is where I lost it. I had just been in Zambia, where people were so friendly and polite and here is this guy on an ego trip, preventing me from going home. He had no reason to get violent with my coworker; he just wanted to feel important. My desire to get home coupled with my exhaustion pushed me over the edge. The tear started rolling and didn’t stop. The embarrassing thing is that the room was full of people already staring at me thanks to the pushing.

However, this roomful of people jumped to my defense, restoring my faith in Angolans. “What SHAME!” shouted one woman. “Why are you making this poor woman cry? What are you gaining from this?!” Then, a well-dressed man walked up to Waiting Room Guy. He must have been an important chefe (big boss) because all he did was walk up to him and say, “You will let this woman and her bags get on the plane.” Waiting Room Guy suddenly got shy and said, “Sim, senhor.”

I got through and managed to get my bags and body to the tarmac in front of the buses taking passengers to the plane. The other people in my same position and I were just waiting in front of the buses- we were not being allowed on, but the buses (full of passengers) weren’t moving. After about 20 minutes we finally are allowed on the bus. A woman starts yelling, “This is disrespectful! You are holding us up for a foreigner! Passengers have rights!” This, of course, only started my tears again, which had only just stopped. Other people hushed the woman, but it still hurt. Ach. Made it on the plane and got some quality time with Willie before crashing at 8:30 pm.

Welcome home!

Plane crash survivor

When I found out I was coming to Angola, everyone at my grad school told me to get in tough with Nate. He graduated from SIPA a semester before I did and was working in Mbanza Congo (northern Angola) on a malaria project. I did, and he gave me excellent advice on living and working in Angola. We've kept in touch via email but have yet to meet face-to-face.

When I first heard about the crash (see previous posts), I immediately contacted him to see if he was okay. He wrote this in response:

"Actually, I was on the plane. It was pretty crazy, but I'm fine."

He keeps a blog and has this post about the experience and the aftermath.

Then we hit. All hope for a normal landing was out the door in a split second. We hit hard. The whole plane shook and the oxygen masks fell down. People started screaming. The landing gear must have broken at this point and we shot off down the runway with no brakes and out of control. Then I heard something hit the plane. I put my head down and covered it with my hands, with a vague feeling of waiting for something to hit me. I don’t remember anything after that until I felt the plane stop. I breathed a huge sigh of relief and looked up. The front of the plane was gone. I looked to my right and saw part of the plane blocking the aisle and the people on the other side unconscious with blood running down their faces.

It's terrifying. It shows the absolute worst of Angola. I've read it about three time s and still can't believe it.

MY complaints about the trouble this crash has caused me in trying to go home on vacation seem really insignificant after reading his post. Now, I hope this trouble is gone quickly just so Nate can get home. He deserves it.

One less Angolan airline to make me late

Photo of the accident from AngolaPress (ANGOP).

I doubt we'll be flying much TAAG again....

M'BANZA CONGO, Angola (Reuters) -- A Boeing 737 belonging to Angola's state TAAG airline has crashed in the northern city of M'banza Congo, killing at least six people and badly injuring others, Angola's ANGOP news agency reports.

Full English article here.

Portuguese articles here and here.

I wonder if the plane was one of the new ones that TAAG bought this year. They still haven't determined the cause of the accident, but apparently it happened as the plane was trying to land.

UPDATE: I hadn't even noticd, but I was scheduled on a TAAG flight from Luanda to London in September! No longer! Cross your fingers for my colleague Sandra, who still has to fly TAAG to Ondjiva on Sunday.

How Things Work Around Here: Angolan Airline Edition

Benguela Airport

This morning I got up at 5 am to get ready for my trip to Ondjiva. Check-in was at 7, but we had to pick up my colleagues and the airport is an hour away. We get to the airport at 7:15 and start to wait for the Gemini Airlines rep to come so we can begin check-in.

Around 8, the rep finally shows up. The following events took place:

Rep: I announce that as of today, the Luanda-Benguela-Ondjiva flight has been moved from 8 am to 1 pm. Come back at 11 for check-in.
Manuel Jose (my favorite driver): Why didn't you advise us of this change?!
Rep: Hey, you should have called the office to confirm the flight. That was irresponsible of you.
Manuel Jose: I DID call and confirm the flight, at 5 pm yesterday.
Rep: Oh. Um.
Manuel Jose: And you take down every passenger's name and phone number in case there are any changes, so you can call them and inform them of the changes.
Rep: That's just a formality.
Manuel Jose: This is very unprofessional.
Rep: Well, we weren't informed of these changes until 6 pm yesterday!
Manuel Jose: So you had plenty of time to call every one.
Rep: Yes.
Manuel Jose: But you didn't.
Rep: No. Of course not. You had to call and confirm the flight.

And so it goes....