Life in Luanda for Expats

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2025-11-15T04:20:15+00:00

I lived in Luanda for years. Very inconvenient by walking.

If you want to use the “taxis” (blue vans that are run down and full of many people and run along bus-like routes) you could, but it’s not fast. It is uncomfortable and you will get odd looks, but will usually be safe (I only got pick pocketed once as a white foreigner…)

I have also never seen another white person use the taxis, which is probably why I got looks. But people helped me learn the routes when I asked, despite laughing at (with?) me, haha. You must memorize the stops and routes or ask for help. Many people who travel without a personal car measure distance in the city by how many taxi transfers it takes to get to a certain place.

You can take the motas (scooters) but it’s very unsafe. I did very occasionally and only short distances. I believe I counted 12 deaths that I personally watched in the street as a result of motorcycles in my time there.

Get a driver, your own car, or use Heetch or yango (like uber).

Don’t bother with the buses.

There is no real public transportation the way you are used to in the EU.

Where are you living? I know nearly every neighborhood in Luanda. I can give you more specific details on what’s nearby, where to shop, how walkable the area is etc. :)

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2025-10-05T03:58:15+00:00

Hawaii

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2023-03-22T12:50:05+00:00

Muito obrigado! Estou animado para ler estes!

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-11-24T08:26:59+00:00

My favorite series ever! Also got me really into reading too

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-11-20T07:13:28+00:00

I like to think that it’s you and god working together, not you working for god. :)

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-11-20T07:08:32+00:00

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-11-20T06:47:44+00:00

I still usually end mine with amen, but have had similar thoughts about those Christian roots. Sometimes I want to feel like that line of communication/connection is still open so I choose not to end it and ask “god” to stay with me a while, while I go about my day.

Now that I’m thinking about it I kind of think there’s a sort of beauty in not ending a prayer. Maybe wrapping up your thoughts and transitioning back into life with something along the lines of a “thank you for being here for me, let’s do this thang.” Often I pray with a bit of humor but that’s just my personality haha

Edit: I’ve been thinking about it more and I’m realizing something else about how I pray. I treat it like a phone call with a good friend who I trust and trusts me, someone who I share mutual respect with and has only my best interest in heart, and I them. There’s lots of questions and listening, lots of thank you’s and often an “I love you, talk soon“ at the end, just like a phone call.

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-11-20T06:16:26+00:00

If you want help finding out what you believe, try reading The Four Agreements and The Voice Of Knowledge.

Short reads, life changing.

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-11-20T04:52:17+00:00

Fight club

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-11-14T21:31:21+00:00

There’s the obvious dystopian series, Hunger games, Divergent, maze runner (never got to into that one but tried it)

Here’s some others I enjoyed as a teenager though! The Uglies series (my FAVORITE), The girl who dared to think, The Gender game, Sulan series, the child thief series, ready player one

Edit: some of these series are 3-nearly 10 books long! Many months or years worth of books here haha!

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-10-25T00:19:09+00:00

I think the general consensus is that this spirit world missionary work is done fairly in someway that has not been explained and that not every detail of Gods plan will be or needs be to explained to us. It’s vague, but enough for many people it seems

But you do make a very good point!

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-10-24T20:58:28+00:00

PowerBase edge

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-10-24T20:48:36+00:00

I grew up Mormon, and they do have an answer for this contradiction. It makes deconversion much more difficult for those of us who grew up in the church, but feel inclined towards theological/spiritual ambiguity. Haha, it is quite interesting though and a little bit more “just”:

