Artistic Me

My musician friends adore my new look. Byas is like "From now on whenever you perform with me you have to do your hair like that. It's artistic." My choir director asked if I was a jazz fan. It's been in for 5 days now, so I'm starting to wonder how much longer it will last. Getting a little frizzy.

Monkey B the girly social cat

Time for a new pic of my kitten who's all grown up. This is what she does seriously every single time I open this manicure kit. She fits in there a little snugger than she did when I could hold her in one hand!


She's very social and hates it if I put her away when guests are over (many Congolese people are terrified of cats). I have to shut the door with a key, because she knows how to open it! When it's locked it's really pathetic to hear her flailing herself against the handle to no avail :o)

In short, j'adore mon chat!

Le Nouveau Look

Facebook photos from Kenya and Ethiopia

Here's an updated Kenya album
And some from Addis Ababa

Top 10 highlights of trip to Kenya and Ethiopia (Cont.)

5. LALIBELA: Heather and I flew from Addis to this obscure little mountain town which is home to 12th century rock-hewn churches, an amazing sight for Sub-Saharan Africa. This will need its own blog entry.

4. ANIMALS: We went to Nairobi National Park, the Giraffe Center, and Lake Naivasha. I saw lots of zebras, giraffes, cape buffalo, ostriches, hippos, and various birds and antelope/gazelle-like creatures. Next time I’ll have to find some lions and elephants. It’s very cool to see these animals just doing their thing out in the wild. Many have remarked that my photos finally look like Africa…Well, I guess if east Africa is all you know of the continent then that’s true, but I felt less like I was really in Africa since I was just a tourist. Congo is the real thing for me!

3. ETHNIC FOOD: It was a real treat eating out at a variety of restaurants. We had fantastic American, Korean, and Ethiopian food in Nairobi. We also delighted at the chance to eat Thai, Indian, and Italian in Addis.

2. OLD FRIENDS: It’s really fun that pretty much wherever I go in the world I get to meet up with people I know. Of the 35 people at the conference, I had already met 20 at previous trainings and seminars! I vacationed for a few days in Nairobi with my friend Angi who I met when I went on vacation in Switzerland a year and a half ago. In Addis I got to spend 10 days with my good friends Michael and Colleen who I knew from my summers at ORSIL. No one in my life is really stable—we’re always on the move, coming and going—so it’s always a comfort to cross paths again and see familiar faces. And within the organization I can pretty much count on seeing people again some day.

1. AFRICA AREA LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT CONFERENCE: I guess it’s pretty good, especially considering all the other cool things I got to do, that the coolest thing on the trip was the real reason for the trip. The conference was very interesting and helpful. My team came home with a big list of action items to pursue, new tools to use, and a whole lot of ideas to think about. It was encouraging to consider my professional growth plan and to glean from the experiences of others who have been doing language research much longer than I.

Top 10 highlights of trip to Kenya and Ethiopia

Well, after 5 weeks in Kenya and Ethiopia I've got quite a blogging backlog. I just sent my newsletter, though, so I think most of my readers at least have the synopsis of my trip. How about a top 10 list? OK, here are the 10 best things about my trip...

10. BRACKENHURST, the conference center outside of Nairobi where I stayed for 3 weeks: Three great meals a day, having my room cleaned everyday, abundant flowers, and trails through the nearby tea fields were just a few of the perks.

9. LEISURE TIME: We had great fun in the evenings of the writers’ workshop playing various card games and watching movies. On the weekends we made interesting excursions (more on that later). In Ethiopia Heather and I had plenty of time on our hands for browsing shops, drinking coffee, a day at the poolside, long talks with our friends, a few episodes of Lost Season 4, etc. Leisure time has become a rare commodity for me in Congo between work, choir, orphans, church, etc.

8. NOT SWEATING: I can’t say one of the best things was the “cool climate” because actually I was miserably cold about half the time, but it was really great to not sweat for a few weeks. It was fun actually blow-drying my hair and wearing it down. No frizz! We are grateful to have missed a few of the worst (hottest, humidest) weeks in Brazza.

