This is the House That Jack Built

One of the first things that I do whenever I move to a new country is to have a playhouse/swing set/sandbox built. One of the main reasons why I do this is because there are no playgrounds/parks where the boys can play. DRC is definitely a make-your-own-fun sort-of place! The person who I found to make this playhouse is Ndala Jacques Luyindula (Jack). He is one of the embassy carpenters, although he has a bachelor's degree in political science. The U.S. Embassy pays their maintenance workers more than the individuals would make by working in their professional fields out in the city. I explained to Jack what I wanted for the basic design of the structure, and then he and some of his relatives built it over the course of two weekends. It is incredibly strong because it is made out of solid mahogany. If it wasn't so heavy I would take it back with us when we return to the States.

Seeing how the playhouse turned out so well, we hired Jack again to build a platform for the boys' zip-line. We ordered the zip-line metal cable and device from the States (Oh, how I simply ADORE amazon.com!), but of course the wood was locally procured. If we didn't have such restrictive weight limitations when we move, I would have furniture made for our entire house out of this gorgeous wood. It would cost less to have custom-made mahogany furniture built here, than it would to buy mass-produced items that are available in chain furniture stores in the States. Hmm, maybe I'll check to see how much overweight freight charges are...

Not All Excitement is Good Excitement

Anders and Anson holding our guinea pigs "Puff" and "Fluff" with our personal security detail in the background.

Someone recently commented that my life is exciting. Admittedly, I do get to do and see some pretty interesting things. However, not all excitement is a good thing. Recently things have been rather tense again in the D.R. Congo as the economic and political situation continues to deteriorate. Prices for minerals are plummeting (one of the country's main sources of revenue), rebel groups persist, inflation is accelerating, and dissatisfaction with the government is growing stronger. We still have the largest UN force in the world posted here (21,000 UN troops/personnel was the last figure that I heard). The situation is also very shaky between D.R. Congo and Rwanda and Uganda. Militias/Rebels from Rwanda, Uganda, and the DRC are causing chaos in the eastern part of the country, and the Rwandan and Ugandan governments have entered here to fight these groups. Although Laurent Nkunda has been captured, his men are still fighting and causing destruction. Joseph Kony (Ugandan rebel with the Lord's Resistance Army), is still here and fighting. These people go through villages and completely kill and destroy everything in sight. FARDC (the D.R. Congo's military force) isn't much better. They are very undisciplined and they do plenty of killing, raping, and plundering themselves. FARDC troops and the police force rarely get paid, and so they have their own little side businesses (or some people just refer to it as "shake downs"). A few weeks ago an American who works at the embassy was directly across the street from one of the embassy compounds, and then a car pulled up next to him. A police officer showed him his badge and told him to get into the car. As soon as he did, they put a gun to his head, drove him around, and then stole his passport and approx. $1000 before they let him go. He was quite fortunate that nothing worse happened to him. This individual was on TDY (temporary duty), and so he hadn't yet had the security briefing which explicitly tells you to never, ever get into an unknown vehicle, even if they are a police officer. The police usually leave us alone because we are diplomats, but other expats aren't so lucky and they do get harassed from time to time for money. It is amazing how little is reported through western news outlets on the D.R.C., although they do quite a bit of reporting on exciting news stories such as the death of "Socks" the Clinton's cat!

Another exciting thing we have around here are the shegue (pronounced "sheg -gay"). They are are extremely violent gangs of street boys that roam around the city and harass pretty much everyone they encounter. Some of these boys look like they could be in early elementary school! They are also the main reason why I only run on a secured section of the river, or inside my walls. Everywhere I've lived I've seen plenty of street children and it is heartbreaking. However, the shegue are particularly aggressive - not only do they come up to the cars and beg, but they also bang on the side of the car (sometimes with rocks and metal instruments), at times they will climb ONTO the car, and shout threats (which they sometimes carry-out). They also sometimes surround the car while someone is stuck in traffic (very common), and shake the car. However, I must add that they are multi-lingual - they can yell profanities PERFECTLY in English! Luckily, the windows of my SUV are heavily tinted, and so the shegue usually don't notice me when I sit in the back while Mamba (my driver) drives. However, some of my female friends who do not utilize a driver are regularly harassed by these punks. Police officers can be standing 10 meters away, and they (the police) just stand there and do absolutely nothing while the shegue are doing their business. Well, they usually do absolutely nothing about them. A couple of weeks ago (around the same time as the aforementioned kidnapping), a street gang beat-up another American embassy TDY'er and stole a large sum of money from him, too. After that, the embassy put a lot of pressure on the police to do something about the situation. Shortly afterwards I was driving down the street with Mamba, and we saw a big confusion - street boys running off in every direction while the police rounded-up whomever they could catch. I also saw several of these street boys hand-cuffed in the back of a police pick-up truck, while the police were beating them with batons (not what they embassy had in mind, I'm sure). Although I do not condone human rights violations, I was thinking that at least we wouldn't be harassed for a little while. Nope, not the case. The next day I was riding in the car with a few of my friends (all women), and we got stuck in traffic at the end of my street. We were then surrounded by shegue while the pounded on the car and threatened us. Oh was I ever jonesing to let the fury of my pepper spray loose on them! I did use some self-restraint (not to mention good-judgement), and I refrained from this action. I did have my 2-way radio ready in hand in case the harassment increased, though. Oh yeah, we are instructed to ALWAYS carry our embassy-issued 2-way radios with us at all times in case of excitement of the non-good variety.

