Chunga Kiloko

And everything goes wrong, that seems to be my daily experience in Congo and some how normal and unavoidable. I guess the solution is to just anticipate nothing working ahead of time. I am becoming a much more patient person.
First of all I come here because I am told to come here. Because I didn’t believe it after having waited for so long I asked over and over are you sure is this really all we need for the visa. And over and over again they said yes this is everything go tomorrow and we will take care of everything. I was excited and chose to just believe and silence the voice in the back of my head saying “I doubt it, this is Congo”. I got to the church treasure's house where I am staying and asked what time we were going to immigration and got the disappointing news that things were not ready and someone was trying to get it all together but as they usually say in Congo “chunga kiloko” or “kesho mangaribi” (Just wait a little bit or tomorrow afternoon).” So from previous experience I correctly assumed that phrase means it’ll be awhile. So here I am 3 days later still waiting and hoping.
I went to an office to get internet for my computer which can only be done in Lubumbashi. Long story short I waited in their office for 3 hours while they tried to make everything work as they continually told me 10 more minutes for 3 hours. Finally I told them I had to go and they had to give me my money back and at first they refused but I was able to persuade them to reconsider. I was really patient for the first 2 hours but the third hour was just too much for me especially since it seemed to me their system was down and it was impossible and they were wasting my time just for the fun of it. The good news is I found a new store that sells western style food because it was across the street from their office.
When I got here the pastor I am staying with took me to a room that was disconnected to the main house and told me there is good security here but I should lock the door and gave me a key. I locked the door and went to sleep. When I woke up I attempted to unlock the door but it wouldn’t unlock. No one was around to help me so I wasn’t sure what to do. For security every window in Africa has bars to keep out thieves. Luckily they had never spent the money to put in an actual window frame so the window was made of metal and wood and opens all the way making it possible for a person to climb out. So I was able to escape from the room. Later on one of the pastor’s sons squeezed through the window and fixed the problem explaining to me that they’ve had a lot of trouble with the lock and need to buy another one. Of course no one bothered to tell me that in advance.
The food situation is always humorous. I of course don’t eat meat or fish which is almost impossible for a Congolese to believe or understand. The basic idea is the only people who don’t eat meat are those who cannot afford to buy it. Then they eat Bukari everyday. Bukari is corn flour boiled with water until it is stiff. It is the basic food of Africa called by various other names including nsima and fufu. In Zambia it is much thinner than here in Congo. I prefer it that way probably because it is what I grew up enjoying. If there is no bukari at a meal there is no food and if you don’t eat bukari you didn’t really eat. So I do eat bukari but because there are frequently other choices I’ll eat bukari at one meal then rice at the next and potatoes at the next then bread then bukari again and so forth. It really confuses the people here and they think I’ll get sick or become weak because I’m not eating bukari. When I first got to Congo in March and was living with the Catholic mother she was very concerned for me and showed me in a health book by the Congolese government that for good health it is necessary to eat bukari everyday. They try to give me more and more vegetables but for me I can only eat so many leaves at one time because it tastes just how you would expect a leaf or weed to taste. I guess it’s an acquired taste.
There is also a mouse that lives in the room I’m staying in. It’s a cheeky little mouse who continually scurries around the room even though I’m here. I’ve almost killed it so many times but it appears to be quite daring and fearless. I hope I manage to kill it before I leave. I hate losing.
Please keep my visa in your prayers. I’m meeting with the youth at a church here tomorrow. I think it will be really great to get some ideas from them. It will be nice to get back to Likasi. I’m hoping it’ll be soon. Thanks for your prayers.