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bara and I. I was embarrassed. I told them that I already had plenty and they responded by
telling me that I should eat it for who knew the next time I would have brownies again.
Talk about selflessness. Instead of saying, “Yeah you pig you ate almost all of them,” they
shared the last two and didn't take for themselves. I was quite humbled.
Ireturnedtotheimmigrationofficeandwastoldthatmypassporthadn'tarrivedyet
for the person who was to sign it would arrive the next day at 10:00 am. I returned to the
houseandreadabeautifulstorytothechildrencalled
The Woodland Gospels
.Aftersaying
good-night to the children, I stayed up quite late chatting with Richard. I eventually went
to bed by 10:00 and fell asleep as a cool breeze entered through my bedroom window.
The next morning I woke up to have breakfast with the children. When they left for
school, I mentally prepared myself for disappointment as I headed to the immigration of-
fice. To my great relief, the visa was signed and was ready for pick up by 10:00 a.m. I was
given a 30-day extension to reach the border of Zambia. To think that I actually considered
forging my original visa by writing 'deux' (2) over 'un' (1) in the length of stay section.
Thankfully, common sense prevailed and I decided it was not worth the risk.
This put me in a most incredible mood. I returned home and read some of Jeremi-
ah'sHansChristianAnderson'sbooks:
The Traveler, The Little Mermaid, and Thumbelina
.
I then did a quick overhaul on my bike to prepare for the next day's departure. I spent the
rest of the day relaxing with such a peace of mind: my bike was ready, my passport was
ready and I was ready…feeling healthier by the day. It must have been those brownies.
When the children returned home for lunch, we quickly ate peanut butter sand-
wiches and got ready to leave. We were in a rush to pick up Marylyn, their mom, from the
airport. We all hopped into the back of the pickup and drove almost onto the tarmac. It was
heartening to see the children's joy when they ran up to her as she got off the plane.
MarylyntoldusabouttheproblemsinKinshasa.Thegovernmentwantedtopaythe
military'ssalarywiththenew5millionzaïrenote.However,thecountry'seconomistswere
urging shop owners in Kinshasa not to accept the new currency for it was driving inflation.
They heeded the advice and closed their shops early to avoid the looting that occurred by
the military in the past (like my supply package at Kinshasa's central post office.)
Marylyn brought groceries in her suitcases: chickens, cheese, flour, etc. When we
returned to the house, I stayed in my room to write in my journal and to give the family
some privacy to catch up on the three weeks that Marylyn had been away. They prepared
dinner and called me in to join them. I was floored at what was prepared: peppered steak
with rice, and chocolate cake with icing. Idied and went to heaven. After ourmeal, Itold a
few more stories to the children before they had to go to bed.
Crisis in Kinshasa
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