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I went to bed at 1:30 am and got up at 8:30. We ate breakfast together and then I
went to the 9:00 children's mass. I was running late and thankfully the first mass ran late
as well. I stood on the church steps and just admired the stunning views. Within minutes,
the church was swarmed by hundreds of children. I stayed at the back and was shocked at
the utter quietness of the 8-900 children. They clapped their hands and stomped their feet
to the music and for some pieces they sang a cappella. What a great musical experience it
was!
After lunch with the rector, I returned to the house and ended up eating a second
time with the family. I felt really sleepy and was about to take a nap when at 2:30 p.m.,
they said, “Allons-y” (Let's go.) Off we went to the airport about 12 kilometres from the
house. Bruniaux drove the Land Rover like a madman trying to hit every pothole with no
consideration for the back seat passenger…namely me. The journey was a visit to hell and
back- nothing beats the bicycle on these roads. I finally arrived at the private airport and
took out my camera. To my dismay, when I tried to take my first photo, I realized that my
Nikon camera wasn't working for the shutter froze open. To rescue the film in the camera,
I rewound the film as the opened shutter scratched most of the negatives, hence the poor
quality of the last few pictures of Zaïre.
Bruniaux was the pilot and flew the aircraft like he drove the Land Rover, no con-
sideration for his passenger. My flight was a 15 minute tour of Shaba and I was getting
nauseous really fast. I opened an air vent which helped in lowering my nausea. Sadly, I
couldn't take any photos. There was an impressive view of the mines and of a large cross
on the highest hill. From up there, the roads seemed so flat and perfect….ha!
Backonland,ourreturnjourneywasaboutthesame,fastandwithnomercy.Thank
God we got caught behind the governor's motorcade which was returning to the provincial
capital of Lubumbashi. We could not overtake the motorcade so Bruniaux was forced to
drive calmly.
Thateveningoverdinner,IheardsporadicgunfirewhichpromptedBruniaux'sfath-
ertoexplainwhatwashappening.InLikasi,homeownerswouldwarnpotentialthievesthat
the home was well-armed and guarded by randomly shooting in the air. He then stepped
away from the dinner table and returned to show me how well guarded he was. He made
frequent trips to show me his arsenal. His last visit produced several hand grenades. When
Bruniaux told me that they both slept with loaded guns by their beds, I gave a quizzical
look. He then escorted me to where he slept and showed me the weapon. It was for this
reason that Bruniaux said that his mom returned to Belgium. Who could blame her? After
dinner, I hit the sack at 9:30 p.m. after thanking them for the day's events. I didn't mention
the driving though. For the first time in my life, random gunfire put me to sleep.
I packed up early the next morning and thanked Bruniaux and his dad for their hos-
pitality and we exchanged addresses. I quickly found the route in the light drizzle and by
8:45 a.m., I was on my way setting a good pace (15-18 km/h).
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