Some observations

Hello again,
Everytime I get in the car to go somewhere, I watch out the window and try to get a feel for the people and the culture here. Here are some things I've observed, and some feelings that I am grappling with. In general, I rarely see couples walking together anywhere, nor do I see any public displays of affection. I hardly ever see families together. Mostly what I see are single men and single women walking places. They don't seem to walk in pairs or groups--just each person moving along, doing his/her own thing. The women all carry big tubs on their heads, filled with various things such as water bottles (empty and full), fruits, vegetables, potatoes, etc. When they get to their destination, they unload their stuff on the side of the road and try to sell it. We have been advised to never buy things from these little stands, as this is the stuff that would likely make us sick (typhoid, etc). You never see men carry things on their heads. The women have incredible balance! You cannot believe the huge tubs that they carry on their heads. And they don't even use their hands to hold onto the tubs! I've even seen young girls carry these huge tubs on their heads. I don't honestly see how they do it! Unfortunately I cannot take pictures of anything like this. Taking pictures here is seen as disrespectful, and it will also get you thrown in jail--something I don't want to experience!

I see lots of children around, but rarely with parents. It seems that once the child is big enough to walk, he is then taken care of by older siblings. When they are babies, they are carried around on the mother's back, in a little sack type of thing--all you see is the baby's head sticking out--very cute!

I have not seen any overweight people here (except the expatriates--us). People do not look thin and starving, but they definitely do not look overweight in the least. The local women have "womenly " bodies--not the waif looking bodies that we have in the US. Most of the local women wear colorful skirts and dresses, made out of fabric that most of us would think is "African" looking. Women are rarely seen in pants, and never in shorts! The men's clothing is more subdued, and doesn't look too different from what men wear in the US--polo shirts and pants. However, you never see them in shorts.

All the people I have met so far seem to be friendly and want to learn English as much as I want to learn French. They seem appreciative of our attempts at speaking French. Besides the official French language, there are several other languages here as well. The predominant one is Swahilli. So just when I think I might be understanding the French language, they start speaking Swahilli on me! All I know how to say in Swahilli is hello--"Jambo". Oh yeah--one other word I know is "Muzungo". It means "white person". It is not a negative term. But it is interesting that when they call someone a muzungo, it does not just mean white person, but it means a white, educated person, with a lot of money.

And that is how we are seen by this culture. And it is true, we do have a lot of money compared to them. They see us being driven around, having household help, buying pretty much what we want, etc. I don't like that feeling--always being looked at as "the rich, white person". Today, I was unpacking some of my clothes, while our house cleaner was here. I felt so guilty for having all the clothes that I did. And while he is here, I feel like I can never eat anything, as I know he is probably hungry too.

Speaking of the house cleaner, tomorrow is his last day. I've hated having him here this week. He's very nice, but I just don't like having him here. I have no privacy with him here all day, I have to lock all my stuff up, and I've had to run my schedule according to when he is here (not that I have so many places to be, but...). He doesn't do a great job cleaning, and he's not teaching me much French because his English is so poor. So I'm teaching him English, but he's not really teaching me any French. Each day, he has stopped working earlier and earlier, and he has seemed less and less happy/willing as the week has gone on. Everyday he's asking me for something new. The first day he just asked for water. The next day it was coke. The next day some bread and butter. Then today, he was complaining about how hot it was (it's not hot--especially not compared to AZ), so I told him to wear a hat. Well then he asked me to give him a hat. I definitely haven't minded giving him any of these things. However, I talked with some other people that live here (a Belgian family that has been here in the Congo for 6 years, so they are almost considered to be natives!), and they said that this is typcial--that he will just keep asking for stuff. They said next he'll say he needs tuition for his kids' school, and next it will be that his mom is sick, etc., etc. The whole situation just makes me feel bad. I don't want to put him out of a job, and I want to help him, but I also don't want to be taken advantage of, and I don't want to feel uncomfortable in my own home, and that is how I am feeling. So, now I have the uncomfortable task of telling him not to come back after tomorrow, and trying to do that in a language that is not even my own! I'll let you know how that goes! At this point, I'm not going to try to find another cleaner. I'll just try to do it on my own.

Power has been going off on a daily basis now. But with the generator, it's never off for more than a few minutes. It's not just our house. Both times that I have been at the grocery store the power has gone off for about 30 seconds, and last night, it went off during dinner at the hotel. Just part of living in the Congo! And then tonight, Jensen went to take a shower and we had no water! This was a new problem! It turns out the pump was turned off! So many things that we just take for granted! Tonight, the kids were complaining about the little "prayer" they have to say at the beginning of the school day (thanks for the clean water to drink, the good food to eat, etc). They think it is so stupid to say thank you for those things because they take it all for granted. I tried to explain to them that for these kids, clean water to drink and food to eat is a luxury, and not something they take for granted. My kids have a lot to learn! I'm hoping this experience will help open their eyes a bit, and help them to learn about how much of the world lives.

The last 2 nights, there has been so much dust in the air that it looked like fog. During the dry season, they do a lot of burning here, to make the ground more fertile during the wet season. So that, coupled with no rain for the last 6 months, makes for very dusty, dirty air. The visibility has been nearly zero! I fear for the people walking along the road (and there's lots of them!), as they are impossible to see, until we're nearly on top of them! Definitely a good thing for them to walk against the traffic! The air always smells like there is a fire somewhere.

Well, guess that's enough for now--this is longer than I was intending! This weekend, I plan to work on getting pictures on this thing!
Laurie