Donc ca fait maintenant a peu pres 24 heures que je suis a la Republique Democratique du Congo. So far, I am not sure where I stand. For sure, the flight was quite a long one, and I am glad I won't have to travel this itinerary for a year. Maybe, I'll go to Europe during my two-week vacation...
So, le Congo... bon, bien sur qu'il y a de la pauvrete et puis de grande disparite entre les congolais et aussi entre les congolais et les expatries. L'arrivee a l'aeroport etait interessante, avec des cinquantaines de congolais qui essayaient de nous aider avec les baggages afin de recevoir un pourboire. I was able to find the driver from the IRC, although it took a long time to find him. For a moment, I thought they had forgotten me! The majority of the people on the plane were European foreigners with a few Americans. I definitely was the only Asian to stand out for miles. Not like I've never been in that situation before.
So driving around Congo to the house... interesting sights of people walking around the streets. I was told that it's pretty safe usually for local Congolese to walk the streets in the night and not get harrassed or anything. There were a lot of prostitutes, and it was unfortunate to hear that it has been a phenomenon that has emerged in the last years as a result of the conflict. The driving.. well, crazy as one might imagine. Thankfully, I had the chance to experience Cambodia, and so I didn't jump everytime we got close to hitting someone. The drivers with the IRC are all Congolese, so they all know the roads very well. The houses were all very nice, and again, I am faced with the situation of seeing how privileged we are here and in the States.
The first day at the office was busy and good. Woke up about seven hours after I arrived at the airport, forgot my alarm clock in the US, so I had to have the guard knock on my door to wake me up. Yes, I woke up ;) I met all the coworkers, with a majority it seemed of expats in the office. I am told that there are about 80-90% of Congolese employed by the organization, with most working in the field implementing the programs. I definitely can't remember the names of the workers right now, but they were all extremely nice. Everyone seemed very busy, which made it a bit difficult to just go to their desk, sit, and chat for a bit. My permanent workplace is in Bukavu, so it won't be too important if I don't become extremely close with the coworkers here... getting to be familiar is at least important.
Anyways, it's late.. got my phone and laptop and the internet. Talked to the family, miss everyone a lot... time to sleep.
