Parasailing

So one of things on my "bucket list" was to go parasailing and this week I was able to cross it off my list.  We are spending the week at a beach house in the Outer Banks, North Carolina with Becca's family.  Not to far down the road was a place to go parasailing.  So Seth, Jess, Liza, Doug, Becca and I left all the kids with Grandma (thanks grandma) and went to the parasailing place.   Doug (Becca's dad) and Liza (Becca's sister) went first. Soon after getting up in the air, the captain brought them back in, we thought it was kind of a short ride, but he informed us that the boat wasn't feeling right and he didn't want risk the boat breaking down while someone was in the air.  He thought it was the oil filter. So the captain and the first mate got into another boat and went back to get an oil filter, after replacing the oil filter, Doug and Liza went back in the air, but again came back down after a small ride.  The captain said the boat still didn't feel right, so we rescheduled for the next day.

I was a little dissapointed at first, but the next day was a better day, there was more wind and the sky was clearer.  This time the boat was fine and we all got up in the air. Seth and Jess (Becca's brother and sister-in-law) went first and they went 1200 feet.  On the way back down from the air the captain dips the 

parasailers in the water.  While Seth and Jess were in the water I told the captain to make sure he dragged them.  He dragged them for a little bit.  Then it was Becca and my turn.  We went 900 feet.  Because I had told the captain to drag Seth and Jess, the captain dipped us in right away, even before we went up. Once up it was very peaceful.  And we could see pretty far with the clear skies.  On the way back in we were dipped and dragged again.  Next it was Doug and Liza's turn.  They went 600 feet.

Overall all it was a fun time. And I would defenelty do it again.  Maybe I will do it in Hawaii.  Now I just have to do Hang Gliding and parachuting.

We made it....

We did make it back to the states and we are doing great! I did get to go to Wendy's the night we got in, right after the airport on the way home. Then the next day we woke up at 5:30 in the morning, mostly because it was 11:30 our time in Congo. So we got an early start on the day, and were able to go to Target and 3 Amigos (a mexican restaurant). Which was delicious! Then today we have gone to Target AGAIN!!!! I know, I'm in heaven! I even got Olive Garden at my mom's retirement party at her school. It has been great! The whole family will be together tonight so we are looking forward to that. I will have pictures up here soon, since Tyler got a new digital camera for Father's Day. It's great being home and seeing everything here. Spencer has had some moments of not knowing what is going on. He heard a plane fly overhead and thought it was thunder and said, "Oh, a storm is coming." We then explained to him that it was just a plane and not thunder. We never had planes flying overhead us in Congo. So all in all we are doing great and having a blast with family. I'll update more after we go to more food places. :) Oh and we'll put pictures of our trip to Germany too, which was a blast! We had the best host and hostess ever!!! Thanks Deric and Stephanie! 

Stuck Planes, Hotels without water, and city with actual sidewalks

Okay, so it has been awhile since I, Tyler, wrote a blog. It has been busy the last couple of months as we were getting ready to go on vacation, but I will make up for my absence with a long post, and I mean long. Plus I will throw in a few photos.

During the last week of April, I was fortunate to be invited to go with some other embassy officers to eastern DRC. The main purpose of the trip was to visit two AIDS clinics that the United States was funding to help the Congo military test for HIV, treat AIDS, and most importantly help the soldiers learn how to protect themselves from getting HIV. The trip also allowedus to visit different parts of the Congo, which is the size of western Europe. We don't have much opportunity to see Kinshasa as it only has 2770 km of paved roads, as opposed to 4,165,110 km of paved roads in the United States. So the only way to travel is by plane or by boat. Boat takes a month just to get 3/4 of the way across the country, and then you have to take a very bumpy, sometimes impassable road or you go by plane. Unfortunately Congo airlines have a very bad track record for air safety. We were able to do this trip on a US military plane. Much safer track record. We visited 5 places during the trip (see map above to see), Kole (not far from Ilebo), Goma, Mbuji-Mayi, Lubumbashi, and a copper mine near Kolwezi.

Some pictures from the plane on the way to Kole
I believe this is part of the Congo river.

