By the Light of the Moon, If There Was One

Writing by the light of five candles makes me think of a couple of historical figures. One is Abe Lincoln, who is purported to have read by the light of a candle as a child. One candle would not cut it for someone like me with presbyopia. Five is the bare minimum. The other person is Thomas Alva Edison, who among other accomplishments, developed the technology that uses electrical energy to manufacture light. I can understand why a 70 watt bulb is like 70 candles burning. I would like to have 70 “bougies” burning right now. I have enough reserve power on the laptop to write and I’ll load this onto the blog later when the power goes back on. It could be soon, or it could be tomorrow. We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll write and keep the refrigerator door closed. I have eaten dinner, which consisted of an interesting conglomeration of navy beans, eggplant, tomato, onion and green pepper, accompanied by a great vin rouge. Dessert was a Dutch windmill cookie with a cup of strong Belgian cafe.

The Embassy is sending me on my first get-away. I leave for Lubumbashi, Congo, on Sunday to help Carole, my previous roommate, interview 18 candidates for her new CALI (Congo American Language Institute) program. I am being accompanied by Dr. Mubangu Itangaza (see photo) who is the Teacher Coordinator (T.C.) for the CALI here in Kinshasa. He has been a teacher here for over 40 years, and the T.C. for 10. Other assets include being able to speak Lingala and French, and who knows what other language (s). He knows the Lubumbashi area well, having spent six years there earlier in his career. He has a wealth of hiring/firing experience and I am so grateful that he is the one who has agreed to help get this job done. After the eight teachers are chosen, we hope to train them in the days that follow. We return to Kinshasa on Saturday, the 8th.

I hear that Lubumbashi is quite nice and a relief from the congestion of Kinshasa. Although I’m looking forward to a little change of scenery, the timing for this isn’t the best because I’m expecting two women to arrive here from Grand Rapids on Monday night. One is a surgical resident who spent some time here while her Dad was a missionary, the other is the daughter of a former headmaster of TASOK, the American school close to my house where I go swimming, etc. Because this is not new territory for them, I’m sure they’ll be fine, but I feel a little funny taking off just before they get here. I will, however, see them when I return, as they will be here for three weeks total, and just two with me. I’ll make sure that Dicky, my “garcon de la maison” has things in good order for them.

My teaching, you ask? Oh, no big deal. Just canceled the classes. Of course. Why not? TIA. This is Africa.