L'homme blanc

Dieu me donne un homme blanc. This is my favorite phrase that I've heard recently. God has given me a white man. I was talking to one of my co-workers about buying a radio. I said that he could probably get it for cheaper than I did, pointing to my white skin (I'm white so I have to pay more sometimes). He said that this is what store owners think when I walk into their shops. God has given me a white man.

                              

Being a white man in the Congo defiantly gives the feeling of privilege. People of all ages get excited when they see me. There's a little girl on my walk home who points and shouts Muzungu every time she sees me. I'm always amazed by the tone of her voice. She's just so excited about my whiteness. A couple weeks ago, I was sitting in my living room when a young woman walked in. Startled by my presence she said to my host mom, "there's a Muzungu in here" with the same energy as the little girl. She talked to my host brothers about me, but did not address me. Finally she worked up the nerve to address me directly. "Are you married? Do you want to marry my sister?"   

People often get excited when I tell them I'm from America. Some tell me they want to go to America very badly. Their eyes light up when they talk about it, like it's a dream world. Others who have been there before seem to have a better understanding. It’s a nice place, but not a dream world. Americans are still humans.

People imagine all sorts of things about America. A man that I work with, a pastor maybe in his 50’s, recently asked me, “Jacob, people are really rich in America right. Is there a limit on how many kids you can have?” Congolese like to have lots of kids. The aforementioned pastor has 9. I guess he thought, Americans are rich so they can have as many kids as they want. It never occurred to him that Americans wouldn't want to have 9 kids. I felt similar another day, when a close friend asked me if I could help him sell gold to someone in the US. It was to me such a ridiculous question, but they were very serious. I laughed and responded, "probably not." They asked, "but definitely though, are you sure?" I guess they thought I might be able to get them a good price. 

Of course it's natural for people to imagine things they don't understand, and for those images to be sometimes completely wrong. I imagined many things about Africa before I arrived here 4 months ago. Some of those things were right, but a lot was wrong as well. I recently spoke with a young Rwandan who has been to the US before. He told me that most Americans know very little about Africa, asking him questions like “do you speak African?” In a world so big, ignorance seems to be the natural human state.

On another note, I want to add an interesting update about the conversations with my french teacher, and the notion that Congolese president Joseph Kabila is a Tutsi. I mentioned to my teacher that I was confused, because Congolese tent to fixate on this Tutsi thing instead of focusing on the failures of Kabila as a president. My thinking is that his ethnicity does not matter. His actions are the important thing to me. My teacher responded that the reason Congolese call him a Tutsi is because their lives have not gotten better. He said that people didn't say these things about Kabila in previous years when he was more popular. It was interesting for me to realize that were both really on the same page, but just using different language.

So anyway, the past few weeks have been routine but good. I’ll be moving into a new apartment soon, which I’m looking forward too. We’re still having some funding problems at my work, so not much has been going on there, but I think we’re getting close to having some funding and starting some projects soon. I’m still taking French lessons and my understanding is slowly but consistently improving. I’m also picking up a bit of Swahili from my host family, the guards outside our house, and other random people. So that’s all good. Here are some random pictures from the past few weeks.               

My parents take their goats out to eat the grass on the side of the road.

From the side of the road to the dinner table. Goat intestines are not my favorite, but someones gotta eat em.

Tiny fried fish are great. They're nice and crunchy. You just eat the whole thing.

My host dad is doing some construction in our backyard.

I finally got my establishment visa. Not like a resident but probably as close as I'll get.

Nyawera, a local market, busy on a Friday night.

That’s all for now. If anyone wants to buy some gold, hit me up. 

Le mois de juin

Cher tout le monde,

Apologies for my extreme lack of posting. My post rate seems to be at one per month right now. I’ll try to get that number up in the future. I recently purchased a computer so the updates should be a bit more frequent from now on. 

