Friday List!

JILL'S LIST:
  
I'm such a sucker for magazines.  I had high hopes for iPad glossies, but alas, Internet woes have prevented much of that fun.  However, during a burst of good bandwidth the other day, I was able to download two exquisite new magazines.  Both are travel-with-families oriented.  Both feature overly-expensive luggage and scented candles.  I can't get enough.  (via Design Mom)

And, as I have the luxury to write about magazines and prepare for vacation, things really heat up in the East . 
Jason Stearns writes:

 While the M23 rebellion is taking up most of the Congo news in Congolese and foreign press, a series of largely unconnected massacres has been taking a far larger human toll in the area of Bunyakiri and Ufamando. According to United Nations reports, over 200 civilians - and possibly many more - have been killed in tit-for-tat massacres between the Rwandan FDLR rebels and the Raia Mutomboki militias since the beginning of the year.

Photographer, Phil Moore, shows:

I'm considering options for replacing some of our circa-1970's U.S. Embassy issue furniture with stuff made out of shipping pallets. Seriously!  (When in need of furniture, we also love the items at Artisanat et Développement, of course!) I just had a big talk with our school maintenance manager, convincing him of the intense brilliance behind my plan (and enlisting his help).  He promised to scope out a place on Avenue de la Justice for pallet hookups.  He was semi-convinced when I showed him these pictures:

Interesting Congo-centric project.  Interviews with real people.  (As opposed to fake ones.)

SARAH'S LIST:

Part of the reason I like writing for this blog is how reckless I allow myself to be with punctuation. And I get to start almost every sentence with "and." I also put commas wherever the heck, I, want,. But here's a good piece on proper placement.

Today's Christmas for the Kimbanguistes. Remember the fascination with their orchestra after the 60 Minutes episode? They'll spend today parading all over town playing instruments and singing. It sounds like one non-stop marching band is passing outside all day.

Okay, so we've already seen this all over Facebook. But it makes a lot of sense to me. The #1 thing I notice as soon as the plane lands in the States is this fascination with phones. Adam and I left before the dawn of the smart phone and then never caught up. I use a Nokia that's so old, I couldn't even find a picture of it. So here's to being hands free!

A fun chart to figure out How Common Is Your Birthday. I'm assuming this is based on American births. I can't quite imagine other countries avoiding giving birth on July 4, Halloween and Christmas as much as we do.

  by  Aih. 

Babies Around the World. With a nice photo of a Congo Mama.

We've been blessed with fertility. Here's an article about that awful Two Week Wait for those who are not. With #2, there was no two week wait because we almost missed the entire first trimester...but that's another post about the idiocy of not knowing you're pregnant.

  by  euthman 

How to Take Photos of Newborns. And not look like Anne Geddes, bless her heart. There are actually some great ideas here. I just happen to live next door to everyone's favorite photographer, so I don't need to worry about these tips. But for the rest of you...

  by  Nina Matthews Photography 

And a final link for one of our favorite fans. You know who you are. Pretty much the only reason I would ever make myself read an article entitled: Pro-Wrestling, Senegal Style.

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The Kinshasa Symphony Orchestra (or their real name, l'Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste)

What's an advantage of being up sick at 3am? I'm not competing for bandwidth and can stream this story that aired on 60 Minutes. Well, it's loading at record speed of about 7 seconds at a time.

Adam and I were a little worried Mike Wallace's death would preemt this much anticipated story, but thank goodness this orchestra got some American press. There's a semi-well known documentary that came out a few years ago about them, Kinshasa Symphony. But it's in German. The most fascinating parts of the film show the musicians repairing already crummy instruments with things like pieces of a bicycle and old tire parts.

What the film skimmed over and the 60 Minutes piece left out entirely, is that this orchestra is made up of Kimbanguistes. Kimbanguism is pretty bizarre branch of Christianity founded by their prophet, a Congolese man, Simon Kimbangu. Its official name is L'Église de Jésus Christ sur la Terre par son envoyé spécial Simon Kimbangu, or The Church of Christ on Earth by His Special Envoy Simon Kimbangu. Has there ever been a better title?

May 25th is their Christmas. Last year I happened to be driving (okay, riding I'm not that brave) to the airport on that day. Along the entire route Kimbanguistes were marching, dressed in green (notice all the green in the 60 Minutes piece?), playing instruments. Traditionally they walk between two points, which are probably at least 30 miles apart. They sing and dance and play music all day carrying banners with Kimbangu's face on them. I tried to interview my driver about their beliefs, but he gave me the French equivalent of, "I have no idea why they do that. They're weird."

Our neighbor and teacher at TASOK practices with the symphony every Friday. We see him cramming his enormous cello into a tiny Jimmy and rattling down the road to practice. He says they're very welcoming, but he isn't allowed to officially perform. They've gotta keep up their claim to fame of being the "only entirely black orchestra in the world." I think that's awesome.

In two weeks they happen to be playing at TASOK for a fundraiser. I'm not sure we can afford the tickets. We'll probably just sit on our porch and listen.

P.S. Can 60 Minutes please win an Emmy for making perhaps the ugliest, fluorescently-lit, Congolese warehouse look beautiful? Those are some amazing cameras.

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