Things grow fast here!

As soon as we got into the house last December, Zeric and Maker (our gardener) started planting all kinds of things.  Now we have flowers and banana trees and papaya trees.  Things grow fast here! 

We have basil plants that are HUGE!  Which means piles and piles and piles of pesto..

I even found a pepper in there, and Zeric found okra!

 

And arugula and mustard greens..

 

And the chickens have been doing their jobs.. we made angel food cake the other day (and needed 12 eggwhites) and we saw how many different colors the yolks are.  I wonder if it's chicken-specific or because of what we feed them. Or both.

Good job, Ethelfritha Scarlet, Mabel Chicky, Greedy Gertrude, Ermengarde Magic, Fifi Finkelhopper, Esmerelda Nelly, Lady Cluck Bertha, and Edith Eggoof Cackles!

 

Friends, and dough

We do a lot with dough in my kitchen, and lots of times, we do it with friends.

 

Last night, the kids made sugar cookies.

Here, Caleb and Jaffa making dinosaurs, flowers, and fleurs de lis. 

(As American kids who go to the French school do.)

This afternoon, (Caleb's mom) Kristen and Zoey making challah!! 

We are very sad to see our friends leave Kin for Germany, but we will for sure cross paths again.. and now that Kristen can make her own challah, the Toth household will be okay!

Versatile women

Jaffa is way wickedly muchly into her dolls these days.  It's pretty cool.

 

Yesterday, Rosabella made a cake.

Today, she went for a job interview while her boyfriend waited in the car.

yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!

July 4th, early

Because the city empties out for the months of July and August, we celebrated July 4th a little early.  It was a great event at the Ambassadors with a guest list that almost numbered four digits.  Many of us agree that Ambassador Swan is one of the best Ambassadors that we have served under.  He is honest and humble, but gives it to you straight.  This is his second time in DRC, and he came because he is committed to helping in the spirit of friendship and cooperation.  No surprise then when he announced that the US has sanctioned the head of Kinshasa police earlier that day.  He explained in his great French that this is what friends do when they are straying from what is good and right. He talked about human rights and citizen rights, and about how democracies grow and evolve.  It made us all proud to be here, and even better?  He gave the whole speech a second time in Lingala.

 

The Star Spangled Banner sung by one of our English students. 

There was some artistic liberty with the lyrics, but made up for by her great voice!!

Our new fearless leader

A few weeks ago, Diana swore Christophe in as USAID/DRC's new Mission Director. 

He has been her deputy for the last two years, and so we are lucky to have the continuity. 

He is thoughtful and a good advocate for our programs. 

We (the Breslar Smiths) are also lucky that we have Christophe

and his lovely wife Rabiaa, and Sammy and Sabrine as our neighbors!

 

 

To celebrate, Zeric and I hosted a dinner in his honor. 

It was really nice evening of eating, drinking, great conversation..

and good (old and new) friends.

Cheers to Christophe and to another two good years!

 

School's almost over!

We went from one show to another!

The Kimbanguists Friday night and

the French school end-of-year performance Saturday morning.  It was great!! 

The kids had been practicing their dance moves and songs for months, and they did a terrific job. 

 

To make the end of the year even sweeter, both Jaffa and Eben have GREAT report cards. 

For a year that had a rough start, they worked hard and persevered and showed all of us

(including themselves) that they are smart and tenacious, and adaptable. 

We are so proud of them!!

Kimbanguists, part 2

So we had seen the Kimbanguist quartet back in May at Alastair's birthday party at Diana's house. The music was really beautiful. Since, we happened to have hired the symphony's manager (Seth) in my office and so he invited us to come to rehearsals.  A bunch of us piled in two cars and zipped and zagged through Friday evening traffic to parts of the city unfamiliar to me.. and found ourselves in the car park of the founder of the symphony, Papa Armand.  They had chairs set up for us.. and then they went to it.  It was absolutely breath taking!  To hear Beethoven and Carmen coming out of a garage with 60 people squashed in there, cars honking and people yelling just outside the gate.  I love that a good number of the musicians were women my age, and their kids were running around on the sides while they played the cello violin, clarinet.  There was every instrument you would expect.  Just when we thought we were just about done, and Jaffa had danced (and made the musicians smile!), out came the men and women's choirs, and the soloists.  It was pretty emotional, overall, to see these committed people playing so beautifully, but when the soloist started on Amazing Grace, a couple of us couldn't help but get teary.  We heard two more fabulous soloists after that.  What a magical night!

You'll be hearing from me soon with a crowdfunding request for a place that they can use to practice!

Calvin

So I had this great idea for Hannukah.  We got Eben the box set of ALL of the Calvin and Hobbes cartoons ever written.  I suppose we should have guessed that we would lose him for hour as he read them cover-to-cover over and over and over again.

