Merry Christmas!

To keep with my annual tradition, I didn't send out any Christmas cards yet again this year. However, because I'm feeling rather Christmasy today (seeing how it IS Christmas), I just wanted to take the time to wish you all a wonderful and merry Christmas! Also keeping with our annual tradition, we went for a swim after opening our presents. I can't believe that this is our 7th Christmas in Africa! Through this picture, I hope that I can share some of our nice warm weather for all of you who are shivering through a white Christmas.

There are many African gray parrots in Kinshasa. These parrots were hanging-out in one of our trees, eating palm nuts, and making quite a racket while I was visiting with Steven and Lindsay today.

The boys can hardly contain their excitement to open presents as they wait at the top of the stairs. Their excitement began around 3:00 a.m. as they crept, one by one, into our room asking if it was time to open presents yet. Finally, at around 5:45 a.m. we relented and the fun began. This pictures reminds me of how when we were growing up, we had to line up from youngest to oldest in the hallway before we dashed into the living room to open presents. One year when my sisters and I were teenagers, my parents gave us the go-ahead to run into the living room. Well, my youngest brother, who was probably around 4 and at the front of the line, was trampled by the rest of us in the frenzy (think of Walmart after Thanksgiving). Anyway, he started to bawl. We were then rounded up by my parents, and we had to wait to open our presents until he settled down. Of course, it was all HIS fault that he was knocked-over!

Anson did a little victory dance every time he opened a present. At one point when he opened a little stocking-stuffer present, he gushed, "This is what I've always wanted!!!" Charles then asked, "Is it really what you've always wanted?" He responded, "Nope." I think you had to be there.

Anders thrilled over a book about guinea pigs (he received a pair for his birthday last week).

Soren opening "Action Replay," while Anson does another little victory dance in the background.

Little Discoveries

You may ask, "Kristen, why ever would you post a picture of perfectly good cooked carrots and rice on the floor under a china cabinet?" That's a good question. I'd have Anson answer that for you, but well, he is currently grounded because of we had a little disagreement over what the definition of "I ate all of my vegetables and so can I now have my dessert?" is.

Happy Birthday Anders!

I would like to wish Anders "Happy Birthday!" He has such a sunny and easy-going disposition, and we are glad that he is part of our family.

Anders decided months ago that he wanted a baseball cake. I didn't argue with his choice because, trust me, baseball cakes are MUCH easier to decorate than Pokemon, Hamtaro, rocket ship, or Transformers cakes (made them all).

Anders also picked out this baseball pinata back in July. We received it last week when the Congolese government finally released our consumables shipment (we shipped it from the States 5 months ago). Because the U.S. government will not pay bribes, the customs officials take their own sweet time releasing our various shipments. Fortunately, items shipped through the pouch or the DPO are not affected by customs officials and their "lunch money" requests.

Notice the smile - all he wants for Christmas is his two front teeth! Plus one (and almost 2) of his bottom teeth. When he smiles and you can't see his bottom teeth, he looks like a little vampire. He doesn't like it very much when I call him "Edward Cullen."

America's next great baseball slugger.

To make the pinata experience even more exciting, we decided to have the boys hit it while Charles delicately balanced the it on his head. Well not really, but Charles did wear the pinata around for a little while. He even walked into the kitchen and started to speak with our chef, Simon, with a completely straight face. Simon thinks that we are all absolutely insane!

Again, happy birthday Anders! We love you!

Return to the Jardin Zoologique of Kinshasa

Today we returned to the zoo with my friends, Ingrid and Christine, and their boys. I finally remembered to bring my camera, and so for your viewing pleasure, please find attached pictures of the world famous Kinshasa Zoo that I promised last month!





Arthur, the zookeeper, was our guide for the day. As we walked through the zoo, he had several monkeys and apes perform various stunts for us (everything from dancing to doing back flips). After their performance, Arthur reinforced their behavior with ice cream cones and bread.

Notice that this crocodile enclosure has partially collapsed on the right-hand side (Torden, Lance, Anson, Soren, and Anders). And yes, there is still a crocodile in the cage.

I can't imagine why this wouldn't be a good idea.

These are the wild cats (Genet) that come into our yard at night.

