I often find that we go through our days out here at a busy pace, both kids are in school and both Evan and I are working full time hours. It makes life crazy and we often feel like there is not enough hours to spend with our kids, to cook or even relax!
When you are so busy it is easy to stop looking at what is going on around you, and in Kinshasa there is always something going on!
Today, Evan and I took our kids swimming at TASOK...... sounds straight forward right? Oh, wait until you hear the tale of our day!
We left our house around 11:00 am; while driving toward TASOK we were behind a dump truck. I noticed something fall out of the back of the dump truck and thought it was dirt so I kept driving. I ended up driving over a massive bump, still didn't know what it was! We kept driving and all of a sudden about 10 cement blocks fell out of the dump truck and I had to swerve into on coming traffic to avoid them...... thankfully there was no close on coming traffic.
After swimming for about 1.5 hours we decided to walk to our new house from TASOK to time how long it is going to take me and the kids to get to school once we move. The traffic is CRAZY, cars were passing by us so close and so fast it was scary! The cars had to be going anywhere between 80-100 km per hour!
On the way home after swimming we were driving past a corner that often has lost of people begging! I pass it everyday, so seeing it becomes the norm. Today I was nudged to take a second look and there right beside our car was a man holding his arm, severely bleeding. We rolled down the window to find out that he had just come from the hospital but was turned away because he didn't have any money. We put him in the back of our truck and started to head towards the hospital. We didn't travel more then 10 feet and we were stopped by the roulage ( traffic cops), he was furious that we stopped to pick up the man and was yelling at Evan. Finally, Evan reasoned with him and we were on our way again. After traveling a couple of blocks we passed over some concrete slabs that bridge the gap for a drainage ditch; the kids and I pass over these slabs twice a day, 5 days a week. Today as we passed over, the concrete slab broke, sending the front of our truck into the drainage ditch ( with the injured man still in the box of the truck). The kids were freaking out and Evan and I just shook our heads. It took about 7 men to get us out and about $8 to pay them for the help and we were on our way.
At the end we got the man to the hospital and paid for his treatment for a week, he will be fine but has a road of healing ahead of him.
As we finished at the hospital and drove towards home all we could do is shake our heads and laugh!
It's just a normal day in Kinshasa!
On an unrelated note, Micah now has the dreaded infection! We are all trying to hold our heads high but it is feeling draining for all of us. Micah has 2 infections sites really close together. She is uncomfortable but is a trooper.
Emmanuel healed from his in just under 2 weeks and was also a rock star in dealing with medication and dressing changes.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Random
I just wrote a huge post while sitting at my desk during my "free" period. I went back to proof read and it was so random and so all over the place it made my head spin!
So, I took it down!
I will collect my thoughts and try and write it again this evening..... hopefully!
Well, I have a textbook open in front of me and a massive stack of marking....... time to get back to work!
So, I took it down!
I will collect my thoughts and try and write it again this evening..... hopefully!
Well, I have a textbook open in front of me and a massive stack of marking....... time to get back to work!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Lost
It has been so long since I blogged properly that I actually feel lost with what to say......................... hmmmmmmmmmm!
It has been an odd couple of weeks for us, the kids and I are settling into school and work routines and Evan's job is plugging along as normal. We may be settling into life on the outside but I have noticed that I am very unsettled! Does that make any sense?
As we are out in the DRC longer the tears for the most part have dried and we are trying to find our place in society. But the deep seeded unsettled feeling grows...... I actually can't explain it!
I know it will get better!
On to more pleasant topics!
Ginger is thriving and doing fantastic! She has probably doubled in size since we got her 2 weeks ago. She has incredible amounts of energy and the cutest face ( who ever thought they would hear me say that?). For the most part she has made a full recovery, physically she is doing well. For the most part all she deals with now is the scabs that are falling off from all the bugs that were living on her.
I was giving Ginger a bath a couple days after we got her and noticed that every time I ran water over her leg a bump moved...... ewwwww!
Ginger had 3 maggots living in her, one in her hind leg and two in her tail! I still shudder when I think about Evan popping them out.
Both Evan and I are healing from of leg infections, Evan is still dealing with an open wound but is improving and my leg has finally healed up after 5 LONG weeks!
Unfortunately Emmanuel got the same infection on his arm, thankful we didn't mess around and as soon as we thought that is what the bump was and not a mosquito bite we took him to the hospital. Emmanuel is on antibiotics and we have to do dressing changes at home but he does not need to be seen at the hospital and no lancing the infection! See, 3rd time we finally catch on that this isn't something you mess with..... we can be a little slow sometimes!
