Weekend List!

Sarah's List:

Everyone loves infographics these days, right? Now you can make your own! (Really, it's easy.)

easel.ly

Critiques of voluntourism are getting a lot of traction lately. What do you think?

Reminds me of this Onion article that doesn't even seem fake.

Is it time for the accessibility sign to get a makeover?

By Sara Hendren & Brian Glenney (http://www.accessibleicon.org) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Tyranny of the Bad Mother. I'm aiming for that sweet spot somewhere between slacker and perfect.

Everything you've ever wanted to know about the world. (Users swear by it.)

By BazzaDaRambler (Cheltenham ... MIND THE GAPUploaded by Oxyman) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

And Jerry Seinfeld talks bedtime. Thank you for this, Jerry...

"The bedtime routine for my kids is like this Royal Coronation Jubilee Centennial of rinsing and plaque and dental appliances and the stuffed animal semi-circle of emotional support. And I've gotta read eight different moron books. You know what my bedtime story was when I was a kid? Darkness!"

Charlotte's semi-circle of support.

And Ani's. Not just limited to plush items. But also her purse, sunglasses and bananas.

Jill's List:

Can't decide what I think of this book.  But I haven't read it yet.  Who has?  What did you think?

As we think about transitioning back to living in the U.S., I realized that I have lost perspective on the prices of things like groceries, transportation, rent, electric bills, and (gulp) childcare.  This blog is an entertaining look at one couple's various budgets in various locales, plus posts like, "How We Made Money Off of Our Baby."  

These budget questions were too daunting for us, so we put Loulou on the case.
She's been making some calls and sorting everything out for us.
If only we could figure out how to make money off of her.

As someone who will probably take a combination of medications for the rest of my days, this design-forward pill packaging is intriguing.  

Yes, Chiamanda.

There were a couple of interesting birth-related items this week: birth is rarely by the book & an interesting study.

This image by Alice Proujansky accompanied this article in the NYTimes.  Used with permission.

What do you think about this opinion piece?

So, professors, don’t cloister yourselves like medieval monks — we need you!

Innovative ideas for homelessness in our old stomping grounds.

  by  dreamsjung 

Loulou's G-ma wants to do this with her...starting with her tutus.

This one's all about the fashion.

 And.  Who wants to move to Congo?

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Weekend List!

Jill's List:

I've been looking at a lot of great pictures this week.  Like these motorcycle girls (thanks, Anne!), and these limbs (Can't stop looking at these. Can't stop.), this incredible family, and these moments in womens' lives.

Expectant parents Danny Atene and Larrissa Mexican, 28 weeks pregnant, read a pamphlet after an exam at the Navajo Nation's Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation's Women's Clinic.
Photo by Alice Proujansky for her project, Women's Work. Used with permission.

Loving this French fight.  First there was this (French is awesome!).  And then this (French is stupid and extinct!).  And now this (French is the 9th most spoken language in the world, embrace it!).

French penmanship books purchased at City Market in case anyone else has a kid obsessed with the also-dying art of cursive.

I love all of these products.  Not that I've tried most of them.  But they're all so pretty.  Johan did get me some Herbivore Botanicals stuff for Christmas.  (Thank you to my parents for lugging that beautiful, heavy glass bottle in their suitcase.)  Everything is pretty amazing...

See?  It's just so pretty.

Nurses (not doctors, not midwives) "catch" most of the babies born at clinics here in Kinshasa! Remember this Guest Post from a few months back?  This article is fascinating (use the "translate" option to read in English).  There is a newer movement to train more university-level midwives in the city.  Very exciting.  (If any of you know about the new l'ISTM/UniKin sage femme program, email me!)

Nurses from Liboke Clinic here in Kinshasa with Safe Motherhood Kits.

Reading Christy Turlington Burns' February Letter on the Every Mother Counts blog.  The organization is focusing on safe motherhood in Africa this month.

Beautiful photo from Every Mother Counts. Used with permission.

Our girls wore their frilliest dresses this morning for Carnaval at school.  Johan made a glittery mask for Lou (even though he's a self-professed glitter-hater).  Sarah put Hot Mama blush on each of their cheeks.  Fun times.  Want to know more about Carnaval?  Read this article from the American Community in France website.  The link to the store for American food cravings cracked me up.  Marshmallow Fluff or red Solo Party Cups anyone?

