Jul 2007

Charlie spent his first full day outside today. The guards love him because they have nothing to do all day except sit around. I guess Charlie provides some entertainment. Apparently the maid has taken to Charlie now as well. When I went home for lunch, she was playing with Charlie. I hope she actually cleaned today. Oh, random side note… Charlie is getting better with bath time. I just have to make sure the water is really warm. This is a good thing, because he smelled bad.

Electrically, my house is messed up. The power is so bad that half of the lights in my house don’t work unless the generator is running. Unfortunately, my fridge is not working some of the time too. My chicken thawed out almost completely one day last week. I am kind of scared to eat it now. Thankfully, I have not had to do too much cooking lately. One of the guys from work is feeding me almost every night because they got a cook. Yeah for real food! I might just have to break down and pay their cook to make my food too. He is really good. The guys were lucky to find him.

We played tennis again last night. I was much better than before. It was a lot of fun. I wore my glasses this time and I could actually see the ball. I think things will drastically improve when my own racket arrives. Playing with a new racket every week is frustrating. I think we will play again tomorrow. I really need the exercise after sitting at a desk all day. I’m not even getting as much exercise as I was in Birmingham. In Birmingham I was walking Charlie a couple times every day. Now, we just run laps around the house at night.

My Harry Potter book is coming soon. It was supposed to be in today, but the guy coming from our office got delayed. So, it should arrive on Friday. That’s actually probably better. If it came today I would have wanted to stay up all night reading. I am really excited because Will said it’s amazing. I did get my first Instyle magazine today. I need that small piece of the outside world once a month. I am excited to look through it tonight. It’s like window shopping. Ha.

I attempted to go to church on Sunday. That was crazy. One of the local guys from work came to my house to ride with me to church. We left at 7:30am for the 8am service. The church was about 25 minutes away from my house. Once we got close to the church, the guy tells me to turn right. I was like, "what?" Right is up the side of a huge hill. So, I turned right. Several times my car started to slide backwards because of the sand. WOW. I can not believe that we made it up. We get to the top and turn into this missionary compound. There was a nice church at the entrance. The service had already started, and it didn’t sound like English so the guy that was with me went to ask. The service we were looking for was up the road a bit. So, we drove up the road and found the English church. We walked up to the church, but their service had already started and it didn’t sound like English either. It wasn’t. The English service started at 10am, not 8am. So, I went back home and back to bed.

Jane Goodall spoke at Villa Washington last Thursday night. Villa Washington is a house owned by our government. Every week they have speakers. The locals can ask the person whatever they want, which encourages freedom of speech, etc. Jane was good. She spoke about how we should take care of the animals, our environment, and our own people. She even spoke a little bit in chimp language. Interesting. I think some of us may go to see her reserve in Congo. It is close to Point Noire. After Jane, the Ambassador of Congo to the US spoke. I thought the locals were going to boo him off the stage. He talked about his life as a diplomat in Washington… wake up, go to meetings, go to a reception, meet with the president, entertain other ambassadors. It was horrible. The locals asked him about government spending and also about how the US Congress got word that the elections in Congo went well (which is far from true). It was crazy.

Anyway, life is good. I am planning to cook Mexican this week, so that is exciting (pending my chicken being edible). Well, catch you guys next week.

Love/Miss you all,
Allie, Al, Allison, PB

I randomly got invited to a birthday party last Saturday for this Italian guy’s wife. I decided to go because some people I knew were going. I think that is the most fun I have had in Congo so far. The party was at the guy’s house which is under construction. Wow, the place is going to be huge. They even have a big pool in the front. Anyway, there was a live dj, they had more wine than I have ever seen, and the food was catered by this butcher in town. They cooked a whole lamb, stuffed it with couscous, and drenched it in gravy. Of course, they sat the lamb down right in front of me. Thankfully the head was already off, but I am still slightly traumatized. I like meat, but I don’t like to think about where it comes from.

Our owner’s rep was at the party, and he started asking me about eMi. Apparently, he thought about volunteering with them a long time ago. He said he heard of them about 30 years ago. I told him how scared I was coming to Congo, not knowing if I would find any Christians. He invited me to this meeting on Sunday night where all the missionaries in town get together to have praise time and pray. I really thought I was going to cry. What a blessing! And to think, I almost skipped the party.

I went and got groceries on Sunday morning (stores are only open on Sunday ‘til noon). I spent $200 on basically nothing. I did get some chicken breasts and mozzarella cheese, though. In the afternoon, Charlie and I walked to the company’s five bedroom house (where all the guys live). They live on the street parallel to mine. Charlie likes those guys a lot. They play rough with him, like Dad and Will used to do.

Sunday night, I went to the meeting. There were some people there with the Christian Mission Alliance, and with Bible Translators. My friend, who is a news correspondent, was also there. I was glad to see him. It was really great. Those guys reminded me of people at WRUM. They told me about the English service on Sundays, and one couple invited me for dinner on Wednesday.

After that I went home and made chicken parmesan (substituted mozzarella). I made it on the stop top. Necessity is the mother of invention, right? I am scared to stick my hand in the oven to light it with a regular match.

Then one of my friends came over to hang out. The power went off, and we had no diesel in the generator. So we went to get some. We drove to three gas stations before we found one that would let us fill without a license. While we were filling up, the power at the station went out. Hahaha. It was crazy. By the time we got back to the house the power was back on. Typical.

Rest of the week in a nut shell:
Tuesday, I played tennis with one of the guys at the tennis club. That was really fun, but I am out of shape BAD. We are going to start playing twice a week. My racket hasn’t come in the container yet, so I have to borrow from the club.