KOLE

First stop was the small, small village of Kole. We were only suppose to be here for a short 10 minutes to pick up a US Military Doctor who was in the Kole area doing Monkey Pox research, but ended up being there for more than an hour. Their wasn't a paved airfield here, but there was a dirt airfield. As we were landing we saw probably a hundred people from surrounding villages running toward the airfield to find out why an airplane had landed and it was a good think they came because we needed their help.

Notice the long line of people coming to see why a whole bunch of white guys were getting off a plane.

oops.

yep we got stuck so with the hundred of villagers we pushed the plane backwards out of the soft sand and onto some harder dirt. It was funny because as it was being pushed back more dirt would build up behind the back wheels and the villagers were pushing the sand away with their hands and putting their sandals in front of the wheels to keep the wheels from getting stuck again. One man even had his hand run over. We eventually got it out, but the pilots then had to decide whether or not it was going to be safe to take off, or we would have to take a few days hike to the nearest airfield to get out. Luckily we were able to take off.

GOMA
Any of you who have been following the news here in the Congo know that there is some problems in eastern Congo. There are several rebel groups there who are trying to survive, and the Congo military is there trying to solve the problem. This causes alot of violence. Not only do the citizens have to worry about these rebel groups they also have to worry about a volcano. We were only in Goma for one night, but look at these pictures of the large lake, the volcano, and the beautiful hotel we stayed at.

The Volcano

The City of Goma is right by a large lake.

The hotel also had a great breakfast in the morning with fresh mango, pineapple, guava, passion fruit, and another fruit that I didn't recognize.

The hotel had very beautiful grounds.

This picture is of the plane crash site

MBUJI-MAYI

Our third stop was Mbuji-Mayi. This town is known for its large deposits of industrial diamonds. The city was rather small (3 million people) and run down. Not very many good roads, the only hotel secure enough for us to stay in didn't have air conditioning, nor running water, and was without electricity for the majority of our stay, but it did have a casino. We were all happy to get out of there. Here are some pictures of some kids in the town.

LUBUMBASHI

This is the nicest and most developed part of the Congo. With large deposits of copper and cobalt in the surrounding area, Lubumbashi has benefited from the numerous foreign businesses who come to Lubumbashi to mine. It was amazing the differences between Mbuji-Mayi and this city that had sidewalks, nice hotels, restaurants, and clean streets. The hotel was very nice with a large Victorian style staircase. We stayed two nights in Lubumbashi. The second night we ate at a restaurant called "Bush Camp". It had some pretty good food. It is buffet style with caterpillars, crocodile, chicken, beef, antelope and some other choices. I tried the caterpillars, crocodile and antelope, and surprisingly I liked all of them.

KOLWEZI.

Our final stop was to a mine site run by an American business. It was interesting to see how much money is being put into the mine site, and all the social programs the company is creating to help its employees and the surrounding villages. For example they built them new homes, are teaching them new skills, building better roads, and bringing cleaner water to the area. Here are some pictures of the site.

Part of the housing project they are building for some of the villagers.

Pieces of raw copper being mined, when the copper is exposed to oxygen it turns into malakite, which is the green you are seeing.

Overall it was a great opportunity to see Congo, and various parts of it. Now only if I can visit some of the cannibalistic tribes that live in the northeast.

One more week...

We are getting excited to be coming back to the States in only one more week! :) But of course, before we start heading back home we had a funny thing happen...

The other day I was sitting at the computer, and Spencer was in his bathroom washing his hands. All the sudden he yells, "There's a gecko!" I didn't think anything of it, mostly because of the fact that Spencer screaming would have scared the gecko into a hiding spot. Then he comes blazing around the corner, and says, "Mom look a gecko." I look over and sure enough he has this baby gecko squashed between two fingers. So I quickly tell him, you aren't suppose to pick up geckos, and take that thing outside. While walking to the door to throw the gecko back out to nature, Spencer proceeds to tell me, "I have his tail and it won't go back on." And, yes, in his other hand he had the geckos tail and he was really trying to just put it back onto the gecko. I told him that he didn't need to worry about putting the tail back on, and had him throw the gecko out on the leaves of a plant by our door. Then I proceeded to flick the tail off of his finger also. The story doesn't end here, about thirty minutes to an hour later we were walking out the door to go somewhere, and I looked over to see that the gecko was covered in ants. Spencer saw and was shocked to see what was happening. Then he started asking questions, "Are the ants eating the gecko? Why are they eating the gecko? How do they eat the gecko? Where are the ants coming from?" And yes it is true that he asks that many questions over one little thing. You would think a boy his age would just look at it and say, "Cool", but no...we have the son with a zillion questions on his mind who will not give up until you tell him what the answers are.