Sometime between the beginning and middle of Sept we are moving......... WOOT! Our new house is walking distance from TASOK and we will have our own pool! Instead of me getting up at 4:45 am and then getting the kids up at 5:30 we will be able to sleep in until 6:00-6:30am. That is going to feel heavenly!
What else can I say?
It has been an odd couple of weeks for us, the kids and I are settling into school and work routines and Evan's job is plugging along as normal. We may be settling into life on the outside but I have noticed that I am very unsettled! Does that make any sense?
As we are out in the DRC longer the tears for the most part have dried and we are trying to find our place in society. But the deep seeded unsettled feeling grows...... I actually can't explain it!
I know it will get better!
On to more pleasant topics!
Ginger is thriving and doing fantastic! She has probably doubled in size since we got her 2 weeks ago. She has incredible amounts of energy and the cutest face ( who ever thought they would hear me say that?). For the most part she has made a full recovery, physically she is doing well. For the most part all she deals with now is the scabs that are falling off from all the bugs that were living on her.
I was giving Ginger a bath a couple days after we got her and noticed that every time I ran water over her leg a bump moved...... ewwwww!
Ginger had 3 maggots living in her, one in her hind leg and two in her tail! I still shudder when I think about Evan popping them out.
Both Evan and I are healing from of leg infections, Evan is still dealing with an open wound but is improving and my leg has finally healed up after 5 LONG weeks!
Unfortunately Emmanuel got the same infection on his arm, thankful we didn't mess around and as soon as we thought that is what the bump was and not a mosquito bite we took him to the hospital. Emmanuel is on antibiotics and we have to do dressing changes at home but he does not need to be seen at the hospital and no lancing the infection! See, 3rd time we finally catch on that this isn't something you mess with..... we can be a little slow sometimes!
Sometime between the beginning and middle of Sept we are moving......... WOOT! Our new house is walking distance from TASOK and we will have our own pool! Instead of me getting up at 4:45 am and then getting the kids up at 5:30 we will be able to sleep in until 6:00-6:30am. That is going to feel heavenly!
What else can I say?
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Old friends
I thought I should quickly update everyone on "Fred". I am just now at the tail end of this infection, 3 week ago tomorrow is when it got really bad! It has been a really long haul!
The first time the hospital dug out the infection they didn't use freezing and I blogged about that so I don't need to revisit it! I have been back another time for it to be dug out and Evan's mom came with me and demanded freezing....... so much better!
For about 2 weeks I was at the hospital everyday getting the hole in my leg cleaned out which was horrible enough. I still need to keep it bandaged but it is almost healed and we are just changing the dressing at home.
Unfortunately Evan now has a tropical infection in his leg, it is a different strain then mine but also really bad. The hospital drained it this afternoon but they froze it at least! I guess they learnt from the torture they put me through! :) Evan and I are both now on antibiotics...... hopefully our house is clear of infection really soon!
The first time the hospital dug out the infection they didn't use freezing and I blogged about that so I don't need to revisit it! I have been back another time for it to be dug out and Evan's mom came with me and demanded freezing....... so much better!
For about 2 weeks I was at the hospital everyday getting the hole in my leg cleaned out which was horrible enough. I still need to keep it bandaged but it is almost healed and we are just changing the dressing at home.
Unfortunately Evan now has a tropical infection in his leg, it is a different strain then mine but also really bad. The hospital drained it this afternoon but they froze it at least! I guess they learnt from the torture they put me through! :) Evan and I are both now on antibiotics...... hopefully our house is clear of infection really soon!
Finally an update
I guess it is time for a little update on our family. We have been keeping busy, trying to enjoy the last couple weeks of summer vacay with the kids, trying to heal our bodies as well as I am starting the school year out with TASOK and Evan is always busy with his work.
I started working for TASOK almost a week ago, getting ready for a new school year is incredibly busy. I will be teaching in the middle school a program that eases the transition from elementary to middle school and then from middle school to high school. It also talks a lot about self esteem, social acceptance and puberty! I will also be doing some subbing for all grades, teaching some gym classes and offering fitness classes after school ( if they can find me room). This week has also been full of staff BBQ's, suppers and socializing!
Evan's job still keeps him busy all the time and he is enjoying the steep learning curve.
