Hiatt's in the Congo

Sisca has been working on nursing Dexter to become a strong kitty!  He was rescued 3 weeks ago from inside the temple wall cavity.  On Saturday, he woke up and was very lethargic and was cold  Sisca and I went to set up apartments for sub contractors and we took Dexter with us.  We took turns holding him in our shirts, against our skin, to try and warm him up.  She has been feeding him milk with a syringe.  He seemed to perk up a little bit.  It is now Monday morning, I am in the office and Morne just came and told me, Dexter just passed away. I am heat broken.  After Ashley passed, her animal loving spirit must have spilled over into me. Dexter, go find Ashley and get some hugs XOXO

 Because of all the unrest in Lebanon right now, Ragheb is not going home for Christmas. He is going to take a vacation in January when everyone gets back.  Since he will be at the office while we are all gone, I decided to make a Christmas tree to brighten up the space a little bit!  Two of the tree lamination sheets got stuck in the laminator! It turned out so cute!

 I have started embroidery projects since I have been here.  Here is my one Christmas decoration!

 Tuesday was not a good day!  Cory and I were asked to go to Durban, South Africa to go to a meeting and represent Westland with the ceilings company.  We checked our VISA's and they were not in order. Long story short, we are currently in the DRC illegally because they guy who is supposed to take care of our VISA's didn't.  Then, on the ride home, the stupid white helmet's (police) were doing vehicle checks which means the traffic is HORRIBLE!!! We were at a dead stop for over a half hour.  What should have been a 15 minutes commute home took us 1 hour and 3 minutes.  They put these stupid spikes in the road to stop the cars so they can check the papers and registration.  Then they only allow one car at a time to go through. By the time I got home, I was so worked up!

 This last weekend was a good one! We did more than we normally do!  It started out with dinner at Bougainvillea with Trent and Ragheb.  We were there for about 3 hours and it was so nice! I got the spinach & mozzarella chicken schnitzel with mashed potatoes and garlic sauce. Cory got the chicken cordon bleu with mashed potatoes and rice.  So good! Saturday, I just did housework and then made nacho's for dinner that night to have while we watched a Christmas movie.  I had one of the avocado's from Trent's tree and it was so good. Sunday was Morne's birthday and we went down and spent the afternoon with everyone.  We cooked potatoes in the coals and had steaks and sausages. After the kids woke up from their nap, we decided it was arts and crafts time so I went and got some paint and we found some rocks to paint.  They loved it!  Then a storm blew in and Luan immediately ran in and got his rain coat and rain boots but by the time he got back out...

 I have a little friend that comes to my bedroom window or door every day.  He taps on it with his beak and I go over and tap back with my fingernails.  The other day, I was in the bathroom doing my hair and he came to that window!  I've named him Mr. Beaks...we are BFF's! Here he got a little excited and started flapping his wings!

 It is difficult here, not being able to go out on my own; not being able to drive by myself. It takes a toll on you mentally.  All three of us at the compound needed a break so we went to lunch!  Abraham drove us downtown to Cloud 9, a restaurant on the roof top of a hotel.  It was nice.  The food was good and the company was even better!   My lemongrass mojito Leonie's drink We got beef & chicken samosas' for starters I got a chicken sandwich with a fried egg, cucumbers, tomatoes and a chili mayo. It was really good!