So now ready for midnight flight to Nairobi on the last business class seat available on the plane. Although a somewhat frustrating day, I met some new Cameroonian friends including Jacques to whom I could give testimony and have been in contact with already several times since meeting him. After 2-3 checks before boarding the plane, I settled into my seat for the 4-hour flight and 2-hour time change.
We are on Kenya Airways (again), a very reliable airline in Africa. We are going to Nairobi (again), a very busy hub and connection point in East Africa and for Africa in general. It's interesting how Rose mentioned in one of the comments that after all the unhealthy white bread (baguettes), it seems that the only good food is on the plane. Well with about 15 flights on this trip, that guarantees me about 20-25 meals that aren't just empty carbohydrates.
Upon arrival in Nairobi at ~ 6AM, it was a nice cool morning (15 degrees) and a welcome relief after the heat and humidity of Congo and Cameroon. Of course in Africa it is quite common to walk to the plane and use "ramp stairs" and not have a covered jetway. This provides problems in inclemant weather such as thunderstorms and/or heavy winds and rain. Nairobi does have a covered jetway but not for these flights, only for the important European or South-East Asian flights and with larger aircraft and passenger capacities.
Now what to do for the day? I discovered that Emirates does not have a lounge in Nairobi, meaning not one for their airline exclusively so I found the Duty Free Lounge to which they are affiliated and found my bearings for the day ahead. I couldn't even get my boarding pass because I was in Nairobi so far ahead of my flight. They said maybe after 12 Noon there would be someone to help me. I couldn't buy any duty-free as I only had my backpack and Emirates doesn't allow you to carry liquids through Dubai onto your connecting flight. So I found myself nibbling on sausage rolls, Coke Light (aka Diet Coke) and watching football (aka soccer) and cricket (not the cockroaches but the game popular overseas).
To be continued......
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Day 12 - Pointe Noire, Congo to Douala, Cameroon - Friday, May 8, 2009
Out of Africa!
Once I printed my ticket, sent my luggage with "the Evangelist" for check-in an formalities, a short prayer and good-bye with the Apostle Dzur and Kab, it was onward to the airport for my flight out of Pointe Noire to Douala, Cameroon.
The last time in Cameroon was supposed to be for a few hours and it ended up being two and half days. Was already leary about flying through Douala. The airline that used to run out of Cameroon was called Air-Peut-Etre - Air Maybe, OK, actually it was called CamAir but the other name was what everyone called it. An interesting story about the airport that I wish to recall quickly. When I arrive in Douala some years back, the airport looked great, nice decoration, air conditioning, new floors/carpet, until it changed, the second part of the airport looked like WWII. I was told that most of the airport was renovated but someone didn't pay the bill, so the Contractor decided to go back to the airport and take down the renovation that wasn't paid for and only left up that which was. Well, the airport hasn't changed and possibly gotten worse, maybe the contractor came back to take down the rest.
The flight left late and with each minute that we waited, I knew that the slimmer the chance of me making my flight to Ethiopia. I wasn't able to check-in my baggage all the way through so I would have to clear customs, luggage and then check-in again with Ethiopian Airlines. We finally left 40 minutes late and found out the reason for our delay; they forgot to warm-up the food. You gotta be kidding me. My day's going to be screwed because of food. I guess it's a little appropriate since I enjoy food so much.
As the plane was called for boarding, I found out that all the formalities were not completed. So an aggravated protocol official ripped my passport and boarding pass out of my hand and went to do the formalities. Well, I thought, this would be a good way to miss my flight. Almost felt like the formalities weren't done to sabotage my trip further. With every moment you get more paranoid as well. Well after 15 minutes he returned and I had to cover a few more formalities (aka money) with him. It's interesting these "formalities". You don't want to call them bribes but they are almost what the original intention of a TIP was to be. TIP = to insure promptness. In the good ole days, a tip was given at the beginning of a meal "to insure promptness". Without it, you may have waited for hours to receive any food. Well, "formalities" are to insure things are done in a timely fashion or even done at all. When "formalities" are expected after an action performed, this is to insure that he will be there the next time one of us needs help i.e. Apostle Dzur on Monday. Basically paying it forward, literally.
Frustrated on board, I prayed that the plane would go faster. I was the first one off the plan in Douala at 1:15 PM, 75 minutes before my flight was to leave for Addis Ababa. I found a "boy" that would help me past immigration, security and to the area where the luggage was going to come out. He proceeded to the Ethiopian counter to see if he could already start the process to check me in. I followed shortly after WITHOUT my luggage as I asked another "boy" to retrieve it for me and meet me at the Ethiopian counter. Well this is where my disaster begins. The ladies working for Ethiopian were very uncooperative and rude. I felt "prejudiced" against in the finest form. Cameroon versus Westerner. My day in Cameroon did turn around somewhat so I am not going to stereotype all those from Cameroon so I'll stop just there. Finally my luggage arrived and there was nobody to help me whatsoever. The "official" from Ethiopian finally arrived as well and pretended I wasn't there. This was not going to be my day. So a long-distance-roaming-phonecall to Donalda and my voyage through Ethiopia now became my 44 hour trip out of Africa through Cameroon, Kenya and Dubai, UAE to Bangalore, India.
It was about 2:30 PM by this time and my flight wasn't until midnight. Everyone is helpful in Douala and, of course, they're all looking for some money as well. I couldn't keep track of all the names and people I met but "Jacques" stayed with me from beginning to end and therefore I helped him the most. I wanted to have a copy of my ticket so we first went to the Kenya Airways office. Eventually the nice gentleman found my ticket and printed for me. He even agreed to keep my large suitcase locked in his office until later in the evening when I could pick it up. Now, what to do?
First, needed some more money. Thought I would be out of French Africa. So I exchanged €50 for the day and hoped it would suffice. Discovered some newly found friends, Jacques and Samuel. I know they're looking for $ but thought I'm better off with a couple of guys for some $ then alone in the airport for 10 hours. The three of us took a taxi, after an argument between taxi drivers who was going to take the oumouzoungou (white man aka mundele) to town. I thought just to go out for lunch, maybe find an internet cafe and then return to the airport.
I've been stuck in Cameroon before. Not for 10 hours but for almost 3 days. On a previous African trip, as mentioned before, I had to take the now-defunct CamAir aka Cameroon Airlines aka Air Peut-Etre aka Air Maybe when a promised connection to Kinshasa, DRC took three days to realize. At that time, I decided just to stay in a hotel room close to the airport for the 2 1/2 days, this time I wasn't just going to sit around an airport.
So we ventured off to Downtown Douala. Actually Douala's not that bad. Not as primitive as part of the Africa I'm used to but not as modern as South Africa or Kenya or Rwanda. Somewhere in between. Douala is a very "rich" city as it also is home to a large port. Out of this port Cameroon exports oil, coffee and cocoa. Unknown to most, Douala is the 2nd most expensive city in Africa after Lagos, Nigeria. It's the 34th most expensive city in the world. To put this into perspective, Toronto is the 54th most expensive city in the world. This is all relative but something worth noting.
With my two companions, we went to the "White House" for lunch. This restaurant is a good clean take on Cameroonian cuisine. An outdoor restaurant with lots of fans. I ordered grilled chicken (swiss chalet style) and my new friends ordered more traditional dishes (one ordered Ndole). Ndole (see picture below) is a local dish of ground nuts, Ndole leaves (like spinach) and sometimes added with meat. As, of course, I didn't know this until I looked it up on the internet, I thought chicken was safe. My side dish was deep-fried plantains (wow! good!).
From there, Jacques and I went to a nearby Internet Cafe. It's interesting, on this trip more than any other, when I would go "online" and check email it would take me home. When I would logoff and leave, I would only then realize that I'm half way around the world. A real interesting phenomena. The Internet Cafe had curtains around each station I guess to ensure privacy....a little strange but "oh well" at least it was cool (A/C was working). So an hour there and then back to the street for a taxi back to the airport. Of course the taxi to the airport was half the price as the taxi from the airport. We bought some bananas before "boarding" our taxi (bananas = nice and sweet) and a short 20 minutes later we were back at the airport. So I survived the day in Douala. By this time it was about 6 PM and in about 2 hours I could check-in. So we enjoyed a Coke and some good conversation in the Airport Bar (A/C again, although not as cool as I would have liked it). As the next two hours went by, we could see the airport terminal slowly fill up. When it was time to pick-up my luggage at the Kenya Airways office, we were wall-to-wall people. In Africa and many overseas countries, only passengers are permitted in the check-in lines. There are even some airports where only passengers are permitted into the airport at all. Sometimes for a small fee, they allow non-passengers. Again, a little different than home.
So I lined up about 4 hours before my flight in the secure area of the check-in lines. Patiently waiting for the check-in desks to open (what else could I do?) the Kenya Airways staff asked if I would be interested in Business Class. Of course, I asked, "for free?" No, they just targeted me as a rich foreigner. I said, "well, how much?". They stated something around USD $450. Not bad for a 2-3 hour flight to Nairobi. So back and forth between the check-in and Kenya Airways office (in and out of the "secure" area, oooh, that was fun - insert sarcasm). Eventually I checked in both my big bag and my little bag (after locking it) and then I was given access to the Business Class lounge even if I didn't make it into Business Class. Before that, another woman from KA asked if I had any Flying Blue points. Well, of course I do. She said instead of the $450 they could just take the points required. I would have to fill out a form and if there was place, they would take these points and upgrade me.
Once I printed my ticket, sent my luggage with "the Evangelist" for check-in an formalities, a short prayer and good-bye with the Apostle Dzur and Kab, it was onward to the airport for my flight out of Pointe Noire to Douala, Cameroon.
The last time in Cameroon was supposed to be for a few hours and it ended up being two and half days. Was already leary about flying through Douala. The airline that used to run out of Cameroon was called Air-Peut-Etre - Air Maybe, OK, actually it was called CamAir but the other name was what everyone called it. An interesting story about the airport that I wish to recall quickly. When I arrive in Douala some years back, the airport looked great, nice decoration, air conditioning, new floors/carpet, until it changed, the second part of the airport looked like WWII. I was told that most of the airport was renovated but someone didn't pay the bill, so the Contractor decided to go back to the airport and take down the renovation that wasn't paid for and only left up that which was. Well, the airport hasn't changed and possibly gotten worse, maybe the contractor came back to take down the rest.
The flight left late and with each minute that we waited, I knew that the slimmer the chance of me making my flight to Ethiopia. I wasn't able to check-in my baggage all the way through so I would have to clear customs, luggage and then check-in again with Ethiopian Airlines. We finally left 40 minutes late and found out the reason for our delay; they forgot to warm-up the food. You gotta be kidding me. My day's going to be screwed because of food. I guess it's a little appropriate since I enjoy food so much.
As the plane was called for boarding, I found out that all the formalities were not completed. So an aggravated protocol official ripped my passport and boarding pass out of my hand and went to do the formalities. Well, I thought, this would be a good way to miss my flight. Almost felt like the formalities weren't done to sabotage my trip further. With every moment you get more paranoid as well. Well after 15 minutes he returned and I had to cover a few more formalities (aka money) with him. It's interesting these "formalities". You don't want to call them bribes but they are almost what the original intention of a TIP was to be. TIP = to insure promptness. In the good ole days, a tip was given at the beginning of a meal "to insure promptness". Without it, you may have waited for hours to receive any food. Well, "formalities" are to insure things are done in a timely fashion or even done at all. When "formalities" are expected after an action performed, this is to insure that he will be there the next time one of us needs help i.e. Apostle Dzur on Monday. Basically paying it forward, literally.
Frustrated on board, I prayed that the plane would go faster. I was the first one off the plan in Douala at 1:15 PM, 75 minutes before my flight was to leave for Addis Ababa. I found a "boy" that would help me past immigration, security and to the area where the luggage was going to come out. He proceeded to the Ethiopian counter to see if he could already start the process to check me in. I followed shortly after WITHOUT my luggage as I asked another "boy" to retrieve it for me and meet me at the Ethiopian counter. Well this is where my disaster begins. The ladies working for Ethiopian were very uncooperative and rude. I felt "prejudiced" against in the finest form. Cameroon versus Westerner. My day in Cameroon did turn around somewhat so I am not going to stereotype all those from Cameroon so I'll stop just there. Finally my luggage arrived and there was nobody to help me whatsoever. The "official" from Ethiopian finally arrived as well and pretended I wasn't there. This was not going to be my day. So a long-distance-roaming-phonecall to Donalda and my voyage through Ethiopia now became my 44 hour trip out of Africa through Cameroon, Kenya and Dubai, UAE to Bangalore, India.
It was about 2:30 PM by this time and my flight wasn't until midnight. Everyone is helpful in Douala and, of course, they're all looking for some money as well. I couldn't keep track of all the names and people I met but "Jacques" stayed with me from beginning to end and therefore I helped him the most. I wanted to have a copy of my ticket so we first went to the Kenya Airways office. Eventually the nice gentleman found my ticket and printed for me. He even agreed to keep my large suitcase locked in his office until later in the evening when I could pick it up. Now, what to do?
First, needed some more money. Thought I would be out of French Africa. So I exchanged €50 for the day and hoped it would suffice. Discovered some newly found friends, Jacques and Samuel. I know they're looking for $ but thought I'm better off with a couple of guys for some $ then alone in the airport for 10 hours. The three of us took a taxi, after an argument between taxi drivers who was going to take the oumouzoungou (white man aka mundele) to town. I thought just to go out for lunch, maybe find an internet cafe and then return to the airport.
I've been stuck in Cameroon before. Not for 10 hours but for almost 3 days. On a previous African trip, as mentioned before, I had to take the now-defunct CamAir aka Cameroon Airlines aka Air Peut-Etre aka Air Maybe when a promised connection to Kinshasa, DRC took three days to realize. At that time, I decided just to stay in a hotel room close to the airport for the 2 1/2 days, this time I wasn't just going to sit around an airport.
So we ventured off to Downtown Douala. Actually Douala's not that bad. Not as primitive as part of the Africa I'm used to but not as modern as South Africa or Kenya or Rwanda. Somewhere in between. Douala is a very "rich" city as it also is home to a large port. Out of this port Cameroon exports oil, coffee and cocoa. Unknown to most, Douala is the 2nd most expensive city in Africa after Lagos, Nigeria. It's the 34th most expensive city in the world. To put this into perspective, Toronto is the 54th most expensive city in the world. This is all relative but something worth noting.
