Friday List!

Jill's List:

The Look3 Festival of the Photograph is happening right down the road.  I'm itching to get to Charlottesville ASAP.

Image from here.

Still following the Turkish news with interest...and checking my children for signs of PTSD following our dinner with a side of tear gas in Istanbul this week.  Sounds dramatic, and it is.  We were awed at the energy emanating from absolutely everyone we talked to about the protests. (Special thanks to Yasmin, who will be featured in a later Mama Congo post.)  Even the mamas have gotten in on the action.  Check out their human chain:

This image from Facebook.

Also from Istanbul: My new shoes.  Stepped into the tiny Old Sandal shop near our hotel and fell in love with the blue leather oxfords.  Highly recommended.

Bourdain on Congo.  (I still need to watch the episode!)

And 60 Seconds of Congo.

 

60 SECONDS IN CONGO from Vision Film Co on Vimeo.

I teach a lesson in a digital citizenship unit that has my middle schoolers explore what to do about the fact that "Happy Birthday" is totally copyrighted.  Not for much longer?  Check this out.

Image from the NYTimes.

"The Art of Being a Goal-Getter" from Oh Joy!

Image from Oh Joy!

Using this to study for the GREs.  Anyone tried it?  One month plan, here I go...

Two editions of Kinfolk were waiting for me upon arrival to the U.S.  Sigh.  They will be my reward between study sessions.

Image from here.

Sarah's List:

If only the view from our seats looked like this. Pilot Documents His Journeys from 35,000 Feet. Yowzers! (Thanks Joanna.) The one and only time I have been in the cockpit was to force an introduction between the school group I was traveling with and the two female Kenyan pilots flying our plane. A truly special moment. 

Find more amazing images at Karim Nafatni's photo website.

If you're still in Kinshasa, check out the Jazz Festival. Many great memories have been made here. And many Bralima glasses may/may not have been stolen...

You said it right, New York Times: In Brussels, Frites are More than Just Fries. And to prove our daughter has been thoroughly Belgianized via Congo frites, when we're served fries Stateside she screams, "But where's the mayonnaise?!"

 

A very good recipe for Pommes Frites with Mayonnaise.

Are you getting married this summer? Here's something to read regarding your guests and photography. Nothing sends me into deep breathing exercises faster than sitting behind someone at an event who's using their iPad or other oversized i-Thingy to record it. Put the screens down people, and watch the moment as it happens. And if you can't, please stand to the side so I don't have to watch the event via the large screen you're holding in the air. Okay, deep breaths...

From Corey Ann photography and here.

 
 Bill Clinton on Chelsea's birth story. Father of the Year indeed. 

Chelsea and Bill. From here.

 Expat Culture Shock. It's a thing people. Here's my favorite tip:

You’ll need to prepare a three-sentence answer to the question:

"Oh, you lived in [fill in the blank]. What was that like?” or “How did you like it?" Your answer to this question should take no more than three minutes. 
Most people lose interest after that amount of time.

 ...unless you live in the Congo. In that case, it's best to stick to 30 seconds or not mention it at all.

This year I've been dealing with expat culture shock by spending way too many hours -okay, days- searching online for the perfect leather bag. Won't you help my readjustment and tell me where to find one? Suggestions welcome.

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Friday List!

Sarah's List:

Simplified Public Figures. No faces necessary.

Image by Ali Alsumayin

A few days ago, this started circulating, and it's been called one of the best restaurant reviews in modern times. Or the "review heard round the world." You have to feel a little bad for the guy. Or not. He is a little ridiculous.

Photograph: Food Network

This just goes to show that you can't send me an interesting article without it showing up on Mama Congo. (Thanks Josh.) So is it possible to learn Lingala in 22 hours? Possibly. Especially if you mix in a bunch of French words to compensate. Or vice versa. Which is how most people speak in Kin.

Photograph: Christopher Lane for the Guardian

Did you see this? Venice under water?

Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images

Yep, here's what happens when you try to be too cool. A man follows all the New York Times trend stories and just ends up kind of weird.  Man buns? Really, is this what's happening these days?

Mark Veltman for The New York Times

Woke up to this crawling out of our drain yesterday morning. These are by far my least favorite Congo creatures. I have no idea what it is. Mamicho says they're poisonous, but she also thinks birds are poisonous. Adam says he would rather have one of these in the bathtub any day over a snake. I say no way. These things are like snakes and spiders combined into one awful creature. While we were busy debating snakes vs. spider-snakes, it almost escaped. Last time I found one, our gardener chopped it in half and then we just had two spider-snakes crawling around. Can anyone identify it?

This one was nearly twice the length of my hand. But I was unwilling to put my hand any where near it for perspective.

Jill's List:

$2 Million = cost to raise 1 child?  So says Nadia Taha from the New York Times.  She's considering no children as a way to preserve her bottom line.  Okay - I get her point, but she also adds this assumption into the equation, making me think she's a little crazy:

And since we would probably not cut off our child financially once he or she reached the age of majority, I added the cost of the basics (housing, clothing, food, transportation and health care) between age 18 and 25. 

Also - this is quite different than the $300,000 the Wall Street Journal estimates - but they don't include college and assume that after 18, most kids won't be total freeloaders.

Thinking about Thanksgiving recipes.  (Yes, we do it up right here in Kinshasa.) These crazy hipsters make me want to blast the A.C., put on holiday music, and mull some wine.  Despite the fact that I just got home from a pool party...

From kinfolkmag.com

Really want to shop here.

From stephmodo.com

Just war?  Our familes are full of pacifist-leaning theologians and philosophers, so this is a particularly interesting mainstream read...especially this week as we watch the escalating events in the Middle East.  Is there such a thing as moral violence?  

Image from here.

Thinking about a friend of Mama Congo who had her stomach removed this week.  Say what?!  Really.  And her mother, brother, and sister are all stomach-less now as well.  They say that stomachs are overrated anyway.  Read more about the hereditary cancer that has impacted this amazing family here.

My beloved Canon 50mm 1:8 lens BROKE.  I am quite disturbed.  Now, the debate: to replace it with the same or upgrade to the 1:4...

Sweet soap.

Thanks to bleubirdvintage for the beautiful photo.

And.  I'll share another Kinshasa bug photo.  One of my favorites.  At night, the sky sometimes is full of these...until the chauve-souris come out and eat them all up.

While my Canon is out of commission, the iPhone is not to shabby a fill-in..

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