The last month has been fairly routine for me. I haven't taken any recent trips for work, because we are having some funding problems. In the mornings I go to the office of the NGO I work with PPR, where I work on french and various other things with some of my colleagues. Around 1 or 2, I leave the office and buy lunch which I to take the MCC office. I used to eat lunch at the PPR office, but I don't do that anymore because nobody else there eats lunch and I don't want to be the only one eating. I think most Congolese eat in the morning, in the afternoon around 4 or 5 when they return from work, and then maybe a third time between 7 and 10 and night. It's also generally seen as very poor manners to eat alone or in public. One of my Congolese friends once told me, I don't want to eat alone like a wizard. People find it very strange if they see me eating something while I walk to work. Food is something that is supposed to be shared.

After lunch I sit around the office napping or listening to the radio until 3 (or 15 as they say here, I'm not sure why but they use military time). From 3 to 4 I have a French lesson with my teacher Oscar. We often talk about Congolese history and politics. This week he showed me video that accuses Congolese President Joseph Kabila of being a Tutsi and not the real son of Laurant Kabila. Laurant Kabila was president of the Congo from 1997 to 2001. He was assassinated under suspicious circumstances. The assassin killed himself leaving his motive and potential accomplices unknown. Joseph Kabila, Laurant's son quickly consolidated power, and has managed to say in control of the Congo since then. For those who don't know what Tutsi means, it's a complicated ethnic identity that many Congolese see the way that some Americans might view Muslims. Google it if you want to know more. I'm fairly sure that the whole thing is simple a rumor. It reminds me of the rumor in the United States that Obama is a Muslim. I think the emotions behind the accusation, particularly the idea that Kabila is an outsider who isn't particularly concerned with the well being of him country and fairly valid. I just don't think the facts add up.

After work I go home. Two of my parents sons came home from school a few weeks ago. The older one, named Deni goes to college in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, where he is studying to become an architect. The younger one, David, goes to a high school a few hours from Bukavu. They are both home for the summer. I'm happy to have them around because it takes some of the paternal pressure off me (my Congolese host parents are very paternal). They also both speak English and are generally enjoyable to be around. My weekends are filled with various activities. I went to a wedding last weekend and will maybe go to another this weekend. I've also been playing bass at my church, where we had a concert a few weeks ago.

I recently got the chance to do some hiking with friends in Kahuzi-Biega national park. We were planning to do a fairly long hike to the top of a peak called Mount Kahuzi. Unfortunately, there was a patrol being done that day (people scouting for armed groups). This was disappointing, but we still got to do a shorter hike to see a couple of waterfalls. Even on this hike, we had to be accompanied by two armed guards (because there are armed groups in the forests). This probably sounds intense but I never felt insecure during the hike. I think it’s pretty uncommon for them to have any trouble, but I suppose it’s better to be safe than sorry. It’s unfortunate that the area cannot be more secure because it’s really beautiful.   

Serge, me, Mark, Ben, and Safari at the first waterfall. My pants are a bit wet from the mist.

Mark preparing to leave the second waterfall.

We were accompanied by a couple of armed guards during our hike, a necessary precaution because of the armed groups that live in the forests. 

This is a peninsula in Bukavu called the boot. There are a number of good store in the area. I've heard rumors of a place with a tennis court but I've never actually seen it. 

This is a picture of the papaya tree that grows in my host parents back yard. I've been told that someone who works for them climbs the tree to get the papayas, but I'm not sure how he does it. They also have a couple of orange trees (the oranges are actually green) and a plantain tree. As far as I can tell, the trees produce fruit pretty much year round. 

This is one of the guy who works for my host parents rounding up the goats and bringing them back into the compound. He takes them out into the street everyday so they can eat the grass on the side of the road. They live in a pen behind my room (I can see them from my bathroom window). They occasionally make noise but not as much as the chickens that crow in the early hours of the morning. I usually sleep through it anyway. 

Last Thursday, June 30th was Congolese independence day. This is the day that Congo gained it's independence from the Belgians and became the Republic of the Congo. This unfortunately plunged the country into a civil war influence by both cold war powers (the US and Russia) eventually leading to the rise of Mobutu and his 30 year dictatorship of what became known as Zaire. No matter how you view the countries independence, it's still a very important day in Congolese history. This song was written prior to the vote for independence and became one of the first pan african hits. It's also one of the first examples of Congolese Rumba. It's also a good song to play at your American independence day party. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y6BjNJD0ZM