Vacation Part 1

Hi there -

Sorry for the delay ~ Things are still crazy here (when are they not?) Basketball is going to finish on April 9th, so hopefully I will have some more free time soon. I am setting a goal of 9 more weekends or Mondays of consistent posting, and then on the 10th weekend I will be home in Vermont! The countdown is on!

Three Saturdays ago, my friends Adiya and Ella and I set out on a fun African voyage, my first visits to any countries in Africa that aren't DRCongo. I have lived here for over a year and aside from the Casablanca airport, I had never been to another African country until this trip. We headed out from TASOK at about 5am and out from Congo at about 8am, and then we changed time zones and planes (the only reason we made our flight, we gained an hour) in Togo (which has the coolest airport worker pagne uniforms ever!) and arrived in Accra, Ghana, to a very warm welcome from one of my students I had last year and his family. We got settled in their awesome house and the next day headed out to the beach! While there is beach in Accra, we took a drive to a lovely beach with a less urban feel and some awesome chairs and palm trees to complete the experience.

I did take a dip, though I hate salty water in my mouth! 

Adiya and Pippa getting ready to head home.

The next day it poured down rain (to end the Harmattan, winter desert wind) and we toured about the city a little bit before picking up the younger kids at daycare and heading back to the house for our afternoon nap!

The next day the weather was back to normal (warm!) and we went out to the market to buy fabric. I was categorically ignored, which is not the norm in Kinshasa (with much more aggressive salespeople) and had a great time, got two fabrics, one just pretty and the other one not typical in Kinshasa.

We also saw this sign, which had us giggling pretty hard.

On our last full day in Ghana, we walked to the neighborhood pagne store, which had fabrics that we can get in Kinshasa, but at better prices, and I bought a very fancy fabric not so much because of it's pattern, but because of it's amazingly soft feel. It is much more silk-like than regular pagne and I think it will actually drape. We had a great lunch at a place in the neighborhood and again took a nap all afternoon! We headed out the next day.

Overall, I really enjoyed seeing my former student and his family (who are British) and talking non-stop about all kinds of random things, including the vast differences between American and British English. It was also at about this time that Adiya realized that I have a Vermont accent, so we also got to throw that one into the mix.

One of the most striking things (aside from getting ignored at the market! Holy cow!) was being in a neighborhood where we could walk around and there were shops and amenities, including a mall and multiple restaurants a few minutes walk from the house. There are small free standing shops with nice signs on the streets that sell vegetables and fast food, all kinds of things. In Kinshasa those are not allowed so the street stands are more temporary.

The traffic in Accra is pretty intense, and we didn't see really much rural aside from heading to the beach (next time!) but I really enjoyed speaking English, seeing the market, eating Jolof rice, and napping all afternoon. It was really a vacation! THANK YOU Rich Family!

New Dresses

Hi! It's report card and basketball season, things are nutso. I know I am meant to be taking pictures of other people in pagne, but for today I have pictures of me in my new outfits. Photo credit to my friend Ella, who I paid with an apple for taking my photos in the yard:

Ella's favorite dress.

After several attempts to selfie my tunic, I just put them on the bed:

much simpler.

And lastly, this is what I think of sweet corn in Congo:

yummy in my tummy. Nothing like Doton Farm, but very nostalgia inducing and not that bad!

That's all for now - much love!

Trees of TASOK

Hello to all! I promise I am working on getting material for more interesting posts but for now, the trees will have to do. I feel like I focus on flowers, but recently some of the trees have been capturing my attention.

First, this tree, which is exactly what I imagine giraffes eat, is the most gorgeous to walk under, because of the way the light slants through so magically. Hard to show in pictures, but hope you can get the idea.

Next, these trees. This is the view out the most heavily traffic-ed first grade door, and since I am usually talking to people shorter than me, I don't regularly look up. But when you do... these trees are just insanely cool and gorgeous with these insane white blossoms (which I forgot to photograph when they were out) and crazy-tallness. (crazy tall-ness?)

Another impressive tree of TASOK: Bottom and top.

Last, I cannot get enough of this tree on my way home every day. The way the wind undulates the leaves and the way the shades of green are just so perfectly, sickeningly, amazingly 'African' in everything that any stereotypical representation would portray... we really do live in a wonderland. A very warm wonderland! I am thankful and will have to remember this for next winter! Unless I can find some other warm place to escape to. There really isn't a picture here that does it justice (I should have gotten further away) but I did try.

TASOK does Brigadoon (actual mist, not smoke from fires!) on this unrest day off: the city is on strike so I will take pictures and be lazy all day!

Rest day buddy:

Reading for TASOK Teacher Book Groups is next on the agenda. Love to all.

