Thursday, November 3, 2011

Looking Back: One Year Ago Today–Experiencing a Congolese Village

Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010

We went to the home of a Congolese friend today.  We’ll call her Mary.  As we were walking around, lots of people asked why we had black babies, but they usually said they thought it is very good that we are adopting these orphans. One gentlemen asked if we were Mennonites and Mary told him we were Americans. He just smiled and said, “You are welcome in our country.” That really touched me.

It was neat to see where people live. Her housing was probably middle to upper middle class-ish. She, too, gave us Cokes and Fantas. The people here are so generous. When she called the driver to have him come pick us up, he said that he was stuck in traffic and couldn’t get there. She hung up the phone and said he was lying. Luckily, her husband has a car and could take us back in shifts. She talked some about politics. She thinks that Kabila is a good president. She said that she’s 46 years old and after growing up under Mobutu, who did nothing to help the country, she feels like Kabila is at least trying. It was interesting to hear her thoughts.

IMG_1777Playing soccer!

IMG_1778Kids on a slide.  Notice the slide stops a few feet from the ground.

IMG_1784

We came back and took another nap with the kiddos. Then we hung out in the apartment with everyone, just asking random questions to start discussions. Barb had a couple of riddle/mind bender things we did. Those were fun. Pizza night! We’re always excited for that. The pizza is okay, but we like that we get quite a bit - ½ pizza per person! All of our meals are rationed and while the food is good, there’s just not as much quantity wise as what we’re probably used to. Sad but true.

We heard from Pastor Peter today that DGM doesn’t have our letters yet, but that they’re on the last step. He’s very hopeful for Monday or Tuesday. We’re trying to set plans for when we’re going to Ethiopian Air to confirm our flights and purchase the kiddos’ tickets. It makes me nervous to gamble $800 (change fees if we aren’t able to fly out as planned), but Hubby wants to go Monday morning. We’ll have to wait and see.

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