With my two companions, we went to the "White House" for lunch. This restaurant is a good clean take on Cameroonian cuisine. An outdoor restaurant with lots of fans. I ordered grilled chicken (swiss chalet style) and my new friends ordered more traditional dishes (one ordered Ndole). Ndole (see picture below) is a local dish of ground nuts, Ndole leaves (like spinach) and sometimes added with meat. As, of course, I didn't know this until I looked it up on the internet, I thought chicken was safe. My side dish was deep-fried plantains (wow! good!).
From there, Jacques and I went to a nearby Internet Cafe. It's interesting, on this trip more than any other, when I would go "online" and check email it would take me home. When I would logoff and leave, I would only then realize that I'm half way around the world. A real interesting phenomena. The Internet Cafe had curtains around each station I guess to ensure privacy....a little strange but "oh well" at least it was cool (A/C was working). So an hour there and then back to the street for a taxi back to the airport. Of course the taxi to the airport was half the price as the taxi from the airport. We bought some bananas before "boarding" our taxi (bananas = nice and sweet) and a short 20 minutes later we were back at the airport. So I survived the day in Douala. By this time it was about 6 PM and in about 2 hours I could check-in. So we enjoyed a Coke and some good conversation in the Airport Bar (A/C again, although not as cool as I would have liked it). As the next two hours went by, we could see the airport terminal slowly fill up. When it was time to pick-up my luggage at the Kenya Airways office, we were wall-to-wall people. In Africa and many overseas countries, only passengers are permitted in the check-in lines. There are even some airports where only passengers are permitted into the airport at all. Sometimes for a small fee, they allow non-passengers. Again, a little different than home.So I lined up about 4 hours before my flight in the secure area of the check-in lines. Patiently waiting for the check-in desks to open (what else could I do?) the Kenya Airways staff asked if I would be interested in Business Class. Of course, I asked, "for free?" No, they just targeted me as a rich foreigner. I said, "well, how much?". They stated something around USD $450. Not bad for a 2-3 hour flight to Nairobi. So back and forth between the check-in and Kenya Airways office (in and out of the "secure" area, oooh, that was fun - insert sarcasm). Eventually I checked in both my big bag and my little bag (after locking it) and then I was given access to the Business Class lounge even if I didn't make it into Business Class. Before that, another woman from KA asked if I had any Flying Blue points. Well, of course I do. She said instead of the $450 they could just take the points required. I would have to fill out a form and if there was place, they would take these points and upgrade me.
So in to the security and immigration check-in. Now it gets a little interesting. First, for non-transit passengers, a long line-up to pay for Departure Tax. Secondly, a taste of "hot as hell". In a room no bigger than the Willowdale church, about 250 people squished together haphazardly to go through the immigration process. No A/C, no fans, I would say easily 120 degrees and humid. After my 30 minutes of melting over two lines of National Security and Police Security, then through the X-Rays and over to the KA lounge.
This must be the best room in the entire airport. Cool, modern, cold beer, nice snacks, free wi-fi, decent washrooms, comfortable chairs, good tv reception, then about 30 minutes before my flight, a new boarding pass > business class! When eventually we boarded, again through 3 security checks, I was the last seat in business class on this flight. Things are looking up!
Day 11 - Pointe Noire, Congo - Thursday, May 7, 2009
Thursday's another day. After a leisurely late breakfast with the Apostles (more baguette, but add an omelet) we ventured out with the Apostle Degbia and an Evangelist to make changes to my upcoming flights.
First to Trans Air Congo (TAC) to find out the schedule from Pointe Noire to Douala. Again, the Apostle Dzur didn't want me to fly through Brazzaville due to certain "threats" there that I will not elaborate on too much on this blog. These are private stories and too juicy to implicate the innocent here. Nevertheless, we received the schedule that the flight left tomorrow (Friday) for Douala at 11:00 AM arriving at 12:30 PM.
Now to TAAG (Angolan Airlines) to find out when they flew from Douala to Bangui. Saturday. Oh great! Overnight in Bangui. It's like one night in Bangkok only much worse. I already had a ticket from Brazzaville to Bangui for so I asked if I could just endorse the value over to a new ticket for Douala to Bangui. Then the man working there informed us that he could not issue any ticket here in Pointe Noire. That I would have to fly to Douala, take a chance that I wouldn't need a visa (transit of otherwise for Cameroon), and then book and pay for a ticket in Douala for my flight on Saturday. Too many variables. Everything had to align so perfectly that it wasn't worth taking the chance. So in that moment and after confirming with Apostle Dzur, my trip would now totally change.
Choir Leaders were waiting so without much further delay, after many text messages and a 30 minute call with Donalda at Stamm Travel + a transfer of funds to our Apostle and Evangelist to now go back to TAC to purchase my ticket for Friday to Douala, my new itinerary became:
Friday - Pointe Noire to Douala - Departing 11:00 AM Arriving 12:30 PM
Friday - Douala to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) - Departing 2:30 PM Arriving 10:30 PM
Overnight at the Sheraton in Addis Ababa, a good reprieve for a crazy week.
Leaving Saturday night through Mumbai then to Bangalore, India arriving there 9:30 AM on Sunday morning.
So continued the remainder of the afternoon with the choir leaders at Mawata church, with the Chief Apostle Choir for their practice for a few pieces (I led "Thy Word is a Lamp") and then back to the hotel to meet up with the Apostles after some crazy tense days. Tension mounted when we were informed upon arriving at the hotel that our presence was requested back in Brazzaville by some officials. Well, to say the least, this was not our intention. I was leaving tomorrow to Douala and further and the Apostle Dzur had a full program in Pointe Noire to fulfill including Chief Apostle preparations, Youth / Ministers & Wives' Service, Confirmation Service and then he was leaving for home on Monday. The Apostle Dzur finally "put out" the fire by making it very clear that nobody was going to Brazzaville at this time. So that meant that half my clothes were gone! I left them with Sister Kalala (aka Florence) to arrange my laundry. Of course, there was no way to get it back now so I will be living day-to-day with a few pairs of underwear and t-shirts for the remaining 2 weeks of my trip.
We were looking forward to tonight as we were invited to Pattie and Gilles. Pattie is Apostle Van's daughter who is now married to Gilles a very nice and hospitable Quebecois and been living through Africa for the past 15 years or so. They are now based in Pointe Noire in a very nice home. Gilles is based here now working for a company based out of Toronto in the Potash industry. The three of us (Apostles Dzur, Kab and myself) were in for a treat, a Thai dinner. Their two bedroom bungalow with pool was a very enviable location to just be able to linger for a while. A lot of good food; Satay, Tom Yum Soup; Chicken; Beef; Rice; Dried Fruit; a lot of good wine, scotch, beer. A real nice relaxing evening without thinking about threats, problems, challenges, or may I say, even Africa. The conversation went through politics and religion although Pattie forbids Gilles to "go there". The 4 hours or so that we were there just passed by. When we asked Pattie what she would want from Canada, she replied, "Our Family magazines". So let's collect some, old and new, if possible, and pack it up for her in addition to the clothes, etc. Mike B., let's get some together as well from the office.
When we returned, we had a nightcap with the Apostle before returning to our rooms for the short sleep ahead of us and my onward journey "out of Africa".
First to Trans Air Congo (TAC) to find out the schedule from Pointe Noire to Douala. Again, the Apostle Dzur didn't want me to fly through Brazzaville due to certain "threats" there that I will not elaborate on too much on this blog. These are private stories and too juicy to implicate the innocent here. Nevertheless, we received the schedule that the flight left tomorrow (Friday) for Douala at 11:00 AM arriving at 12:30 PM.
Now to TAAG (Angolan Airlines) to find out when they flew from Douala to Bangui. Saturday. Oh great! Overnight in Bangui. It's like one night in Bangkok only much worse. I already had a ticket from Brazzaville to Bangui for so I asked if I could just endorse the value over to a new ticket for Douala to Bangui. Then the man working there informed us that he could not issue any ticket here in Pointe Noire. That I would have to fly to Douala, take a chance that I wouldn't need a visa (transit of otherwise for Cameroon), and then book and pay for a ticket in Douala for my flight on Saturday. Too many variables. Everything had to align so perfectly that it wasn't worth taking the chance. So in that moment and after confirming with Apostle Dzur, my trip would now totally change.
Choir Leaders were waiting so without much further delay, after many text messages and a 30 minute call with Donalda at Stamm Travel + a transfer of funds to our Apostle and Evangelist to now go back to TAC to purchase my ticket for Friday to Douala, my new itinerary became:
Friday - Pointe Noire to Douala - Departing 11:00 AM Arriving 12:30 PM
Friday - Douala to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) - Departing 2:30 PM Arriving 10:30 PM
Overnight at the Sheraton in Addis Ababa, a good reprieve for a crazy week.
Leaving Saturday night through Mumbai then to Bangalore, India arriving there 9:30 AM on Sunday morning.
So continued the remainder of the afternoon with the choir leaders at Mawata church, with the Chief Apostle Choir for their practice for a few pieces (I led "Thy Word is a Lamp") and then back to the hotel to meet up with the Apostles after some crazy tense days. Tension mounted when we were informed upon arriving at the hotel that our presence was requested back in Brazzaville by some officials. Well, to say the least, this was not our intention. I was leaving tomorrow to Douala and further and the Apostle Dzur had a full program in Pointe Noire to fulfill including Chief Apostle preparations, Youth / Ministers & Wives' Service, Confirmation Service and then he was leaving for home on Monday. The Apostle Dzur finally "put out" the fire by making it very clear that nobody was going to Brazzaville at this time. So that meant that half my clothes were gone! I left them with Sister Kalala (aka Florence) to arrange my laundry. Of course, there was no way to get it back now so I will be living day-to-day with a few pairs of underwear and t-shirts for the remaining 2 weeks of my trip.
We were looking forward to tonight as we were invited to Pattie and Gilles. Pattie is Apostle Van's daughter who is now married to Gilles a very nice and hospitable Quebecois and been living through Africa for the past 15 years or so. They are now based in Pointe Noire in a very nice home. Gilles is based here now working for a company based out of Toronto in the Potash industry. The three of us (Apostles Dzur, Kab and myself) were in for a treat, a Thai dinner. Their two bedroom bungalow with pool was a very enviable location to just be able to linger for a while. A lot of good food; Satay, Tom Yum Soup; Chicken; Beef; Rice; Dried Fruit; a lot of good wine, scotch, beer. A real nice relaxing evening without thinking about threats, problems, challenges, or may I say, even Africa. The conversation went through politics and religion although Pattie forbids Gilles to "go there". The 4 hours or so that we were there just passed by. When we asked Pattie what she would want from Canada, she replied, "Our Family magazines". So let's collect some, old and new, if possible, and pack it up for her in addition to the clothes, etc. Mike B., let's get some together as well from the office.
When we returned, we had a nightcap with the Apostle before returning to our rooms for the short sleep ahead of us and my onward journey "out of Africa".
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Day 10 - Pointe Noire, Congo - Wednesday, May 6, 2009
So I left you in a lurch a little. Didn't really finish Tuesday. Went back to the hotel and stayed in. Watched a little TV. Ate a granola bar or two from home and eventually went to bed after trying to talk to the Toronto DEVs over SKYPE from my computer. Worked for a while and could hear their voices but gave up eventually and then went to bed around midnight. Poor internet was a dream at Hippocampe. Here at MIGITEL and almost everywhere else at Congo hotels it costs $10 US an hour. Imagine if we had to pay that at home.
Found out Tuesday as well that Bishop Wiesel is going to bring some more $ for the remainder of trip in Sri Lanka and India. Thanks, Tim.
Wednesday, the committee was to meet me at my hotel room for 9:30 AM. Slowly but surely everyone arrived and we had our meeting with representatives from Brazzaville, Mouyondzi and Pointe Noire. All in all a good meeting where follow-up was made on projects given in 2008 and guess what? They were actually all well in hand.
A funny thing about Pointe Noire hotels. OK we only visited two but it's still funny. The suite I was in had two sofas and two chairs (6) + a desk chair. We were 10 so I asked if we could have three more chairs for our meeting. The answer was they are not available. Then I said I only have 2 glasses, could they spare another 6-8. Again, these were not available. I don't know if I asked the wrong person or they are overprotective of their stuff, but we had brothers sitting on arms of sofas and then one brother was asked to buy "verres a jeter", basically disposable cups. Around 12:30 PM, I packed up quickly and checked out and then we made our way to the airport to greet the Apostles arriving from Mouyondzi.
Close to the airport we ventured into a "roadside cafe" for a little lunch. Can you believe it? No baguette! Maybe baguette would have been good. Beer, roasted chicken, my saffous (mini-avocado aka African pear) grilled with pili pili, some manyok (sp? fermented foufou). The committee ate together and there we were greeted by several other brothers and sisters (mostly brothers) including Bishop Kouprino from Brazzaville who was in Pointe Noire managing the new church and office construction. Interestingly enough, I saw the church/office from the air when we arrived on Tuesday afternoon.
After several delays, the plane arrived ~ 4 PM. The concert tonight was supposed to start at 5 PM. A small choir rehearsed and entertained the locals until the Apostles exited the terminal to which the Apostles were greeted with flowers and song. It was good to see them again. Then a short 15 minute drive to the Hotel for the next two nights for me, Hotel Palm Beach. It's not Florida, it's not California, but it's beautiful. Not the hotel per se but the location and view. This is in an area where the Expat (aka Expatriate) is catered to. Many of the higher end restaurants (refer to previous note on "The Chinese Restaurant", "The Lebanese Restaurant", etc.) are not for locals but for expats and the richer gov't and elite of the city.
The area of Pointe Noire where all this is found is probably one of the most beautiful residences that I have ever seen; the Presidential Weekend Palace. This is only two doors down from the Hotel Palm Beach. You probably can "google" photos of this residence and you won't be disappointed. The waves on the ocean are amazing. Africa.....amazing!
We quickly checked in and settled in for a little with a selection of amazing (again) croissants, danishes and corned beef. Yes, corned beef. Reminds me of the old days in Kinshasa. If you couldn't stomach the local food or didn't want to risk it, you brought corned beef. Add the "wonderful" (LOL) baguettes and you have something from home. We didn't open the corned beef, not that night and not before I left Pointe Noire on Friday.
We do eventually make our way to the concert. A very well structured theatre, probably used for small plays or bands. Seating capacity of about 500. The other word for concert is "soiree" just as for social/fellowship it's "reception". Service = service. The concert was to be a precursor of what to expect for the "soiree" when the Chief Apostle is here in July.
