Welcome home!

It's hard to think that Torden and I have been away from home for 4 weeks. Time just flew by, and I still never got to do everything I wanted, see everybody I wanted to see and can you believe, I never had enough time to do all my shopping, especially for food! As I sit here now, only just 2 days in Kinshasa, I crave some things that I left behind. Like fresh tomatoes, and lettuce and all the other toss salad ingredients. I went shopping today, and most of the vegetables are double the price than before I left, or not looking too good. I really felt like potatoes with my weber chicken tonight, but no, they're all wrinkled and soft. I really felt like crunching a cucumber, but they are probably out of season. I actually think, there are a lot of expats out of town for Easter, so the shops are not as stocked as usual.
I really wanted to bring home some lamb chops and boerewors for Paul but never got to even buy that on the last minute. Call me disorganised, but I felt it was more important to spend time with my family.

I started my first French lesson yesterday, and was really " vrot"! So I told my tutor to come back next week, so it will give me some time to refresh. I also lent him "The Idiots's Guide to French" as his Alliance Francaise books are really old. So he has some new learning material for Paul and I to work with. We had a long conversation ( in English) about how many young people aspire to study in SA, but most of them cannot afford it. It makes me think about how much a lot of our young people take for granted.

Well that's enough for my first blog on my return.
Hope you are all " chocolate smashed" from Easter!

Out and About Kinshasa!

Sunset on the Congo River. There is a lovely walk we usually take along the river next to all the Ambassadorial residences. (US, British, Belgian, Swedish & Chinese etc) You get to meet up with all the usual expats, new and old. The evenings are the busiest, but usually the time when the humidity is at it's highest.
Fin, the Dalmalli panting in the heat. He gets to spend most of his days indoors with the AC on full blast. Lucky dog, I suppose the locals must think he is " King of all Dogs" in Kinshasa. His new name should be "Fin Fin of the Congo" not Tin Tin.

Torden in the pool. Most days this is the best place to be. We have lots of play days, where there are about 8 kids that get together on a regular basis. This is great for our social network, as there are not many places for children to play.
An outlook of our long verandah ( stoep), which is where most of our social gatherings are held. Very colonial, sipping our G&T's. Although Paul is forbidden to touch any alcohol for the next year, due to his liver being severely abused, from the Malaria ( cerebral), no not alcohol poisoning!
A view of Kinshasa harbour from the boat.

Fictitious Literature on DRC

1. Blood River - A Journey To Africa's Broken Heart, 2007. ISBN 0-701-17981-3
Wrong, Michela,
2. In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo
Hochschild, Adam,
3. King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa, 1998.
Renton, David; Seddon, David; Zeilig, Leo.
4. The Congo: Plunder and Resistance, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84277-485-4
Larémont, Ricardo René, ed. 2005.
5.Borders, nationalism and the African state. Boulder, Colorado and London: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Devlin, Larry (2007).
6. Chief of Station, Congo: A Memoir of 1960-67. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781586484057.
7. The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

The Housekeeper Diaries!

If you read this and have never been to the Congo, then you would probably say that I am fussy when it comes to "cleaning help" ( Politically correct)! The problem is that you really do need help. We barely have enough time in the mornings to do shopping, as you have to search 3 or 4 shops sometimes just to collect the ingredients required for certain meals. We really need help to have someone peel, wash and cut them. No "Woolies" for miles. With all the rains, it makes the soil quite damp, and the dog is constantly in and out the doors.
I am now on my 4th housekeeper in 4months. That makes it about 1 per month. Well it's just not like that. I never had a full-time maid in SA, I only had a char once every 2 weeks. Well, Nancy,did all the work in one day, that these cleaners do in one week, and she does a better job! The only problem was that she was not as reliable. At least these people come to work everyday.
The first one, was an old Pappa (an elderly man), who was probably very good in his younger days. But as the years passed on, he got slower and slower, until eventually he virtually stopped working. And he had no idea on anything I said in English, I also tried hand signals, but got very tired after the first week. He had to go. The 2nd was a lady, who I will not like to disclose any more info on the web, except the fact that she wanted to wash her feet in my bath. The 3rd was a young male, with lots of energy, and my house looked spotless after his hands had put a touch to it, as well as touching many other things that went into his bag everyday before leaving for home. After he had left, we found lots of consumables missing. Now the lovely young lady that is with us, Aimee, is such a sweetie pie. She enjoys playing with Torden, and has no clue on how to do a structured cleaning cycle, and that is with the help of my "schedule" which I have constructed in French. In one week, she has turned my beige colour cotton throw into a puke peach, and she's turned my crockery cupboard into one for Tupperware, so I have given up hope of every finding my perfect housekeeper. In the meantime I will just get by with a not so clean house, a happy son, washing that has been dyed automatically and cutlery with no real home. I am so tired of teaching "cleaning methods" that I think I shall open my own cleaning agency. " Congo Cleaners!

Boat on the Congo River

On Sunday, we took the boat out to a little island about 20minutes down the River. It was arranged by 4 families, and we had a BBQ (braai) on the sand bank. We pitched tents and put up tables and chairs, and played games on the beach. It's quite weird, as it feels just like a beach with lovely soft sand, and the water was so shallow, the kids & a few adults splashed around. The water was so refreshing in the heat of the day, about 33degrees C which is quite normal. Luckily there was no rain. We decided that this was going to be a monthly visit, that is if we're lucky enough to find the same spot everytime. I can't believe how much we enjoyed ourselves out what felt like the middle of nowhere.

I was fascinated to find one or two reed homes that the fisherman lay claim to. How can anyone survive on this riverbank island, with no facilities whatsoever? Probably beats any life back on land in the Congo. ( if you're poor that is, which is half of the population) Our excitement of the day, was when we rescued a family, whose boat had siezed in the middle of the river, and took them back to Club Nautica.