My Pet Photography Obsession

So I have been taking my camera out on my Thursday outings to try to get pictures for blog posts. I have only been a tiny bit successful, but it does mean that I have plenty of opportunity to photograph my friend and weightlifting coach's hilarious dog and wonderful gym/converted garage. Sweetie was rescued off the street and is very good at singing (with Kristen's help), not flinching when we drop very heavy weights, sitting/laying exactly where she is in the way, and generally taking advantage of the fact that she has been adopted into the best family ever. Here she pensively stares toward one set of pullup bars. (She's also pretty good at modeling!)

Foam roller in the background, interrupted my stretching because she is too cute. 

Here she is ignoring me and giving a scale for the picture of the whole gym. The fan is very effective at cooling us down generally and we usually clear out where the yoga mats are to have a large clear surface for lifting unless we need the racks to the right, then we get them out. I have made a lot of good memories here, including stretching my inner thighs, lifting the yoke in the back right corner, playing with slam balls, recording Crossfit Open videos and generally laughing about things while lifting. I am very glad to know these lovely people and have lived near them for a while! They are headed out this summer as am I. 

Then I came home to this:

On a sit in for food... or just very very very entitled, but we already knew that I guess. Until next week! Much love! 

Birthday Loot

Hello! I am sorry to have been such a slacker but I have had some busy weekends and lots of jobs to do. Promise I will try to get better!

Wanted to share what I got for my birthday. I had a pool party on Sunday January 24th, had lots of fun with some great friends who brought samosas, hummus, wine, beer, juice, snacks and muffins to go with the chocolate cupcakes I made. Had a nice dip in the pool and was home by 5:30 to have skype and rest!

From left to right - LOTS of cards, including myself as a hand-drawn milkmaid! Plus a cool "Congo" photo album, two kinds of lotion, my running watch that I got for Christmas and finally learned how to use on the very day of my birthday! A new notepad and stamper set, a yoga shirt "Turnin' Heads, Twistin' Necks", the taco kit I got myself for $17!! Foreground: Pink pagne bag, more cards and super cool pagne banner that I have hanging in my house now. I also got Reeses and Macarons, which were LONG gone by the time this picture was taken.

THANK YOU to everyone who sent e-cards, facebook wishes as well as gifts, hugs and real cards. I really appreciate it! Sorry to anyone I've forgotten - not sure where my head is at these days!

Yogurt!

So was having a discussion with a family friend while I was home about all the yogurt in Congo. Everyone loves yogurt, there seems to be a lot of selection and it is very commonly eaten (especially by me!) There are no nutrition labels (I probably don't want to know, although eating the real stuff might be better than how they make 'low fat' - I don't know??!) so I have no idea how any of it compares to American stuff, but I really like it and eat it all the time.

Normally I have plain for breakfast in my smoothie and flavored for dessert after dinner, and normally my go-to flavor is "Dolait" Strawberry. However all the stores I have visited in the last two weeks have been out, so I am having the "Oui Oui" kind instead. It doesn't taste even close to as good, but I laugh every time I eat yogurt that is named "Oui Oui".

There are tsetse flies in Congo that infect cows, so I have never seen a cow in Kinshasa. All the milk used to make the yogurt is trucked in and/or UHT milk, I am not sure. Would love to find out before I leave. Maybe a yogurt factory tour is in my future!

Anyway, first is "Oui Oui" mango flavor with my go-to type of plain yogurt.

Next we have another entertaining plain - the one with the cow with horns! Plus "Oui Oui" Strawberry and Vanilla. Interestingly here the "Plain Sucre" (Sugared Plain) is better to me then the Vanilla, though it seems like it should kind of be the same thing?!?!

This is what everyone uses their ironing board for, right? 

This is someone protesting his tiny box of food by knocking it over. Caught in the act!

Next week perhaps some photos of birthday loot. I had a great birthday! Love to all!

Happy New Year!

Hello to all - So great to see so many of you while I was home. I really appreciated reconnecting with everyone and I look forward to being home again this summer. I didn't think I had any pictures to share (I have two requested posts in the works, need to remember to take photos for them! Please request a post if you would like photos of something in particular, other than my cat... yes, I have a problem. Is there a 12 step program for people who take too many photos of their cat?) but then I realized that I wasn't so hard up.

First, I took my camera home for winter break and didn't use it to take any photos in America. Whoops. However I did very much enjoy taking pictures of the desert from the plane. SO cool.

Then this morning I went on a photo walk to get a picture of this: The cat door is growing a plant!

And ended up with several more flower and Davy pictures. I promise the next post will be something different!

Loved these deep purple leaves.

In his element! Have a great week everyone!