It was an excellent program! A variety of pieces including a mixed choir of 300+, a small choir aka "demi-choeur" of about 30-40, a youth choir of ~ 50 and a children's choir of ~ 75. Some highlights of the evening;
Found out Tuesday as well that Bishop Wiesel is going to bring some more $ for the remainder of trip in Sri Lanka and India. Thanks, Tim.
Wednesday, the committee was to meet me at my hotel room for 9:30 AM. Slowly but surely everyone arrived and we had our meeting with representatives from Brazzaville, Mouyondzi and Pointe Noire. All in all a good meeting where follow-up was made on projects given in 2008 and guess what? They were actually all well in hand.
A funny thing about Pointe Noire hotels. OK we only visited two but it's still funny. The suite I was in had two sofas and two chairs (6) + a desk chair. We were 10 so I asked if we could have three more chairs for our meeting. The answer was they are not available. Then I said I only have 2 glasses, could they spare another 6-8. Again, these were not available. I don't know if I asked the wrong person or they are overprotective of their stuff, but we had brothers sitting on arms of sofas and then one brother was asked to buy "verres a jeter", basically disposable cups. Around 12:30 PM, I packed up quickly and checked out and then we made our way to the airport to greet the Apostles arriving from Mouyondzi.
Close to the airport we ventured into a "roadside cafe" for a little lunch. Can you believe it? No baguette! Maybe baguette would have been good. Beer, roasted chicken, my saffous (mini-avocado aka African pear) grilled with pili pili, some manyok (sp? fermented foufou). The committee ate together and there we were greeted by several other brothers and sisters (mostly brothers) including Bishop Kouprino from Brazzaville who was in Pointe Noire managing the new church and office construction. Interestingly enough, I saw the church/office from the air when we arrived on Tuesday afternoon.
After several delays, the plane arrived ~ 4 PM. The concert tonight was supposed to start at 5 PM. A small choir rehearsed and entertained the locals until the Apostles exited the terminal to which the Apostles were greeted with flowers and song. It was good to see them again. Then a short 15 minute drive to the Hotel for the next two nights for me, Hotel Palm Beach. It's not Florida, it's not California, but it's beautiful. Not the hotel per se but the location and view. This is in an area where the Expat (aka Expatriate) is catered to. Many of the higher end restaurants (refer to previous note on "The Chinese Restaurant", "The Lebanese Restaurant", etc.) are not for locals but for expats and the richer gov't and elite of the city.
The area of Pointe Noire where all this is found is probably one of the most beautiful residences that I have ever seen; the Presidential Weekend Palace. This is only two doors down from the Hotel Palm Beach. You probably can "google" photos of this residence and you won't be disappointed. The waves on the ocean are amazing. Africa.....amazing!
We quickly checked in and settled in for a little with a selection of amazing (again) croissants, danishes and corned beef. Yes, corned beef. Reminds me of the old days in Kinshasa. If you couldn't stomach the local food or didn't want to risk it, you brought corned beef. Add the "wonderful" (LOL) baguettes and you have something from home. We didn't open the corned beef, not that night and not before I left Pointe Noire on Friday.
We do eventually make our way to the concert. A very well structured theatre, probably used for small plays or bands. Seating capacity of about 500. The other word for concert is "soiree" just as for social/fellowship it's "reception". Service = service. The concert was to be a precursor of what to expect for the "soiree" when the Chief Apostle is here in July.
It was an excellent program! A variety of pieces including a mixed choir of 300+, a small choir aka "demi-choeur" of about 30-40, a youth choir of ~ 50 and a children's choir of ~ 75. Some highlights of the evening;
- The children's choir was led by a young girl about 7 years of age. We encouraged all attendees to give her a standing ovation after her two pieces. She was cool as a cucumber.
- At two spots in the program there were "skits". The Africans and especially the DRC Congolese are famous for these. The first one was with a sister acting as a Queen, I didn't get the gist of this one and the other of 4 children describing the creation and development of the world in connection to the Plan of Salvation.
- The choirs sung TO the stage, meaning the special guests (~10) were on the stage and the choirs were in the audience. An interesting and very special approach.
- At the end of the program, I greeted the choirs in Kicongo (local language aka Monukituba sp?) "Beno ke nako yimbo mbote" - You sing well!
- Also made a "live" recording to help process a CD of choirs in Congo-Brazza to be used as a fund-raiser for their music program here in Congo. Have to get working on this when I get back and get it out ASAP.
After the hour and a half with our choirs, our group of 10 went out for dinner at the "Chinese Restaurant". Problem is that there are actually two (and I saw more) Chinese Restaurants in Pointe Noire. So we went to the wrong one first and then the right one. I was here before, at least once, with Apostle Degbia (Edouard) aka Apostle of Pointe Noire when I visited Pointe Noire previously. Very authentic. Very expensive. This was also a stomping ground of Bishop Jansen. He really loves the Salt & Pepper Squid here. We ordered three plates and just as we were finishing the last, we called him and passed the phone around the table for everyone to greet him. He is recovering from major heart surgery back home in "The Soo". I had a flambee banana for dessert after an assortment of spring rolls, SOUP, and Chinese dishes. Of course 10 people for dinner, you expect something "included" or "free" or "extra". Usually at this place they may give you sake or whisky. They didn't have any sake and only very little Chinese whisky left but what they had, they gave us. So about 5 shots were poured and......wait for it.....much to our surprise, in the bottom of the China shot glasses were "nude men". Since you will find out shortly that I will not be traveling to CAR nor Tchad, I will lose out on an additional "prostitute" story out of this trip. We'll see, I'll keep my eyes open. Since previous stories are not directly connected to this blog, you have to ask me about the stories from Bangui when we meet "live" or you can email me. So, the nude men shot glasses are the closest thing so far to the Bangui files.
The Apostles Dzur, Kabengele and myself stayed up until 3 and we finally decided that I wasn't going to Tchad as the rebels were approaching N'Djamena where I was to be from May 11-14. The ministers and friends we have there all advised us against any travel there for the time being. So, Thursday was going to be interesting in now trying to change my trip and still getting to Bangui (but I already gave away the ending). Good Night!
Day 9 - Brazzaville to Pointe Noire - Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Today was a travel day. From Brazzaville, Congo to Pointe Noire, Congo. I actually stayed with Apostle Dzur at his hotel, in his hotel room, in his bed. OK, secret's out. I slept with Apostle Dzur. It was late on Monday night and there were some fears for my safety so Apostle suggested that I stay over. Early (~ 7 AM) I took a taxi back to my hotel to start packing and get ready for the trip.
Shepherd Doriand came around 9 AM to pick-up my luggage and to do the formalities at the airport. Apostle Kalala picked me up around 9:30 AM with his wife but the RAV-4 finally gave up the ghost. We took a taxi to the Apostle Dzur's hotel and met him with Apostle Kab in his room. They had a small breakfast in the room and after a small discussion, Apostle Kalala requested that I go with him to the "Beach" to exchange some money for Apostle Dzur. Traffic's bad today. Thousands of taxis out. During the trip to the "Beach", the Apostle Kalala's wife, Florence, tried to get a mechanic to come and look at the car. To say the least, Apostle Kalala was a little agitated today and he was on the phone almost all the way to the "Beach" and back. He was even talking to himself some of the time.
We arrived back to the Olympic Hotel and I pushed the Apostle Kalala that I didn't want to miss my flight. Finally he agreed to leave the hotel shortly after 11:00 AM. The flight was to leave at 12 Noon. There were rumours about that some officials wanted to see us before leaving for Pointe Noire but the Apostle Dzur silenced the request as they had seen "higher" officials on Monday morning who assured them that everything would be fine. Before leaving the Apostle's room, I said to him that he should leave fast, I didn't have a good feeling. The Apostle Kalala furthered delayed in the lobby and I almost left without him. Finally on our way ~ 11:20 AM and a quick 20 minutes later, we arrived at the airport at Doriand's anger. A short few minutes later and we are relaxing in the VIP lounge at the airport. We also then found out that the aircraft hadn't arrived yet. It was designed to leave at 12:30 PM but we didn't leave until after 1:00 PM. The Apostle Dzur and Kab arrived only about 5 minutes after us, so they took the warning seriously. They were flying together (the 3 Apostles) to Dolisie (Mouyondzi) for a divine service tonight and going onward to Pointe Noire the following day. In a fluster, we all got out on our respective flights to Mouyondzi and Pointe Noire. The Apostle Dzur flew Air Congo and I flew TAC (Trans Air Congo). This is in addition to the airline TAAG (pronounced like TAC but with a "hard" G instead of C). You can just imagine the confusion between the tag lines of these three companies. You have to explain it 2-3 times otherwise you're on the wrong plane or the buying the wrong ticket. Separated from Apostle Dzur now for the next 24 hours.
The 40-minute flight was uneventful and the anticipation of Pointe Noire increased with each minute. As we disembarked the plane, it was a welcome atmosphere to be back in Pointe Noire, a city of 1,000,000+ people live in this Atlantic Coastal city, famous for its port of goods from Europe, North America and elsewhere for all of Central Africa. Many items in Chad, CAR, Congo, go through Pointe Noire. To say the least, there is a lot of money in Pointe Noire and therefore it is quite protected. Pointe Noire resembles more a city of the Caribbean than Africa. The streets are fairly modern (at least in the main city centre) and everything's available from Italian Salami to French Cheeses and Wine to Local Langouste (Lobster).
A strong delegation of brothers met us at the airport. The warm breeze and fine sand reminded us we weren't in Brazzaville anymore. A half an hour ride to downtown and we arrived at our hotel for the night, MIGITEL. An interesting place, 2-star, for about USD $100 a night. I was reserved in a "suite" so that I could host the meeting the following morning with the Congo National Music Committee. After we prayed, the brothers left me for about 15 minutes to freshen up before leaving for Choir Practice at our "only" church in Mawata. Pointe Noire is a different place. They say that it's a place for the lazy as Brazzaville has the politicians and workers and Pointe Noire has the vacation homes and holidays. Actually Congo-Brazzaville is accused of this altogether as a country compared to their big brother in DRC. DRC is seen as the working-class and Congo-Brazza as the "privileged". More remarks and remour than observation and fact.
The roads are a lot smoother due to the sand roads and not the dirt roads. After driving for 20-30 minutes we arrived at the Mawata church for our choir practice. Tonight they were to rehearse all the pieces for the concert prepared for our Chief Apostle Visit to Pointe Noire in early July. A very impressive evening altogether. It was nice to meet up with my friends Rector Alfred and Shepherd Mabiala (choir leaders from Pointe Noire).
To be continued.....
Shepherd Doriand came around 9 AM to pick-up my luggage and to do the formalities at the airport. Apostle Kalala picked me up around 9:30 AM with his wife but the RAV-4 finally gave up the ghost. We took a taxi to the Apostle Dzur's hotel and met him with Apostle Kab in his room. They had a small breakfast in the room and after a small discussion, Apostle Kalala requested that I go with him to the "Beach" to exchange some money for Apostle Dzur. Traffic's bad today. Thousands of taxis out. During the trip to the "Beach", the Apostle Kalala's wife, Florence, tried to get a mechanic to come and look at the car. To say the least, Apostle Kalala was a little agitated today and he was on the phone almost all the way to the "Beach" and back. He was even talking to himself some of the time.
We arrived back to the Olympic Hotel and I pushed the Apostle Kalala that I didn't want to miss my flight. Finally he agreed to leave the hotel shortly after 11:00 AM. The flight was to leave at 12 Noon. There were rumours about that some officials wanted to see us before leaving for Pointe Noire but the Apostle Dzur silenced the request as they had seen "higher" officials on Monday morning who assured them that everything would be fine. Before leaving the Apostle's room, I said to him that he should leave fast, I didn't have a good feeling. The Apostle Kalala furthered delayed in the lobby and I almost left without him. Finally on our way ~ 11:20 AM and a quick 20 minutes later, we arrived at the airport at Doriand's anger. A short few minutes later and we are relaxing in the VIP lounge at the airport. We also then found out that the aircraft hadn't arrived yet. It was designed to leave at 12:30 PM but we didn't leave until after 1:00 PM. The Apostle Dzur and Kab arrived only about 5 minutes after us, so they took the warning seriously. They were flying together (the 3 Apostles) to Dolisie (Mouyondzi) for a divine service tonight and going onward to Pointe Noire the following day. In a fluster, we all got out on our respective flights to Mouyondzi and Pointe Noire. The Apostle Dzur flew Air Congo and I flew TAC (Trans Air Congo). This is in addition to the airline TAAG (pronounced like TAC but with a "hard" G instead of C). You can just imagine the confusion between the tag lines of these three companies. You have to explain it 2-3 times otherwise you're on the wrong plane or the buying the wrong ticket. Separated from Apostle Dzur now for the next 24 hours.
The 40-minute flight was uneventful and the anticipation of Pointe Noire increased with each minute. As we disembarked the plane, it was a welcome atmosphere to be back in Pointe Noire, a city of 1,000,000+ people live in this Atlantic Coastal city, famous for its port of goods from Europe, North America and elsewhere for all of Central Africa. Many items in Chad, CAR, Congo, go through Pointe Noire. To say the least, there is a lot of money in Pointe Noire and therefore it is quite protected. Pointe Noire resembles more a city of the Caribbean than Africa. The streets are fairly modern (at least in the main city centre) and everything's available from Italian Salami to French Cheeses and Wine to Local Langouste (Lobster).
A strong delegation of brothers met us at the airport. The warm breeze and fine sand reminded us we weren't in Brazzaville anymore. A half an hour ride to downtown and we arrived at our hotel for the night, MIGITEL. An interesting place, 2-star, for about USD $100 a night. I was reserved in a "suite" so that I could host the meeting the following morning with the Congo National Music Committee. After we prayed, the brothers left me for about 15 minutes to freshen up before leaving for Choir Practice at our "only" church in Mawata. Pointe Noire is a different place. They say that it's a place for the lazy as Brazzaville has the politicians and workers and Pointe Noire has the vacation homes and holidays. Actually Congo-Brazzaville is accused of this altogether as a country compared to their big brother in DRC. DRC is seen as the working-class and Congo-Brazza as the "privileged". More remarks and remour than observation and fact.