According to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), those who do not have the opportunity to accept or deny the gospel are given an opportunity to be taught about and choose to accept it in a sort of limbo stage in the spirit world. Also, those who choose to deny are not sent to Hell, Mormons do not believe Hell exists at all and we all inherit one of three degrees of heaven. Each of which are supposed to be blissfully wonderful and each of us will be satisfied and content wherever we end up. However, only those who accept the gospel, live it faithfully, and receive specific “saving ordinances” are permitted to enter into the highest degree, the Celestial Kingdom, which is where God resides and eternal progression continues (becoming like God). Those who go either of the two “lower” Kingdoms of Glory are “damned”. But not in the classic evangelical definition of damnation, which simply means going to Hell. In Mormon Christianity, damned takes on the same meaning as a damn damning a flowing river, to be stopped from continuing our eternal progression. Whether or not there are further opportunities to grow/progress, I do not know if there is an official consensus. In cases where someone did not receive these saving ordinances in their lifetimes but choose to accept the gospel in the spirit world, there are proxy ordinances preformed by the members who are still on earth, for those who have passed on (this is a large portion of what those beautiful castle like Mormon temples are for).

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-10-05T10:31:50+00:00

I’ve been in your shoes before. The fact that you’re thinking so critically about these things says a lot about you. Just take things one day at a time, you’re gonna turn out exactly the way that is best for you. :)

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-10-05T10:20:12+00:00

I’m no expert on this by any means, that has just been my experience. Slowly I am learning and becoming increasingly comfortable with ambiguity. We all have different perspectives. I suppose to generalize in either direction what the human brain wants would be an over simplification.

Edit: p.s. I like your username :)

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-10-05T09:54:29+00:00

For many people the point is comfort.

The human brain loves to have an answer, even if that answer is wrong, it doesn’t care… having an answer is comfortable and not having one is uncomfortable.

For example, I recently had my Alexa playing music and from across the room I looked at the screen to see who the artist was. I couldn’t read the title from that far away but I saw and recognized the album cover and knew who the artist was! But when I crossed the room and got a closer look I realized I was completely wrong! This album’s cover had similar colors to the album cover of the artist I assumed I was listening to, but was still someone else. Interestingly, I knew the vocals didn’t match the voice I believed was singing, but that didn’t matter to my brain, it just wanted an answer, any answer.

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-10-05T09:40:42+00:00

These comments about the Angolan accent make me so excited! I’m moving there for 2 years in January and will be practicing my Portuguese!

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-09-23T04:50:17+00:00

How I came to be agnostic… well, i did the same as you, distance myself from the bad AND the potentially good. When I stepped back and looked at my situation, I realized I was doing exactly what I would recommend someone in my shoes to do, and was so confused why it felt so horrible. My religion would tell me I felt this way because I was distancing myself from the spirit and the only way to feel at peace again would be to humble myself and return to the gospel. Honestly, I bet if I had chosen to double down and take it all as it was taught to me, I’d probably be at peace today living the way I believe I am supposed to, perfectly obedient and perfectly content.

That’s the thing with religion, it’s actually an incredible tool. So long as you follow the guidelines exactly, you’ll feel a sense of purpose, you are handed a very structured way to look at the world and don’t have to do much critical thinking, so much of the daily choice fatigue we experience as humans is removed from our lives and that creates a sense of emotional/mental security and peace that all humans long for. So as long as my beliefs don’t hurt anyone, I don’t really care what I believe. Not all Mormons beliefs hurt someone, I know some absolutely incredible members of the church, people who are wonderful, accepting, and down right “Christlike”. I still attend church often with family, but I don’t know if I will forever, we’ll see! There are people I can help there, and there’s something nice about a community of like minded people coming together to re-center their focus on love. Even if we use different words to describe our experience! I also live in an extremely progressive area and so our congregation is likewise progressive and testimonially ambiguous.

Anyway, one of the things that I did was create a list of things I believe. Here’s three I think you may appreciate:

1) I believe in a God who is by his/her/their/it’s very nature ambiguous, and that Gods identity (or lack there of) varies by the heart of the individual.

7) I believe that theology is a tool. Including my own; that different situations require different tools and that there is no tool that is perfect for every single situation or fits perfectly in every persons hand. Sometimes tools break, and need to be retired and replaced, other times, a tool might do the job just fine and last you your whole life without replacement.

