Ode to Luke

Luke, my best bud here in the Congo, has headed home for the states! Luke was the Director for the Language Institute and taught Conversational English here at UCBC! He was totally cool and let me tag along to Kigali! He goes home to his beloved, Angie, and his family and friends in Arizona!

The gang here already misses him dearly - so this is our ode to Luke! Today, we ate a mendazi in your honor Luke from your favorite lady!

All our best wishes are with you and we're glad that you made it home safe and sound!

Field Test

On last Tuesday night, we had a "field test" in the house! Since we just got two new team members - Grant & Meredith - we decided to see how they handle things under pressure. So, we flooded the house in the middle of the night.



Actually, it was an accident. The shower in the boys bathroom blew the hot water knob off and was gushing water everywhere - it flowed down the hall into my and Meredith's room - and got as high as our ankles. We never would have discovered it if Meredith had not got up to utilize the facilities. She woke me up and at first I thought it was from a storm - our windows leak when it rains really hard. However, when I got up and saw how deep the water was - I knew something was wrong.



I eventually found the problem but could not get the hot water knob on - so I said "Shoot - Go get Grant!" Grant came and tried the same thing and said "Shoot - Go get Justin." So I went and woke up Justin and he turned the water off at the source. Then we had fun trying to mop up the water without any mops! All of this at 4:30 in the morning!!!!



FIELD TEST!



Luckily, Grant and Meredith kept their cool and passed the test - Welcome to the Congo!!!

Conversion Van!

We have a new thrill ride here in Beni - the Conversion Van!!!! You enter an atheist and leave a Christian!



The roads here in Beni are HORRIBLE!!!!! There are several times a day that we pray to God that we make it where we are going. In fact, half the time I think we are driving on riverbeds, not roads!



Therefore, when someone new gets in the van - we ask - "how is your prayer life?" Bye the time we are getting where we are going - they are converted!!!!



It is hilarious!!!!



Well, today I taught my second lesson in Swahili at the Women's Center and it was awesome! I spoke about staying on God's path and that it is not easy, but if you ask Him - he will help you! The ladies were so excited that I had purchased a Swahili Bible to read the verses to them! Also, I got to introduce Meredith to them and was able to interpret for her! It was awesome!



So, Meredith and Grant, my new teammates from United World Mission arrived on Saturday, the 18th, with our Supervisor Kevin. They are already blending in and of course, the Congolese love them! Meredith is a nurse and Kevin will be working with the communications department in video and radio. Please pray for them and their transition!

Gisenyi Great!

We ended the night at a restaurant called New Cactus - for all of you travelers out there - definitely try out the Lonely Planet set of books. We got all our recommendations from the "Africa" book by Lonely Planet and they were right on!!!! For dinner, we had pizza! It was awesome! Plus, a great view of the city at night! Luke and I said a toast to his fiance' Angie - and discussed all the craziness that is Beni - it was hilarious!



The next day, we hung out at Bourbon Coffee again and went grocery shopping. Getting all the things we can't get in the Congo - soy sauce, cayenne pepper, Chai tea, and lots of chocolate!!!!!



The bus ride back to Gisenyi was occupied by a local hotel owner who wanted to practice his english with me. He invited me to come back to Rwanda soon to see the mountain gorillas. I told him that it was on my list!



That night in Goma, at the Guest House, we got out on the lake with a pontoon boat - it was super fun! Once again - I took an extra long shower and decided I was ready to head back to Beni the next day by TMK flight.



All in all - one of the best spring breaks ever!

Kigali Kool!

So the best part of Hotel Okapi is the HOT SHOWERS! Yes, you heard me right! I took 2 a day! I never take that many showers - but I did! I loved every second of it! I even bought more shampoo, just for the occasion.



The next day, Luke and I checked out the hip and happening coffee spot - Bourbon Coffee. No there is not whisky in the coffee - Bourbon is a type of coffee bean!!!! Shout out to all my SBUX Buds!!!!! This is the Rwandan version of Starbucks and I had a Mocha Kawaccino (Kawa is coffee in swahili)! It was awesome!



