Arriving in Congo

inside the place i stayed

lubumbashi

the place I stayed. it is actually nice on the inside

We got to the border and were bombarded by people demanding we pay them to carry our bags. It was the beginning of recognizing the differences between Congo and Zambia. Central Africans are much more agressive and abrassive. I fought to speak French and my accent is so bad no one understood me even when i was saying the right words. Another anoying diference is this keyboard. All the letter are in different places. The language barrier has proven to be really frustrating but i am learning. I thankfully had no problems at the border and made it to lubumbashi no problem.

When I got here I met the Mazezas familyI stayed with. They are wonderful! A guy named Remy took me to see where he works and it is KFC Katanga Fried Chiken run by Iraqis! Then we went to the Lubumbashi zoo and saw only a couple of animals. The place was beautiful though. I can imagine it was spectacular 50 years ago. I could not take any pictures though because they were charging 10 dollrs just to take a picture. Thats Congo always discovering new ways to get money from people. They are in no way capitalists. Trickle down economics has never been heard of. I am enjoying myself here. Please pray that i have wisdom about how to get the papers i need to stay. I have a few options and i want to be sure i choose the right ones. also be praying for clarity about how to best help the people here and which programs to begin. Thanks for all of your prayers!