June 25, 2005

Odds and Ends

My building is still under construction so I don't get to sleep much past 7:30 on Saturdays. Each day it's becoming a little bit more spick and pan though. Last week they put this plastic sheeting on their stairways to give them that "fake tiling" look everybody's talking about these days. And they finally put a line for clothes which I promptly used as permission to do two HUGE loads of wash and use the entire length of the line. I counted that I had approximately a million pairs of underwear.

This morning, I was rushing quickly to the car, when I saw a worker kneeling on the floor. My instincts from Senegal came back in an instant and I proceeded to tip-toe around him while carefully balancing my computer, my paper, my bag and my keys. Then I realized that the guy wasn't Muslim and he wasn't praying. He was just kneeling down to get a better grip on a sheet of plastic while cutting it up.

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That day, I also saw a large opened-back truck with four serious looking military (starched uniforms, berets and guns over shoulder). The truck had stalled and two skinny guys from the street had to push the large truck out of the way. **Snicker**

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Some newspapers here (like anywhere in the world, read: the Enquirer) are not very reputable. Last week, some pictures of a huge boa constrictor that had eaten a man, were published. Apparently you see the bloated boa in one picture and the boa slit open with a digested man in the next. Lovely. This week, they published pictures of a woman who has been savagely dismembered and disfigured by the neighborhood mass murderer. Fact or fiction?

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I'm a little bit stressed out right now. We have a huge proposal due soon (so we're all putting in long hours and working all weekend, every weekend) and the event of the 30th of June are looming near, making everybody jumpy. Needless to say, I'm not getting a lot of quality sleep. It's even making me loose frightening amounts of hair and I end up having to unclog my drain (**yuck yuck yuck**) once every other day.

7 comments:

Victoria said...

Aww Doro, do you want me to bring you some Rogaine?

Kate said...

so do you have to wash your clothes by hand? my sister went to guatemala and they had to do that, and hang them out up on the roof.

thank you for your advice, by the way! i appreciate it very much.

Beaver said...

No maid ? How does that work in Congo ?

By the way, I realize that the voting registration deadline that was on the 20th just passed... Did it happen at all ? What is the situation with the population ? How is armed presence ?

007 in Africa said...

Hahaha Vicky. Yes please.

RHJ, well in Senegal, I washed my clothes by hand for the first two months (what a pain in the ass I tell ya) then I hired a maid :) I had to hang my clothes on my balcony, rain or shine, sand or pollution alike. Needless to say, my whites aren't as white as before.

In Congo, I have a washing machine!! I have to hang my clothes up in the court yard, much to the delight of my guards I imagine who now know what kind of undies I wear. *blush*

Voting registration is slow but seems to be happening little by little. The population is very vigilant. A collegue of mine just told me that they had heard a gunshot last night in their neighborhood and all the young kids got together to bang plates and pots to chase the person away. Armed presence is less than reassuring :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, even with your blog I have trouble conceiving what life in the Congo is really like. It seems so alien.
Do you think you could forward the boa picture to my brother? I'm sure he'd enjoy it :)
-Ammo

007 in Africa said...

Ammo, you are so evil with your brother. No wonder he's all screwed up. :)
Just kidding, he's normal, and you're screwed up.

Anonymous said...

:P
-Ammo

P.S.
A man-eating crocodile picture would be even better for my brother :)