The roads are a lot smoother due to the sand roads and not the dirt roads. After driving for 20-30 minutes we arrived at the Mawata church for our choir practice. Tonight they were to rehearse all the pieces for the concert prepared for our Chief Apostle Visit to Pointe Noire in early July. A very impressive evening altogether. It was nice to meet up with my friends Rector Alfred and Shepherd Mabiala (choir leaders from Pointe Noire).
To be continued.....
Day 8 - Brazzaville, Congo - Monday, May 4, 2009
Monday! Another day, wow! Thank you very much for your prayers. They are needed, felt and give us the strength to continue and persevere.
At 10:00 AM I was supposed to meet with Shepherd Doriand Malanda and some other choir leaders to discuss the Brazzaville choir scene and also the sheet music project we gave to this group last year and where they are on it. I’ve noticed some improvement over time, 10 o’clock in the past may have been 12 noon. It’s getting closer and closer to “real time” that, with some, 10 o’clock is 10 o’clock. With morning traffic in Brazzaville, this wasn’t going to happen. I went down to the restaurant (Hippocampe) to work on my computer as the signal (wifi) was very weak in my room. Two brothers showed up, after a while, but I soon found out that they weren’t there for the Music Meeting but for something else.
I listened to them for a while then they left and eventually the Apostles and brothers showed up for lunch (guess what? Soup again + beer!) As I said before, we’ve gone from Baguette to Soup.
Prepared eventually for Ministers’ Meeting in Kinsoundi (this is the 2nd of 3 churches in Brazzaville). There were 300-400 brothers there. An interesting service as well as an interesting way of getting there. Of course the choir was a male choir as only brothers were there. These roads are worse than the other ones I’ve seen, up and down, wet and dry, hard and soft. The word for the service was Mark 13:37 and something from 2 Chronicles 29:5. When we left after the 1 ½ hour service, I wanted to make it easy on the Apostle Kalala and went on his side to get into the back seat of his car. What I didn’t realize is that there was quicksand (OK, just kidding), mud, water, that it almost seemed like I was set-up to fall. I didn’t fall but I got nice and wet and dirty. So in this condition we left back to Olympic Hotel and three of us (without Apostle Kalala) went up to Apostle Dzur’s room for the evening. Before leaving Apostle Kalala I left him some clothes for laundry for his wife to arrange, as I usually do while here (more on that later).
At 10:00 AM I was supposed to meet with Shepherd Doriand Malanda and some other choir leaders to discuss the Brazzaville choir scene and also the sheet music project we gave to this group last year and where they are on it. I’ve noticed some improvement over time, 10 o’clock in the past may have been 12 noon. It’s getting closer and closer to “real time” that, with some, 10 o’clock is 10 o’clock. With morning traffic in Brazzaville, this wasn’t going to happen. I went down to the restaurant (Hippocampe) to work on my computer as the signal (wifi) was very weak in my room. Two brothers showed up, after a while, but I soon found out that they weren’t there for the Music Meeting but for something else.
I listened to them for a while then they left and eventually the Apostles and brothers showed up for lunch (guess what? Soup again + beer!) As I said before, we’ve gone from Baguette to Soup.
Prepared eventually for Ministers’ Meeting in Kinsoundi (this is the 2nd of 3 churches in Brazzaville). There were 300-400 brothers there. An interesting service as well as an interesting way of getting there. Of course the choir was a male choir as only brothers were there. These roads are worse than the other ones I’ve seen, up and down, wet and dry, hard and soft. The word for the service was Mark 13:37 and something from 2 Chronicles 29:5. When we left after the 1 ½ hour service, I wanted to make it easy on the Apostle Kalala and went on his side to get into the back seat of his car. What I didn’t realize is that there was quicksand (OK, just kidding), mud, water, that it almost seemed like I was set-up to fall. I didn’t fall but I got nice and wet and dirty. So in this condition we left back to Olympic Hotel and three of us (without Apostle Kalala) went up to Apostle Dzur’s room for the evening. Before leaving Apostle Kalala I left him some clothes for laundry for his wife to arrange, as I usually do while here (more on that later).
Day 7 - Brazzaville, Congo - Sunday, May 3, 2009
Sunday! Confirmation Day, yeah, it’s Confirmation here in Brazzaville. The Apostle Dzur will also conduct a Confirmation Service next Sunday in Pointe Noire. We picked up the Apostles at 10:15 and proceeded to Tsaba on rough roads again. The RAV 4 barely made it.
After parking and crossing the “creek”, a Sunday School choir greeted us in front of the church. The church was packed. All benches full and even ~ 100 standing at the side and back entrances of the church. We found out that we were 1,800+ in service. I remember seeing this church being built by Stephen Deppner, so I’m guessing it’s about 5 years old. One of three churches we have in Brazzaville for the ~ 300+ congregations of the Brazzaville District.
The Apostles brought their jackets, I’m only a District Elder so I can get away without having one. I don’t even pack one. Apostle Dzur decided to put his jacket on but changed his mind for the service on Monday night. It was “s t e a m y” in the church. 35 + 10° humidity. Sunny and hot. I could see the sweat soaking into his jacket and pants.
To save time, the service was translated from English directly into Lingala instead of English > French > Lingala. Apostle Kabengele did the translation. He will be known in future blogs as Apostle Kab or Kabbie, just so that you know it’s not 3 different people or that they’re triplets. Both Apostles and I were called to serve. The Apostles and I served in French and other brothers translated from French into Lingala. I translated for Apostle Dzur from French to English at his seat while the Apostles were serving.
The word for the service was the same as the Confirmation Bible Text that we had in Canada and since not all of the district experienced Confirmation I will refer to it 1 Chronicles 29:17 about “testing the heart”. Apostle also stated that “Jesus is our best friend”.
A festive congregation including our 75 confirmands supported the 2h15m service. The Confirmation Ceremony was similar to the Confirmation Service District Apostle Wagner conducted some years ago in Kinshasa for 2,000+ confirmands. As each confirmand received their blessing, they shifted to the right to receive Holy Communion. Apostle Dzur gave each confirmand their “own” blessing by stating one sentence over each confirmand as his hand was on their forehead. So, minimally 75 sentences……took about 15 minutes just for the blessing.
After service there was a photo opportunity for the confirmands and then everyone and their grandmother wanted a picture with the Apostle Dzur. It’s interesting to see the occasional brother (not sure?) earning a living by taking pictures and then handing out “tickets” to claim their photo at a later date for an amount. Of course this is “cash in advance”. I’m sure there are photos that are never claimed.
Have I told you how expensive it can be in Congo (Africa)? Maybe we as visitors and expats only “frequent” places that are really out of the reach of an average Congolese but things are expensive. OK to have fou-fou or manyok or rice with a little gravy + (don’t forget) baguettes wouldn’t necessarily break the bank but, outside of this, nobody can afford the prices in Africa. The issue is tax/duty and transportation of goods. Some luxury items have 100%, 200% or even 500% duty on them. Whether that’s the official duty or includes “formalities”, it really doesn’t matter. Think about a $200 (CAD) keyboard costing $1,000 (USD) here in Africa. My music budget can’t afford it and forget the local brothers and sisters. We have 3 keyboards + 1 organ in the whole country. This is a musical country. We need to help them somehow!
Service started around 10:30 AM + 2h15m + 30m (photoshoot) = 1:15 PM. By 1:30-1:45 PM, the three of us, four of us, six of us (it changed all afternoon) were in the Apostle Dzur’s room at the hotel until 6:30 PM.
Aside; this is where I have to explain that some things cannot be explained. Really there are things that need to be kept confidential and private. Some of these stories may come out one day in conversation but some things are better left unsaid. So if there are holes in the blog or where it seems that the blog just stops or isn’t detailed enough, there’s a reason. The above paragraph is an example where 5 hours went by, it wasn’t nothing, but it’s not something the whole world needs to know either. Other than that, I’m trying to be as candid and observant as possible. Problem is that, all of a sudden, I can’t keep up with the daily blog (I’m writing this in Douala, Cameroon on Day 12).
Now back to our story…..
While in the Apostle’s room, we needed to summon one of the brothers. To ensure discretion, we asked him to go and buy us some croissants and bring them up to the room. I’m sure glad he did. Some of the best croissants I have ever had in my life. Only about 2,000 calories each and these were plain. Imagine the chocolate or cheese ones. About a pound of butter in each one. I like to exaggerate. This became our lunch for the day. Oh yes, that and beer. Don’t be surprised! Yes, we drink beer. Three reasons; it’s cheap (cheaper than pop and water), it’s usually cold (and cold beer is great in hot weather), and we like it! And on top of that, it’s available everywhere. Congo has 3 main brands; PRIMUS, MUTZIG and NGOK’. I think I mentioned before that in Rwanda I had one beer in 3+ days. Well that trend has changed. I think I broke Rwanda’s tally in about half an hour. Without going into an exhaustive explanation here, PRIMUS is owned by Heineken and is found all throughout Congo-Brazza, CAR, Kinshasa, etc. It may even actually identify you (in Kinshasa) from which district you come from. MUTZIG is based on a European recipe and is really good, and so is PRIMUS. NGOK’ (le choc) is actually a local word for “crocodile” (also on the label) and has a “dry” taste. My least favourite but I guess beggers can’t be choosy (as long as it’s cold). Ironically, all three are brewed at the same brewery, so there’s no real competition just everyone has their taste.
The beer is about 500 CFA (XAF pron. SAYFA) each (at local joints and at “beer stores”, double at most restaurants) and contains basically the same amount as 2 beers in Canada. 500 CFA = $1 USD. These are Central African Francs. Unlike the FRW (Rwandan Francs) that are unique to Rwanda, CFA (XAF) is a currency that is shared by all Central African countries except Congo-Kinshasa (DRC). This includes ¾ of the countries that Apostle Dzur is responsible for so it makes it a little easier to only have to carry one currency for three countries (Congo-Brazza, CAR and Tchad). The best exchange rate is Congo-Brazza so I was happy that this was my first stop of the three. OK, if you don’t want to read of illegal activity, close your eyes and read the next blog. Yes, we sometimes exchange money on the “black market”. By doing so we get more local money and, in turn, save the church money. I don’t know how “black market” it is because everyone knows where it is and I even now recognize “our man”. Along one of the major streets downtown as you approach “the Beach” where the ferry and private boats take you across the river to Kinshasa, is the “Currency Exchange”. Instead of 500 = $1, you can get 510, 515, 520 or even 525. As long as you have “current currency” and nothing from the “Jesus series”, really it should be the “Judas series” as he was the one to exchange Christ for money. OK, I know a little bad taste (I’m stuck in Cameroon, what do you expect?). You can exchange USD or € into CFA or back. The reason it’s so close to “the Beach” is because you may also need to exchange CFA into DRC Francs and often those traveling need foreign currencies. It’s funny. All of the “money changers” sit on these folding chairs all in row on about 300 mettres of sidewalk. I think if I would have taken a picture, they would have thought I was the police or spy and trouble would be brewing.
I digress. Eventually (~ 7PM) we went to The Chinese Restaurant. Many places are names like that. The Chinese Restaurant, The Buffet Restaurant, The Lebanese Place, The Indian Restaurant because often we cannot remember the real name. Climbing two floors up an interesting building and we arrived at The Chinese Restaurant. Guess what we had? SOUP! We did “true Chinese (family) style” and kept ordering until we were full. The four of us were there together; Apostle Dzur, Apostle Kabbie, Apostle Kalala and myself. Supper’s on me tonight. Running out of money!
We ordered some chicken, pork, beef, rice, (can’t remember what else), oh yeah, soup. Now I said we ordered chicken, pork, beef but when the Apostle saw the RAT running out from some corner back under the table (about 6” long), I had a sick feeling to my stomach. It was time to stop ordering and eating.
Back to drop me off at Hippocampe and then the Apostles went to Olympic. I slept from 11 till 4 and then up for 2 hours and back to bed for another 2+.
After parking and crossing the “creek”, a Sunday School choir greeted us in front of the church. The church was packed. All benches full and even ~ 100 standing at the side and back entrances of the church. We found out that we were 1,800+ in service. I remember seeing this church being built by Stephen Deppner, so I’m guessing it’s about 5 years old. One of three churches we have in Brazzaville for the ~ 300+ congregations of the Brazzaville District.
The Apostles brought their jackets, I’m only a District Elder so I can get away without having one. I don’t even pack one. Apostle Dzur decided to put his jacket on but changed his mind for the service on Monday night. It was “s t e a m y” in the church. 35 + 10° humidity. Sunny and hot. I could see the sweat soaking into his jacket and pants.
To save time, the service was translated from English directly into Lingala instead of English > French > Lingala. Apostle Kabengele did the translation. He will be known in future blogs as Apostle Kab or Kabbie, just so that you know it’s not 3 different people or that they’re triplets. Both Apostles and I were called to serve. The Apostles and I served in French and other brothers translated from French into Lingala. I translated for Apostle Dzur from French to English at his seat while the Apostles were serving.
The word for the service was the same as the Confirmation Bible Text that we had in Canada and since not all of the district experienced Confirmation I will refer to it 1 Chronicles 29:17 about “testing the heart”. Apostle also stated that “Jesus is our best friend”.
A festive congregation including our 75 confirmands supported the 2h15m service. The Confirmation Ceremony was similar to the Confirmation Service District Apostle Wagner conducted some years ago in Kinshasa for 2,000+ confirmands. As each confirmand received their blessing, they shifted to the right to receive Holy Communion. Apostle Dzur gave each confirmand their “own” blessing by stating one sentence over each confirmand as his hand was on their forehead. So, minimally 75 sentences……took about 15 minutes just for the blessing.
After service there was a photo opportunity for the confirmands and then everyone and their grandmother wanted a picture with the Apostle Dzur. It’s interesting to see the occasional brother (not sure?) earning a living by taking pictures and then handing out “tickets” to claim their photo at a later date for an amount. Of course this is “cash in advance”. I’m sure there are photos that are never claimed.
Have I told you how expensive it can be in Congo (Africa)? Maybe we as visitors and expats only “frequent” places that are really out of the reach of an average Congolese but things are expensive. OK to have fou-fou or manyok or rice with a little gravy + (don’t forget) baguettes wouldn’t necessarily break the bank but, outside of this, nobody can afford the prices in Africa. The issue is tax/duty and transportation of goods. Some luxury items have 100%, 200% or even 500% duty on them. Whether that’s the official duty or includes “formalities”, it really doesn’t matter. Think about a $200 (CAD) keyboard costing $1,000 (USD) here in Africa. My music budget can’t afford it and forget the local brothers and sisters. We have 3 keyboards + 1 organ in the whole country. This is a musical country. We need to help them somehow!
