Congo steamy top 10--part 2

5. Les mamans porteuses—walking home, past women saddled with burdens a mule would have trouble handling, I was reminded again and again of how the women of congo are the backbone of the country… I’ve heard men joke that they don’t have beasts of burden because they have women to carry loads here and there… I never managed to ask one of the ‘porteuses’ if I could take her picture, otherwise I would show you just what these women carry, but the image remains etched din my memory and has come to represent the strength and steadfast determination of the women of congo to see to it that their families survive, in spite of relentless adversity. The women, they effectively run the country—they are mothers, wives, traders, farmers, survivors, the creators of innovation, pathfinders.




6. life and death, anger and joy—I’ve been overcome on more than one occasion by the intense juxtaposition of opposites in this country… wedding parties and mourners race up and down the main boulevards of Bukavu in much the same way… Koffi club anthems, getting down on the dirty dance floor, mingle with drunken fights at the bar… even at the border, the customs guard will joke with you at the visa table, and then fleece some poor visiting ngo consultant behind you in the queue… n’oublie pas: “Au rythme du pays”

7. teasing and being teased in Swahili— A young 20 something calls out, in French—Hey honky, what’s going on—the honky replies in Swahili—where’s the honky? I don’t see any honkies—the 20 something then turns to his buddy and snapping his fingers, chuckles in Swahili—Oh the honky (mzungu) speaks Swahili—the honky then interjects (in Swahili) that not only is he not a honky, but that he is really, deep down, if you look close enough, a black person… Macho in a kuffa, your eyes are dead… everyone laughs. (funtimes with language)

8. Word of the year: Septaecaemia. Believe it or not, Cholera is a Septacaemic desease, AND children, if given enough encouragement, can learn how to say Sep-tah-see-mee-a

9. Anti-social habit of the year: If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll have problems digesting the other elements of your diet… if you think that only poor people eat vegetables and that you being a well off person ought not, therefore, eat vegetables, you will likely have trouble digesting all the foo foo and meat you consume for supper… if you remain gainfully employed for an extended period of time, you’ll likely wind up with a condition called impacted faeces, a sympton of which is room-clearing, bad breath… Poo breath. Eat your vegetables (even if you’re well off)