We're back...

So our computer was fixed today! HORRAY! The guy came, punched in some numbers, and was done. For two weeks of trying to get these people over here, and him taking only 5 minutes to finish the job is crazy! But we are glad it's done. :)

Big news! Today Spencer asked to be put into underwear!?!?!?! YES!!! This may be finally happening. We've been working on it for a couple of weeks now, and he is doing pretty good! Although when we get back to the states I need to buy him more underwear...for how many accidents there are and how often I do laundry....I really don't have enough.

So sad that the Jazz lost to the Lakerlosers. Ugh, I just wish they could have won and rubbed it into the Lakers face...but o-well. Most of the guys are staying on for next year hopefully and so they will be just as good and then Sloan will get his championship he deserves.

Only 14 days till we start the journey home to the states. We are getting really excited about it, and thinking of all the fun thing we will do and see there. Again...I will remind anyone reading this blog that if you want to go out to eat with us....we are totally game for it....as long as it's on our list. :) And I'm pretty sure Spencer and I will be busy going out and doing fun things lots too. So if you have any ideas...let me know. :) We already have planned Chuck E Cheese, Busch Gardens, the beach, VA Marine Science Museum, Richmond Zoo and I think that's it. And of course parks and swimming. We told Spencer the other day that when we go back to the states that we'll be at Grandma and Poppa's house and that they don't have guards at their house. And he looked at us with a confused face and said, "Why not? Who opens their gates for them then?" Then we had to proceed to tell him that they don't have walls and gates at their house. It never occured to Tyler and I that he would be more used to the way thing are here, since he is remembering more here, than he would of being back in the States. He does remember living there, because he calls that "Mommies house" but still, he may be shocked to find out there are some BIG differences between here and there.

I think that is pretty much everything to catch you guys up on. Oh we did find out who stole our second camera...it was our old guard(we've had new ones for a couple of months now). Long story....Tyler may write that one later. Anywho...that guard is now in jail here. But most likely we still won't get our camera back. We'll get a new one this summer though. Oh and one more thing....I saw a rat outside our foyer window the other night. A really BIG rat. It was so gross. The size of it was crazy! Probably the size of a pencil holder....it was that thick around, and probably a foot long, but the tail was like another foot long. So gross!! I'm really hoping that it doesn't find a way into our house.

Computer...a no-go

So our computer is down...again. But the reason was because we haven't paid the bill for the internet since we got it, they don't seem to send bills out. So they cut it off. Finally, Tyler went and paid them, but it hasn't been turned back on yet. Sorry. Just letting everyone know we will write soon. We are excited to be coming home though soon. HORRAY!

No new stories to tell as of this point, Tyler is trying to get pictures of his trip around Congo that he took. Once he gets those he will tell you exciting tales and you will be able to see what other parts of Congo look like.

Spencer is cute as ever...and almost potty trained!! Yes, this week he has been doing pretty good. He mostly likes to get the treats, some Junior Mints, that he can get after going to the potty. :)

Grocery Shopping.