International variations on Carnaval fluff and glitter.

The new apartheid.

A more peaceful perspective found on the streets of this continent.

Everybody, look at my neat friend.  Her job is really cool.

Sarah's List:

House of Cards season 2 premieres on Valentine's Day. Not only is Netflix genius by releasing the season in its entirety, but they know what we really want to do on Valentine's Day. Made me think of this card. Just substitute [Look at my phone] with [Get hooked on TV shows].

More cards like this one by Emily McDowell here.

Speaking of marriage and House of Cards. Do Frank and Claire have the ideal marriage? I vote yes. Don't judge me.

I once saw Kevin Spacey hanging out with Bill Clinton in Ghana. (True story.) He was clearly preparing for this role.

We've been reading a lot about heroin this week, haven't we? Here's a good primer on the subject: Why is heroin so cheap.

Is it al-Qaeda or Al-Quida or Al-Qaeda? Mama or momma? Hmm or hmmm? Thank goodness the internet finally has a  Style Guide. And I found the answer to my question about ?! vs. !?

This article reads a bit like the National Enquirer, but it's interesting no less. Is it really possible to have a biological child with whom you share no DNA?

What do you think about the new book All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood? In sum, I think it means we don't have to feel so bad when we ignore our children.

Rare, 20th Century Africa photos. At the Smithsonian until August 24. 

Thank you to fellow Congo blogger, Emmanuel Ngeleka for introducing himself to us this week. Check out his blog, Congolese Stories, a collection of creative writing posts he plans to turn into a novel.

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Weekend List!

Sarah's List:

It's Congo Week! Okay, Congo Week is actually next week October 20-26, but we celebrate a week early here. Because we live in the Congo and we do what we want. Here's what Congo Week looks like where we are:

Students mapped Congo's natural resources. Computers = Coltan, Cans = Tin, Volcano = Volcano

Shak Shakito made an appearance. Check him out here.

Infographics are all the rage now. We can't get enough! Here are 13 of the year's best informational graphics. (Check out the iPhone inky fingertips one.)

Bonus: Congo Week infographic!

  by  Jon Gosier 

What do you think about these tips on how to be a man?  

"If you are wittier than you are handsome, avoid loud clubs." YES.  
"Pretty women who are unaccompanied want you to talk to them." Um. Not always.

Real men play the harp.

  by  twm1340 

Real women are amazing multi-taskers. Check out all the things we do while breast-feeding or pumping. (That plank photo's for you my workout ladies.)

See. You can nurse and stay out of trouble at the same time.

  by  Children's Bureau Centennial 

A great post from our friend over at Mama's Minutia on reorienting, resettling and regrouping after time abroad. The Adjustment. So, so true.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Jo. Coming home kinda feels like this fog. (Please don't sue me, Jennifer Jo, in your adjustment fog, for using your photo without permission. P.S. Can I use your photo?)

From the "in case you missed it" department. Can you read people's emotions?

Bill and Melinda discuss their marriage. And saving the world.

Relatedly, the latest on the malaria vaccine. (Thank you, Bill and Melinda.)

  by  tanakawho 

And finally, check out this article from a local Lancaster, Pennsylvania newspaper about a Congolese refugee. I thought it was just a typical interview until I got to about 3/4 of the way through the article (2nd page). See what refugee Terry Mulumba says about the first time he met a gay couple. That's some profound cultural adjustment. Bravo, Terry.


Jill's List: 

I'm in Ghana!  Accra is really a great place.  Just the chance to smell the sea is amazing.  I'm hanging out at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel for a conference...which gets some horrible reviews online, but it actually kind of incredible. (Or maybe that's the power of the mama-cation speaking?) I even watched about five minutes of Amish Mafia last night...

There is this painting in my hotel bathroom that I can't stop thinking about.  I'm don't usually consider myself a big fan of this style of art, but this woman on her hot pink background is just calling me to inquire of the manager if I might purchase her off the wall above the toilet.

Some of my Grade 7 students "re-imagined" this commercial for an assignment on Public Service Announcements this week.  I cried (secretly, I think) every time they showed the original version, and harder when I saw their re-make:

And, then, Johan forwarded me this article about how serious even a small car accident can be in Africa, and I cried again.  Wear your seatbelts, friends!

Yes.  Wear them, even if it makes your face go like this.

