A Few Reminders That I Live in Kinshasa:

When selecting vegetables in the supermarket today there was a power outage. Have you ever been in a pitch black crowded supermarket? I froze for the 60 seconds it took for the generator to start up and got a giddy feeling, like those fantasies I had as a kid of being locked in the Breyer Horse store overnight. When I left the store my hands were coated in earthy soil from picking up the unwashed potatoes.

The old woman trying to sell me plantains in the parking lot had one of the most beautiful wrinkled faces I've ever seen. I can't get her out of my head.

The BEEEEP CLICKCLICKCLICK BEEEEEPs of our UPS surge protectors regularly flicking on and off during a power fluctuation don't bother me anymore.

The war going on in my stomach between amoebas and antibiotics can only be compared to Goma (too soon?).

I sleep better under mosquito netting than without.

Five oranges were 12,000 Congolese francs. 890 francs to $1 (today), you do the math, and don't forget to look at the black market exchange rate written on the chalk boards on the side of the road if you're going shopping.

Never take any US dollar bills that have the tiniest nick or fold in them. They have to be PERFECT or no one will accept them. PRISTINE. No more shoving them in pockets, only gently curve them into wallets. Congolese francs however, can be taped together and worn to pieces and see through and look as if they've been through a french press. Refer to exchange rate above. A 500 franc bill is less than a dollar.

Running two forms of currency when one is grossly inflated means that no one will ever get exact change.

People will walk in front of our car. As we're going 35 mph. Pedestrians are completely fearless.

I heard a noise like a big cat rustling in the tree above our wall and it was just a lizard. An orange and blue foot long lizard larger than our kitten, doing push ups.

It's easier to drive 4 miles out of your way to avoid a traffic jam than spend 4 hours in it.

"Making" water is fun! Fill the kettle with tap water, boil it (at least once) to kill the parasites, pour it into the top of a huge water filter, let it sink down through clay tubes into a bottom chamber, fill up a jug with the trickle from the chamber's tap, put it in the freezer to cool, transfer it to the fridge to keep cold, pour it into a cup, and drink. Only three hours start to finish! Easy.