Wednesday, I had dinner with the missionary couple and their kids. We had chili, salad, sugary southern style cornbread, and chocolate cake (with nutella for frosting). It was great. We then played this game called St. Petersburg. It was really fun. They want to make it a weekly thing, and maybe invite some other people from Sunday night to come.

Thursday, the cable guys hooked up my satellite dish at the house. I watched BBC for an hour. I then watched Six Degrees (a new episode), and ER (a very early episode). Yeah!

Friday (today), one guy from USAID and one guy from an off shoot of Habitat for Humanity wanted to come see our site. Our PM let me come along to meet them, since that is my bag. They are looking to team up to do a housing project in Congo. They would like for us to provide some expertise on what material is available locally, and maybe help with labor issues. I told the Habitat guy about eMi. He is very interested in having eMi come and design a prototype house for us. I am meeting with him on Monday night to talk about his vision, and how eMi/and our company might help. Our owner really wants us to participate in a couple of these projects during our time here. No complaint from me! The US AID guy gave me some bad news. International Monetary Fund moved Congo down in the country list for those most needing aid because of the oil revenue the country is now generating. Although, all the oil revenue here goes to the few people in power. That makes me mad. I asked him if he would tell the people living in villages with no jobs, and no food that their relief from WFP and others was going to be cut because of the governements oil revenue. WOW.

I am so jealous that Maria, Krista, and Keith got to see Harry Potter before me! Thanks for calling me this morning. Sorry I couldn’t talk long. I was running out the door. You got me so mixed up that I forgot to put my boots on, and I had to come back to the house later to get them. Ha. Good talking to mom the other night as well! Keep the phone calls coming.

Love/Miss you all,
Allie, Allison, Al

The house looks good. We are going to put up the fence in the backyard for Charlie this Sunday. For now, he is in one of the bedrooms. The bedroom is huge, though, so it is much better than the bathroom at the hotel.

The stove at the house is gas, without an electric ignition. Last week, I had no matches at the house. The guy who lives upstairs let me borrow his lighter. He actually came down to light it for me the first time, and he burnt the hair off the top of his hand. Oops.

Driving is going pretty well. I am learning quickly…. Don’t stop completely without the clutch all the way down… Don’t hit pot holes in 3rd gear… Always remember to take off the emergency break… etc. Fun stuff.

Kimberly: Thanks so much for thinking about me! I love the magnet reminder for your wedding. It is on my refrigerator now.

I missed the 4th of July party at the Ambassador’s house. I was not feeling well. My diet here is not so good. Pizza and chicken every day is not the best for your health. Back to the vitamin bottle! I also bought some fruits and vegetables around town. I ate a grapefruit yesterday and thought about Grandpa. Although, it wasn’t as good as the ones we used to eat at his house.

The job is coming along. I have been out working with the surveyor for a couple days now. Brings back memories of surveying in Kampala… walking up to our benchmark to find that it has been moved, GPS elevations being off by 5-10m, standing by every tree/object with the prism, move back 200mm, move forward 15mm, move back 3mm, ha… Good times.

I think this weekend will be similar to the last; Saturday night at Hippocampe for the Vietnamese buffet with all the other Americans in town. On Sunday, though, I will try to find the English speaking church and I might go play tennis at the club.

Buy some phone cards people so you can call me on my local number! DO NOT CALL MY BIRMINGHAM CELL PHONE, BECAUSE IT COST ME $2.99/MIN EVEN IF YOU TALK TO THE VOICE MAIL!!!! You can text me on the Birmingham line, though (only cost me $.30/text).

Love you all,
Allie

I moved into the house today. All the guys from work helped me to move furniture. The cleaning people are coming tomorrow to finish up, so I will move the rest of my stuff tomorrow. Yeah! I still need to build a fence for Charlie. The security guard will start tomorrow, and the maid will start on Tuesday.

I got curtians for the house earlier this week. Nothing here is easy. I had to go to this area called Poto Poto to pick out the fabric. WOW. It is like that huge market in Kampala, except that you can drive through it. CRAZY. It took 30 minutes to drive to the shop, and 30 minutes to get out. Walking would have taken 5 minutes or less.

I also got a car this week, a Toyota Rav 4. Stick shift, ha. The only stick shift I have ever driven was my dad’s trunk when he tried to teach me one day when I was about 17 (and when I backed the ARM Land Rover into the ditch in Uganda but that doesn’t count as driving). Yikes. I was able to drive the Rav 4 from the office to the hotel. I can not drive it anywhere else for now, because it is not registered.

I still haven't gotten the dog house, and outdoor furniture yet. We keep going back the shop, but they haven't finished. Then, last week the guy told me that it would cost more to get the cushions for the chairs.... WHAT??? Grrr. We had to go to Poto Poto again to pick out material and get the cushions. Yikes.

If you haven’t seen my BZV pictures, check out the photo gallery under “author profile”. I am trying to upload a few pictures at a time.

One of the girls from the embassy is moving back to the US this week. She had a sale at her house and sold all of her remaining groceries. I bought pancakes, syrup, canned peas, canned corn, refried beans, popcorn, brownie mix, rice, chocolate chips, ketchup, mustard, and all kinds of sauces. I also bought her DVD player. Unfortunately, it is from the US so I will have to get a converter.

One of our interpreters in the office told me that there is one English speaking church here, so I think I will try to find it next week.

Giving Charlie another bath tonight. Wish me luck. Also may do some laundry in the tub again. So, I am going now. Don’t want to waste my one day of freedom sitting in the office.

Love/Miss you all,
Allie