On our way home from the zoo, we came across a massive rally of THOUSANDS of women marching down the main boulevard (Trente Juin/30th of June). The DRC has an absolutely abysmal record of violence of all kinds against women. The severity of the atrocities that Congolese women face is unbelievable and heartbreaking. I agree with what Mia Farrow has been saying - that the people of the world care more about this region's gorillas than their fellow humans. I'm glad to see that the women of this country are organizing themselves and taking a stand!

Although I was glad that the women were bringing much needed publicity to their situation, it did take us TWO HOURS to drive home (it is typically a 10 minute drive from the zoo to our home). Fortunately, the boys had their Nintendos, and I brought plenty of snacks and water. However, after about an hour and 15 minutes, Anson started to freak-out that we'd never, ever get home. He eventually fell asleep and we obviously did get home.

The Olden Days

I've just celebrated another fantastic birthday with my family and friends! For the past several years, I've dreaded the day (although I did enjoy the presents, cards, and cake). However, this past summer I was complaining about getting old, and my sister, who has ALS, replied, "I wish that I could get old." Open mouth, insert foot. Actually, I want to thank her for saying that because it has completely shifted my perspective on living and aging. It's not merely okay to get older, it's GREAT to get older! I'm also trying to enjoy all of the moments that I can (plus, I'm still working on my mantra of "Why not?" - please see "And it Was Long Like a Weasel"). Anyway, the week before my birthday, my friends and I were having our weekly Friday lunch gathering. Ingrid reminded everyone that my birthday was coming up the next week, and so then someone suggested that we go out dancing the night before my birthday. I commented that I had to get up early the next morning to get the boys ready for school. Someone then asked me what time I had to get up. "5:30 a.m." They then told me in that case they'd have me home by 5:00 a.m. What could I say?



On the night of our adventure, Bibha arranged for the bus from the British Embassy/High Commission to pick us up. School bus by day, "Party Bus" by night! Our first stop was at a local restaurant where we ate "cossa cossas" (heavenly prawns). We ate and visited for a while, and then we headed off to the Black and White Club. Me, being the wild woman that I am, ordered my regular water. However, my friends decided that I should have a virgin margarita since it was the eve of my birthday. It's a darned good thing that we had that bus transporting us, what with all of that fruit juice and sugar from the rim coursing through my veins! Anyway, Ingrid arranged with the DJ to play "Happy Birthday" (well, it was actually "Bon Anniversaire") at midnight for me. We obviously looked like we were having a great time, because someone bought us a bottle of champagne. I didn't have any, but my comrades reported that it was "absolutely divine!" We had such an absolutely fantastic and crazy time that we decided that we need to celebrate birthdays more frequently. Nimet decided that it will be her birthday next weekend. Who's next?



Thank you my dear amis!!!



Here we are arriving at the club around 10:30 p.m. (Bibha, Meeja, Kristen, Carolyn, Nimet, and Ingrid). Respectable, are we not?

It is now after 1:00 a.m...

On the day of my birthday, Charles made muffins for breakfast, Soren wrote me a very thoughtful card, and Anders and Anson kept on wishing me "happy birthday!" I really enjoyed hearing "Happy birthday, Mommy," and then getting a big hug all day long. I am so lucky to have 4 wonderful men in my life! Charles also made ostrich with raspberry sauce for dinner, garlic prawns, and an absolutely wonderful chocolate-mint cake. Charles also gave me the perfect gifts - a trip to South Africa (Pretoria and Cape Town), as well as a gift certificate to my favorite B&B in Park City for this upcoming summer.

I also really appreciated all of the cards, emails, and phone calls that I received from family members and friends. I had an absolutely wonderful day!

All of this talk of birthdays and aging reminded me of some of the recent comments by my dear children. A few days ago I was telling my boys how we didn't have any television stations devoted solely to cartoons when I was growing up, and we didn't have cable TV, a VCR (never mind a DVD or a Blu-Ray player), or a microwave when I was their age. Anders then earnestly asked, "Did they have electricity back then?" At bedtime Soren enjoys having me tell him stories about when I was young. The other evening he asked me to tell him stories about my life in the "olden days." Admittedly, I am no longer a spring chicken, but the OLDEN DAYS?!!!

Let the Holidays Begin!