I'm on a mission to find Esther and her fabric shop while I'm in Accra.  Yes, I must buy more amazing Ghanaian fabric for myself and everyone I know.  But, more importantly, I must show her a picture of Mama Vida wearing the gorgeous outfit she made using the fabric I bought her during last year's trip. Read about how I chose what to buy here.

Loulou and Mama Vida on Wednesday.

Oh! The Internet is luxurious here.  What should I download?!  Orange is the New Black?


Love this post showing what it can look like to teach Middle School.

Images by Alice Proujansky.

What do you think?  Is the journalism you just read on Africa trash?  Or is this article just overly-reactionary?

If a political report devotes a substantial chunk of attention to tribal dancing, and “vibrant African music” — beware. You wouldn’t sample the nightclubs and “vibrant American music” in Adams Morgan when doing a piece on Democrats and Republicans arguing over the U.S. budget. Just like the sky is the sky in Africa and not the African sky, music is music in Africa and not African music. And if music wasn’t vibrant, well then it’s probably not music.

And.  The Accra beach - despite it's abundant human-made flotsam and frothy gray jetsam - is lovely....and possibly described as "vibrant."
See? (sorry Johan, Elias, and Loulou.  Next time, you can come with me.  I swear.):



Also.  In need of more shea butter.  Trying to find time to buy loads (probably at Global Mamas) - but the local stuff vs. the "imported" French variety.

Want some?  Buy it here if you're in Accra!

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Weekend List!

Sarah's List:

When a Congolese woman is at a loss about how to describe another they just say, "Elle est compliquée!" Or "she's complicated." I love this. It's not a bad thing and it's not a good thing. But you get the point that there's a lot to her story.

Apparently writers are making this great character less complicated and "more likeable." How is that even possible? So I totally agree that we're... 

"...missing out on an opportunity to usher in 

a new era of sitcoms: 

the era of the complicated woman."

I've never had a baby in the NICU, but the sentiment here in Dear NICU Nurse hit home. There's nothing like the gratitude you feel towards someone who cares for your baby and knows them sometimes better than you do. 

  by  Official U.S. Navy Imagery 

Are you a double-is-er? The thing is is I didn't even know this was a thing. (See how that works?)

Okay. If you're in the slight margin of people who missed this this week (Ah! I'm a double-this-er), check out Dear Parents, you need to control your kids. Sincerely, non-parents. And holy comments section!

C'mon, this cereal is just asking for a meltdown.

  by  pawpaw67 

The option of universal pre-school!? Slow clap D.C., slow clap.

Unless this is how you feel about pre-school... Find the story here.

We made this ice cream this week. It's 1-Minute Ice Cream. Seriously, ice cream in one minute. Life changed.

1 minute later.

Jill's List:

How one person in Congo is changing the world.

Image from UNHCR, by B. Sokol 

Do you read fast enough to be successful?

One of our many book stacks.

Have a layover in Paris?  Brush up on which iconic, reasonably-priced, fabulous French pharmacy products to buy...  (Or you can order a bunch of them from here.)

Some of my favorites...

Trader Joe's gets smart with expired food.  Novel.  People have been smartly ignoring expiration dates in Kinshasa for ages.

  by  Michael Bentley 

Some amazing work in Haiti.  Long live the midwife!  Thanks to Jessica at EMC.

Note:  The following three links were all gifts from Alice Proujansky, who always, always finds the best reads. I couldn't resist stealing sharing these gems this week, but must give credit where credit is due. If you like photography, birth, and world issues, please check out Alice on Twitter and her blog where she draws attention to the most deserved projects and writing out there.

Doulas doing what (I personally feel) they should be doing: providing support to the mothers that need it most (and can't afford to pay for it).

Check out this Brooklyn program here.

Although a very different scenario, this piece by a war correspondent mom reminded me of my own worries and questions as we choose to live in a "questionable" location with small children.

Talking to Anna Blundy (author, journalist and daughter of foreign correspondant, David Blundy) was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done. There I was, about to go to Syria on a clandestine mission, and I decided to interview the adult version of my own child, who basically told me I had no business being a conflict journalist.

I love the title of this article:  Everyday Nigeria - Not Idealized, Not Debased.  (I feel like that's what Sarah and I aim for with Mama Congo.)  The photos are out of this world.

This is my own photo of Kinshasa transport and is not a part of the series.
Go here to see iPhone photos in Africa at their very best.

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