Garden of Eden

AFTER BRUNCH at the British Embassy's Oasis Club on Sunday morning, I went with a crowd of expats to "Jardin d'Eden," a "site touristique" out past the airport. We took a boat to a small beach. Beer and Brits, not a bad day to spend a Sunday.

And a jolly good time was had by all.

Social marketing

THE CD SHOWN here contains HIV/AIDS-prevention-themed Congolese music and is titled "Nothing but the Truth." The shirt disseminates the ABCD message -- "Abstinence, Bon Fidelité, Condoms, Dépistage" (Abstinence, Fidelity, Condoms, Testing). Thanks to Faustin for modeling it.

The stuff is sponsored by the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and distributed by the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa as part of a social marketing campaign for HIV/AIDS prevention.

Who wants some?

Congolese food

TOOK IN some of the local chow this week with, yep, those frolleagues.

Had plenty of fu fu, the blob of pounded cassava that's a staple in Africa, which is similar to ugali in Kenya. I've been thinking... If I were stranded on a desert island, which type of pounded cassava starch blob would I rather have, fu fu or ugali? But then I've been thinking, that's not really a fair question, as the answer certainly depends on the other food items that would accompany the cassavablob, as well as the various wines and other apperitifs that could be paired with aforementioned feast. So I'm not answering that one. Both, however, would definitely make great Ben and Jerry's flavors.

Pondu, a dish of greens, also courtesy of the cassava plant, is yummy. Had a good bean dish as well. Washed it down with a Vital, a Congolese soda that's red and tastes like bubblegum and has no relationship, as far as I can tell, to cassava. Though I don't really know.

And, in case you're wondering (hi, Matt R.), that plate of chicken and pondu with the side of fou fou, plus a Schweppes soda water, set me back 4 bucks.

More Epi Action

JUST LIKE the movie Zelig, right?

Here I am with Congolese colleagues outside the Institute for Tropical Medicine at Kinshasa General Hospital.

Bonobos

THIS past weekend I went with some frolleagues (friends/colleagues) to see the bonobos, one of the four species of apes, at the Lola Ya Bonobo ("Paradise for Bonobos") reserve about an hour's ride from Kinshasa. They've got a reputation of being very sexual (all permutations of sexuallity) and live in a matriarchal society. (That's all referring to the bonobos, not [necessarily] my frolleagues.) Anyway, when I was there, the bonobos were indulging in a fair amount of sex; a lot of bananas (don't get me started), grapefruit, and passionfruit; and a good deal of horsing around, including playing with plastic water bottles. A good time was had by all.

Anyway, see if you can determine which of the primates in these photos is very sexual and matriarchally oriented. (No mean comments on the blog, thanks.)

I should say that I'm very proud of myself for getting the bonobos to unburden themselves of their bananas by giving them to me (which is clearly what is happening in these photos.)

Unfortunately my own camera had run out of batteries, so thanks to Aly for snapping these.

Also, here's a very interesting article from the New Yorker on the controversy surrounding the lives of bonobos.

Beach Blanket Redux

SOME ADDITIONAL PHOTOS of the trip to the island beach in the Congo River a week and a half ago. Thanks to Brendan Bannon, a Nairobi-based photojournalist who was working on a few stories in DRC and joined us for the the day, for snapping and sending these.

Kinshasa streets

SOME OF WHAT these photos don't adequately capture: the vast army of shoe polishers (100 Cf per shine); the variety and quantity of goods, from Marlboro cigarettes to fresh pineapple, traveling atop Congolese heads; another vast army of vendors of pre-paid phone cards; and far too many Congolese required to use tricycles to get around because of polio.