Soren and Anders performed in their school's Christmas concert this past week. I enjoyed watching them perform, and in some instances, I won't name the child, stand on the stage and look rather uncomfortable. Of course, the children had to be at the school at 6:00 P.M., at the height of the evening rush hour traffic, in order to get ready to perform.

This is a picture of the road on our way to the boys' school. This road is SUPPOSED to have one lane of traffic going in this direction. However with a bit of driving magic, KAZAM!, it now has 4 lanes of traffic going in this direction! Amazing! Yeah, this is one of the reasons that I have a driver.

I just can't figure out why the back wheel fell off of this truck...

Anders' enthusiastically performing "Island Noel."

Soren (in the blue and while polo shirt) singing "Joyful, Joyful." When he performed at his last school concert, he kept on hiding behind the children in front of him every time that I attempted to take a picture. It was so funny! No such luck here.



Last Saturday we hosted a bit of a belated Thanksgiving dinner at our home. We attended the Embassy's dinner on Thanksgiving day at the Ambassador's Residence. However, we do enjoy hosting our own Thanksgiving celebration every year. Why all of the trouble, you may ask? Left-overs!

Meeja used to work professionally in the catering/restaurant industry in her prior life (pre-embassy). She was absolutely wonderful with helping me out with this event. I'm also grateful to all of my other fantastic friends who helped out as well. We couldn't have done it without you!

We had about 35 people in attendance, and it was definitely worth all of the work.

Survival of the Fittest

Today I volunteered again to chaperone another one of Anders's class field trips. However, instead of visiting snakes, this time we went to the bonobo preserve that is approximately an hour's drive from the school. We first met at the school where the children were assigned to various cars. A little German boy, whom I'll call "Rolf" was one of the passengers in my vehicle. Anson also came along for the adventure. Before exiting Kinshasa, we had to drive through a few market areas. The attached pictures are a bit blurry (we were driving, and thankfully and amazingly not stopped in traffic), but they are very typical of what most African markets look like.

About a half an hour into the drive, "Rolf" mentioned that he didn't feel too well. I turned around and asked him if he thought that he might throw up, and he nodded his head "yes." I immediately went into panic mode looking for a plastic bag, or anything that resembled a plastic bag, in the car. I am not particularly good about tolerating vomit, and Anders usually gets sick himself when he encounters such behaviors. I certainly did not want that sort of chain reaction in my vehicle! With no plastic bag to be found, and not wanting to stop in a busy market area, I started hollering for Mamba (my driver) to roll down the back window. Unfortunately, in a crisis situation such as this, Mamba's typical response is to lock-up and get flustered. I then practically dove into the back seat and unrolled the back window just in time to save the upholstery. That done, Rolf was as good as new, and back to playing the Nintendo DS Lite.

Once we exited Kinshasa, we were off the pot-holed roads and on to the dirt/mud roads. I was very happy that it hadn't rained for a few days, and so the roads weren't quite as bad as they usually are this time of year. But, as you can see, they still were a bit boggy!

The bonobo preserve is a very large and well-maintained property. It is built to help rescue orphaned bonobos, as well as to help educate the public on the bonobos' plight. Unfortunately, the great apes' numbers are dwindling due to poaching (usually for bush meat). Three of the four great apes in the world are found in the D.R. Congo (bonobo, chimpanzee, and gorillas), but the DRC is not a particularly stable country.

Here is a picture of a very large and somewhat confrontational male bonobo. When the guide brought the children near the fence, this bonobo started to get a bit agitated. He then ran down to the edge of the water, scooped up a handful of muddy dirt, and threw it at the children. Mud-slinging is not solely reserved for political campaigns! Pandemonium ensued when the children started screaming, running around, and throwing handfuls of dirt in response, while the bonobo threw several more handfuls of goop (at least it wasn't something ELSE that bonobos are known to throw!). The teachers then tried to coral the panicked children, while one of them shouted at them to stop "behaving like bonobos" (I think that they were worse!). Once the children calmed down, we continued our nature walk through the preserve.

Here is a picture of Anson right after the mud episode. He got hit right in the face with dirt, and it even went down his shirt!

Rare albino bonobos caught on film. I decided to take them home...

This is a picture of a typical medical clinic/hospital in the DRC (this one is near the preserve). While there are some larger hospitals within Kinshasa, you definitely hope that you NEVER have to go to one!