The DRC mellows

I’ve made it to week three. On my original plans I should be getting ready to pack my bags and head over to Malawi, instead I am settling down for (at the latest count up) five more weeks. And I’m really looking forward to them. It would have been a shame to leave now. I have only just started to know everyone’s names at work and more importantly in the pub. Plus I am getting more confident in my absolute lack of French and have come to the conclusion that speaking English slowly with the odd French word thrown in for fun is a lot less confusing for everyone than making them struggle through my bad pronunciation or for that matter vocabulary.

I have not given up on learning French completely. Helen taught me lots of kitchen implements while making an omelet this week. My French now extends to being able to describe omelet making in great detail. A useful conversation filler! This weekend I am going shopping with Loyse (My lovely Swiss flat mate who does HR for GOAL here) so I am hopeful that I may be able to extend my repertoire to fabric buying at the market. My polite conversation will make me an asset at any French dinner party.

The last two weeks have seen me continuing to ticking at work. Thankfully the 2006 audit is almost finished and I just need to submit a final report. The work is a little dull but my main bugbear is that, here, 2006 is a longtime ago. Next week I start reviewing 2007 to see if things have improved and whether the controls they have introduced actually do what they say on the packet.

Not everything is work. Last week I attended a UN award ceremony. The troupes receive a medal for every 6month term they serve in the DRC. Most terms are for a year. This time the award ceremony was a little special as the unit was also receiving a general recommendation from the UN secretary general for their actions during fighting earlier this year. The day consisted of a parade, speeches (thankfully in English), and then a cultural display and lunch.

The cultural display was very unusual as it consisted of four dances performed by different troupes. My favorite was the one where the guys waved silk scarves while wearing colourful pajamas. This may make more sense if I explain that the troupes station in DRC are an Indian regiment. Lunch was curry and ice cream. Hurray for the UN who are the sole providers of ice cream in the country!

This weekend instead of packing my bags I will be making a cake, watching the Wimbledon finals (if electricity is returned), going to the market and trying to find out if Pimms has made it to the DRC by trawling through the ‘Jesu’ shops in town. (All shops in town generally have Jesu somewhere in the title whether they are the tailors or the general convenience store.)

If anyone has a good cake recipe that needs only basic ingredients please send it on. At the moment the only cake recipe Loyse and I can remember is the four part milk, sugar, flour, butter combination with chocolate chips thrown in for good measure. A carrot cake recipe would go down really well.

Internet was down this weekend so you can have the follow up email too.

The weekend was great fun. Learnt absolutely no French (nothing new!) but did manage to have a dinner party for 9. Not bad when the cooker does not work! We originally expected four, but Joanne (lovely irish friend with Concern) was out with friends and brought them along too. Thankfully she did give us a couple of hours warning – at least long enough to double the pasta, cut up some more veg and dash to the office for a couple more plates.

Cake was a huge success. A fruit tart for Saturday (in the style of M&S) with pie base and custard/mouse middle and fruit on top. I think Loyse was concerned with my original plan custard and fruit! Plus how do you cook a mango? But I put her fears to rest when we found packet mouse and left the dessert in the freezer. I have managed to win the Swiss over to cold fruit pie – Hurray.

Made chocolate brownies for a friends Sunday BBQ. I have finally worked out who uses the recipes on the back of packets – I do! Hurray for the coco powder people they made me many friends at the BBQ.

Pimms has not made it to the DRC – To bad!