Weekend List!

Sarah's List:

Women: Stop what you're doing and read this article, The Confidence Gap. If life were one long grade school, we'd be winning. But it's not and the boys are kicking our butts.

By J. Howard Miller, artist employed by Westinghouse, poster used by the War Production Co-ordinating Committeemodified 
by Tom Morris [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Jill and I read this birth story a collective 30 times this week. Then we read it to our husbands who didn't really care. It's an excerpt from this book of birth stories from women writers. I think birth can be best summed up by this:

"Every time I had a contraction I thought, you have got to be fucking kidding me! 

It seemed preposterous that this was the way birth got done. 

I felt solidly and profoundly connected to all the female mammals of the world. 

Not just the women who’d birthed, but the cats and the bears and the lemurs too."

Has your life been taken over by Frozen? Even in Congo we are not immune. Nor is the rest of the world. Now you can get Let It Go in 50 different languages. Libérée, Délivrée, anyone?

Mac keyboard tricks. I'm an, Edit, copy. Edit, paste girl myself, but if you're into taking shortcuts...

An interview with the real Alex of Orange is the New Black. 

Mama Youyou's recipe for nyanpul has been published! Every order of the cookbook Giving supports Women for Women International. Follow the instructions here to get your copy. Or if you're in the greater Harrisonburg area, let me know and I'll place a bulk order.

This week I subtly came clean about my love for Celine Dion. (Don't judge. I have my reasons.) Did you know there was a whole, serious book that studies the hatred of her? And it's just been reissued with new analytical essays. Sorry, Celine.

Jill's List:

We got to see/hear this guy last night:

I can vouch for the awesomeness of medical tourism.  My five-day South African hospitalization (complete with nightly rooibos tea and complimentary handsome window washer) cost less than a ride in an American ambulance.   Try these winners if you're interested.

Tea and rusks.

I'm in that pre-move limbo land where it's too soon to do very much except for worry about what there is to do. So, I'm studying this site and taking mental notes about how to live elegantly in impossibly small spaces (i.e. buy beautiful cleaning supplies).  Unfortunately, these instructions do not dial in the "child variable." Sigh.

Chaos by children.

The maybe reality of 40K::

 "Although most New Yorkers probably feel that housing in the city is too expensive, it is primarily those earning under $40,000 who literally may not be able to find an apartment they can afford."

"Here are some rich people whining about feeling poor."

Being poor, a child, and invisible.

Being poor, an immigrant, and living in 65 sq feet.

Important stories about being poor in America.


Proud to be separated by only two degrees from these beautiful garments.

Cistanthe gorgeousness in global fabrics.

Thanks to Bailey at Cistanthe for turning our attention to Alyssa at Pokuasi.  Community support in Ghana through small batch jewelry creation. Brass and glass beauty. (The website is currently under construction, but check back soon!)

My own glass beads, procured from Ghana.  Go here to see some incredible pieces by Pokuasi and community.

Do Walmart and schools mix?

School integration without gentrification? 

I have always wondered!

Stocking up at Lambada on Rue de Commerce. (Bonus: The story of Vlisco in Kinshasa + a great list of places to shop in Kinshasa).

And. Tigerfish: craziest creature in Congo. Maybe.

Image and caption from i fucking love science's Facebook page.

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Weekend List!

Jill's List:

I so wish that I didn't fear/respect Getty Images' litigious reputation so much, because I want to show you these new stock photos showing women and girls as something more than "Women in Shoulder Pads Emasculating Tiny Men" (Description of women traditionally seen in stock photography by Alice Proujansky). I kind of want to be friends with all of these new ladies.

Our own alternative version of women at work:  Mama Youyou teaching Adam how to use that sewing machine.

Three photography books you should buy: this, this, and this (an early Sartorialist?) - Curated by Lara!

Buy this book here.

For those of you stuck in a blizzard.

A similar activity at our house...

2/14/14 in Virginia.  I heart this.

2/14/14 in Kinshasa.

You know you live in Congo when...
...these are what you find your three year old carrying around the house as her newest treasure:

(Learn more about this important campaign here.)

You MUST look at this blog.  Hip pagne is everywhere.  Click.  Now! Quick!

Thanks, Chayet, for letting us use your image!
Stay tuned, Mama Congo readers, for a Guest Post from this fabulous Parisian.

Hey!  Does anyone want my job?  No, I'm serious.  Email me if you're interested.  Starts August 2014.

Sarah's List:

The science of reincarnation. I first read this article a few months ago and I can't get it out of my head.

Turns out there's a scientific reason people don't like redheads.

I happen to like redheads. Just defying science one kid at a time.

Oh gosh. This looks amazing. A Kenyan mockumentary about the NGO world.

Could "brain drain" actually be good for Africa? An interesting argument.

Redemption Song: What happens when children of war enter civilian life. 

Guess whose recipe is going to be published in a cookbook? Mama Youyou and her nyanpul will be making an appearance in the next edition of Share: The Cookbook That Celebrates Our Common Humanity.

Buy the previous edition here.

Check out the organization behind this great cookbook, Women for Women International.

Stuck inside? DIY playdough! (Worth a look just for the beautiful photos.)

Who doesn't love a round of "Would you rather..."

And here's a good one. Snowpocalypse folks: Would you rather dig yourself out of the snow or battle worms in your kid's foot?

Yep, dear Charlotte's got a case of the "creeping eruption" otherwise known as worms crawling in your foot. Cause: Running barefoot one too many times with neglectful parents who clearly didn't scrub that foot enough.

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