Friday List.

JILL'S LIST:

• First braids! 

•  Dan Savage + Rick Santorum + Mother Jones Magazine = this. 

• The perfect shoes for a Kinshasa life.  I have worn these most every day I've been here and I still love them and will buy more for next year.  This is not true of the rest of my wardrobe. 

  by  HeatherMG 

• I'm a little behind in posting this (it was so 2 weeks ago), but it made me feel good to read it.  Like I'm not screwing up my kids too badly.

  by  zinjixmaggir 

• Who are these people?  I'm sort of obsessed.  

• Starting a list of things to eat during Stateside summer vacation (my mom was asking...).  First? These.  Rolled oats, maple syrup, and weird, healthy flours are unknown in these parts.  Plus, I don't have a waffle maker.  One of those is totally coming back with us next year. There are plenty of Belgian waffle makers here, but they, like all electronics here, cost no less than $399.  Even the crappy unknown brands. 

  by  Isabelle @ Crumb 

 This food list might have to be an entire future post, come to think about it.  It's that exciting.

• Amazing art by my daughter's namesake.  Do a search for "Congo."

Permission to post given by the artist, Mary Temple.

• Been thinking about Skittles and hoodies and following this story with a heavy heart. 

  by  Madison Guy 

• Just gazing at these photographs.

  by  Peter Forret 

• Attempting a side career in graphic design .  This, naturally, involves hassling Johan for "original art" + lots of Googling things like "how to make Photoshop do what I want it to do."

SARAH'S LIST:

Whenever I have a pregnancy/baby/breastfeeding question, I ask Jill. Who usually directs me to KellyMom. Now I do Jill a favor and go straight there. I noticed this morning "Kelly" has a new redesign. It looks great and is more user friendly. This is bar none the BEST, most realistic information on all things baby.

This article reminds me of a legend that's been passed down to current Congo Moms. Apparently a little boy grew up in Congo, later went to medical school and one of his lab projects required him to test his own "immunities." This guy tested off the charts thanks to his extreme exposure to Congo germs. I think I believe it. My kids have each been to the doctor once due to illness.

Alternatively, this study on Aflatoxins makes us really think about what we ingest here. Stay tuned as Jill will be providing full coverage on the Aflatoxin scare.

Was just discussing Luanda this week. Turns out it's the most expensive city in the world. I'm glad to finally see consideration given to non-traditional capitals. Seems like most lists forget about us and rank cities like Oslo, Tokyo and NYC. You could easily substitute "Kinshasa" for "Luanda" in most details in this article. Except sounds like they have good public transportation. So basically it's Kinshasa with better transportation...so quit your complainin' Luanda expats.

Is it this good, Luanda?

  by  pantranco_bus