7. NEW FRIENDS: It was fun to get to know some of the other people doing language research in Africa. At these kinds of events I can’t help but make a few lasting friendships since we have so much in common and there are so many quality people involved.

6. ESPRESSO: Good coffee at cheap prices. Need I say more? There’s a Starbucks-esque place in Addis called Kaldi’s, named for the goat herder who according to legend discovered the coffee bean when he noticed his goats dancing after having eaten some. Fantastic caramel macchiatos for less than $1.

(Top 5 Coming Soon...)

Nairboi Nat'l Park

Last Saturday I went to Nairobi National Park. It's kind of like a zoo...except you're the one in the cage! :o) It's crazy, one minute you're in the city and the next you're driving thru the savannah looking at giraffes, zebras, ostriches, cape buffalo...you can see my pictures on facebook here.

In Kenya

Arrived in Kenya on Saturday with my teammates Dana and Heather. We're out at this really charming retreat center. Pretty much the nicest place any of us have ever seen in Africa. It's a bit surreal. Our schedule is packed for our conference, but I think we'll get to have some excursions on the weekends. Maybe I'll see some big animals! We were really excited to wear our "team pagne" together :o)


There are some beautiful places to walk around here, although getting into town is a bit difficult.


This place is surrounded by tea fields. Very cool. Although we're mostly enjoying drinking good coffee.

It's a small world: MBiz achieves fame at 5 months

So, funny story for you. Here I am in Kenya (more on that later). I met a man in my organization who I'd never met before. He works out of Dallas. One night at dinner I was about to tell a humorous anecdote about Monkey Business and he interrupted me to ask "Do you have a blog?" I thought maybe he was going to say I needed one since I'm such a funny, interesting person, but he said "I remember your cat. I don't remember you, but I remember your cat from your blog. She has a boyfriend, right?" Ha!

my apologies

So my blogging has been PATHETIC lately. Perhaps a reflection on my life? Nah. At the end of the day I just don't feel like sitting at my computer. And the interesting things in my life are complicated, so then I just write about my cat. Sorry. So here's a little spicy synopsis of the last few weeks:

Two good friends proposed to me. I said no.

The guy I like told me about the girl he is interested in. Awesome.

I preached in French with a Lingala interpreter last Sunday. Very cool!

My team interviewed 5 pastors for our study on language and Scripture use. We were given cokes, avocados, and cash, even though they were the ones doing work for us. Score! We really enjoyed meeting these people and are excited about the project. Yay Jesus!

My gospel choir is revolutionized by our new director. We work really hard at rehearsals and I have a big solo that's really stretching me to improve. So fun!

I'm leaving for 5 weeks starting Friday. 3 weeks in Kenya for a conference and 2 weeks vacation in Ethiopia. Hallelujah!! Stoked to travel with my super cool teammates Dana and Heather. Life is a blast. It's hilarious to be white in Africa and we don't miss a single occasion to laugh about it.

ho-hum, after work entertainment

I've been working a lot lately. So in the absence of creative energy, here are some frivolous internet quizzes...

What Kind of Guy Will You Fall For?
	You would fall for the sensitive guy. You'll find your future man wherever turtlenecks are sold. He will have depth, introspection, and a disturbing knowledge of musical theatre. And he may be a little weird. But hey, while your girlfriends cry over broken hearts, you'll be having Shakespeare read to you every night.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Which Disney Princess Are You?
	You are Pocahontas. You defy convention and sometimes do what is considered taboo. Unfortunately, others do not always appreciate your differences, so it's good that you are so strong-willed. You are loyal and you believe in fate. Your true love will find you one day.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

TV Star

The aweseome opportunities I have here in Congo never cease to amaze me. So now not only am I a rock star in Congo, I'm also a television star! My fame may be somewhat fleeting, but who's complaining? Last week my choir was interviewed for a local program called "La Musique du Ciel" ("Heavenly Music"). We all sat inside a music recording studio with the vibrant host of the show who made flamboyant commentary in Lingala (and I was pleased to actually understand most of it!). A bright light was directed on us as the camera man panned around the room, getting some close ups of me since I was in the front row! Thankfully I didn’t have to say anything because just 4 members were selected to respond to the questions. Between questions we sang some of our songs.