2 weeks ago after a fairly busy weekend the kids and I were sitting in the car with Evan's mom waiting for Evan and his dad to come back from checking out a job site. Emmanuel was sitting by the window playing my cell phone ( the window was open). All of a sudden a young guy came up from behind the car and harshly grabbed the cell phone out of Emmanuel's hands ( it is LONG GONE). IT was very traumatic for Emmanuel, but he is slowly getting over it. The bad dreams have been getting a lot better in the last couple days.
On to some good news, we got a puppy just a couple days ago. The way you by animals out here is on the side of the road, unfortunately a lot of them are in really bad shape. The kids and I picked out a cute little puppy that we all fell in love with. I originally thought that the puppy was a boy ( for obvious reasons) so "he" was named Bounder, turns out Bounder is a "she" so she has been renamed Ginger.
Ginger is not in very good shape, we took her to the vet on Tuesday morning. She was treated for fleas, mites, ticks and stomach worms. The bug were so very bad that the vet said she was incredibly ill. Ginger is still very sick, she shakes all the time, has the worst breath ( we are talking worse smelling then a skunk) and doesn't spend more the 20 minutes awake during the day. We are not even sure if she will make it at this point but we will not be telling the kid this just yet. The vet is coming back tomorrow morning, so we will see what he says.
We are also in the process of looking for a house closer to TASOK right now, right now it is a long commute for me and the kids. It would be good to be closer especially when the kids start making friends and want to have play dates.
I started working for TASOK almost a week ago, getting ready for a new school year is incredibly busy. I will be teaching in the middle school a program that eases the transition from elementary to middle school and then from middle school to high school. It also talks a lot about self esteem, social acceptance and puberty! I will also be doing some subbing for all grades, teaching some gym classes and offering fitness classes after school ( if they can find me room). This week has also been full of staff BBQ's, suppers and socializing!
Evan's job still keeps him busy all the time and he is enjoying the steep learning curve.
2 weeks ago after a fairly busy weekend the kids and I were sitting in the car with Evan's mom waiting for Evan and his dad to come back from checking out a job site. Emmanuel was sitting by the window playing my cell phone ( the window was open). All of a sudden a young guy came up from behind the car and harshly grabbed the cell phone out of Emmanuel's hands ( it is LONG GONE). IT was very traumatic for Emmanuel, but he is slowly getting over it. The bad dreams have been getting a lot better in the last couple days.
On to some good news, we got a puppy just a couple days ago. The way you by animals out here is on the side of the road, unfortunately a lot of them are in really bad shape. The kids and I picked out a cute little puppy that we all fell in love with. I originally thought that the puppy was a boy ( for obvious reasons) so "he" was named Bounder, turns out Bounder is a "she" so she has been renamed Ginger.
Ginger is not in very good shape, we took her to the vet on Tuesday morning. She was treated for fleas, mites, ticks and stomach worms. The bug were so very bad that the vet said she was incredibly ill. Ginger is still very sick, she shakes all the time, has the worst breath ( we are talking worse smelling then a skunk) and doesn't spend more the 20 minutes awake during the day. We are not even sure if she will make it at this point but we will not be telling the kid this just yet. The vet is coming back tomorrow morning, so we will see what he says.
We are also in the process of looking for a house closer to TASOK right now, right now it is a long commute for me and the kids. It would be good to be closer especially when the kids start making friends and want to have play dates.
Friday, August 5, 2011
There are many post that I could have written in the last week or so but things have not been very happy around this neck of the woods!
I will very sharing one story in the next couple day though! I started work this last Friday and the kids start school on Aug 15th so we will have more stories then we know what to do with.
For today we are thinking of our good friends who lost their 1 year old girl yesterday afternoon. She was an absolute sweetheart! Our thoughts are with you guys!
I will very sharing one story in the next couple day though! I started work this last Friday and the kids start school on Aug 15th so we will have more stories then we know what to do with.
For today we are thinking of our good friends who lost their 1 year old girl yesterday afternoon. She was an absolute sweetheart! Our thoughts are with you guys!
Monday, August 1, 2011
We are alive and have been busy this weekend. Full update will happen hopefully very soon!
"Fred" is still with me but has been put into his place over the last couple days. I haven't been back to the hospital since the scraping "adventure" the doctor took me on minus the aesthetic. Evan's dad has been amazing with cleaning and dressing the wound.
Heading out for a walk ( hoping the leg will hold up with no problems)
"Fred" is still with me but has been put into his place over the last couple days. I haven't been back to the hospital since the scraping "adventure" the doctor took me on minus the aesthetic. Evan's dad has been amazing with cleaning and dressing the wound.
Heading out for a walk ( hoping the leg will hold up with no problems)
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