Yesterday the American and Canadian communities in Kinshasa had a fall carnival at the US Ambassador's house. As we were getting ready for the carnival and walking over to the Ambassador's house in 90 degrees weather I couldn't help but laugh. Having grown up in Wyoming and Utah, where half the time for Halloween you might as well be a skier or an Eskimo for Halloween since you were going to be wearing gloves and a parka anyways because it was going to be cold and even snowing, it was funny that I was attending a "Fall" carnival in sandals, shorts, and a short sleeve shirt, complaining that I didn't wear a hat.
Usually when I think of a Fall I think of leaves changing colors, pumpkins, warm apple cider, corn mazes, hay rides, and maybe a haunted house. So it was very strange that we had a BBQ for a "Fall" carnival. We had grilled chicken, potato salads and pasta salad. To drink, we had ice cold soda and everybody was searching for shade. There were some carnival games like throwing darts at balloons, ping pong balls into buckets, and a fishing pond. So at least the games brought some nostalgic memories of going to the church culture hall and playing some of the same games.
I do have to say I was quite impressed with Spencer and his ability to win tickets in the carnival games. One game as mentioned above was throwing ping pong balls into 5 different buckets. The buckets all had different point values, with the closest being 1 point and the furthest being 5 points. With Spencer's first throw he won two points and with his second throw he won 5 points. The lady running this game said he was the only person so far to make the 5 point bucket. He ended up with so many points (they could be turned in for prizes) that we ended up giving like 10 of his points to some other kids.
For all those who keep up with the news you might have heard that there has been increased fighting in Congo between rebels and the military. Rest assured that the fighting is all happening in eastern Congo far away from where we live. I have noticed it pop up on yahoo news every once and awhile. Anyone that wants a good web page to visit to get news on the Congo, please visit
www.monuc.org.
On a side note, both Becca and I now have callings. Becca is the primary teacher for the English speaking kids, Spencer and three kids from another family. My calling is Young Men's Consultant. Not yet 100% sure what my calling responsibilities are, but so far it has been helping out the young men's presidency on Sunday and translating for two investigators who don't speak french. Last of all we thank everyone for their patience while we were held hostage by the ABA, they finally let us go so thanks for your support.
