Somewhere over the Atlantic

With all the recent happenings in Guate (elections, hurricanes, etc.), I feel like my head isn't 100% in the Congo. I'm somewhere over the Atlantic, it seems. Work is fine here, I'm moving ahead with my thesis and I enjoy the work I do. I'll be heading home in about a month, so I know I need to get moving and finish all I need to finish before leaving the DRC.

I'm anxious about the coming weeks. The run off is the first Sunday of November. If the weeks preceding the first round are any indication of what is to come, the next month or so won't be pretty.

This was a somewhat strange year. Not as much work as last year, more trips out of Congo, less fieldwork. I started the PhD but it doesn't feel real yet, since I haven't been to Leuven since I was admitted and I don't have a student ID (it sounds silly, but I'd like to have an ID so that it feels real and I can get student discounts, too).

After coming to terms with the idea of staying here for another two years, life suddenly became simpler. We got furniture and plants, so the apartment finally feels like a home. I can remember how I felt before, counting the days until the next trip out. Now it isn't so bad. I don't mind it as much, and I don't count the days. Still, I feel my mind is often elsewhere. I miss Guate a lot.

I guess I am somewhere over the Atlantic right now. Hovering. I feel a bit on hold.

March 2007, after the bullets

July 2007 with furniture and plants

Flipping disappointment

I was hoping for a snake or at least some centipedes. I wanted to contribute something tropical to Via Negativa's initiative. This is the Congo, after all.

My friend Sonia and I left no rock unturned in her garden (except for one that was too close to an active bee hive) and found close to nothing. The few bugs that we saw, buried themselves before I could take a picture. They were small and brown, sort of looked like tiny roaches. Sonia and I were both surprised at the absence of life under the rocks. She did suggest that N., the driver/avid gardener probably cleans even under the rocks. I'm posting several of our disappointments.

In defense of the Congo I must say that not only Sonia's garden, but Kinshasa in general, is not the most exciting place to flip rocks in the DRC. Maybe next September 2 I'll be somewhere sexier.