So I know I have been a little down on the DRC lately in my posts so I thought I would share a little about what I enjoy here.
The people are great! Mostly very kind and polite, greeting you everywhere you go. And that is not just because I am foreign, they greet each other in the street, in the always, and as they enter the room with a cheery "Bonjour"! Sometime when I am somewhere with a lot of people, it reminds me of the opening scene from Beauty and the Beast! "Bonjour... Bonjour... Bonjour, bonjour, bonjour!"
Yes, I know the words, in fact I know every word of that song and every other song in that show for that matter! It's only one of the Top 5 animated movies of all time!!! Don't get me started.
S I love the people... I also love the baked goods! As most former European colonies, the Congo has kept some of the best parts of it's colonial history in its food! Thank God for Belgium, I would be hard-pressed to find a chocolate croissant here I didn't like... And I have had a few in my day! The cookie aisle at the market is lined with many of my favorite breakfast foods, ie: European Cookies. I almost went "True Grit" on a bag of cookies just now in fact! (True Grit referes to one night when my bro and sis inlaw and I were watching True Grit while on vacation. I opened a bag of Oreos to share and by the time the three hour movie was done, I had polished of the bag... By myself.) this comes as know surprise to many of you. They served beignets with dinner the other night and they were good too, Blessing first donut(kind of). The baguettes are good here as well.
The people, most of the food and... They have a few cool car models that can't be found in the USA. I swas one today that was the Toyota Noah. It was like a boxy, 6 seater that was less like a van and more like a.... Hmmm. Not sure what to compare it to! They also have killer Range Rovers here (and actually need them) one of my dream rigs for sure, these Landy's are not playing around, they have the full upper exhaust system, roof rack and tires that would take you pretty much anywhere, including Boise River Street.
Our power hasn't gone out nearly as much here as the last place, one of the benefits of being on the same grid as the embassy's I guess. Of course that last place had hot water in some of the rooms......
There is a French classical sextet staying here and yesterday and today the French horn player was warming up in a room down stairs and it made me miss my wife super bad. A not to widely known fact about Kate is that she plays the French horn! There are no ends to her talents! Anyway, the horn music filled the hallways and was really great! Everything is tile, stucco and brick so it has killer accoustics!
The building and grounds were built in 1922 and have a decidedly art deco feel. Really pretty red brick buildings, the main one (where we are staying) reminds me a lot of Richardson Springs, CA and the hotel building there. We are very near the Congo river and can see the shipping cranes in the harbor just above the security wall. Blessing really wants to go over there! We played soccer for quite a while after breakfast, then we walked to the market, just outside the compound and got a couple of necessities. I just discovered that there is an espresso shop in the market... So will be going back soon! Man cannot live on Nescafé alone!
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