Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day has always been a really important day for me. Knowing it was coming, Abbey and I took the opportunity to invite our minister of IPCK (International Protestant Church of Kongo) and his wife and the three of their eight kids who live here over for brunch after church. I've always been partial to Sunday brunch and have had my share of them, most recently enjoying one at the Grand Hotel here with Grace and Jon. It was only $30.00 per plate, service was pretty slow, but the coffee was good, and as Jon so astutely pointed out, it was on par with Denny's back home. We were glad we made the effort, having invited the Ambassador and his wife to join us.

When we were planning the menu for brunch today, we decide to pull out all the stops. We decided to serve mimosas for a beverage and olives with feta cheese, and nuts with raisins for hors d'oevres. For the main meal, we thought a vegetable quiche complete with mushrooms, broccoli, onion and peppers would be nice, accompanied by a mixed salad and assorted homemade muffins, and sausages for those who were not vegetarians. Then for dessert we wanted something simple, like fresh papaya with lime juice sprinkled over it and maybe some Lindt dark chocolate for a powerful finish. So that's what we did. It all turned out exceptionally well and the Shepards (great name for a pastor, eh?) were very pleased to be invited. They are leaving to go back to the states in early June and we will miss them!

It has not been a perfect week, but we did manage to get the car serviced with a new transmission. Doscar, the mechanic, seemed to really know what he was doing. He even washed the car before returning it to us. Unfortunately, it has to get up to 4 RPM's in order for it to shift into a driving gear and it still has a high-pitched squeal when you turn the lights on, but we'll take it back tomorrow to have Doscar do some fine tuning. At least it starts now, with its new battery that Doscare assured me was new because it cost $175.00, instead of the previous "new" one that was filled with acid for a mere $115.00. And it has a two-month guarantee. How's that for assurance!

Abbey found a home in an orphanage for a four-day old baby this week, who was abandoned by the mother near downtown. She also had her wallet stolen from a restaurant last night. She was carrying a boatload of cash and her personal and business credit cards as well as her driver's license. When we told Daniel, the music teacher at TASOK, about it this morning at church, he said he had someone steal his wallet out of his car while he was driving! The windows were down and the crowded streets made it just too easy for someone to reach in. That's why they say keep your windows up and the doors locked.

I think I've mentioned English Club already that meets every Saturday at the American Corner at UPC. Yesterday we had at least 70 people there for the discussion about cooperation between the DRC and Belgium. I thought this would be a low key discussion, but it was really intense. Because Congo was a colony of Belgium before independence in 1960, there are strong feelings about the Belgians and their dominance here. Because there are so many attending the Club, I offered to teach a beginner's class before the current one. It will meet from 10:00 to 12:00; the advanced one from 12:30 to 2:30.

Even though my heart is a little heavy not being with my kids on Mother's Day, I'm really grateful for being able to have this experience. Thanks so much for keeping in touch.

Photo: Rev. Walt Shepard and his son, Theo

P.S. Abbey got a call today that someone "found" her wallet on the street. Although the cash was gone, all of her documents were in tact. We are so thankful!