Service started around 10:30 AM + 2h15m + 30m (photoshoot) = 1:15 PM. By 1:30-1:45 PM, the three of us, four of us, six of us (it changed all afternoon) were in the Apostle Dzur’s room at the hotel until 6:30 PM.
Aside; this is where I have to explain that some things cannot be explained. Really there are things that need to be kept confidential and private. Some of these stories may come out one day in conversation but some things are better left unsaid. So if there are holes in the blog or where it seems that the blog just stops or isn’t detailed enough, there’s a reason. The above paragraph is an example where 5 hours went by, it wasn’t nothing, but it’s not something the whole world needs to know either. Other than that, I’m trying to be as candid and observant as possible. Problem is that, all of a sudden, I can’t keep up with the daily blog (I’m writing this in Douala, Cameroon on Day 12).
Now back to our story…..
While in the Apostle’s room, we needed to summon one of the brothers. To ensure discretion, we asked him to go and buy us some croissants and bring them up to the room. I’m sure glad he did. Some of the best croissants I have ever had in my life. Only about 2,000 calories each and these were plain. Imagine the chocolate or cheese ones. About a pound of butter in each one. I like to exaggerate. This became our lunch for the day. Oh yes, that and beer. Don’t be surprised! Yes, we drink beer. Three reasons; it’s cheap (cheaper than pop and water), it’s usually cold (and cold beer is great in hot weather), and we like it! And on top of that, it’s available everywhere. Congo has 3 main brands; PRIMUS, MUTZIG and NGOK’. I think I mentioned before that in Rwanda I had one beer in 3+ days. Well that trend has changed. I think I broke Rwanda’s tally in about half an hour. Without going into an exhaustive explanation here, PRIMUS is owned by Heineken and is found all throughout Congo-Brazza, CAR, Kinshasa, etc. It may even actually identify you (in Kinshasa) from which district you come from. MUTZIG is based on a European recipe and is really good, and so is PRIMUS. NGOK’ (le choc) is actually a local word for “crocodile” (also on the label) and has a “dry” taste. My least favourite but I guess beggers can’t be choosy (as long as it’s cold). Ironically, all three are brewed at the same brewery, so there’s no real competition just everyone has their taste.
The beer is about 500 CFA (XAF pron. SAYFA) each (at local joints and at “beer stores”, double at most restaurants) and contains basically the same amount as 2 beers in Canada. 500 CFA = $1 USD. These are Central African Francs. Unlike the FRW (Rwandan Francs) that are unique to Rwanda, CFA (XAF) is a currency that is shared by all Central African countries except Congo-Kinshasa (DRC). This includes ¾ of the countries that Apostle Dzur is responsible for so it makes it a little easier to only have to carry one currency for three countries (Congo-Brazza, CAR and Tchad). The best exchange rate is Congo-Brazza so I was happy that this was my first stop of the three. OK, if you don’t want to read of illegal activity, close your eyes and read the next blog. Yes, we sometimes exchange money on the “black market”. By doing so we get more local money and, in turn, save the church money. I don’t know how “black market” it is because everyone knows where it is and I even now recognize “our man”. Along one of the major streets downtown as you approach “the Beach” where the ferry and private boats take you across the river to Kinshasa, is the “Currency Exchange”. Instead of 500 = $1, you can get 510, 515, 520 or even 525. As long as you have “current currency” and nothing from the “Jesus series”, really it should be the “Judas series” as he was the one to exchange Christ for money. OK, I know a little bad taste (I’m stuck in Cameroon, what do you expect?). You can exchange USD or € into CFA or back. The reason it’s so close to “the Beach” is because you may also need to exchange CFA into DRC Francs and often those traveling need foreign currencies. It’s funny. All of the “money changers” sit on these folding chairs all in row on about 300 mettres of sidewalk. I think if I would have taken a picture, they would have thought I was the police or spy and trouble would be brewing.
I digress. Eventually (~ 7PM) we went to The Chinese Restaurant. Many places are names like that. The Chinese Restaurant, The Buffet Restaurant, The Lebanese Place, The Indian Restaurant because often we cannot remember the real name. Climbing two floors up an interesting building and we arrived at The Chinese Restaurant. Guess what we had? SOUP! We did “true Chinese (family) style” and kept ordering until we were full. The four of us were there together; Apostle Dzur, Apostle Kabbie, Apostle Kalala and myself. Supper’s on me tonight. Running out of money!
We ordered some chicken, pork, beef, rice, (can’t remember what else), oh yeah, soup. Now I said we ordered chicken, pork, beef but when the Apostle saw the RAT running out from some corner back under the table (about 6” long), I had a sick feeling to my stomach. It was time to stop ordering and eating.
Back to drop me off at Hippocampe and then the Apostles went to Olympic. I slept from 11 till 4 and then up for 2 hours and back to bed for another 2+.
Day 6 cont'd - Brazzaville, Congo - Saturday, May 2, 2009
Let’s talk about Apostle Kalala’s car. It’s a RAV 4 (Toyota) that’s been through hell and back. At least this time it’s working. Last year it wasn’t. This year there seems to be some electrical problem or something with the fuel injection system because it stalls all the time. Another issue is some tire or the balance of them. When the car goes too fast it “jerks” us around. Am I allowed to say that? BTW, this blog allows me to some sanity by using English. I really cannot type that well or fast because I’m thinking about the spelling or even the word in English. After 2-3 weeks in French, you think, speak, write, dream all in French.
The village roads. There are families that could live in these holes. All the side roads are “dirt” roads. More like a red clay sand than anything. I know in Pointe Noire it’s a little different. Really Brazzaville does remind one of a small Kinshasa. There are very few paved roads although probably enough to get around a little. There are fewer traffic lights but the city (centre) itself is not that big BUT the traffic (embouteillage (sp.?) = (literally) bottling from “bottleneck” = traffic) is much worse than I ever remember. The Apostle and the locals say it is due to more taxis (green here, blue in Pointe Noire). Not many can really afford a car, and never mind the gas prices. Here and Rwanda and Cameroon (why Cameroon?, you’ll see) the gas prices are $1.00+ USD a litre. How can they afford this? The taxis in Congo-Brazza are old Toyota Camrys and their cousins. I don’t know really where they came from but they drive them into the ground. Some are in fairly good condition, others much to be desired. They don’t rust here because there’s no salt and snow.
Back to the roads. When it’s rainy season, this all turns to “mud”. Thick, icky, yucky mud. While I think of it, I remember a time with District Apostle Wagner at our first home and we had him over after a service in Brampton, I believe, or a time when the North America Music Committee was in Toronto for a meeting. We talked about the “Canada District News” (remember that?) and how the pictures and stories are wonderful but how great would it be to also experience the sounds, tastes and smells (+ the heat and humidity) of many of these places. Sounds you can hear on CD, tastes you can get in restaurants, even in Canada, but smells…..then the suggestion came to make the “Canada District News” a scratch-and-sniff as well. That would be very scintillating and titillating. To feel the wall of humidity when you leave an air-conditioned room is something that must be experienced.
From Choir Practice we went back to Hippocampe and had an early dinner (soup). If I haven’t said it already, we went from Baguette in Rwanda to Soup in Congo. Don’t know what’s next. The Apostle left for the airport and about 20 minutes later he informed me that the Apostle Dzur had already arrived from Bangui with Apostle Kabbie (Yamilamba Kabengele). I thought the flight was earlier (~ 5-6 PM) but the Apostle Kalala insisted it was later. Oh well! Apostle Kalala then picked me up to go to the Olympic Hotel to meet the Apostles where they were staying. It was nice to see Apostle Dzur, although he looked tired, drained and preoccupied. He asked if we were still going for “soup” and with a little hesitation, we decided, yes, another soup was in order. So back to Hippocampe for soup. We were all tired and ready to “hit the hay” so I went upstairs to my room and the Apostles returned to Olympic to sleep and prepare for Sunday.
The village roads. There are families that could live in these holes. All the side roads are “dirt” roads. More like a red clay sand than anything. I know in Pointe Noire it’s a little different. Really Brazzaville does remind one of a small Kinshasa. There are very few paved roads although probably enough to get around a little. There are fewer traffic lights but the city (centre) itself is not that big BUT the traffic (embouteillage (sp.?) = (literally) bottling from “bottleneck” = traffic) is much worse than I ever remember. The Apostle and the locals say it is due to more taxis (green here, blue in Pointe Noire). Not many can really afford a car, and never mind the gas prices. Here and Rwanda and Cameroon (why Cameroon?, you’ll see) the gas prices are $1.00+ USD a litre. How can they afford this? The taxis in Congo-Brazza are old Toyota Camrys and their cousins. I don’t know really where they came from but they drive them into the ground. Some are in fairly good condition, others much to be desired. They don’t rust here because there’s no salt and snow.
Back to the roads. When it’s rainy season, this all turns to “mud”. Thick, icky, yucky mud. While I think of it, I remember a time with District Apostle Wagner at our first home and we had him over after a service in Brampton, I believe, or a time when the North America Music Committee was in Toronto for a meeting. We talked about the “Canada District News” (remember that?) and how the pictures and stories are wonderful but how great would it be to also experience the sounds, tastes and smells (+ the heat and humidity) of many of these places. Sounds you can hear on CD, tastes you can get in restaurants, even in Canada, but smells…..then the suggestion came to make the “Canada District News” a scratch-and-sniff as well. That would be very scintillating and titillating. To feel the wall of humidity when you leave an air-conditioned room is something that must be experienced.
From Choir Practice we went back to Hippocampe and had an early dinner (soup). If I haven’t said it already, we went from Baguette in Rwanda to Soup in Congo. Don’t know what’s next. The Apostle left for the airport and about 20 minutes later he informed me that the Apostle Dzur had already arrived from Bangui with Apostle Kabbie (Yamilamba Kabengele). I thought the flight was earlier (~ 5-6 PM) but the Apostle Kalala insisted it was later. Oh well! Apostle Kalala then picked me up to go to the Olympic Hotel to meet the Apostles where they were staying. It was nice to see Apostle Dzur, although he looked tired, drained and preoccupied. He asked if we were still going for “soup” and with a little hesitation, we decided, yes, another soup was in order. So back to Hippocampe for soup. We were all tired and ready to “hit the hay” so I went upstairs to my room and the Apostles returned to Olympic to sleep and prepare for Sunday.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Day 6 - Brazzaville, Congo - Saturday, May 2, 2009
Can you believe the last post was about 12 hours of time? Only half of my 24-hour day. Sorry I'm a little behind, the past 1 1/2 days were kinda crazy. So, where were we?.....
So, from the Brazzaville Airport to the hotel. Before leaving the airport, this is Congo. A little less-refined for the Westerner's taste but full of life and activity. Brazzaville is the little brother to Kinshasa, although they hate hearing that. The people are basically the same, they speak the same language and they are only separated by about 5km width of the Congo River. So glad I didn't take the fishing boat across and took the 5 minute flight instead. Too bad, that story's for another blog at another time.
I'm staying at Hippocampe, under Tim's suggestion, a great restaurant, an OK hotel. Owned by a French man and his Vietnamese wife they run a wonderful restaurant together with her Vietnamese parents. This is a place that's been around for quite a while. Even my dad has come here and spoke of the wonderful soup. I'm not sure how many have stayed here. I don't believe that the entire complex was always owned by the current owners. OK, to the room, I've stayed in better, I've stayed in worse. All I really ask for is running water and A/C. Remember we've entered tropical climate. Use the weather add-on beside the posts to see how hot it is in Brazzaville. About 35 + 10 degrees of humidity. So you need A/C. I heard that (and I know that) the electricity (aka "le current" pron cooron) is not always constant and that when the generator (aka "le groupe") is functioning, the A/C isn't. We'll see! After settling into my "suite" (bedroom + bathroom + additional room with another single bed, table, fridge and small tv - fans in both rooms), we prayed together and then went for lunch. By this time it's about 12 Noon.
Brazzaville is all too familiar to me. I even recognize where we are and what route to take where although I don't know exactly where we are in terms of N-S-E-W. Brazzaville has about 1,000,000 inhabitants and is much calmer and tolerable than Kinshasa.
Went to Mandarine for lunch with Apostle Kalala & Joel. This is one of two Lebanese restaurants (that I know of) in Brazzaville. You seem to find at least two kinds of restaurants all over the world } Lebanese & Chinese and sometimes more than one of each. Mandarine is one of our stomping grounds here in Brazza. A few Shawarmas, fatouch, tabouli, hoummos, nice bakery as well. Can't remember which soccer game was on TV anymore but it was good nonetheless.
Back to the hotel to rest and recuperate for a while. Tried using the 'weak' wifi and the hotel owner liked my ACER portable computer. Not a laptop but a netbook. Smaller and lighter, a real God-Send. Went to Choir Practice in Tsaba where the service was going to take place tomorrow. They sang Zadok the Priest + a nice syncopated song that I remember from Pointe Noire last year, Ayimuna. I'll probably post a video from last year of this song. By the way a couple of youtube videos now under nacbram, I'll add more when I can.
Gotta go, I'll continue........
So, from the Brazzaville Airport to the hotel. Before leaving the airport, this is Congo. A little less-refined for the Westerner's taste but full of life and activity. Brazzaville is the little brother to Kinshasa, although they hate hearing that. The people are basically the same, they speak the same language and they are only separated by about 5km width of the Congo River. So glad I didn't take the fishing boat across and took the 5 minute flight instead. Too bad, that story's for another blog at another time.
I'm staying at Hippocampe, under Tim's suggestion, a great restaurant, an OK hotel. Owned by a French man and his Vietnamese wife they run a wonderful restaurant together with her Vietnamese parents. This is a place that's been around for quite a while. Even my dad has come here and spoke of the wonderful soup. I'm not sure how many have stayed here. I don't believe that the entire complex was always owned by the current owners. OK, to the room, I've stayed in better, I've stayed in worse. All I really ask for is running water and A/C. Remember we've entered tropical climate. Use the weather add-on beside the posts to see how hot it is in Brazzaville. About 35 + 10 degrees of humidity. So you need A/C. I heard that (and I know that) the electricity (aka "le current" pron cooron) is not always constant and that when the generator (aka "le groupe") is functioning, the A/C isn't. We'll see! After settling into my "suite" (bedroom + bathroom + additional room with another single bed, table, fridge and small tv - fans in both rooms), we prayed together and then went for lunch. By this time it's about 12 Noon.
