For now this is a goodbye...

So, around this time one week ago I finishing packing my things and starting to say goodbye to all the girls at the residence. I've been back in Europe for almost a week, and I can honestly say that I still haven't digested everything.
It's crazy how life is back here, we worry about the stupidest things and as much as I might criticize that I'm guilty of quickly falling into that pattern again. But one pattern that I hope not to fall into again is to let those little things hinder me and make me forget the big picture and the amazing experience that I have had for almost 6 months.
The human spirit is what I have learned the most about, it is something very fragile that we seem to forget. It is barely tangible here, but in the months I spent in Kinshasa and in the DRC it is the strongest thing that I came in contact with. It is beautiful and it is what makes us all alike, no matter where we are or where we are from. It is what brings us together...and unfortunatly what brings us apart. As corny as this might all sound...this is what I have learned, along with, I beleive I wrote this before--we accomplish the most in life when we don't settle for comfort...
So with these words I will not say goodbye, but a see you soon, because I hope to go back to the DRC in about 1 year for my masters project. :)

And its down to 7 days...

The first pic is when me and Carmen (a Spanish doctor that came for a couple of weeks) commentated on the World Cup match of Spain vs. Switzerland, live on Congolese TV. J The doctor who invited us (turns out he also works in TV, having various jobs is something quite common here in order to make enough money).

The second picture is of the audience I spoke to during a

conference I helped organize at the University of Kinshasa. I got the Chief of Mission from the U.S. Embassy to come all the way there and they also wanted me to say a few words. –What bizarre and challenging experiences, but sooo amazing at the same time!! I can officially say that I have conquered my fear of public speaking in French.

I’m leaving in a week, and its soo sad to think that it’s coming to an end. I’ve made amazing friends, lived through things I never thought I would, and learned how to love and appreciate a culture so far, yet so close, from my own.

I’ve come to learn about the human spirit and the human force that drives us. What I’m most scared of is that I will forget all of this after the first few weeks of being back. My mind cannot fathom some of things I will have once I’m back—I’m used to the chaos, the precautions that are taken daily, time never being an issue because many things cannot be prevented—like 2 and a half hour traffic jams because there are no other roads to take.

Well, for now I’m trying just to enjoy the last few days that I have here, making sure that I enjoy them to the fullest!!

But I will say that I’m getting a bit tired—I think I did a good job timing everything. And I’m now truly starting to miss everyone back home—for all of you know that know me, you know that I don’t get homesick often, mostly be cause I just keep going and don’t let myself think about it—but now I’m getting to that point where I want to be able in a place with people around me in which I can just fully let go and relax.

Hasta prontito everyone!

Maurice, Mika, Joyce are a few of their names

The pictures are of the neigborhood children Carolina (1 pic has her in it) and I got to meet and are now friends with—they are wonderful!!! They come up and hug me right away.

Soo…only 1 month left, I’m truly having a hard time thinking about that. Yesterday Carolina, the Spanish girl that also lived in the residence, left back to Spain. It was sad seeing her leave and think that that would be me in a few days. But on to the fun things that I’m planning so I don’t realize I’m leaving until the day actually comes… J

- I’m hoping to leave for Goma, in the east of the DRC, bordering with Rwanda. It’s been a conflict area and I wanted to learn a bit more before I left because I’ve been given the opportunity to go for a good price. I will be staying with someone I know there and am arranging some tours with some NGOs there as well as visiting the families of some of the girls here.

- I’m coordinating a conference at the University of Kinshasa with the Rector and the Chief of Mission at the US Embassy for the 21^st of June—cross your fingers because it might actually work out and I might have to be the moderator in a crowd of about 500 Congolese students. J

- I’m heading off to a few celebrations—the Swedish national day celebration at the embassy this Friday and the 30^th of June celebration with the choir.

I’ve had an amazing experience that will shape the way I see life from now on. One thing that I hope to share with whomever is reading this is that we accomplish the most in life when we don’t settle for comfort. Comfort is something that so many take for granted but which so few have the luxury to have.

Oh, if anyone is reading this and has contacts in Paris—the choir is looking for a place to stay for a few days in the middle of August—they are a great group of people and I hope I can do them this favor. I’m trying to get in touch with some places, but any help would be great.

Botondi Mingi—Merci—Thank you

And then end begins! :(

Pictures are from the excursion that I went on this Saturday with the choir—I finally went to one of their official practices—they sing sooooo well, but I’m working on improving my voice.J

The girl in the picture is Joëlle, she is my closest Congolese friend here. She is the one that invited me to come to the choir and who works with me. I don’t know what I would have done without her!

So…I’m officially way past half way through my experience here…and I already know that I will truly miss this city. The last few weeks have been wonderful; I’ve been making a lot of new friends and truly getting to know this city and its people. Yes, there have been some rough points—the consistency of my students is waning and

I’m getting used to the chaos and taking the transport on my own—it’s almost normal. People in the neighborhood know my name—I’ve made a bit of a life here. J I have less than 2 months left and I know that they will go by too quickly. It’s crazy how the human person can adapt itself to new surroundings. I had such a limited knowledge of what this place would be like and know…I’m getting to know a lot.

One of the most exciting things that I’ve been able to do so far is visit the University of Kinshasa. I was able to go to a conference they held with the ex-Russian ambassador who is now the head of the Center for Russo-African Relations. Quite interesting to see a communists perspective on Africa and its development (he openly said he was communist J). I’ve also become acquainted with the president (rector) of the university—he’s this big African man who speaks fluent Spanish—he got his masters in Spain--the world is a very small place.

