Hiatt's in the Congo

 Before Ben left to go back to Utah, he took us out for dinner to Catch.  Catch is a restaurant here that serves seafood, burgers, steaks, wraps, and pasta.  When you walk in, you walk past this big fish tank. We sat out on the patio that overlooks the pond. Here is the gang!  Sam and Amelia didn't come because it was Jason's birthday and Sisca didn't come last minute. I got this delicious drink, it was fresh squeezed orange, pineapple and lemon juice. Cory and I both wanted a hamburger, we haven't had once since we got here.  Cory got one with an egg and ham on it. I just got a cheeseburger.  I also got a side of onion rings and they were delicious but Blaise had never tried them and once he did, he didn't stop!                      

 October 26th, Jason's birthday.  He has been reminding me for 2 weeks when his birthday was.  He is turning 5 and he said he is excited because now he can go to school, he's closer to getting baptized and going on a mission! He is so cute! They invited us over to celebrate!   Ella and Lise on their way to the party! He had an orange birthday cake (yummy), peanut butter cookies, and beignets.   Junior gave him a police car racetrack Ella gave him an army guy that crawls and shoots We gave him his own tool set so he doesn't want to take Cory's real tools. He also got a skate board where the wheels light up when you ride it!

 Last week we had the Design Team for the Temple project visit.  We had Ben from Westland (Utah), Antone from the Church (South Africa), and the architects and engineers from South Africa, fly in and spend a few days touring the site and having meetings.  Sisca and I did a breakfast and lunch for them and kept them topped off with juice, water, coffee and soda.    Out on site! Tuesday evening we hosted a BBQ over at the yard.  They have quite the set up over there with a little kitchen, covered patio and the pond to fish in.  It was nice to put some faces to names and get to know everyone! While we were all sitting around, visiting, at the end of the night we heard an explosion and crunch.  Blaise took my phone and went out to investigate.  It's hard for us to imagine (sarcasm) but two yellow cabs got in an accident.  They drive like they are the only ones on the road and everyone should get out of their way.  Well, neither one want...

  On our way out to the truck this morning, Cory almost stepped on this snail.  It was quite large! I'm glad he didn't step on it because that would have grossed me out!                    

 For the longest time, to get on the job site you had to step on a skinny ledge the width of your foot and then down onto the ground.  They finally built a set of temporary stairs to get down on site but it took you right into the work zone of the missionary housing.   They just finished the permanent  stairs and they are awesome!                      

 I know it seems silly, but today was a big day!  I was at the store and they had iceberg lettuce!  They haven't had lettuce since I got here, I look every time I go shopping.  Today, I sent to the small Hyper-Psaro and they had 3 heads!  It cost me almost 5 dollars but it was worth it!  I'm so excited! Sam said, now that the rainy season is close, lettuce might become more readily available.  Up until now, I have only found cabbage, which there is plenty of!

  Dona took Sisca and I into downtown to go to the fabric store.  First off, a couple of pictures I took on the way. Of course the traffic was insane, you can see the yellow sea of taxi cars.  They just stop in the middle of the road to let people in and out so everything stops!   When I walked into the fabric store I was amazed (and a bit overwhelmed) of all of the prints available. The way they make their fabric here is fascinating.  It is called batik and wax is melted and then patterned across blank cloth. The cloth is then soaked in dye, which is prevented from covering the entire cloth by wax.  The wax and soak process is repeated to make different patterns and colors. The fabric comes in 6 yard increments and costs anywhere from 11,000 CF ($4.50) to 40,000 CF ($16.60) for the whole 6 yards!  I was in heaven.   I ended up buying 8 fabrics and I am planning on making table cloths, a blanket and aprons with them and giving them as gifts....

We have been here 3 months and yesterday was the first day we could see the horizon!  We thought it was completely flat around us but if you look closely, you can see a little hill in the distance!                      

 It is an election year here in the Congo and it can get pretty heated.  The gas stations have been closed all weekend because the owners want to increase the prices but the government says no.  You might be wondering, why is that a bad thing? They are only doing it as a political move.  The current governor is the one make the calls because he wants votes so he's trying to make the people happy.  The current government is also the ones who are corrupt and keeping all the money.  It's so messed up.   Today, Ben from Westland, as well as Antone from the church and other members of the design team all flew in and they will be here for the next two days.  Today, Moise Katumbi (former Governor and is running for president) flew in as well and there was a HUGE crowd there to greet him.  They filled the streets and are escorting him into town...well guess who got stuck in this mess?  Our Team!

 Last Thursday, Cory was working like a mad man (like he always is) and he got something in his eye.  He wasn't quite sure when it happened but he got home that night and his eye was bothering him. He thought he could go to bed and it would work it's way out, but it didn't.  He went to work and it got worse.  When he got home Friday night, he showered and then went to bed because he had a headache from his eye hurting.  Saturday morning I called Dona and he came and got us and we took Cory into the hospital.   The hospital here is a Canadian Hospital and is quite nice.  Most of the doctors speak French and English but it was nice to have Dona there to translate when needed.   Cory ended up having three pieces of metal shards in his eye that needed to be removed. The doctor had a steady hand and used basically a shot needle to get the pieces out.   After each piece was removed there was rust left in the eye that he had to scrape...

 Friday afternoon, I went home early because that is when my ride went.  Amelia and Lauren were out shopping so Junior, Ella and Jason wanted to hang out! They were building a house out of cardboard for their toys to play in. I have been making file folder games for Jason to learn his letters and the sounds they make.  Sisca found lamination sheets in South Africa so I was able to laminate them.  Friday afternoon we cut them out and put them together. Jason wanted to start with the J page because his name starts with J so that's where we started!   Then Junior asked me to help him define the slope on his math and I had to break it to him that my math scope stops at fifth grade!  We looked it up on Khan Academy and figured it out! Then it was lunch time and of course my food tastes better than theirs (wink) so I made cheese toast, apple slices, carrots, pasta salad, and pink lemonade. It was fun to eat and visit with them!