Friday List!

Sarah's List:

Feeling a little offended, Obama Family, that you waited until we left to take your Africa trip. Here's a good photographic round-up of their tour. Below is my favorite shot that gives some perspective of the size of that fascinating/controversial/tallest statue in Africa. Read more about it here.

Image from TIME Swampand.

And even more importantly, a Michelle Obama outfit round-up.

In orange in South Africa.

Elsewhere on the continent, The Origins of War in the DRC.

By Armin Rosen, from here.

Truth and Lies, in clever posters.

By Justin Barber. So true...and false from here.

It's been months, but we're still trying to get over this place. Are you in Brussels this summer? Don't miss the best pizza of your life at Mamma Roma.

From thePetitFour.com.

Apparently Parisians are having a hard time dealing with us. Us tourists, that is. So they've come up with a guide, Do you speak Touriste? in which they're instructed that Americans like to eat dinner early and be reassured on prices. That sounds about right.

From doyouspeaktouriste.fr.

In Harrisonburg this summer? A great baby store and a great friend are combining forces in the art opening of Pups. We're so there.

It's hard to believe I bummed around Tahrir every day during my grad school years. Look at it now! Salam, Egypt.

Jill's List:

I almost forgot it was the 4th of July until someone complimented me on my children's patriotic outfits.  Which were totally intentional.  We're hanging out on Ocracoke Island in North Carolina this week, so we have the choice to celebrate with a "lighthouse tour with locals Chuck and Sammy" followed by "famous fishcake sandwiches" and "traditional square dance."  (The children's scalps will be coated in glitter until they are teenagers thanks to those hats.)

My stylish-with-a-sassy-sense-of-humor friend sent me a link to this similarly stylish-with-a-sassy-sense-of-humor Pinter-blog called "My Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler Daughter."  Example:

One time Quinoa thought she had accidentally squashed a bug, but what she had really squashed was all the predictable style rules society has tried to place on her.

Visiting Chapel Hill next week.  Every time I say "Chapel Hill" - some stranger's ears perk up and they run over to voluntarily wax eloquent on how incredible this place is.  My expectations are high.

Image from here.

Loving this link from Joanna - especially since Congo is the world center for blood diamonds.  Check out these stunning rings...  I never had (or really wanted) a diamond ring, but this site has me drooling.

Image from Bario Neal Tumblr.

Elias is at that weird time as a new reader where he can read chapter-ish books, but they are just a little too hard to be totally enjoyable independently.  So - I bought a couple of kid graphic novels.  Like this one.  What summer reading strategies work for you and your kids?

Image from Tiny Bop, Inc.  Where I get the best App, Book, Website, and Music ideas.

For Loulou, I've been geeking out in joy over those bins of books at Goodwill.  Our luggage is going to be ridiculous going back to Congo.  But, a family must have priorities.  Currently, I'm hoping to find this book.  Hey, the 80's are hardly (never) ever celebrated as a prime time for graphic design, but this 1983 picture book calls that idea into question.

Image from the book, "Gorilla" - discovered at the always brilliant blog Vintage Books My Kid Loves.

Following Egypt news closely.  Unbelievable and confusing.  Is it time for celebration or fear?  Both?

Image from BBC.com

And.  In case you haven't already read this article, read it now.  Birth in America = a pretty penny.

We think a lot about souvenirs.  It's not easy when the exotic place you live has little to offer in the way of a traditional tourist industry.  So, you have to get creative.  (Hmmm...I'm feeling a future post coming on.)  Check out these amazing ideas from the French grocery store.  Mais oui!

Image from Design Mom.

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Friday List!

Sarah's List:

We're about to make that flight across the Atlantic in a few weeks. So it's about this time of year when we allow ourselves to get itchy for the things we miss. Jill says the things she misses change from year to year. Mine stays the same. Which has been confirmed since my three-year-old told me at breakfast this morning that I have "beaucoup eyebrows."

Alternatively, here's what Adam dreams of. Seriously. I swear if he could sit around all summer and do one thing, it's watch people get hit in the crotch on America's Funniest Home Videos. Someone actually made a list in descending order of all the ways this happens. Adam thinks it's genius. And this is where our understanding of each other goes in very different directions.

From here.

Did you know the word "mama" is universal? Here's a fascinating explanation. Except for my child who has decided to call me "Mamas." No, no Ani, "Say, Mama. No 's.' Not plural." Okay, nevermind. You're right. There are lots of Mamas.