Between two worlds...

The pictures are of the day in which I officially translated for the english nurse--at work.

This weekend I found myself in-between two worlds. I was able to experience another little world here in Kinshasa—the world of going out—I was able to go to a club with some friends and it was one of my most surreal moments I have experienced.

We went to a brand new club that had just opened with a group of people that were obviously well known in this world—no cover, direct entrance to a table, etc—and going into the club it felt like I could have been in Europe or in a good club in the U.S. I had lots of fun dancing and meeting other people—mostly foreigners, but also some local Congolese who were obviously very well off. To think that that morning I had been teaching English to nursing students that come from areas in the Congo were fighting still continues…

The next morning I woke up to go to a church that the University choir had been invited to sing at. Some of the friends that I have in the choir invited me to go and I hopped in a taxi and went to the church (I have now taken the local transport by myself about 3 times, its been so nice re-gaining some of my independence and everyone has been super nice and helpful when I have taken it J--although I will only do it when necessary). I ended up getting there a bit earlier and found some of the choir members that had also arrived. We sat there waiting for the others coming from the university—but it turns out that they had left really late—so with only about 15 people there they told me that I should also sing with them. I said ok, knowing that I would be walking into a mass with about 300 people and a choir of only 15, with a mundele singing in it. What an experience! Later on the rest of the choir arrived (about 40 others) and I was able to hide in-between the crowd. I had to act like I know the French songs, moving my mouth, since we where being taped by various people—the Choir has a lot of fame here in Kinshasa!

There are little details here and there that I have left out, but as you can see I was able to go in-between two drastic realities within the time period of 12 hours and I think I have yet to digest it. I wanted to see what the ex-pat world was like here in Kinshasa during the night because so many of the foreign friends I have made rave about it, but I think that one experience like this one might suffice. This country is one of drastic worlds, of opposites, hummers and land rovers driving around side-by-side small vans packed with about 20 to 25 people hoping that the breaks will work properly or that those hanging on to the side wont fall off. I’m lucky that I have come to know the reality of this country and get to know the local population—so many of the foreigners here live in their little worlds without getting to know the reality. I know that this is a coping mechanism that many need because the reality might be to difficult, but at the same time the reality is one of the most beautiful things—happiness and life that surpass all the suffering that exists.

Happy Easter

I won a free phone!!!!

Last Saturday was a wonderful day; we had a day planned out for International Woman Day. A bit late, but super fun! I was able to attend a conference that they organized for the girls in which we had a woman politician come and speak about the women’s role in politics and democracy. She used to be the vice-minister in charge of superior and university studies—an amazing woman I hope to meet again. Everything she said was soooo good to hear, especially for the girls here. Its great to hear stories like hers, and even though she works for the current government, you can tell that even just her presence in the parliament improves the country.

Afterwards we had a football/soccer match in which the teachers played against the students. I got to be in the teacher side J and actually scored one goal and assisted in the other two, lets just say that we won—3-0! And to top it off, the winning team got a free phone with a sim card—around a $20 value here! It was made possible because the phone company—ZAIN came and used the event as promotion. We probably had about 50 spectators in total, plus the people in the neighborhood that came because of curiosity. The picture is the one we took after the match, it was so much fun!! I'm way in the back, you can only make out my face.

This Saturday was also an adventure! I finally got to explore the city on my own with Carolina. We were dropped off and walked all over, we had lots of little errands to run and it was quite exciting to regain some of the independence that I’m so used to. We also met up with another Carolina (she’s Italian and working for an NGO that is right next to the hospital, but she lives in the city) for lunch at a patisserie. We walked almost all the way there, so we traversed the whole city and took the transport on our own. Oh, what a wonderful day it was.

Getting situated

(I was able to snag these pics in from an office building in the center of Kinshasa. It looks like any other city, but if you look closely you might be able to see some of the mayhem of the traffic and how the roads are being repaired. There are not many high-rises in Kinshasa, but I somehow managed to visit one. J)

It has been a while! So, recapping what I have done in the past 2 weeks:

- Not sure if I mentioned it yet, but finally got to dance! For my b-day celebration we went to a place where there was a small club and we got to dance for a whooping 20min. But the day after, my actual b-day we danced at the residence and I was invited to my first official Congolese party were they couldn’t believe their eyes when I started dancing—they were surprised to see a white person with rhythm.

- My classes finally got their first quizzes back and they did their first oral presentations—in some cases the whole class started laughing, causing me to laugh as well!!

- I went horseback ridding in the middle of Kinshasa, in a very typical ex-pat place, it was nice to have a little break. It felt like we had literally been transported to the colonial times because it was like a little paradise in the middle of Kinshasa with 65 acres of trails. It was the true jungle. (Will put up pics soon, the Spanish hospital engineer took some that are amazing, but I have yet to get them.)

- I ate caterpillars—lots of them—they are considered good here and have lots of protein. Got to admit that it wasn’t bad and I had no side effects. J

- Unofficially joined the choir at the parish for the University of Kinshasa—making a lot more friends this way and I even ventured out last Sunday on my own to go to the rehearsal. I’m technically not really singing with them—they are amazing and my voice is in no disposition to actually be able to accompany the performances.

- Met with CALI—the institute that works with the U.S. Embassy to teach English. It has a very high reputation in Kinshasa and we will hopefully be working with them if they start back up in the next month (has been closed for a few months now, but they mentioned they were starting at the end of this month, cross your fingers!)

- Meeting more people that work at different ONGs, embassies, etc. and making a few visits here and there to find out more on the functionality of the international affairs world here.