I am not sure if we have mentioned this before, but the shopping experience here is just that an experience. To give you all an inkling of the experience let me walk you through the typical shopping trip. First off the store we shop at the most frequently is City Market. It is run by a member of the Lebanese community here. One of the nicer, if not nicest stores in town. There is very little parking at City Market and you basically have three choices.
1st choice: You park in the guarded gated area. This place fills up pretty quick as there is probably only 20 spots. It is the safest spot and is void of any beggers or people trying to sell you things. You might think this is the best spot because of that, but I think otherwise. As far as parking goes, it is the best but in order to get out the gated area you have to do a 12 point turn out of the parking lot into a one way street that often has alot of traffic. Not an easy thing to do, but it is pretty easy to scrape the side of your car on the iron fence next surrounding the exit.
2nd choice: Park next to the store in one of maybe 15 spots. These spots are guarded by one of the security companies in town, but you still get people trying to sell you everything from alchol, to tomatoes, to belts, to mangoes, to dvd's, to purses. Becca doesn't usually go shopping with me, because these vendors swarmed her and would not leave her alone, even after she got back in the car. The funny thing is they almost always try to sell you their wares after you have gone shopping. So for example I will go in and buy carrots, on the way to my car, a vendor will try to sell me carrots, not the smartest way to sell things. This spot does have the advantage of not having beggers. It is also custom to tip the security force there, usually 500 Congalese francs or less, which is about $1. The security guard will also help you back out of your spot as you back out into traffic and without their help your likely to get into an accident.
3rd choice: This choice has the most parking spots, but is usually the last one to be filled, so therefore the one I most often park in. This parking is on the side of the street, usually across from the store, or at the corner down from the store. Sometimes these spots are not actually on the side of the road, but in the road. These spots also have a security force, several homeless children ranging from 12 to 25 probably. Usually what happens is when you drive up to the store one of these guys will try and get you to park in one of "their" spots, usually the only ones available. They will help you park and tell you they will watch your vehicle. They may not actually watch the vehicle, but they will not steel the mirrors or hubcaps which is a plus. This choice usually comes with one or two beggars as well as the whole fleet of vendors, as this "Local" security forces doesn't really care the vendors get in your way. These homeless boys are nice and will open and close the door for you and are friendly. They will also back your car out of your spot and make sure you don't get into a car wreck. I also tip these boys 500 congolese francs. Sometimes you have to be careful as there may be several boys you want to "watch" your car. The best thing to do is choose one out of the group and tell him he is the one who is going to guard the vehicle. I have seen some heated arguments as one boy might try and move in on the turf of another boy. Today when I went into the store, it was rather busy, so one of these boys basically just had me park on a corner kind of in the street. I didn't block anyone else in, and there was still room for other vehicles to get around me, but it definelty was not a "legal" parking spot.

Okay now that we got through the parking situation. Let's do the shopping. City Market is kind of like a Fred Meyers, Walmart, Super Target store, but maybe a tenth of the size. They sell video games, clothing, food, school supplies, toys and CFC (think KFC). First lets talk about the pricing. Most things in Congo are imported as there isn't enough infrastructure to make alot of their own goods. With everything being purchased overseas using the dollar, the prices in the store often fluctuate due to changes in the exchange rate. Instead of changing the prices on the shelf every few days. They assign all products a number between 1 and 350. Below each product is a number, to find the price you take that number and look at a paper usually somewhere on the aisle where you look for that number, next to the number will be the price of the item in congolese francs. For example all items that at one time cost 4 dollars maybe were assigned the number 56. As the exchange rate and price of goods goes up, they do not need to go around and change all the $4 items to $6, they just need to change the several charts around the store that match the number with a price. Saves time and energy.

So you go around and buy all your food, we can get some america products here like Kelloggs, Mr. Propre (Mr. Clean), Act III popcorn, Del Monte, and several others. They have a large cheese counter and meat counter and they have a very good juice section. One of Spencer's favorite part of the store is CFC, either called Congo Fried Chicken, or City Fried Chicken. At this place in City Market you can get Fried Chicken, Chicken Sandwiches, Chicken Strips, and French Fries. Today Spencer had the kids meal and Becca and I had the Chicken Strip Combo. Pretty good chicken. In the corner they also have a little playground area the Spencer has just recently discovered.

Okay now let me go through our shopping list today and tell you how much everything cost:

A small package of 6 small milky way bars- $8
Small package of iced animal cookies- $3.50
Pampers diapers 30 count- $30
One medium bag of mozarrella cheese- $4
3 granny Smith Apples- $5
One liter of Whipping Cream - $40 (Used to make homade Ice Cream, never realized it was that expensive)
One Bounty candy bar- $1.75
One large bagette- $1.25
6 Count Special K breakfast bars - $10
Large Mr. Clean cleaner- $11
1 kilo hamburger- $11
4 frozen pizzas- $35
One bag doritoes- $7
One small container of strawberries- $12
1 cantelope- $20
6 carrots- $4
2 bags of bread- $4
one medium bag of pretzels- $3.50
CFC- $25

In total we spent $229, food is expensive here. Well that is about all the experience of shopping in the congo, I hope you enjoyed it.
Tyler