Olde Tyme Communications...

Letters and aerogrammes were about the only way to communicate with family at home at the beginning of our years of moving. These are letters that I sent to my parents from Nepal and India in the 70's during our first post to Kathmandu. In one I tell about being in Delhi getting braces on my teeth ($300 total) and in another I was writing from Jammu in northern Pakistan, on our way up to Kashmir to stay in a houseboat in Srinagar. We had been to see the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and were headed for Kabul on a bus, my friend Donna and I along with our group of 26 (it says in the letter) on one of those overland tours on the hippie trail. We had time but no money, and managed to see so much of India and Pakistan, leaving our spouses to toil away at the Embassy to give us rupees to spend. Wish that trip were doable today, but the times they have a-changed. I am sure the houseboat that we stayed on sank a long time ago. This entry could take me so many directions, but I think going down memory lane is getting away from Brazzaville Days. My travel memoirs could be another blog.

Now everywhere you go in the world, everybody wants to be your Facebook friend, every cook, gardener and taxi driver has a couple of cellphones, and ...here is a picture of a maintenance man yakking while working on the pool, and a picture of the cellphone battery I am asked to bring back from the US. Son Mark traded the phone to a vendor for some souvenirs at Christmas and he saw me at the market today and asked for a new battery...this one, hope I can find it.

Bienvenue Monsieur Le President

President Sarkozy visited Brazzaville during his African tour. He came yesterday by open French Army helicopter across the Congo River following his visit to DR Congo (Kinshasa) and enroute to Niger. There was a state dinner, which Al attended along with all his associates in the diplomatic corps. My part in the proceedings consisted of putting up with closed roads for the motorcades to pass...one main road and barricades every time the president moves makes for tough traveling for us normal citizens in the city.

Just after Sarkozy's departure, this man was one of many who were busy taking down the Tricolours and Congolese Flags which were displayed to welcome the President. Here he is pictured with Congo's President Denis Sassou. It's all on the Congo webpage http://www.congo-siteportail.info/ .


Flags in a row including the Stars and Stripes at our Embassy..

Marche du Plateau Then and Now

Here is an undated copy of a picture postcard from colonial days of Le Marche du Plateau, the closest market to our house where we often shop for vegetables and fruit. I took a picture of the way it looks today; what is there now is not new, but it doesn't appear to be the same building. The dressed up man with the suit and hat (although I think he looks barefooted) reflects the way the Congolese love to dress up and look smart today as well.

Trip to Lifoula

We went on a trip to the area of Lifoula, a creek which runs down into the Congo River north of Brazzaville. The distance is not far (about 25 miles) , but on this road, the National 2, it took over 1 1/2 hours, but most of that was before we left the city, we were in slow crawling traffic. Here are some pictures from the road enroute, a vantage point looking down at the Congo, and at the picnic area. Lots of kids were enjoying the day there, and we enjoyed the chance to get out of town and find we appreciate even the most simple of weekend activities.

Congo Arts

This week I had the chance to visit Kinshasa again, to attend the International Women's Club there, and with me went Gail, former president of that very club. It was great fun to visit there with her, we met up with some of her old friends, and she took me to a wonderful place, Galerie Symphonie Des Arts, a fabulous garden, art shop, coffee shop and dance/exercise studio, all run by Christa, a German woman who has lived there for years, and her daughter.

Here is a crested crane, and Christa with a parrot on her arm.

I have been doing some painting in oils with a small group of "girls", and yesterday we went on a sortie, took our gear and worked beside the River Congo. Here we are hard at work under the direction of Beatrice, our dear and talented directrice.

Gorilla Babies

We travelled north to a gorilla "orphanage", part of Projet Protection Des Gorilles, http://www.ppg-c0ngo.org/ funded for over 20 years by the John Aspinall Foundation http://www.totallywild.net/. There we saw a group of five orphan gorillas, viewed from across a small river, here are some pictures, but I did not have a good lens to get up close views. We hope to go back another time to stay overnight at the center, which is operated by a Luc Mathot, the Belgian Project Coordinator, who has been out there for three years. We were a group of seven from our Embassy, and we had lunch overlooking the beautiful "Lac Bleu" near the Reserve...

Lac Bleu