Address for MeJane

Several weeks ago I included an APO address for me here. There is no mail delivery (or garbage pickup, for that matter), so without the Embassy's help, I'd be stuck. Since then, I've learned that that original address was inaccurate, so please use the contact information below. I also recently bought a cell phone which really helps when you're planning to meet someone and can't, etc. Right now we're sharing rides and cell phones really help with making connections. I've heard that calling the states from here is relatively inexpensive (about 40 c/m) but to call here from the states really adds up. I hope no one needs to use it, but yes, indeed, you are able to get in touch with me if you have to.

Had a really great day today doing what I came to do--teach. Carole and I helped out at the Congo American Language Institute (CALI) of Kinshasa. Classes runs 5 days a week from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm everyday. Thirty-five teachers are on staff, most of them working two jobs. CALI is their favorite because they can earn $10.25/hour, a significant wage around here. Carole and I visited 4 different level classrooms and were treated like celebrities. Students and teachers alike are so impressed with our English! It is very rewarding to give them some insight into the language and the culture behind the language. I hope to help out at CALI on Friday's.

FYI: Learned today that the cable company wanted more money per month if I wanted to download photos. What do you expect for $130/month? That is USD. Congo Francs are interchangeable with American dollars on the street. Credit cards are not ever accepted anywhere for anything. Checks are meaningless. It is cash and only cash -- for gas, rent, groceries, utility bills, restaurants, everything.

Write MeJane at: Unit 31550; US Embassy Kinshasa, APO AE 09828-1550
Call MeJane at: (243) 081-854-9227

Log On

Wonderful news: I'm the new recipient of internet at my residence! Thanks to Cousin Bruce who, on the night before I left Spring Lake, gave me the wise advice, "It might cost a lot, but it will be worth it to you to be able to work on your own computer, on your own time, at your own home." Right on all counts, Bruce. It was expensive, but I have a feeling that my ten months here are going to be much more enjoyable knowing that I can log on anytime I want to to check the news, get my mail, write this blog, etc. It's hard to describe how vulnerable I felt without the connection to my life back home.

Bad news: The plane crash in Kinshasa. Many of you have asked me about it. I don't know anything more than you do. I wasn't close to the airport when it happened. Traffic was no worse than normal. I was at the Embassy at the time of the crash and security was not unusual. Is that a reflection on the attitude toward physical disaster? Unfortunately life is fragile here.

Tonight I sleep in my own residence for the second night in a row. Prior to this I was staying in the protestant guest house, C.A.P., Centre d'Accueil Protestante. Carole, a former ELF from Lubumbashi, is staying with me till she starts working on her project there, about 600 miles southeast. Sorry, but my photos still won't attach. I may need some technical help with that. I'll have to describe the place. It's a spacious four bedroom, two bath house, with a veranda with papaya, mango, avacado trees growing on the grounds. It comes (for a price) complete with house boy, 2 guards, and chauffeur with automobile. When I wear my big sun-hat, I feel a little like Meryl Streep in Out of Africa. Dean Cornwell, the missionary who rented the house before me, is leaving for the States next week. I'll try to get the photo connection to work soon. I'm just so thankful that the internet worked when they hooked it up. Simple pleasures!

Never a Dull Moment

I can tell I'm already starting to get used to life here. Yesterday, Sunday, I attended church on the campus of Universite Protestante du Congo (UPC), which is where I'll be teaching English to pre-med students starting October 15. The service was a beautiful gift of hundreds of spirit-filled people. I enjoyed it immensely and realized without a doubt that I am in the right place.

Before church, I took a stroll around the campus and shot a few photos. An image tells 1000 words, but unfortunately, I'm still not able to get connected to the internet with my photos because of the security issue at the embassy. When I start at UPC, I should be able to send photos from my camera to the blog, so be patient. In the meantime, let me use text to describe the public areas. There is unfinished or destroyed construction everywhere; garbage, some smoldering, just in heaps along the walkways. Driving is difficult to describe because of the roads being all torn up so the cars go all over the road to avoid large the pitfalls. Pedestrians have no rights or rules. I have seen only one traffic signal so far in all of Kinshasa, (8 million people), but no one obeys it. If its red, and there are no cars, the drivers run it. There are basically no rules that are reinforced. All the houses of any substance are walled, which includes the house I hope to move into today, that is, if they fumigate it first for the rat population. I will most likely be securing a feline animal in order to keep the house "de-ratified." Mobutu, the previous president before Kabila, left devastation in his wake and no one has attended to it. My other English teacher friend, Carol and I walked to a pizza restaurant on Saturday and were careful to not fall in the large sewer pits along the street that should have grates over the top, but don't. Who knows what they could be used for, but if anything has a value, the people will take it.

Life is not dull here.

In the afternoon yesterday, I attended a farewell party for Dean, the gentleman who started the English Club and recently was Director of PR for UPC. The party was at Katya's, the head of the post. She invited all of the students from the English club, which was my first exposure to the "kids." They are delightful--many of them very articulate and witnesses to Christ. They seem very enthusiastic and eager to learn from their American English teacher. Thanks so much for your encouragement. I will do the best I can. Till the next time, I miss you all and enjoy hearing from you.