 

What we hadn't quite anticipated was the intense identification that Eben would have with Calvin, and the subsequent transformation.... the similarities are scary, and we're just hoping not to see any wagon jumps off the roof anytime soon.

 

boating on the Congo River

I have a thing about needing my weekends.  So, when I heard that the 'short boat ride of thanks' that the Minister of Education organized for all of this people was going to be FIVE HOURS LONG, I sent my representative. Not only did Zeric shake his bootie on the Congo River, but he was also apparently mistaken to be Diana's husband (our now former head of USAID).  Couldn't be all too bad listening to jazz and drinking while cursing the river. 

 

Sapeurs on our street

And.... other things you find on the road.  Sapeurs!  Jacket and bowtie matching.. Zeric couldn't resist getting out of the car for a picture.  Stay tuned about Zeric's wardrobe as I've found a good tailor.

Tirzah was just telling me about a show she saw about sapeurs and they talked about eco-sapeurs.  I have to check into that.  My experience thus far in Kin hasn't really been about eco.. burning trash, plastic bags stuck in trees, open sewers.. yes.  Eco? Maybe it means something else.  BUT I did learn from someone that the sapeur movement was born from the intense need to make fun of the evolues.  So, the evolues ("evolved people") were people who the Belgians were grooming to take over when they left.  They thought that they were so fancy pants that the sapeurs decided to one-up them and go over the top.  At least that's how the story goes.  I will verify and get back to you.

Wide load

Speaking of things that you see on the road.. for real.  Just like that, barreling around the corner.

10K in Gombe

The other thing I missed was a 10k race. On balance, I was a little less disappointed about that one.. EXCEPT when I heard that our crew was out there cheering on the runner with a cow bell. Bummer to have missed that part.  Oh, and the post party champagne brunch.

Kinshasa Jazzfest

June 1 to 4 was the Kinshasa Jazzfest, and Copeland and Zeric made it a date!

Eben's piano teacher Tyson was playing..

..and lo and behold!  Zeric was singing!!  Really wish I had been there!

Bonobos

You can't come to Congo and not go see the bonobo sanctuary.  Off they went.. there was a preview of monkeys on the way in:

and then some furrier ones..

Copeland comes to Kin

Just before I left, Copeland landed in Kinshasa.  Her first African experience! 

Glad she made it, sorry that her bags took a few days to follow. 

She and the kids had a ton of fun!  Lots of drawing and swinging happened.. and more!

 

 

A quick stop in Goma

Our flight did a swoop to the north east for a quick stop in Goma.  We had 45 minutes to order our cheese paninis, grab as many $5 rounds of Goma cheese as we could carry, and dash back to the plane.  The cheese is awesome, and the view of the lake is too.

 

And don't forget Mount Nyragongo.
For more on the volcano, see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6e2OvIbJc8&sns=fb

Here comes the Minister (or not)

So after a week of bucket baths and lots of fufu, we were ready to go home.  We made it to the airport and checked in.  The next day was the inauguration of the center, and our colleagues were coming in for that (on the flight that we were taking back to Kin).. including the Minister of Education.  Except that he cancelled the night before.  The kids on the right (some were soooooo little) had been standing in the sun for two hours, ready to sing their song.  The receiving line on the left was at least 30 people long.  The Minister sent one of his top guys to represent, and things ended up coming all together just fine at the last minute. African style ;)

breakfast

Though it has its ndungu, this is not my breakfast.

Our colleague Dr jean Felly was enjoying it too much,

and though he offered me a bite,

I just couldn't do termites that early in the morning.

the center of Africa!

There is a monument in Kananga that says that this is the place that is the center of Africa. 

Malu and I were there!!

A new Teacher Resource Center

Unintentionally, we were the advance team as the inauguration of our new teacher resource center was happening the day after our trip was to end.  There was a bit of pressure when we were there, as we had about 36 hours to get all of the furniture in and arranged before the ribbon cutting.  Thankfully, the truck arrived when we were there, and the team worked through the night to get everything in order.  Phew!

 

And now the teachers of Kananga and the surrounding areas have a place to go to get training, find resources, and use the internet.  This is one of 13 such centers we've built around the country.

Kananga

Kananga is a large town and was a Belgian stronghold in the colonial times that almost became the political capital of DRC because of its location (kinda sorta) in the center of the country.  Things are pretty laid back, but are definitely happening.. 

Popcorn anyone?

DRC used to have an extensive and functioning rail system that connected much of the country.  In the last couple of decades, it has fallen into such disrepair that there are less than a handful of engine routes running.  There is the legacy.. and a hope that it will all come back one day.