Then, I went shopping for some souvenirs and thank you gifts for all my friends back in DRC! Noe's b-day was the day I left - so I wanted to get him something special. I found a really cool drum - since Noe' is super musical! Plus, I found these awesome t-shirts for Luke, Bethany, Justin and I that say "Mzungu" which is swahili for white person! I literally stopped traffic in the street I was laughing so hard when I saw them. There was exactly 4 shirts that the store had, in exactly 4 colors, and in exactly 4 different sizes. It was kismet!



Next, Luke and I went to Chez Robert - a really neat restaurant across the street from the "Hotel Rwanda" - which is not really called that - but that is the name they gave it in the movie. We followed that up with a trip to the Kigali Memorial Center, where they have the Genocide Memorial. We took the audio tour and I bawled my head off of course. It was beyond words.



One of the most interesting things about Rwanda was that they are supposed to speak English as one of their national languages. However, as we were catching motos around town, I ended up using my swahili more than my english. I was glad that I've had intensive lessons for the past three months - or sometimes I would never have been able to get around.

Rwanda Rocks!

Tales from Spring Break 2009!



Well, I actually went on a spring break trip this year - to Rwanda!



It was awesome!



I have now started the first chapter of the Beni Shower-a-holics Anonymous!



How much do you miss something when it is taken away from you? Apparently a lot!



So, first I flew to Goma, DRC and stayed with the folks at the Heal Africa guest house, Maji. The lake in Goma is beautiful and it keeps the town really cool! I loved it! Plus, the Heal Africa staff are really awesome!



Then the next day, Luke and I met up with Bruce, a pilot for AirServe (a non-profit humanitarian flight company), and walked across the border to Rwanda.



Little did we know, but April 7th is the Rwandan Genocide Memorial Day. So absolutely nothing was open or running!?!



So we walked to the one major hotel in Gisenyi - the Serena. Praise God they had coffee!!!!! And not just any coffee, but I had an iced coconut mocha!!!!! ROCK ON!!!!! I was in heaven and didn't want to move by that point - the good news was that I didn't have to move for 3 hours, because the first bus to Kigali wasn't until 2pm.



The ride to Kigali is amazing. We traveled through the Virunga mountain range and got to see all of Lake Kivu, plus coffee farms, and banana farms, and the valley - it was GORGEOUS! I just put my iPod on and enjoyed the ride.



We finally get to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda at about 7:30 at night and check into Hotel Okapi. What do you know, but a girl from Columbia, MO is working the front desk! I couldn't believe it! She is married to a Rwandan man and they are expecting their first child. It was totally cool!



We decide to go out to eat and the ever sweet Bruce treats Luke and I to a steak dinner! It was awesome! Unfortunately, Bruce was headed off to Egypt bright and early the next morning - so we'll have to repay him sometime in Goma.

Congolese Funerals

Unfortunately, I have now attended my first Congolese funeral. The President of our University's Brother-in-law passed away. We attended the funeral in Oicha on Saturday, April 4th. Please pray for the Kasali family as they grieve their loss.

There are several things about Congolese funerals that are similar to the US and several that are not. The night of the death, there is a wake. However, they literally stay up all night crying and praying. The next day is the funeral with a long procession - there is a service at the home of the deceased and at the graveside. Both of these services include a lot of singing and reading of the obituary.

The wailing is uncontrollable from a large group of women that gather around the casket. The whole community comes out to offer condolences to the family. Also, there is a communal meal involved.

All of the Congolese know me to be an extremely happy person, and several of my friends told me that it was hard for them to see me so sad! I had not met the man personally, but I love his family dearly! It was good to pay my respects to the Kasalis. I was glad that I could be there with them to pray and grieve.

I'm reminded of the song by The Byrds (which quotes the book of Ecclesiastes) - To Everything there is a Season. I've seen weddings and I've seen funerals here in the Congo. I look forward to seeing births, especially as several of our teachers and students here are getting married!