Another instance of Excitement of the Non-Good Variety: about a week before Christmas my guard came to the house around 1:30 p.m., and reported that five Arabic men (one with an Uzi) in a SUV with covered-up license plates, had just stopped by looking for a "Mr. _." The guard stated that he told the men that Mr. _ did not live there, and then the men then took off. He also told me that this happened 20-30 minutes previously. I then called Charles, who in turned called the Regional Security Office (RSO). Both Charles and I agreed that certain elements of this story just didn't add up, and neither of us felt particularly panicked. However, the RSO had to take the situation seriously because of other recent threats against the embassy. They then had to send a team to our house to investigate the matter, and we were also assigned an additional guard plus full-time police protection. For the next month or so we had two security guards and a police officer at our house 24 hours per day (we normally just have one security guard at a time 24 hours per day). The police officers actually made me rather nervous, because they didn't seem to take many safety precautions with their AK-47's. They would casually prop the weapon up next to one of the lawn chairs that they would lounge in, or simply stick the gun down into the dirt to keep it propped up. At first I thought that maybe their guns weren't loaded, and so I asked them to show me where they kept the ammunition. Well, I can assure you that their guns definitely are loaded! Very scary. Some of the police officers were quite enthusiastic about their jobs, and they would stop traffic in the middle of our road while brandishing their firearm when we pulled out from our gate. Anyway, I was very glad when our guard situation went back to normal.

All of our excitement is not necessarily of the man-made variety. A month or so ago I received a text-message from the embassy warden system indicating that there was an Ebola outbreak in one of the provinces. Oh golly, I guess that means my road trip around the country is now cancelled (I'm kidding about the road trip).

Another form of excitement around here is the rains. Torrential rains. Rains of the Noah and the Ark variety. As I mentioned in one of my first blog entries, rainy season last most of the year, but at least that keeps our garden quite green. Sometimes it gets incredibly and intensely hot and muggy and then you know that there is going to be a downpour. I don't mind the rain storms at night, because I like to watch the lightning rip across the Congo River. However, it's a whole different story when it rains during the day. On the best of days, the roads in Kinshasa are nothing less than absolutely terrible (and I am NOT exaggerating). However, when you factor in the rains and the accompanying flooding, it adds a whole new fun dimension to the equation. Not only do you have massive potholes in the roads, now you can't see them because the roads are covered in water. These road floods can occur with in a matter of 10 or 15 minutes of heavy rains due to the lack of adequate drainage. Although the cost of fuel is tremendously high, you definitely want a gas-guzzling SUV with high clearance in this environment!

Exciting life indeed!

Congo River

About a week ago we took out the boat on the Congo River (Uh, no. Not the boat pictured above). Although the river is just behind our house, the Nautical Club where the boat is kept is about a 20 minute drive away if there isn't much traffic (it can be an hour's drive with traffic). It is so ironic to have the Nautical Club, where people take their boats (some of which are VERY nice) out for leisure, is located adjacent to an extremely impoverished community of fishermen where people depend on their dug-out canoes for their livelihood. Our friends, Meeja & Jay, and their children, Allyson & Aaron, also came with us. Jose was our guide because he knows the river so well.

We stopped at one of the tiny islands in the middle of the river, and then we had a picnic under the canopy that we brought. Meeja made some fantastic sushi, and she also shared some of the fresh fruit that she bought from South Africa. I brought all of the junk food! This spot was perfect because it had a very nice and clean sandy beach, and the only people that we saw were a few of the local fishermen who paddled by.

Anson, Allyson, Anders, and Soren in the back of the boat. At least I won't ever have to worry about Anders getting sun damage on his face because he wears his hat so low!

Anson and me swimming in the Congo River.

Jay, Aaron, Soren, Anson, Allyson, and Anders playing in the river. The water was very warm, although quite murky. Every time that Soren swam under the water, I couldn't see where he was and so that made me a bit nervous. The current is also pretty strong not far from the beach, and so I had to keep on reminding Soren that he absolutely could NOT swim in the river unless there was an adult around. Fortunately, there aren't any hippos or crocodiles on this part of the river. There are, however, plenty of fish. The boys had a great time chasing after all of the little fish that swam around on the edge of the river. I don't think that any were caught, though!

You can see the outline of Kinshasa in the distance (down river, thank goodness). It felt like we were on another planet while we were on the little island away from all of the craziness of the city.