Brazzaville is all too familiar to me. I even recognize where we are and what route to take where although I don't know exactly where we are in terms of N-S-E-W. Brazzaville has about 1,000,000 inhabitants and is much calmer and tolerable than Kinshasa.
Went to Mandarine for lunch with Apostle Kalala & Joel. This is one of two Lebanese restaurants (that I know of) in Brazzaville. You seem to find at least two kinds of restaurants all over the world } Lebanese & Chinese and sometimes more than one of each. Mandarine is one of our stomping grounds here in Brazza. A few Shawarmas, fatouch, tabouli, hoummos, nice bakery as well. Can't remember which soccer game was on TV anymore but it was good nonetheless.
Back to the hotel to rest and recuperate for a while. Tried using the 'weak' wifi and the hotel owner liked my ACER portable computer. Not a laptop but a netbook. Smaller and lighter, a real God-Send. Went to Choir Practice in Tsaba where the service was going to take place tomorrow. They sang Zadok the Priest + a nice syncopated song that I remember from Pointe Noire last year, Ayimuna. I'll probably post a video from last year of this song. By the way a couple of youtube videos now under nacbram, I'll add more when I can.
Gotta go, I'll continue........
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Day 6 - Kigali to Nairobi to Brazzaville (via Kinshasa) - Saturday, May 2, 2009
OK, this is really a continuation of Friday since I didn't go to sleep at all. This was a whirlwind day. Really two days in one because of the time change (twice) and not sleeping, at least not sleeping at the hours normal people do. Packed, showered, packed some more, forgot I was wearing my faux-crocs (I'm somewhat a believer now) and found out that I bought a huge laundry bag for my dirty clothes. Was ready by 2:00 AM when I was being picked up by Apostle Minga.
Before that I went to the hotel office to pay my bill (1:45 AM) and found that it was closed. I asked the security guard if anyone was around and he said, "No, the office is closed until morning". I told him that I'm leaving in 15 minutes. So, my friends, I found a way to save money.....run out on your bill. The parrots were up (a cage just outside the office) but they didn't take cash. Advised Anselme that we'll have to settle this later through him. By the way, Anselme wasn't supposed to be there, only the Apostle. And 4-5 other brothers. So the Rwanda team made their way to the airport after I verified the expenses for my three days and four nights in Kigali.
Spent quite a bit of money in three days. Not on myself but the expenses for our choir leaders. I even explained to them for the future that the amount of funds available is less and expenses are going up, so both negative statements. Requested some more money from Tim and found out later that some more funds were coming with Bishop Wiesel when I meet up with him in Sri Lanka on May 15, therefore I have to survive with what I have until then. Nonetheless, I was (a little) sorry to leave Rwanda and know different things are in store for me in every country.
OK, so back to the best story so far. Left ~ 2:00 AM from the hotel as an unpaying guest. The streets are really dead at 2 in the morning. That is unless you count police checkpoints. So we drove for a while, around a few roundabouts, and then up ahead I saw a checkpoint. These are fairly common in Africa as a whole. Just checking who's up and why, the police usually check i.d., look in the vehicle and let you go. Well, for some reason Apostle Minga didn't see that this wasn't a normal checkpoint. Usually there are a few pilons that slow you down but they don't always stop every car. Well, this one had a "spike strip"! Well, before you know it, and too late to do much about it, the Apostle cruised into the checkpoint, swerved onto the sidewalk to avoid the spike strip and almost ran over the young police man (he leaped into the bush beside the sidewalk to avoid getting killed). Well, I thought for sure one or two tires were damaged or something stalled, etc. The Apostle really didn't stop and I think he would have continued to the airport if it wasn't for the gun pointed at us from the front of the vehicle. Yes, a gun, a loaded gun, a gun held by a young Rwanda police officer that, I believe, may have been a bit trigger happy. The Apostle really stopped now and the policeman kindly requested (NOT) to shut off the engine. After a (somewhat humourous) exchange between the trigger-happy policeman and his counterpart (with dirty underwear, I assumed) for about 5 minutes, we were on our way to the airport. I told the Apostle I needed a good story from Rwanda and he gave me one!
Arrived at the airport a short time later, did our good-bye embrace with the brothers there and then proceeded into the airport (alone) through baggage security then to check-in. Remember it's 2:30 AM! Immigration process was fairly painless, left an NAC pen with the officer there. Then went to the lounge. There really is no such thing in Kigali. It is a lounge but more of a casual bar/restaurant setting that's open to anyone. If you have lounge access, as I did, you get 1 free drink. So "Coke" it was at this early morning and beginning of my 24-hour day. Called home and talked to Lisa and the kids while browsing Duty Free (really cheap). Lisa wanted to watch her shows, so I let her go. I bought some chocolate, macadamia nuts and 3 bottles (they said I could take them through Nairobi).
Again I was the last one to come through boarding and had to walk to the plane because I missed my bus (maybe 500 m). Plane was quite empty, we left on time and arrived early (6h00 Nairobi time). It was only an hour flight but we still received a "good" Continental Breakfast. Oh, how different it is outside North America. Food (almost) on every flight. I enjoyed the inflight magazine and before I knew it, we had landed in Nairobi just as the sun was coming up.
Off the plane, no direct passageway to terminal for our flight so another walk outside. This is very common in Africa as there's no cold weather to tolerate or deal with. The weather was really "fresh", meaning probably only about 12-15 degrees. A welcome "calm before the storm" of the heat and humidity that I would endure over the next 2 weeks.
Nairobi was crazy as ever! Searched through Duty Free and had a little buyer's remorse as there as the selection was better in Nairobi with just as good prices. Then, all of a sudden, there was an announcement for my flight to Brazzaville, 75 minutes before the flight. I forgot that they do security screening at the gate as well. It's interesting to see Africans, Indians, Arabs, Europeans, all fighting for their way through. There was no time to go to any lounge this morning.
Got to the screening process and they told me that I couldn't take my bottles on board. So I took my two carry-ons and repacked them and checked in the larger one. There was no way I was going to lose those bottles. I kept the bag in view as it basically just stayed on the counter. I said to myself I wouldn't board the plane until I knew and saw that my bag was on the plane. Kenya Airways actually let me bring the bag with me to the plane (another walk outside) to the bottom of the stairs leading to the aircraft. I asked 3-4 times that they would assure me that it would make it on (and it did).
OK, I knew something was up because the flight from Nairobi to Brazzaville isn't 5 hours. This flight stops in Kinshasa (DRC) first, 45 minute wait, then 5 minute flight across the river. Business Class was full on this 3h10m flight to Kinshasa. Sat beside a nice DRC man who wants to send his son to Canada to study. Had the same breakfast as the earlier flight but this time they added a hot dish. I think it was a vol-volant, which is a filled pastry (eggs, mushrooms, etc.). The inflight movie was "African" and the story-line was reaching. Slept for about 90 minutes. Enjoyed Nairobi newspaper as well and took some of the articles with me in addition to the inflight magazine.
Kinshasa is an airplane graveyard or, at least, a hospice. It actually reminds me a little of Tucson (call-out to Carl Z). Difference is that the planes here in DRC are still running.
Most of the passengers disembark at Kinshasa. Met the Ghana Ambassador to Congo-Brazzaville on the plane. A very nice and short conversation ensued. The flight (5 min) to Congo-Brazzaville was quite uneventful.
I arrived to the security/immigration/police check and they're looking for my authorization. I didn't have the chance to print what Apostle Kalala sent to me as my authorization letter and I didn't see Apostle Kalala, as I usually do, when I arrived at the airport. In hindsight, I forgot that I should have gone to the VIP lounge directly and not to security. Where's Apostle Kalala? I've been here 6 or 7 times and never had such problems. After changing my SIM card on my phone, the "nice man" at security used his phone to call Apostle Kalala and, sure enough, he was waiting for me two rooms over in the VIP lounge. Within a couple of minutes he was there with the letter and a few short minutes afterwards with the 2 pieces of luggage, we were on our way.
Before that I went to the hotel office to pay my bill (1:45 AM) and found that it was closed. I asked the security guard if anyone was around and he said, "No, the office is closed until morning". I told him that I'm leaving in 15 minutes. So, my friends, I found a way to save money.....run out on your bill. The parrots were up (a cage just outside the office) but they didn't take cash. Advised Anselme that we'll have to settle this later through him. By the way, Anselme wasn't supposed to be there, only the Apostle. And 4-5 other brothers. So the Rwanda team made their way to the airport after I verified the expenses for my three days and four nights in Kigali.
Spent quite a bit of money in three days. Not on myself but the expenses for our choir leaders. I even explained to them for the future that the amount of funds available is less and expenses are going up, so both negative statements. Requested some more money from Tim and found out later that some more funds were coming with Bishop Wiesel when I meet up with him in Sri Lanka on May 15, therefore I have to survive with what I have until then. Nonetheless, I was (a little) sorry to leave Rwanda and know different things are in store for me in every country.
OK, so back to the best story so far. Left ~ 2:00 AM from the hotel as an unpaying guest. The streets are really dead at 2 in the morning. That is unless you count police checkpoints. So we drove for a while, around a few roundabouts, and then up ahead I saw a checkpoint. These are fairly common in Africa as a whole. Just checking who's up and why, the police usually check i.d., look in the vehicle and let you go. Well, for some reason Apostle Minga didn't see that this wasn't a normal checkpoint. Usually there are a few pilons that slow you down but they don't always stop every car. Well, this one had a "spike strip"! Well, before you know it, and too late to do much about it, the Apostle cruised into the checkpoint, swerved onto the sidewalk to avoid the spike strip and almost ran over the young police man (he leaped into the bush beside the sidewalk to avoid getting killed). Well, I thought for sure one or two tires were damaged or something stalled, etc. The Apostle really didn't stop and I think he would have continued to the airport if it wasn't for the gun pointed at us from the front of the vehicle. Yes, a gun, a loaded gun, a gun held by a young Rwanda police officer that, I believe, may have been a bit trigger happy. The Apostle really stopped now and the policeman kindly requested (NOT) to shut off the engine. After a (somewhat humourous) exchange between the trigger-happy policeman and his counterpart (with dirty underwear, I assumed) for about 5 minutes, we were on our way to the airport. I told the Apostle I needed a good story from Rwanda and he gave me one!
Arrived at the airport a short time later, did our good-bye embrace with the brothers there and then proceeded into the airport (alone) through baggage security then to check-in. Remember it's 2:30 AM! Immigration process was fairly painless, left an NAC pen with the officer there. Then went to the lounge. There really is no such thing in Kigali. It is a lounge but more of a casual bar/restaurant setting that's open to anyone. If you have lounge access, as I did, you get 1 free drink. So "Coke" it was at this early morning and beginning of my 24-hour day. Called home and talked to Lisa and the kids while browsing Duty Free (really cheap). Lisa wanted to watch her shows, so I let her go. I bought some chocolate, macadamia nuts and 3 bottles (they said I could take them through Nairobi).
Again I was the last one to come through boarding and had to walk to the plane because I missed my bus (maybe 500 m). Plane was quite empty, we left on time and arrived early (6h00 Nairobi time). It was only an hour flight but we still received a "good" Continental Breakfast. Oh, how different it is outside North America. Food (almost) on every flight. I enjoyed the inflight magazine and before I knew it, we had landed in Nairobi just as the sun was coming up.
Off the plane, no direct passageway to terminal for our flight so another walk outside. This is very common in Africa as there's no cold weather to tolerate or deal with. The weather was really "fresh", meaning probably only about 12-15 degrees. A welcome "calm before the storm" of the heat and humidity that I would endure over the next 2 weeks.
Nairobi was crazy as ever! Searched through Duty Free and had a little buyer's remorse as there as the selection was better in Nairobi with just as good prices. Then, all of a sudden, there was an announcement for my flight to Brazzaville, 75 minutes before the flight. I forgot that they do security screening at the gate as well. It's interesting to see Africans, Indians, Arabs, Europeans, all fighting for their way through. There was no time to go to any lounge this morning.
Got to the screening process and they told me that I couldn't take my bottles on board. So I took my two carry-ons and repacked them and checked in the larger one. There was no way I was going to lose those bottles. I kept the bag in view as it basically just stayed on the counter. I said to myself I wouldn't board the plane until I knew and saw that my bag was on the plane. Kenya Airways actually let me bring the bag with me to the plane (another walk outside) to the bottom of the stairs leading to the aircraft. I asked 3-4 times that they would assure me that it would make it on (and it did).
OK, I knew something was up because the flight from Nairobi to Brazzaville isn't 5 hours. This flight stops in Kinshasa (DRC) first, 45 minute wait, then 5 minute flight across the river. Business Class was full on this 3h10m flight to Kinshasa. Sat beside a nice DRC man who wants to send his son to Canada to study. Had the same breakfast as the earlier flight but this time they added a hot dish. I think it was a vol-volant, which is a filled pastry (eggs, mushrooms, etc.). The inflight movie was "African" and the story-line was reaching. Slept for about 90 minutes. Enjoyed Nairobi newspaper as well and took some of the articles with me in addition to the inflight magazine.
Kinshasa is an airplane graveyard or, at least, a hospice. It actually reminds me a little of Tucson (call-out to Carl Z). Difference is that the planes here in DRC are still running.
Most of the passengers disembark at Kinshasa. Met the Ghana Ambassador to Congo-Brazzaville on the plane. A very nice and short conversation ensued. The flight (5 min) to Congo-Brazzaville was quite uneventful.
I arrived to the security/immigration/police check and they're looking for my authorization. I didn't have the chance to print what Apostle Kalala sent to me as my authorization letter and I didn't see Apostle Kalala, as I usually do, when I arrived at the airport. In hindsight, I forgot that I should have gone to the VIP lounge directly and not to security. Where's Apostle Kalala? I've been here 6 or 7 times and never had such problems. After changing my SIM card on my phone, the "nice man" at security used his phone to call Apostle Kalala and, sure enough, he was waiting for me two rooms over in the VIP lounge. Within a couple of minutes he was there with the letter and a few short minutes afterwards with the 2 pieces of luggage, we were on our way.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Day 5 - Kigali, Rwanda - May 1, 2009
Good Day (again) from Rwanda! Today is May Day and otherwise known as Labour Day in most of the world except Canada and the USA. In French, "Fete du Travail". Ironically on this day of celebration of labour, the streets are empty. And another ironic fact is that on this holiday in Rwanda, we are working in our 3rd day of Choir Leader Seminars here in Kigali. Well, if it's worth anything, the streets were fairly empty today and traffic was not an issue.
