Malaria, Monsoons, & Moto Accidents

Don't worry - I am fine. However, the month of February has been most interesting. I was diagnosed with malaria after taking some extremely expensive pills to avoid it. That was annoying. The good news is that it was a mild case because of the fact that I was taking those "preventative" pills. It was no worse than a bad cold. Yet, I had to grieve over the loss of money on the pills.
Following that incident, we had a monsoon that flooded our house. Not a real monsoon - but a super big thunderstorm that made us have to squeegie the floor of our house.
To top off the the week, I ended up having a moto accident. It was actually more funny than scary. My driver just took a dip to fast and I literally bounced off the back. It would have been alright if I hadn't have been wearing a dress that then caught in the spokes of the tire and then made him fall off the bike with me still stuck to the back via the skirt. Anyway, I laughed a lot about it - and threw a small fit about why I hate wearing dresses!
All in all it was a very eventful week. Praise God I'm ok - and now I have some really funny stories to add to my repertoire.

Congolese Weddings

What a Valentine's Day I had! I attended my first Congolese Wedding - it is an all-day event let me tell you! My invitation was to one of our UCBC Teachers double wedding. It was supposed to begin at 10:00am - we didn't get there until 10:30am - and it didn't really begin until 11:00am! The brides and grooms dance in together proceeded by flower girls that not only walk down the aisle but dance down the aisle! The best man and maid of honor follow the couple and continuously mop their brows with a handkerchief and straighten their clothes so that they look good for pictures. However, it was hard to get a picture without them in it! Everyone in the church is hooping and hollering, but the wedding party has very serious straight faces throughout the entire process! I wondered if they were happy, but apparently this is the custom or people don't think that you are taking your marriage seriously!

There are several similar customs to American weddings - like the lifting of the veil, the exchanging of rings, feeding each other wedding cake, and the signing of the marriage license. However, there are some unique Congolese customs - such as the husband's family presenting the goat to the wife's family. The couple presents the wedding cake to the parents of the bride and groom only, not the entire wedding guests. There are masters of ceremony at both the wedding and the reception as well. They kept us extremely entertained!

All in all it was an interesting day of hanging out with my fellow UCBC teachers - not a bad way to spend Valentine's Day!

The Second Week of Teaching

I have now completed my second week of teaching - and am loving it as much as ever! I wonder why I have always fought being a teacher. Probably because my aunt is a teacher and I didn't want to be a "copy-cat." However, now I know it is part of me! I love watching the guys discover the truth for themselves! I just show them the door! It is a real blessing to be part of their lives and help them "connect the dots!"

I went out on my own for the first time yesterday and besides getting dehydrated and sunburned, I did good! I wanted to try and see if all of my swahili lessons were paying off. I greeted everyone as I walked down the road. I bought a pair of shoes at a local store. I even went to eat at a local restaurant. I had my first "Kuku" here in Beni (chicken). Everything here is served with rice and "pili pili" (hot sauce). It tasted wonderful and I paid a lot for it - but it was worth it. The owner's daughter came in to sit with me because she spoke english. Her boyfriend is from Hungary and she had learned english from him. She told me that all of the people in town are grateful for me coming and are excited about what UCBC is doing! I then walked back to the house and worked on my dissertation for the rest of the afternoon.

Life is much simpler here in DRC - and I believe I am starting to get used to it. It so hard sometimes to "be" instead of "do." I am continuing to learn patience and even submission. WOW - that was hard to admit! When all you have time to do is sit and reflect, it can't help but change you. The other issue in my life that is strongly coming up is my femininity. I stand out here a lot because I don't like to wear dresses. I am obviously a girl. However, I usually don't like to flaunt it. Everyone here lets me know that they recognize I am one. I have to get used to that idea again. Honestly, in some ways I feel like I'm back in high school again. People are constantly trying to marry me off to their friends and family. I am extremely flattered after so many years of feeling exceptionally gender-neutral. Unfortunately, it brings up a lot of old feelings that I don't want to face, being a single person. Once again - growing in patience and submission!

The thing that is most obvious about UCBC is that everyone wants to be here! Everyone is glad to be here! Everyone is excited to be here! I am no exception to that rule! I eagerly anticipate all the changes in myself - not just the language acquisition!

The Bus

This is the brand new school bus that everyone has been praying a long time for! The students were so excited they all got in and sang and chanted as it drove all the way through Beni!

The Gang

Here is the UCBC Crew - from left to right: Luke, Justin, Noe, Jon, April, Emily & Bethany!

Arrival in Beni

I have been in Beni for a week and it has been a blessing! I was warmly welcomed into the fold here at UCBC and greeted with much enthusiasm from the students! As of today, my syllabus has been approved and I will begin teaching Biblical Theology tomorrow. I am also helping out with the English class tomorrow for the Prep. Year Students.

My six month visa was approved today - so there are no more worries of being kicked out of the country! The currency here is Congolese Francs and right now they are about 700 Francs=1 dollar.

We are still working out the details of our permanent home here in Beni, but it looks like myself and the other americans will have a house to share in the NDoni neighborhood. Currently, I am staying with the President, Dr. Kasli and his lovely wife Kassie. They are spoiling me rotten with wonderful food and a cozy bed!

As of yesterday, I am a Swahili mwanafunzi (student of Swahili). I have had two lessons so far and am told I'm doing well. I haven't found a french tutor yet, but I am working on refreshing myself with my old textbook. The funniest thing that has happened is the children seeing me for the first time and screaming "muzungu," which means "white person."

The food has been wonderful. Every day for lunch we have kalengiti (beans and rice). I feel like I'm back in New Orleans - all I need is some Zaterines! We also have a lot of potatoes and vegetables, like sweet potato leaves and cabbage. Praise God that I haven't had any problems with food or water or mosquitos at all yet!

The most interesting part of the trip so far is learning to ride on a motorcycle. Here they call them "Taxies." It is the number one form of transportation. I almost squeezed the guy to death the first time I rode on one. However, I've gotten used to it now. The roads here are really bad, so they go really slow. In fact, sometimes they'll turn their motors off and just coast to save on gas! It costs about $0.75 a ride.

I will try to get up more pictures as soon as possible. Until then check out the link to the left - to my pictures on flickr!

Farkle!

While on retreat - I learned a new dice game - Farkle! It's kinda like Yatzee and Texas Hold-Em Combined! My first time playing and I beat all the guys!