Rather than going back to the original posts, I'll put them here. I made them "web-ready" and thumbnail size.  I hope they won't use too much of my alloted space. I do think I lowered the quality a  bit too much on some; but I hope you get the gist. Going forward, I will use the Flickr account to post photos. 

 

 Children sharing lunch at Grace de Dieu

 

 Prayer before lunch.  Lunch is "fufu" a porridge made from manioc (cassava root) and corn meal.  It's filling, although bland for my taste.

 

 Here I am teaching the Grace de Dieu kids the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" song.

 

 Here the children are washing their hands before lunch; the water is really not very clear, it certainly isn't pure.

 

 This is the road to the Lubumbashi prison I visited at the end of January 2008.  This is quite typical of roads outside of the cities.  We just went to see the Bonobos this weekend, about 45  minutes from Kinshasa.  Except that the roads from Kinshasa to the Chutes of Lukaya were dry, it is "dry season" now, but they were very similar to this minus the water.

 

  Switching gears, this is very typical of the center pieces the garderners prepare on an everyday basis for our foyer table.  They are quite amazing -- both the gardeners and the center pieces!

 

 This is the maternity ward at Hope Clinic in Masina, Kinshasa, DRC.  Two women & two babies to a bed; they generally stay for 3 days after delivery.  The Ambassador's Self-Help Funds provided $$ for a generator and additional beds (soon to be installed).

 

 This is the delivery bed and room @ Hope Clinic. 

Memorial Day was quite poignant for me this year.  This morning when I went outside with Sydney, I notice that the Flag was at 1/2 mast.  There was no breeze, so this very large flag hung very limply. It reminded me of somber side of this day of rememberance. We remember soldiers and foreign service officers who gave up their lives in service of our country.  We remember also all our loved ones who are gone from this life.  I also remember that in this month, this weekend and in the weeks soon to follow, many people have or will be graduating and starting a new phase of their lives.  And, this is the weekend that seems to kick off "summer" in the U.S. -- here we're heading into the Dry Season. 

 

It has been a long time since I've posted.  I've said it before, I cannot believe how busy this "job" is.  We had 5 events at our house in the 10 days between April 26 & May 5; and we attended others.

 

April 26: Diplomatic Secretaries Lunch for 50; hosted by Bill's Office Management Specialist or Executive Assistant & the Embassy's Protocol Assistant.  They invited the secretaries from the other Embassies, the U.N. and from key service providers such as Congo Travel Services, Memling Hotel, Grand Hotel, etc.  It was a lovely event, very relaxed and friendly.

 

April 28: Reception for 30, for the U.S. Undersecretary of State who deals with environmental issues.

 

May 2: Reception for 300, co-hosted with Population Services International in honor of Ashley Judd, actress (e.g., "Kiss the Girls").  Ms. Judd is a member of PSI board of directors and one of their good-will ambassadors.  She is quite impressive; she knows her issues: women's health, anti-gender violence, anti-HIV/AIDS, etc.  She and Bill had a very nice personal conversation after the reception.  We invited her and the PSI reps to a quiet dinner with 2 other ambassadors & their spouses: Sigrid Johnson, Canadian Ambassador, and Nicolas Kay, Great Britian Ambassador.  For that meal, we served Libotke (fish in banana leaves) and chicken moamba (peanut sauce) so the visiting PSI folk could experience a local meal.  Ashley & Bill played a bit of tennis - she went easy on him.  After dinner, Ashley & Theresa, the PSI Country Director, demonstrated PUR, a water purification sachet.  They took a bucket of filty water from the fish pond (where Sydney swims).  Ashley stirred the sachet into the water for 5 minutes -- it was ugly, let me tell you. Then Ashley & Theresa strained the water though cheese-cloth to trap the solids.  We let it set for 30 minutes; then we all - rather nervously - drank a glass of this purified water.  It was good, with only a slightly chlorine taste.  No one got sick.  The sachets are sold for 50 Francs Congolese, less than 10 cents U.S.  Since any diseases are spread through water, this is a wonderful product.

 

On Sunday, May 11 we left for a short , but much needed, 1 week vacation to Victoria Falls, Zambia and Chobe, Botswana.  We had to overnight each way in Johannesburg, South Africa.  From Jo' burg we flew to Livingstone, Zambia.  We stayed 5 nights at the Zambezi Sun hotel.  It was lovely and was only a 5 minute walk to the East Gorge of Victoria Falls.  We did an Sunset Dinner Cruise on the Zambezi River and we did a day-tour to Chobe National Game Park in Botswana.  You can access our photos at our FLICKR site: congoambassador http://www.flickr.com/photos/15965759@N02/ or you can get to it under "other links" in this blog.  Chobe is only 1 hour drive from Livingstone, across the border, which is the Chobe River.  The first part of our "safari" was a cruise on the Chobe River -- we had a full morning with tea & cookies on board a small river boat.  We had lunch (buffet, very nice) at the Chobe National Lodge and then a full afternoon of Land Safari in the Park.  Both from the River and from land, we saw elephant galore, giraffe, hippos, crocodiles, lots of interesting birds, wart hogs, impala, kudu but no lions or cheetahs. At the hotel, there were zebra and monkeys ("naughty monkeys" as the locals say; they steal sugar from the restaurant tables and toss things around if they get into the rooms, etc.).  I took one afternoon for a Spa day at the Royal Livingstone Hotel (4 star, sister to Zambezi Sun, 10 minute walk along the River).  We had tried to get reservations at Royal Livingstone but they were booked.  In the end, we enjoyed the Zambezi Sun more -- it was a nicer, a more relaxed atmosphere, which suited us very well for this vacation.  We also had dinner at the Royal Livingstone and drinks the bar which has an old colonial air to it, with dark Zambian wood and a pianist, who played mostly U.S. "easy listening" music -- right up our alley.  We walked to the Falls 2x; they are breathtaking.  They are one of the 7 Wonders of the World.  Amazing is all I can say.  On Saturday we went back to Jo' burg, over nighted again in the luxurious InterContinental at Jo' burg Airport. I highly recommend this "safari" to any and all; of course, you must include a stop over in Kinshasa and stay in the Ambassador's Residence to complete your Africa experience.

 

Once home, we jumped right back into the thick of Embassy life.  We have two senior-level Washington visitors this week.  And, it's "national day" season -- we call ours "4th of July."  So every week we have 2 or more special receptions to attend in celebration of independence and freedom of various countries. 

 

This is it for this entry.  More to come....