Here's another one of those, if-you-read-just-one-thing-this-week articles. On examining adoption ethics. First families, first.

From here.

I needed a therapeutic laugh this week, so I went to my favorite speech of all time. I still remember the first time I read it in my tiny office at my terrible summer job. There was no hiding I wasn't working when I went into one of those embarrassing laugh/cries. Luckily these days I work with this saint and he pretends not to notice the laugh/cries...and real cries.

I love blogger Mama Minutia's intro to this piece, "I have a maid. It can get messy. (And I'm not talking about the house.)" Talking about help.

From Mama's Minutia.

Jill's List:

Hoping to finish strong tomorrow.  And I'm not even running.  How did I become a race coordinator, again?  Read more about how the Kima Mbangu (Run Fast) 5K came to be here.  If you are in Kinshasa and want to run and support an amazing local organization (Les Fonds Pour les Femmes Congolaises) - be at the TASOK campus at 8:30am!

Red carpet pregnancy.

Image from NYTimes.

Johan is obsessed with our microbiomes.  He's trying to get us all pumped up about kimchi and buttermilk.  He's obviously been reading way too much from this guy.  I gently reminded him that we live in the Congo and our children frequent eat dirt.  Germs are certainly our friends.

Yeah, something like that.  Image from here.

We lived in Guatemala City for three months soon after we got married.  Yeah, super romantic.  Rios Montt was hoping to run for president again and his face was plastered everywhere.  For many, his image was a disturbing, repeated reminder of unspeakable atrocities.  Last week, people spoke, and he became the first head of state to be tried and convicted of genocide in a domestic court.  Nunca Más .

Image by James Rodriguez for Mimundo.org  At the trial of Rios Montt.

I love this space.  (And such a beautiful blog, too.)

Image from Le Dans La.

Busy parousing You Tube for dessins animes for upcoming plane and airport hours.  Best score yet?  

1967  L'Araignée  - the original series - in French. 

Last minute add-in because it's quite the read for anyone and everyone living and working in a developing country.  Foreigners "trying to do good."

And here is what they don’t know: These houses? We could never afford them back home. These houses we have because they don’t. We have a job because they are poor. And because their poverty is extreme, because the country they were born in is hot, dusty, stormy, messy and perilous, we are paid well.

Image from the cover of Jonathan Katz's book "The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster."

If you are in need of amazingly curated suggestions for kid's books, apps, movies, and websites, check out Tinybop, Inc.  It's pretty flawless.  Sure fire sign that they are good:  they include most everything that William Steig has ever written.

Image from here.

Bon weekend!

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Friday List!

Sarah's List:


Let's get back in those pictures, moms.

 What!? I'm in  picture!

 A band from Kinshasa made up entirely of men with polio. Intrigued? Catch Staff Benda Bilili on their US tour.

No, it's not the year of the dragon in China, it's the year of the breastfeeding flash mob -a father's account.

Tiny foodscapes. Totally bizarre.  

The worst years of your life? I happened to enjoy my middle school, for the most part. Some thoughts on making it a bit better or at least less awful.

  by  TheeErin 

President of the European Council meets Prime Minister of the DRC.

Google Art Project. Explore collections from MoMA to the White House. Google really is changing the world.

  by  Tony Fischer Photography 

Jill's List:

Recently re-discovered this gorgeous blog.  I feel like Mrs. French is my style-twin.

Beautiful home via blissfulb via Design Files

Used this awesome tutorial to make Lou's Halloween costume.  Thanks, Alpha-Mom for helping me create my own petite chauve-souris!

Such an incredible photo by Jean Depara - who captured life in Leopoldville/Kinshasa between 1951 and 1975:

Really interesting personal perspective on tearing and post-birth complications.  Did you know that in France and some other places, it's super normal for women to be referred for special nether region therapy to ensure proper care and healing after a vaginal delivery?  Misplaced or totally smart?

I need some jogging headphones.  Any suggestions?  What does Otto Mond use?

Since it's not particularly easy to get new toys for our kids, we sometimes treat them to new things for "iPad time." This site is an incredible collection of the very loveliest kids Apps, electronic books, and games.  We're really enjoying this one right now:

Love fake-looking in glamourous people's makeup bags.  Awesome.

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