When I woke up this morning, I heard (again) this nice choir singing some "choruses" (meaning 2-3 lines continuously repeated, we have some of these in the Celebration Hymnal). They sang in two-part harmony (not four) but it was truly an enjoyable to wake up to for the past couple of mornings. I asked the Apostle Minga and Anselme where this may be coming from and the Apostle noted a Catholic Church "down the hill" but Anselme said that it would be too far for the sound to travel. Well, whatever it was, they were angels that reminded me of God's presence when I woke up in the morning. The birds were really chirping today, too. Maybe they don't want me to leave.....
Didn't sleep well or long last night, still jet-lagged but was ready for 8:45 AM after a short breakfast of, you guessed it, baguette + some cheese (only a little ham today). I saw eggs but didn't have the time to ask for them or get them prepared anyway. Saw even more foreigners at breakfast today. Everyone is automatically speaking English and not French. I really have to dig into this a little more. On a related note, when I asked Anselme where the French Embassy is, he reacted like it didn't matter or he didn't care. If there was any, he said it may be a small office in a larger building. I don't believe the Rwandans are against the French language per se but more against the government. Every time the Rwandans hear French must remind them of how much the French must have disappointed them, abandoned them and hurt them.
Before leaving the room today, I took my 2nd dose of Dukoral and brought my Malaria pill with me to take later. (Good Boy!) That Dukoral is a strange medicine. I feel like I'm Experiment 501 as part of the Lilo & Stitch series. First you have to dissolve some powder in "5 ounces of cool water", the water fizzes like an "alkaseltzer" then you add the "vial" of vaccine. Mix it up and away you go. It must taste terrible without the powder. I prefer needles (probably don't hear that too much). Give me needles, no problem.
The weather is cloudier today and a little cooler, probably only got to 21 or so. Can't wait (sarcastic) to get to Congo where it's 31 + another 10 for humidity = 41 + thunderstorms. Pray that the electricity is a little more contstant otherwise there's going to be no sleep in Brazzaville.
Getting a little paranoid about the mosquitoes. Have about half a dozen bites now. Feel that I have bites where they are not.
We're 4 sleeps down, 22 to go.
So, back to our regularly scheduled seminars. Arrived shortly after 9 and review the introductory beat with the choir leaders and encouraged them to solidify their music fundamentals beofre trying to master other things. Then we had about 4+ hours of mini choir practices (5-10 minutes each) where each choir leader presented themselves to the choir members, did a warm-up exercise and then conducted a song of their choosing. Afterwards, their fellow choir leaders "reviewed" the conductor's performance by 1st; giving compliments and affirmations followed by 2; constructive criticism. Some are really getting it and I can see our "team" of Seminar Leaders expand from the 1 or 2 we have currently to 5-6 in a very short time.
OK, the stink was getting to me. Wow! There was a little breeze today and if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, watch out.
I looked up and there were birds in the church. Real "rustic" style. OK, sometimes you see birds in the odd Home Depot during the summer months in Canada but these birds had the church as their home. I was just watching out for any presents dropping from the sky.
We wanted to be done early today but by the time everyone had finished and we had our short (NOT) closing remarks by the Apostle and myself, we didn't eat until after 3:00 PM. Gave Frederic a DVD set of Cape Town choirs, reminded Anselme to have everything in order in terms of the expenses for the week and greeted the choir leaders "goodbye" till next time. When I was talking to Anselme about the expenses, he gave me back 2 $100 bills and asked if he could have others. The Africans are particular about their American money. The more recent and more pristine the condition the better the exchange. If it really is not to their liking, they will refuse to exchange it altogether. What was really funny is that he said one of the $100 bills that he was returning was called from the "Jesus series" (LOL). It's probably funnier in French but it was a cute comment nonetheless.
So back to the hotel by about 4:00 PM as we tried to get a hold of Evanice (Sister Kiboba) to see her before I left. Anselme said he would try over the next couple of hours but by 7:00 PM Anselme called me and said there was no success. I offered earlier to go out with them for a small snack or drink but they weren't interested. Watched TV, caught up on email, and now staying up (not going to sleep tonight, I'll probably pay for this later), finishing today's blog and now have to get into packing (ughhh! - hate packing). Ate also the remainder of bread, sausage, etc. So there's nothing left, in more ways than one. Zapped a few more mosquitoes with the deadly tennis racket. Something interesting about the Zapper, it smells like an insect BBQ when these things are fried.
Have to be ready by 2:00 AM to get to airport. Pray everything works out OK through Nairobi. Have only an hour between flights. Will meet Apostle Dzur tonight in Brazzaville. Good Night! Thanks for the prayers. Thanks C. for being the only one posting so far. Don't be shy, even a sentence or two is appreciated.
When I woke up this morning, I heard (again) this nice choir singing some "choruses" (meaning 2-3 lines continuously repeated, we have some of these in the Celebration Hymnal). They sang in two-part harmony (not four) but it was truly an enjoyable to wake up to for the past couple of mornings. I asked the Apostle Minga and Anselme where this may be coming from and the Apostle noted a Catholic Church "down the hill" but Anselme said that it would be too far for the sound to travel. Well, whatever it was, they were angels that reminded me of God's presence when I woke up in the morning. The birds were really chirping today, too. Maybe they don't want me to leave.....
Didn't sleep well or long last night, still jet-lagged but was ready for 8:45 AM after a short breakfast of, you guessed it, baguette + some cheese (only a little ham today). I saw eggs but didn't have the time to ask for them or get them prepared anyway. Saw even more foreigners at breakfast today. Everyone is automatically speaking English and not French. I really have to dig into this a little more. On a related note, when I asked Anselme where the French Embassy is, he reacted like it didn't matter or he didn't care. If there was any, he said it may be a small office in a larger building. I don't believe the Rwandans are against the French language per se but more against the government. Every time the Rwandans hear French must remind them of how much the French must have disappointed them, abandoned them and hurt them.
Before leaving the room today, I took my 2nd dose of Dukoral and brought my Malaria pill with me to take later. (Good Boy!) That Dukoral is a strange medicine. I feel like I'm Experiment 501 as part of the Lilo & Stitch series. First you have to dissolve some powder in "5 ounces of cool water", the water fizzes like an "alkaseltzer" then you add the "vial" of vaccine. Mix it up and away you go. It must taste terrible without the powder. I prefer needles (probably don't hear that too much). Give me needles, no problem.
The weather is cloudier today and a little cooler, probably only got to 21 or so. Can't wait (sarcastic) to get to Congo where it's 31 + another 10 for humidity = 41 + thunderstorms. Pray that the electricity is a little more contstant otherwise there's going to be no sleep in Brazzaville.
Getting a little paranoid about the mosquitoes. Have about half a dozen bites now. Feel that I have bites where they are not.
We're 4 sleeps down, 22 to go.
So, back to our regularly scheduled seminars. Arrived shortly after 9 and review the introductory beat with the choir leaders and encouraged them to solidify their music fundamentals beofre trying to master other things. Then we had about 4+ hours of mini choir practices (5-10 minutes each) where each choir leader presented themselves to the choir members, did a warm-up exercise and then conducted a song of their choosing. Afterwards, their fellow choir leaders "reviewed" the conductor's performance by 1st; giving compliments and affirmations followed by 2; constructive criticism. Some are really getting it and I can see our "team" of Seminar Leaders expand from the 1 or 2 we have currently to 5-6 in a very short time.
OK, the stink was getting to me. Wow! There was a little breeze today and if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, watch out.
I looked up and there were birds in the church. Real "rustic" style. OK, sometimes you see birds in the odd Home Depot during the summer months in Canada but these birds had the church as their home. I was just watching out for any presents dropping from the sky.
We wanted to be done early today but by the time everyone had finished and we had our short (NOT) closing remarks by the Apostle and myself, we didn't eat until after 3:00 PM. Gave Frederic a DVD set of Cape Town choirs, reminded Anselme to have everything in order in terms of the expenses for the week and greeted the choir leaders "goodbye" till next time. When I was talking to Anselme about the expenses, he gave me back 2 $100 bills and asked if he could have others. The Africans are particular about their American money. The more recent and more pristine the condition the better the exchange. If it really is not to their liking, they will refuse to exchange it altogether. What was really funny is that he said one of the $100 bills that he was returning was called from the "Jesus series" (LOL). It's probably funnier in French but it was a cute comment nonetheless.
So back to the hotel by about 4:00 PM as we tried to get a hold of Evanice (Sister Kiboba) to see her before I left. Anselme said he would try over the next couple of hours but by 7:00 PM Anselme called me and said there was no success. I offered earlier to go out with them for a small snack or drink but they weren't interested. Watched TV, caught up on email, and now staying up (not going to sleep tonight, I'll probably pay for this later), finishing today's blog and now have to get into packing (ughhh! - hate packing). Ate also the remainder of bread, sausage, etc. So there's nothing left, in more ways than one. Zapped a few more mosquitoes with the deadly tennis racket. Something interesting about the Zapper, it smells like an insect BBQ when these things are fried.
Have to be ready by 2:00 AM to get to airport. Pray everything works out OK through Nairobi. Have only an hour between flights. Will meet Apostle Dzur tonight in Brazzaville. Good Night! Thanks for the prayers. Thanks C. for being the only one posting so far. Don't be shy, even a sentence or two is appreciated.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Day 4 - Kigali, Rwanda - Thursday, April 30, 2009
Got a late start because of getting to bed so late. Really confusing having a 5-hour nap and then up for 5 and then back to bed for 3. I texted Anselme to only pick me up at 9:20 AM for a 9:30 AM start at the church. Had a quick breakfast, getting sick of Baguette and Meat. Had some interesting peanut butter, it was more like playdough than smooth and easy to spread. Also tried their yogurt today. Either was bad or just bad because it tasted sour and it's much runnier than what we're used to in Canada. The sausage (from Rwanda) and the granola bars (from Canada) are God sent. At 1040 AM today, the meat started its repeat performance.
Brought my suitcase of goodies as the promised prizes for our choir leaders for their aniticipated presentations. Some gently used toys, clothes, books, ties, etc. from home.
At the hotel and generally in public you feel the pro-English presence. It will take a generation to get the "French" out of the system. The French really disappointed the Rwandans. Now they are part of this East Africa movement with the commonality being the English language.
It's getting nice and warm today. Because it didn't rain too much last night, it's going to be a hotter day today. I sweat whether it's hot or not so it really doesn't matter too much to me. A beautiful day nevertheless.
Did I tell you about my mosquito bite? The fun begins! While on the phone with DEV Bernie yesterday, I found my first mosquito bite. Got another one today. The tally is 2. Pray that whatever bites me is not malaria-carrying. My malaria pill is due tomorrow (Friday) as well as my second dose of Dukoral (used to prevent Cholera but mainly diarrhea) so the mosquito bites are good reminders to take the medicine tomorrow. With this Swine Flu all over the news here and at home, it reminds us about prevention rather than cure.
So Obama's first 100 days are over. They, of course, know all about Obama here. He's their hero too. Who's Stephen Harper? What else is in the news? Jays lose their first series of the year as of Thursday night, losing 3 of 4 to Kansas City. The Devils lose, well I guess with a name like that they should and Ovechkin 4, Avery 3.
The gel I bought stinks as well. My hair's all over the place. Oh well!
First stopped quickly at the Kenya Airways office to reconfirm my flights for Saturday.....that's another story. Leaving at 4:00 AM Saturday morning, meaning I have to be at the airport at 2:00 AM. We'll leave the hotel ~ 2:00 AM. To miss my flight would not be good but to be stuck in Rwanda wouldn't be the worst thing either.
Then to the church, so we started at 10:00 AM. En route, I took some video and pictures. I'll refer to the links when they're ready. I'm thinking of downloading them on youtube. So the presentations started and took us the whole morning until almost 1:00 PM. Generally they did very well and their peers "marked" them. Only one C, mostly Bs and a few As.
Then Baguette and Meat for lunch (AGAIN!) with pop. Realized at lunchtime that I'm running out of money fast. OK, just kidding, but it's going fast. Costs are up everywhere, especially transportation and food. What else is there really? When we reimburse the brethren for their transportation, lodgin and food, I would say it's almost double what it used to be when I came the first time here in 2005. Sending an SMS (send money soon) to Most Respected Timothy Nuessler. I will have to contact the office for more funds to meet me in CAR, Tchad or Sri Lanka.
So after lunch the choir leaders got their pick of the "rewards" from the suitcase. I gave the Apostle and Anselme a small woman's lotion gift pack for their wife and then according to their "grade" they were able to choose 1-2 things from the "valise" (suitcase). What a zoo! It was like that suitcase was the last sack of rice in the whole country. Eventually everyone was happy with what they received. I told them that only Rwanda received this as I couldn't bring a suitcase for each country and drag them with me all over the place.
The afternoon session included a review of how to organize a choir practice, vocale exercises and warm-ups, proper breathing technique (including each choir leader lying down on a bench to show them "deep" breathing technique). We concluded the meeting just after 5:00 PM. We also distributed another gift. We organized the reproduction of a music theory book in their language. This was, to date, not available here in Rwanda and the choir leaders were very happy to receive them.
Some other notes;
BTW, May 1st is May Day here as well. Otherwise known as Labour Day. It's a holiday here so we will start a little earlier and end earlier so that the choir leaders can have a little extra time with their family and friends on this holiday.
It would be possible to stay here and in the other countries for a month easy. Unfortunately we all have the same illness.....lack of follow-up.
Had a brother approach me today for help for his house. He even showed me a picture of what he needs (wants) to do. He has an uncle in South Africa but I guess he's not willing to help. This brother isn't expecting the church to help, he's expecting me to help. I will see what I can do. When you help one, the rest expect it as well. Reminds me of a time in Bangui (CAR) when a brother approached me for money for medicine for his TB. I knew fairly quickly that the TB was just the final stage of an AIDS death. I gave him what I could but I knew it wouldn't help much. Sure enough, upon my next visit to CAR, he had already died..... A tough reality of the diseases that exist and that prevail in this part of the world.