South Africa

I recently returned from a much needed and appreciated trip to South Africa (thank you Charles for a most fabulous birthday/Christmas gift!). This was my third trip back to South Africa since we lived there, and it certainly was my most enjoyable one to date. Part of the enjoyment came from the sheer novelty of seeing well-paved roads, clean surroundings, orderly traffic, well-stocked and affordable stores, shopping malls, etc. Plus, the dollar is currently quite strong against the South African rand (it was around 10 rand per 1 dollar during this trip vs. when we lived there it was around 6 rand per 1 dollar). My first stop in South Africa was Pretoria, which is where we lived from 2004-2006. It was great to be back to a place that I know well, and it helped me to not feel quite so touristy. One of my wonderful friends, Ania, flew down from Zambia and we stayed at the Capital House Boutique Hotel (http://www.capitalhouseboutiquehotel.com/) which is in the Waterkloof section of Pretoria. This is the third time that I've stayed at this bed and breakfast, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone! It is in one of the most beautiful sections of the city, and the view of the city can't be beat. Also, the service and attention to details is amazing (the owner used to be an architect and he also exported antiques from north Africa)! Anyway, Ania and I are both living in countries lacking in decent shopping, and so we didn't waste any time in finding Menlyn Mall. Although I've been there on multiple occasions, I still get lost inside the building because it is so immense. We shopped, saw a movie, and ate and ate and ate. As I mentioned previously, the exchange rate was unbelievable favorable and so that made practically everything extremely affordable. One of the first places that we ate at was a sushi restaurant, and we ordered way more food than we could possibly eat, and our bill was still only $30 (Charles recently took someone out to lunch to a nice restaurant in Kinshasa and the bill was $250!). There are no movie theaters in Kinshasa, so I went to three movies while I was in South Africa. Why not when movie tickets are only just over $3?

Ania lived in South Africa around 10 years ago, and so we met up with one of her old friends while we were in Pretoria at the Brasserie de Paris. I had the most divine escargot, quail, and creme brulee that I've ever had the joy to partake of in my life! If I ever go back to Pretoria, this will most certainly be one of my first stops.

A trip to Pretoria would not be complete without a trip to Mangwanani Day Spa (http://www.mangwanani.co.za/). Here is a picture of Ania lounging in between one of our various relaxation treatments (hot stone massage, Indian head massage, salt scrub, foot and hand massage, facial, etc.). When Janae visited me a few years back when I used to live in South Africa, I also took her to Mangwanani. She was skeptical at first about flying all the way to Africa and then spending an entire day in a spa, but I think that by the end of the first massage I had her convinced that this was an excellent idea! This is definitely my favorite place to visit in the Gautang province.

Here is a picture of Ania, me, and Wanda at the Capital House. Wanda and I have been friends since I lived in Pretoria, and I am so glad that we were able to get together during this trip. Wanda is with the Polish Embassy, although she and her family moved shortly after our visit. Good luck in Lebanon!!!

Here is a picture of me with a very handsome local in a tux. He is very shy and doesn't want to show his face to the camera!

After I spent four days in Pretoria, I met Meeja and Carolyn at the Johannesburg airport. Meeja and Carolyn had just flown in from Kinshasa and we met during their layover, and then we continued to Cape Town (approximately a 2 hour flight). We arrived late in the evening, and so we went directly to our hotel (Westin Grand). We then spent the next four days shopping, eating, going to the beach, visiting the penguins, going to the top of Table Mountain, and shopping and eating some more!

Here Meeja and I are taking a break from shopping to eat. Again, I can't emphasize enough at how excited we were to have so many good restaurants to choose from. It made us literally giddy! Meeja is also my very energetic yoga instructor three mornings per week, and so I'm counting on her to get me back into shape after the week-and-a-half eating binge!

One of my dear friends in Kinshasa, Ingrid, is from Cape Town. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to come with us on this trip. However, her mom and her aunt were gracious enough to take us sight seeing. They were so much fun to be with, and I can't thank them enough!

One of my favorite places that we visited in Cape Town was a beach that is a penguin preserve (Boulder). The penguins would actually come out to the beach and swim with everyone in the water. They are such funny little critters, and they made me laugh!

Here is a picture from the top of Table Mountain of one of the beaches (Camp's Bay) that we visited. We enjoyed going to Camp's Bay, although it would have been a bit more pleasant were it not for the constant exfoliation of the blowing sand. Table mountain was my other favorite stops during our trip to Cape Town. It has a magnificent view, and it was well-worth the trip.

After we left Cape Town, we stopped for one night in Johannesburg before we flew back to Kinshasa. We made quite the scene entering and exiting the planes. Both Meeja and Carolyn carried on MULTIPLE baskets and I brought on 12 (yes TWELVE) ostrich eggs. Of course, this was in addition to our carry-on luggage, hand bags, as well as everything that we couldn't fit into our checked bags. Thank goodness the airport personnel didn't enforce the usual restrictions for us!