Glo with her three foot baguette!!!!!!!

Drumbeats from the Congo

·         Bugs- really not too many, we did have one cockroach visit us last night but Astro sent him to a watery grave.   Given this is the tropics, I am surprised at the few number of bugs.

·         Water- All couple missionaries have a water purification system built into our kitchens.  So we can use "dirty" water which doesn't look dirty but it would not be good to drink it.  We use that for showers and handwashing and in a dishpan with soap and a few drops of Clorox to do dishes, then rinse with the purified water.  It really is not a pain in the neck. 

·         We keep our water bottles filled with purified water, or some couples just buy bottled water.  Neither of us have had any intestinal problems. 

·         Produce- while some of it is expensive....very expensive.  Pineapple is not expensive and it is the best I have ever tasted anywhere.  Not too acidic and extremely sweet.  We eat a fair amount of that.  I made an apple papaya smoothie the other morning and it was quite grand.   Plus the bananas are wonderful.   As soon as we bring home any produce we fill our dishpan with "dirty" water (again it looks just fine)  with a few drops of Clorox.  Then we swish our produce around in it for a few seconds and rinse with purified water and put in the refrigerator.  Works just fine, no tummy probs.

·         Fitness-  We have moved the furniture around in our living room which is quite large to create our "fitness center".  We have two exercise mats left here by previous couple.   We brought our P90X DVDs  and we brought exercise bands.  So we are now doing P90X  three times a week !  But tonight we are thrilled because we had dinner with Elder and Sister Snedden from Logan Utah who are 79 and 80 years old have 11 children and are both pistols (office couple)  They run every morning and do free weights they found on the deck of their apartment.  They don't use them all so we brought some home with us and are excited to use them.   The other three mornings we do our run/walk either on the roof of the building or on the square across the street at 6 a.m.

·         White shirts-  All the men missionaries wear shortsleeved white shirts and ties all the time unless we are out on a humanitarian project  or exercising then we dress down somewhat.  The locals refer to us all as the "white shirts".  We of course have our missionary name badges on when we are out in public, so we have to be cautious because we are white/Americans and that says money to all these poverty stricken people and some get desperate enough to do our types harm, so we urged to stay together when we are out and about, like fitness walking/running.  I have never felt unsafe, but have only been here a week but the others say the same thing, we are careful but not hysterical by any means. 

·         Weather- I LOVE THE WARM, MY BONES LOVE THE WARM.  We probably use air conditioning a lot less than many, I am quite comfortable most of the time.  It is a little humid but really not bad, not like New York in July! ugh!   It is summer now and the rainy season but it doesn't rain all the time only huge cloud bursts with lots of thunder and lightening at night and then it stops.  Again, only been here a week,

·         What do we eat-  No we do not eat bugs or worms or anything like that. We eat pretty much the same thing we eat at home.  Lots of fruits and veggies, cereal and bananas for breakfast or a smoothie.  Just made some cheese sandwiches to take to our office tomorrow.

The Adorable Eddie

 

Eddie is one of our project monitors.  He is also our Lingala teacher.   Want to learn Lingala with us?  We will post words in the following table...and will repost as we learn more!

English	Lingala	Pronunciation Guide
Good Morning	Mbota	mmmm-bow-tay

 

Traffic

The traffic isn't making us bananas.   We aren't crazy about the way people drive here in Kinshasa because there aren't any stop lights or signs and no designated lanes.  It is sort of an every man for himself free-for-all. But they don't drive really fast.   I still maintain Cairo has the wildest and most terrifying traffic I have seen anywhere.   Ro is my chauffeur in a huge diesel truck.   We always keep our doors locked and seat belts buckled.     I am loving the warm weather.  I am constantly asked by locals if I think it is too warm.  Nope!!! My old bones are lovin' it.   Another plus are the bananas.  Oh yum.  They taste like real bananas and the fresh pineapple.  HEAVEN!!!!!

Our new home

Our new digs.  2 bedroom, 2 bath.  Very comfortable!

 

The view from our veranda: Kinshasa!

GOOD MORNING AFRICA!!

Safe uneventful travels arriving in Kinshasa DRC last night.  Greeted by beautiful smiling faces.  All luggage accounted for and in tact.  (Very strange for us to travel with more than a backpack).   Arrived at our very secure (think Fort Knox ) two bedroom two bath charming apartment.  Had a great nights sleep and now greeted by a  75 degrees and sunny day.   Off to church.   We are excited to be here.   More updates and pictures soon.  Thanks to all for love and encouragement.  We are doing fabulously.

Leaving on a Jet Plane....

The Missionary Training Center, where we've been training for the last two weeks, is home to a "famous" map in front of which each missionary poses, pointing to the location of their future service.  We leave tomorrow (10 January) and are badged (see below) and ready to go!

Family Reunion in Arizona

We had a grand time in sunny Arizona over the Christmas holidays.  All three daughters and family members joined in the celebration while we were there.  On December 30th we flew to Salt Lake City and then arrived at the Missionary Training Center for departing missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) in Provo, Utah.  We have spent a most inspirational week with 2,000 other departing missionaries ages 18-80.  What a marvelous experience it has been. 

We will be departing the USA on January 10th for Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo where we will serve as humanitarian missionaries for 18 months.  We are anxious and excited and thrilled for the opportunity.

Thank you for your friendship, love, support, encouragement, ideas and goodness.