Yes, I'm a TV Star

The TV host is sitting on the stool on the right.

Missionary Pick Up Line

Usually guys here don't need pick up lines. They just say "You're beautiful, give me your phone number." Yeah, no thanks.

But today this guy must have really been trying because he actually used a line on Theresa. Right up there with the best of them...

"Do you believe in God?" "Yes." "Oh, well I don't. Want to talk to me about Him?"

Ha! The funny part was he probably didn't realize he was being funny.

Monkies need baths

Monkey Business is not a normal cat. She's a business Monkey. She likes to hang out while I take a shower. She usually jumps in several times, sometimes getting fairly wet.
Tonight I decided she smelled bad so I just put some shampoo on her and let her take a shower with me. She didn't even mind it!
She was fine with the shower, but afterwards it was hard to get a photo because she was too busy scurrying around like a wet rat.

My love life

So the other day Theresa and I designated different roles our friends play in Monkey Business's life. I'm her mom and Theresa is her auntie. Heather is her best friend because she comes over to play and Barb is her grandma because she gets to go to her house to visit sometimes. We decided that our friend Chris from choir would be her boyfriend. The other day at practice he even asked me about her! I felt really happy to see him last night and was like "Theresa! There's Monkey's boyfriend!" Yes, I am living vicariously through my cat's imaginary love life. That's how awesome I am.

Karismatic

I have been marveling at how much I find myself integrated into Karisma Gospel choir. Friday night’s rehearsal was a ton of fun. The last two rehearsals they’ve spent a big chunk of time helping me learn a solo part to one of the songs. The song starts off with one of the other girls singing in a Congolese language. Then I come in with the English rendition. During these lengthy solos, the choir just follows along with some choreography. Then there’s a last section where we all repeat this one line over and over and there are a couple of really awesome solo parts that are so fast I’m not sure how the soloists manage to spit out the words. It’s a very fun song and I’m super happy to be able to do the English solo, especially since it seems to fit my voice and I can do it with a reasonable amount of confidence.

The other song we practiced on Friday is a real “Gospel” style song. There’s a lead part that everyone repeats after: “Hallelujah! (Hallelujah!) Hallelujah, amen! (Hallelujah, amen!), etc.". For some reason, since Gospel music comes from America and I’m American, they kept looking to me to come up with some kind of dance move for the song. This is hilarious to me given that they used to think I didn’t even know how to dance, and at first I was like “What?! Yeah right!” But when they asked a second time I was prepped with the move I wanted to do, so I showed it to them and they all started doing it! I’m a choreographer! The president of the choir was singing the lead part, but then he would call out other people’s names to do it. After three or four others, he called on me to do it one last time! It’s a really fun song and I was into it, but I think I got an adrenaline rush ‘cause I was shaking afterwards!

Anyways, all that to say, not only am I having a blast, but it seems like I’ve really been accepted as a full-fledged member. They’re not just humoring the white girl!

Little Monkey is Growing

Isn't my baby cute? Everyone tells me she's very beautiful, especially for being a random Congolese cat from a quickie mart!

I love this girl

"I'm the only one who is allowed to mix languages."

"Why?"

"Because I'm living in a language cocktail!"

--Theresa, my German housemate who is currently only speaking English, French, and Laari.

New Year's Pics

Here are my New Year's pics on Facebook. Check out my new hobby of taking "Congolese photos".

My Apartment is Awesome

Check out these before and after pics! I have my new furniture and the cushions all covered and just last week we finally got our wall hanging up. It's pretty much awesome.