Blogs from Congo Democratic Republic, Africa - page 11

Trying to attach photos to this site. The power blinked a moment ago. Not sure if original blog was sent. I'm receiving emails now and I must say, just to see the name DUKE ROSS makes me laugh!!!!!!!!!!!! I thank you all for being interested enough about me to read this. For those of you who are reaching out to Senators McCaskill, Pelosi, Cong Cleaver, Pres Obama and Clinton, the US Embassy, the Office of Homeland Security, and others, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If the passport comes through today, I'll be just about ready to go back to Kinshasa. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow... I know that's from Shakespeare, I just can't remember the next line. What an adventure. "Not all those who wander are lost..." Tolkien. If my child's life didn't hang in the balance, I ... read more

Rachel, what does that mean? Thanks for the Western Union. Message received. I'm a dinosaur in a third world country and the power may and will go out at any second. I apologize to everyone who has sent comments, but I don't have any time to research how to do the thing you asked. Maybe Johnny knows how to do it and can walk through it. He taught me Ctrl C and Ctrl V and they work like a charm. The good knews is I've finally located an American keyboard. Typing speed: 25 WPM. Yeah! Hello to all at CVS Caremark! I'm fine, the baby is more gorgeous than you can imagine, and I can't wait to get out of here. If I can figure out how send just one photo through this blog, I most ... read more

The ADOPTION Sitting with Mary Starzyk. She is an American from Ohio sitting next to me at the house of Janice McLain. Janice is the treasurer of the United Methodist Church here in Lubumbashi and also handles the Katanga Provence. Mary has completed an adoption for Anastasia, who is also from the Kamina Orphange. 1. 1st priority is to get the Congolese Passport. 2. She believes BABY may also need a Schengen VISA for Amsterdam 3. She believes we may also need a Johanesburg (South African) VISA. She feels this can be done here in Lubumbashi in about a day for $45 plus an expedite fee. 4. I will need a POWER of ATTORNEY from Rachel for me to be able to sign in her stead. 5. I will need my 1040 and W2 from the ... read more

"Eastern Congo is very, very unstable right now. ... There have been attacks and counterattacks between rebels and the Congo military." -Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer to CNN, November 1 At the time I wrote this October 28, only so much of the recent events had unfolded. Today on November 1 as I post this finally as I haven't had reliable internet connection until now, the current situation is on the CNN frontpage and has been in the news for the past week straight. Far away from you on the dark continent a war has been raging in a country for a decade, a war that you or I may not be aware of at all. The violence and humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, right now, is commonly referred to as the ... read more

Finally I did it and survived. In six weeks as a rambling single white female in the Congos, I have to admit that I encountered relatively few problems. Of course I was arrested, interrogated by an army General and put under police surveillance, all for taking photos in places of strategic importance, but not a single franc was paid in bribes and I always parted with more friends and telephone numbers than when I arrived. Tourism is not really a concept widely understood in the Congos. Few people could grasp the idea of visiting a country to see how other people live or simply to experience daily life. A white woman who travels alone is still quite rare, even more so when she spends most of here time visiting les quartiers peuplés and insists on taking ... read more