Out in the Sun....

Like I said D.R.Congo is smack in the middle and it is an extremely hot country since the equator goes through it. Well if you ever decide to go visit D.R.Congo, then there is a lot of picnic spots you could go visit. Just be careful when you decide to go into the River, the currents are usually really strong and you could drown. I don't mean to scare you or anything, I mean there is some gorgeous picnic spots in the Congo, but all of them are really far a way. So it takes 1-4 hours to go to one of the spots, depending on how good the roads are on that day. My favorite one is Zongo Falls, I believe it is the furthest picnic spot and the road is unpredictable. Zongo isn't a place that you can go for one day, if you go to Zongo make sure you pack food and everything because it is smarter to stay overnight. I loved Zongo because it was completely different experience, standing across the waterfall feeling the water just hit you on your face. It was amazing. When I went a couple years ago, the houses were not that great, but it has become a lot better than it was with big, large suites to live in and a swimming pool. IT is just great. If you ever visit my country make sure you go to Zongo Falls. It is beautiful.

A picture of the might falls. 

Learning how to Speak lingala.

The country, DRC is really huge. You can see how big it is, even when you look at the map. In this large piece of land live several different groups of people who speak many different languages and come from various different tribes. The most well known languages and most widely spoken languages are Tshiluba, Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili. I don't know how to speak all of them but I do know how to speak Lingala, but when I usually mix French and Lingala together.  I decided that since we were talking about languages I could just write down a few sentences in Lingala.

Kombo ya yo nini? What is your name.
Ozo sala nini? What are you doing
Nazo sala musala. - I am working.
Sala noki! Hurry Up!
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A few words in Lingala:

Zua- Take
Nyaka- Come
Kende- Go
Mbisi- Fish
Lipa- Bread
Soso- Chicken.

Well I have been living in D.R.Congo for several years so I did pick up the language mostly just by listening to it and talking to the domestics that do the household chores for us, but I hope you guys enjoyed learning a few of the words and sentences.

Sleepover and Gunshots

D.R.Congo is a great place, sometimes it can be dangerous and even scary. Now I know a couple days ago  I was saying Congo is a nice place and all these other good things about the country, they are true Congo is a beautiful country. It may not be peaceful but every place has it's flaws right?! Congo's is that you can never trust what is going to happen, things just randomly happen there, but there is reasons for them. This blog post I am just going to tell you a story about sleeping over at school which was in 2007 I don't remember the date but I do remember the details of the "four day war that rocked the Congo." because it was not only the best 3 days I spent at school, but the craziest and scariest three days of my life. Living, in the Congo I was pretty accustomed to gunshots are random moments, people screaming on the streets...but every time the situation got slightly horrible, we would flee the country. This time we didn't even know what was happening. We were sitting in class, when the alarms went off. We all rushed to our homerooms thinking, it would be over soon, no big deal...these things always happen, but that isn't the way it was this time. All the student's whose parent's worked in embassy or other governmental organizations were quickly escorted back home. The rest of the school who didn't have such kind of luxury were stuck on campus. There were houses on campus so the people left over were divided into groups and sent to each of the houses. I was with a several sophomores and juniors. We ended up staying dancing and sitting on the porch and sipping on coffee while listening to the gunshots.  Although it was frightening, eventually we all got used to the sounds and they became the most memorable moments of our lives.

The wall of one of the building with the flags of the countries represented  in TASOK (The American School of Kinshasa) 

Kin La Belle

Heya!
I was talking to my friends and they are all going to be in Kinshasa, while I am stuck here in Canada. Not that it is a bad thing, but I honestly would rather be in Kinshasa right now. I mean I really don't like it that much here. The people are very nice here, just like back home. When I tell people that I come from Africa. They always imagine things like war zones, poor countries, slums, mud houses. There is some truth to that, but they are fixing the roads now, there is still poverty and there is still slums, the mud houses are mostly found in the interior regions. Now there is buildings, lounges, and I heard that there is going to be a few malls opening up soon. So I am really looking forward to going back home!

A picture of the beautiful city (Kin La Belle) 

This picture shows that Kinshasa is developing, it will take a long time for it to get to a better position, but hopefully someday it will get there! 

UGGHH SO HOMESICK!

I lived in DRCongo for 17 years. When I came here in December the cold was unbearable, I always kept looking for a place to hide. I was so used to the heat that the snow was just not working for me. Anyways, when I came to Canada it was a huge change for me. There was no longer a driver to drive me around, no more cooks to do the cooking for me and no one to do my dishes and my laundry. I had to do all of this by myself. The first few weeks were the most horrible weeks of my life. I felt terribly homesick and depressed, but I got used to it. I still miss it home every now and then. The noisy streets, the traffic jams that you get stuck in for hours and hours without moving, but most of all the heat and the food! Oh I miss the congolese food so much. I mean places like subway and KFC are delicious but eventually you do get tired of them. Then you start craving for the food you used to get at home and how it used to fill your stomach up! I remember eating fufu and fish sauce, it was one of my favourite cuisine. Fufu is a staple food in several african countries. . "It is made by boiling starchy vegetables like cassava, yams or plaintains and then pounding them into a dough-like consistency"1. It is extremely delicious. Well, that's all i have to say today.

Fufu with fish sauce. 

NO I DONT SEE TARZAN IN MY BACKYARD!

In our school, we discussed stereotypes people have about African countries, some of things we heard were funny, the others got a us slightly angry. Like there is people out there that still think Africa is a country when Africa is a continent with more than 50 countries. When my cousin first went to college he got asked the silliest questions like:
"Do you see Tarzan in your backyard."
"Do you go to school on elephants."
"Do you live in huts."
We never see Tarzan in our backyard, we go to school in cars and we live in houses made of concrete. It is amazing. If you go into the interior of the country where I grew up in you might be able to see people living in huts, but you won't see elephants or Tarzan. Growing up in the Congo has taught me several things and maybe taught me how to live a different lifestyle, where you always expect the unexpected. My blog is a way of telling stories and just a way of letting you guys know that D.R.Congo may sometimes be a dangerous place but it a really beautiful place to live.  For people that don't know where to locate Congo on the map, It is in the continent of Africa, it is right on  the equator and is surrounded by 9 different countries a couple of them being Central African Republic, Angola, and Tanzania!