After a short recuperation from 5:30 - 7:00 PM. The three of us (Apostle Minga, Anselme & myself) went to "heaven" for supper. This is a new concept restaurant owned by Americans where they employ young Rwandans out of desperate circumstances (orphans, former prostitutes, etc.). The cooks, servers, hosts are all Rwandans out of these circumstances. A really nice restaurant to boot. Everyone speaks English and the food was very good although a little cold. Pictures show the Anselme's pork chops, my beef filet and the Apostle's chicken. This is just up the road from the previously best restaurant in Kigali, Indian Khazana (sp?). Rumour has it that this Indian restaurant had to recently close due to them "not paying their taxes" (nudge nudge, wink wink).
Brought my suitcase of goodies as the promised prizes for our choir leaders for their aniticipated presentations. Some gently used toys, clothes, books, ties, etc. from home.
At the hotel and generally in public you feel the pro-English presence. It will take a generation to get the "French" out of the system. The French really disappointed the Rwandans. Now they are part of this East Africa movement with the commonality being the English language.
It's getting nice and warm today. Because it didn't rain too much last night, it's going to be a hotter day today. I sweat whether it's hot or not so it really doesn't matter too much to me. A beautiful day nevertheless.
Did I tell you about my mosquito bite? The fun begins! While on the phone with DEV Bernie yesterday, I found my first mosquito bite. Got another one today. The tally is 2. Pray that whatever bites me is not malaria-carrying. My malaria pill is due tomorrow (Friday) as well as my second dose of Dukoral (used to prevent Cholera but mainly diarrhea) so the mosquito bites are good reminders to take the medicine tomorrow. With this Swine Flu all over the news here and at home, it reminds us about prevention rather than cure.
So Obama's first 100 days are over. They, of course, know all about Obama here. He's their hero too. Who's Stephen Harper? What else is in the news? Jays lose their first series of the year as of Thursday night, losing 3 of 4 to Kansas City. The Devils lose, well I guess with a name like that they should and Ovechkin 4, Avery 3.
The gel I bought stinks as well. My hair's all over the place. Oh well!
First stopped quickly at the Kenya Airways office to reconfirm my flights for Saturday.....that's another story. Leaving at 4:00 AM Saturday morning, meaning I have to be at the airport at 2:00 AM. We'll leave the hotel ~ 2:00 AM. To miss my flight would not be good but to be stuck in Rwanda wouldn't be the worst thing either.
Then to the church, so we started at 10:00 AM. En route, I took some video and pictures. I'll refer to the links when they're ready. I'm thinking of downloading them on youtube. So the presentations started and took us the whole morning until almost 1:00 PM. Generally they did very well and their peers "marked" them. Only one C, mostly Bs and a few As.
Then Baguette and Meat for lunch (AGAIN!) with pop. Realized at lunchtime that I'm running out of money fast. OK, just kidding, but it's going fast. Costs are up everywhere, especially transportation and food. What else is there really? When we reimburse the brethren for their transportation, lodgin and food, I would say it's almost double what it used to be when I came the first time here in 2005. Sending an SMS (send money soon) to Most Respected Timothy Nuessler. I will have to contact the office for more funds to meet me in CAR, Tchad or Sri Lanka.
So after lunch the choir leaders got their pick of the "rewards" from the suitcase. I gave the Apostle and Anselme a small woman's lotion gift pack for their wife and then according to their "grade" they were able to choose 1-2 things from the "valise" (suitcase). What a zoo! It was like that suitcase was the last sack of rice in the whole country. Eventually everyone was happy with what they received. I told them that only Rwanda received this as I couldn't bring a suitcase for each country and drag them with me all over the place.
The afternoon session included a review of how to organize a choir practice, vocale exercises and warm-ups, proper breathing technique (including each choir leader lying down on a bench to show them "deep" breathing technique). We concluded the meeting just after 5:00 PM. We also distributed another gift. We organized the reproduction of a music theory book in their language. This was, to date, not available here in Rwanda and the choir leaders were very happy to receive them.
Some other notes;
- While not being able to sleep last night, I watched Deja Vu with Denzel Washington. A pretty good movie although the concept is off.
- Saw travel warning for Congo-Brazza last night but couldn't get to it until today. Nothing to really worry about. Although Tchad is at the highest warning level right now. What else is new?
- Deodorant. Don't get me wrong, this is not a criticism but just an observation. Most do not know what this is. They are used to the "human stink", although to a Westerner it can be quite offensive. There's really no getting used to it for us.
- Drinking water is called "Source du Nil", named after the Nile River but couldn't be further from the truth. It's not Natural nor Mineral, it's just purified drinking water. You would think there would be a lot of Mineral Water in Rwanda because of the thousand hills. The Mineral Water is much more expensive. Who knows? This Nil water may have had its source at the Nile but it went through a big process before I ingested it. Maybe that's a good thing.
- Looks like Friday BF will be bread only, no meat for sure!
- Saw 3 laptops in the group of choir leaders today. Actually have one sister (that's a breakthrough in some places) in this group in Rwanda. Almost everyone has a cell phone. We even joke that people would rather go hungry than give up their cell phone.
BTW, May 1st is May Day here as well. Otherwise known as Labour Day. It's a holiday here so we will start a little earlier and end earlier so that the choir leaders can have a little extra time with their family and friends on this holiday.
It would be possible to stay here and in the other countries for a month easy. Unfortunately we all have the same illness.....lack of follow-up.
Had a brother approach me today for help for his house. He even showed me a picture of what he needs (wants) to do. He has an uncle in South Africa but I guess he's not willing to help. This brother isn't expecting the church to help, he's expecting me to help. I will see what I can do. When you help one, the rest expect it as well. Reminds me of a time in Bangui (CAR) when a brother approached me for money for medicine for his TB. I knew fairly quickly that the TB was just the final stage of an AIDS death. I gave him what I could but I knew it wouldn't help much. Sure enough, upon my next visit to CAR, he had already died..... A tough reality of the diseases that exist and that prevail in this part of the world.
After a short recuperation from 5:30 - 7:00 PM. The three of us (Apostle Minga, Anselme & myself) went to "heaven" for supper. This is a new concept restaurant owned by Americans where they employ young Rwandans out of desperate circumstances (orphans, former prostitutes, etc.). The cooks, servers, hosts are all Rwandans out of these circumstances. A really nice restaurant to boot. Everyone speaks English and the food was very good although a little cold. Pictures show the Anselme's pork chops, my beef filet and the Apostle's chicken. This is just up the road from the previously best restaurant in Kigali, Indian Khazana (sp?). Rumour has it that this Indian restaurant had to recently close due to them "not paying their taxes" (nudge nudge, wink wink).
Returned home at 9:30 PM or so and returned to the room, slept on and off, watched "Damage" (not bad) and now up again till 4:00 AM doing this blog but at least I'm caught up. SKYPEd with Bishop Wiesel tonight as well and hopefully he will be my SMS delivery when we meet up in Sri Lanka in a couple of weeks. He had to cancel his trip to Pakistan and will go to Nepal instead, something not good (again). Good Night and see you tomorrow.
Day 3 (continued) - Kigali, Rwanda - Back at the hotel
Back at the hotel, I made myself a salami sandwich with the meat and bread that I bought at Nakumatt and then I fell asleep for a 4-5 hour nap. Just knocked out! When I woke up at 11:30 PM, I was wide awake. Then to the computer to start this blog and catch up on some emails and communication with home. Even talked to DEV Bernie for a good 30 minutes and made a schedule change over SKYPE and him calling PR Bagnall to go to Scarborough. It was good to hear another familiar voice from home. I talk to Lisa every day if possible. Either she can call me on my Rwandan cell # or over SKYPE or I call her, also to her cell or our home over SKYPE. SKYPE is wonderful!
Couldn't get to sleep until after 4:00 AM but was happy to start the blog. Now it's 3:30 AM as I write this the day after. Jet-lagged and not adjusting too easily.
Couldn't get to sleep until after 4:00 AM but was happy to start the blog. Now it's 3:30 AM as I write this the day after. Jet-lagged and not adjusting too easily.
Day 3 - Kigali, Rwanda - Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The work finally begins. After a nice simple continental breakfast (mostly cold; breads, cold meats and cheeses, cereal, yogurt, fruit) and a small wait at the pool, Apostle Minga and Rector Anselme picked me up to take me to the church in Nyakirambo (a section of Kigali). A short 10-15 minute ride to the church from the hotel. Something of notice, they spell Salon like Saloon. I assure you they are not Saloons but Hair & Beauty Salons.
So we started just after 9:00 AM with all in black & white, a familiar scene for all New Apostolic overseas seminars, either with or without tie. Since tonight was service, ties were in order but I didn't put mine on until about 20 minutes before service.
The seminar began with a hymn and then an opening prayer by our Apostle. Welcome remarks were made to the 20+ Choir Leaders from across the country. Some travelled 6-8 hours. This is the rainy season although in Kigali they are not much worse for wear but you can imagine how it is in the villages where most roads are dirt and dust.
Our two main choir leaders were there. Priest Innocent from Kigali and Priest Frederic from Gisenyi (bordering Goma, DRC). Priest Innocent didn't make it last year when we were together so we nominated Priest Frederic as our lead National Choir Leader for Rwanda. They would love to do "music" full-time but it isn't warranted nor budgeted for. They all could create full-time jobs for themselves. As District Apostle Wagner said often, "With your ideas and my money, we could do things, couldn't we?" This was usually the answer for "no".
Much of the work on this trip I really have to see that they can do this on their own. So I am a "guide" and "observer" and will "butt in" where necessary. The morning (until 12:30 PM) included the logistics of organizing Seminar Centres with 10-15 choir leaders in each. Then the lead choir leaders present made their input and requests for how much time they feel they need (want) each year for Music Seminars. Fairly unrealistic but eventually possible when we have enough Seminar Leaders. Right now we have 2, Innocent and Frederic. Innocent is quite busy with work and/or studies so it probably is 1 1/2.
Lunch was baguette and sucree (pron sucray). Eventually you get sick of this stuff, but the French influence is very much in order with the baguettes very cheap and popular. I believe those two attributes are very much related. The more popular something is, the cheaper it is. The cheaper it is, the more popular it is. On the baguette was a little luncheon meat like bologna, and yes, I do eat it, although I probably shouldn't. After about an hour, back to work.
The shorter (due to service @ 5 PM) afternoon session included mainly consolidating the 4-beat pattern and then selecting topics for Thursday's presentations. Each choir leader is to conduct their own mini-seminar on Thursday on topics that have been reviewed in past seminars. Each is to last 5-10 minutes. We'll see. I guarantee you some will be 2 minutes and others will be 20+. It'll all balance out. We finished our shortened afternoon ~ 4:00 PM to give a little time before the 5:00 PM service start. I freshened up and then fell asleep with my head on the table in the office (sorry no picture of that).
About 4:45 PM, I got myself dressed and ready (add tie, tie shoes, etc.) and then entered the sacristy where Apostle Minga, his brother (priest responsible for the congregation) + Priest Frederic were waiting. Service began right on time at 5:00 PM for the 30 odd present. Mainly the 20+ choir leaders + another 10 from the congregation. A historical note; the church in Kigali was built under the guidance and diligence of DEV Addison, who is known around Rwanda, and the world, even when he was only in a country maybe one time. This is fairly unique to him. So this church brings back many memories of DEV Addison, especially the marble altar (see photo). When I think of DEV Addison, I also think of deceased Apostle Kiboba, who also worked diligently here in Rwanda after growing up in DRC and moving here as a District Evangelist, I believe. His wife, Evanice, still lives about 1 block away from our church here and we're looking forward to catching up on Friday afternoon as she is out of Kigali for a few days.
OK, I remember that Apostle Minga doesn't serve long, at least not when I'm here. The service was conducted in Kinyarwanda (the local language) and Priest Frederic translated into French for me (not simultaneously). With this extra work, the Apostle still only served about 10 minutes. The word was the same as Canada as the Apostles receive the current DSG (Divine Service Guide) that we do in the Western World. The remainder of the ministers in overseas countries receive a Word of Life Book where articles are used from two years previous, meaning 2009's book has the cooinciding articles from the 2007 WoL or DSG that we used at that time.So the word was, wait for it, those that were in service shouldn't have to.......Apostle Peter walking on water; those that follow precisely the Word of God will have a strong faith created from it added with our confidence (trust) and obedience, we are able to experience God's Miracles as well. So, yes, I was called up and served probably the same length as the Apostle but this time me in French and the Apostle's brother into Kinyarwanda. Shortly thereafter the Apostle brought us to the Lord's Prayer, the Absolution and the celebration of Holy Communion. May I make one comment here; Three-fold Amen way too slow. WOW! I will have to work on this one before I leave as it's one of District Apostle's pet peeves re: music overseas. The three-fold Amen should be sung in the same way, at the same speed in every country.
After service, it is fairly customary that when the Apostle is there, he brings greetings from the area where he just visited. Of course then the congregation thanks him (in unison) and gives 
greetings back to him to bring to his next "port". The Apostle called me to give greetings from our District Apostle, Apostle, my family and all of you (our brothers and sisters in Canada). Now after this is done usually the choir sings. The officiant and the brothers accompanying him go right to the back of the church (front door) and one by one each one is greeted. Basically I shook hands with the Apostle and then the one behind me shakes hands with the Apostle and me. This goes on until all have shaken hands with one another and we have formed a perimeter fence in the courtyard of the church (see photo). I love this custom. During the "shaking hands ceremony" the choir and congregation are singing the final hymn together. Again, I just love this. We could only get away with this in the warmer months in Canada or maybe in a place like Lindsay or Brampton. But, I just love this! (did I say that before?)
greetings back to him to bring to his next "port". The Apostle called me to give greetings from our District Apostle, Apostle, my family and all of you (our brothers and sisters in Canada). Now after this is done usually the choir sings. The officiant and the brothers accompanying him go right to the back of the church (front door) and one by one each one is greeted. Basically I shook hands with the Apostle and then the one behind me shakes hands with the Apostle and me. This goes on until all have shaken hands with one another and we have formed a perimeter fence in the courtyard of the church (see photo). I love this custom. During the "shaking hands ceremony" the choir and congregation are singing the final hymn together. Again, I just love this. We could only get away with this in the warmer months in Canada or maybe in a place like Lindsay or Brampton. But, I just love this! (did I say that before?)Shortly thereafter the counting of the offering (they always get the foreigner to sign, just to prove that he was there and the Canada brother is always coded #1, it doesn't matter who it is) and then the short ride back to the hotel after further encouragement to the choir leaders for their anticipated presentations on Thursday.
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