Movin' On Up

I helped unpack some of this stuff.

In a stroke of luck, 2.5 weeks ago, 90 percent of my things arrived. I am patiently waiting for my air shipment, which has been in country longer than I have, but patience...In true Congolese fashion, the deliveries were backward, but alas. My HHE, household effects, arrived on a sunny Kinshasa morning and the nice workers brought everything up to my apartment where my domestique (fancy French word for housekeeper) Francois unpacked while I lounged on the couch shouting directions. Kidding! But I totally bet I could have done just that and gotten away with it. Foreigners can afford to be quite lazy here in Congo because housekeepers, nannies, drivers, gardeners, cooks, etc are cheap for Western standards. You name it, someone will do it for you for a small price.

See the how the countertops
sparkle?!

I mentioned Francois, my housekeeper. He comes twice, sometimes thrice, a week. He's fantastic. He does things I don't like to do, like ironing and dusting. He even does stuff I don't mind doing, like scrubbing the floors and laundry. And it's like magic. I leave in the morning for work and when I come home in the evening the house is sparkling and there is a fresh fruit salad in the fridge. He also is good for finding things I cannot find in the stores here, like a mop. I gave him $10 and he came back with two! Francois helps me with my French, since that's what he speaks, and it's necessary I speak or write notes to him, you know, to tell him to cut the pineapple in uniform chunks and to fluff my pillows daily.

Yes, that's the pool. Beneath
my flower-filled balcony.

I also have a gardener, Landu, who plants lovely flowers on my balconies and in big pots. I got some seeds for him to plant tomatoes and green peppers as well. Landu comes once a week to do some weeding and what not. I honestly don't know what else he does, but all I know is a) the plants are alive b) I don't have to do anything. And that's a good enough justification for his employment for me.

If I have to have a mosquito net in
my bedroom, I deserve a housekeeper.

Lest any readers fear that I will be helpless upon returning to America, fear not. Having house help is not something I could afford in the States, it's purely a Congo thing. But I certainly am taking advantage of it while I am here. I will further justify this luxury by reminding myself and others that being a housekeeper or gardener or nanny is steady job in a country where per capita GDP is $171, yes, there are no zeros after that. And, I still do some things on my own, like get dressed and brush my teeth. So there.