Flowers, Typical

I know I always wax poetic about flowers on campus, and this year I have seen most of them before, but it is just gorgeous to live here. Spectacular.

First my gorgeous white flowers from my friend Pippa. Not as awesome as Frangipanni, but close, and in convenient flower form instead of large tree.

Then they multiplied! Love this early morning shot. 

Something sort of like Birds of Paradise outside my living room window:

My favorite dark green and purple stumpy plant with it's cute white flowers hidden down by it's leaves. You can see the dirt from where the rain splashes it up onto the leaves. 

Pretty white flowers in my yard:

And what I believe to be baby and adult Flamboyant tree flowers:

My favorite for last, a shot of a fallen yellow blossom on some broken road concrete. These blooms, like the white ones from Pippa above, are also a close second on my favorite flower list after my Frangipani obsession. 

 I hope to see (or at least send mail) to all of you when I am home, but for now, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Warm New Year Greeting from Ellen and Davy in Congo.

Cats of Campus

So this post may not be as epic as I like, but you will get the idea. Other than Davy, many cat characters inhabit the campus. So many, in fact, that we are a little worried it's going to negatively affect the birds! So I thought I would give a little overview. Friends and I enjoy interpreting the various cat personalities to imagine a veritable cat soap opera going on around us... frankly I don't think it's that much of a stretch. I am sure there are cat politics aplenty!

Davy mid-yawn

This is Muwah, who my neighbors 'inherited' as part of their house (with their permission) The housekeeper fed her for the summer and then they met her when they arrived with me in August of 2014. She is very demanding.... very very demanding... whether it is to be let in, let out, fed, petted, or anything, she makes sure she gets her way. Attitude to spare. Love to see her regally sitting on her porch, though this picture was taken in my yard. She is very vocal and will usually reply when you say her name.

Her mom Luna moved to campus with my last spring roommate - very very shy and retiring, she doesn't make many appearances except to be fed and never bonded with me well at all. However, the new inhabitant of my roommate and I's house agreed to 'inherit' her as part of her house and they have bonded very well. Luna also likes to relax on her porch (in or out).

Tinkerbell also moved to campus with my roommate last spring and spent a lot of time bonding with me, more than my own cat at that time! She is very affectionate and loves everyone and everything - pretty much the most pleasant cat of the bunch (I will admit that Davy looks cute but is not the most nice to everyone, he is rather territorial haha) She now lives with my former roommate's future son-in-law who took her job and also took this picture!

As you can kind of see from these pictures (and I am also biased) Congo cats (Congo-born cats) are different than Davy... Their legs tend to be shorter and they are smaller than Davy (not that Davy is large). There are many other cats on campus, two at the far end, one that the new superintendent 'inherited' from the previous one, two VERY talkative cats who are Tinkerbell's neighbors and another large male cat who is Luna's neighbor, and that is only upper campus. On lower campus we have an indoor cat, I believe the only one around.

We also have a wild civet cat that occasionally makes an appearance, just to round out the bunch. Never dull, in the human or cat world, here!

Symphonie des Arts Holiday Show!

Hello! Spent a lively afternoon at the Symphonie des Arts (local ballet school) holiday show. One of my students, as well as many others from grades 2-6 (and up) from TASOK participated and did an amazing job. The location is a lovely plant filled garden that includes essentially a covered picnic area that is filled with Christmas merchandise, food and MANY hot parents, siblings, and associated onlookers such as myself. (Without enough chairs!) Through some bizarre and insane turn of events, I did not seem to be the most uncomfortably hot one there (I had napped before and that had maybe regulated my temperature?) which is very unusual for me! So I had a lovely time. First was a stop at the oldest church in Kinshasa (very close to the dance school) for a view of their lovely garden (Frangipani obsession! Look how perfect! Even the spiraled buds!)

and the Brazzaville bridge they are slowly building on the other side of the Congo.

Photo Credit:Emily 

We were greeted upon arrival by this huge angel, Christmas tree and the nutcracker you can see behind it. 

We had a fair amount of time to spare before the show (we were trying to get seats, too late for that, so we shopped instead!) Here is a sample of the goods on display, this aisle was all stuff from the nice store that the dance school runs. You can also see the decoration of the building in the background.

I am so glad my Christmas shopping is all done! So I could just enjoy looking. Incidentally this store is where I finished my shopping (when it is located in the dance school, not in the outdoor area) so you might be looking at your gift! haha. I went on a quest to find more chairs... and ended up finding this stork instead, because apparently a dance school and store also needs a stork?!?! Only in Congo.

I was supposed to be taking the month off from Nice cream, but it was so hot - you can see our fans in the picture - that I couldn't resist the incredibly yummy treat provided by another recital-goer in our group. (Thanks Marie!) You can see the decor and stage in the background, as well as one of the dance teachers in a Santa outfit handing out the programs. Overall a fine (and warm!) Kinshasa afternoon spent! Still acquiring the pictures for my next post, slowly but surely! Next weekend! 

Photo Credit: Nikki