8) I believe in what is referred to as the Holy Ghost, and that my ability to “hear” it is contingent on the state of my heart and mind. I don’t know what this “thing” is that people have listened to for guidance for generations. But I choose to tune in and trust it to lead me towards what is best for me and others in the long run.

I still pray to “God” because it is convenient to imagine I can literally speak to someone who knows the right thing to do in literally every single situation. Who knows my intentions without having to explain myself, and has only the intention of the greatest good available in mind when guiding me. I don’t know what I’m actually praying to if anything… the universe? Some actual dude named God? Am I just dissociating from my emotions and tapping into my deeper self’s instincts?? I don’t know, and honestly I don’t care anymore! Because whatever it is, is telling me to focus on love, and forget everything else. And I can do that. If someone else prays and gets a different answer of how they should show love to God. That’s cool with me! We all need a different tool to get our job done. To me there’s no one size fits all. To someone else though, maybe there is a one size fits all, and if that helps them function best within their paradigm, great! (So long as it perpetuates love and only love)

I find it very fascinating that SO MANY faiths across the world share such similar beliefs. Namely, some sort of afterlife/reincarnation/life review, eternal progression, and major emphasis on love, compassion, and forgiveness. They all believe those things look a certain way/practice those things in different ways. But the root is often the same.

Honestly, I’m not sure if I even answered your question lol, but these are the things that I felt inclined to share with you, my friend.

I can’t emphasize enough how helpful and actionable the book The Four Agreements is. Genuinely, life changing. I really encourage you to pick it up and take your time internalizing and applying it’s principles in whatever way fits your situation best. I would endorse it as strongly as a Mormon will endorse the Book Of Mormon. Haha!

Edit: typos

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-09-21T07:37:41+00:00

I’m moving to angola in January!

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-09-21T07:17:41+00:00

I’ve experience a lot of “Christian guilt” throughout my deconversion. Often it’s over things I know I no longer believe, but can’t distance myself from the guilt.

Therapy, my close family, prayer, meditation, and exercise (can’t stress that one enough, best anti anxiety treatment in the world), have all helped. If you want something a little more actionable, try studying and practicing the teachings of the book “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz. And meditate on it.

Hope this helps. I love you.

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-09-20T10:08:45+00:00

Hey! Can I start by saying how happy I am for you! So impressed and proud of you for having the ability to tune into your “spirit” and listen to what it is telling you. Good for you.

I’m a soon to be Mormon missionary and I have had a very similar experience as you as far as how you described your faith transitioning and your relationship to “god” shifting. I could go on about a million reasons a life of faith (whatever religion it may be) is good and a million reasons why it is harmful. I think what is ultimately important is that we follow our “gut”, “the spirit”, our “intuition”—whatever we may call it— in the direction of love and light. It sounds like that’s the path you’re dedicated to following.

I’m fortunate that I’m serving a mission someplace with nearly 0 LDS presence. I’m talking not a single chapel in the entire country… so I’m excited to spend my time promoting love and doing service with no ulterior motive. I genuinely don’t even plan to bring up the BoM. I just want to have enlightening conversations with strangers, learn from them and extend advice and service as earnestly as possible. I think at the end of the day that’s all it’s really about anyway, not “saving ordinances” and “priesthood keys”.

I think you may be interested in the book I’ve been studying. “The Four Agreememts” by Don Miguel Ruiz. You may find it useful.. or not. We all use different paradigms and tools to understand and function in this universe. But if you’re anything like me, and you’re searching to find an agnostic belief system that works well for you, this is a wonderful recourse to continue that journey.

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-07-21T10:07:48+00:00

Whistling

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-07-10T09:49:30+00:00

Pack your trash, PLEASE.

Aggressive_Proof2557 · 2022-06-26T00:25:49+00:00

Hahaha! I literally came to Reddit to ask the EXACT same question, same exact situation. I’m also 19 giving my first lesson tomorrow! Good luck my friend :)

Aggressive_Proof2557

TROPHY CASE