I Have a French Teacher....

I want to introduce you my French Teacher......Professor Richard. He comes to the house every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning for an hour to give me my French Lesson.
I feel that I am starting to make sense of the French language with all its grammatical rules...! I do think M. Richard feels the same way!

There are times , that i can see a flicker of frustration passing over Prof. Richards face when I forget some the rules, while having a conversation with him....he has no hesitation in putting me on the right tract. It makes me try a little harder.!

Prof. Richard has been teaching French for many years here in the DRC. He has had experience of teaching different nationality"s and different levels....he has pointed out to me that in some ways I have been a little challenge to him.... I believe I have the habit of using all 3 tenses and more no matter which Tense I am supposed to be using....

My answer to this " Pas probleme....je essayer toujours!

Hello Kinshasa ..........................

A bit difficult to think that just two weeks ago I was in the snow , dressed in a warm coat...been a true "Canadian"..... having my say about the weather.....I hear the weather this past week has really been cold dipping down to -24C and that without the wind factor , which could bring it down a futher -10C.......on that note we are back in Kinshasa.

I will not say that it is sunny with a blue sky ....because most days here in Kinshasa are grey. When the wind blows the clouds and pollution away we have a blue sky !!!! The heat and humidity, that is a given, with temperatures always in the 30C+

Just before we left for Canada , we bought a beautiful side table and lamps for our house. We ordered the table in November from a work shop called "Artisanat et Developpement"

Artisans in Congo have worked in a chaotic situation of war, corruption and uncertainty. Exporters here face considerable obstacles, including the most expensive port in Africa. Artisanat et Développement is a local nonprofit artisans’ organization that provides training and marketing assistance to Congolese artisans, and ensures that they receive fair payment for their products. Other artisan benefits include interest-free loans for workshop construction, wood-drying kilns and other needs. Along with its export business, Artisanat et Développement runs a retail store in Kinshasa, Congo’s capital. Historically craftspeople in Congo were not respected. Because of these artisans’ involvement with Artisanat et Développement, they and their families are now more respected. They achieve dignity through this work.

Artisanat et Développement was established in 1997 with assistance of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), a U.S.-based relief and development organization and Ten Thousand Villages parent organization. Artisanat et Développement became independent in 2007. In 2003 Ten Thousand Villages was temporarily forced to stop importing from Congo due to local trade barriers including corruption and lack of infrastructure. But Ten Thousand Villages buyers continued to work with MCC offices in Congo and with the director of Artisanat et Développement to build artisan capacity. With the Congolese presidential and parliamentary elections held in 2006, Ten Thousand Villages was able to again resume trade with Artisanat et Développement. visit there website :http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/catalog/

http://www.artisandevelop.com/

We had an opportunity to buy a new painting to put a bit of colour into our apartment.....this we bought on a Sunday afternoon while visiting one of the Restaurants .... ...........

MY Holiday Away From - KINSHASA

With great excitement I watched the days drawing closer for my trip back to Canada to be with my family for the holidays.
Vianney and I had planned to spend two day in Geneva but unfortunately that went very wrong….I still travel on a South African Passport something I hope will change in the near future when I get my Canadian Citizenship, to explain further,…On the day we booked our luggage in at the Memling Hotel downtown Kinshasa , I was told that just two days previously the visa requirements for South Africans travelling to Switzerland had changed.... I now needed a SchengenVisa to travel . The Swiss had just signed a new agreement with the rest of the EU countries. I was unaware of this and my travel agents did not inform me ...

With our bags ready to be checked in and not enough time to apply for a visa…. we had to go along with plan B….. I would remain in Kinshasa for two days .

It was just one of those things I had to accept. I was so disappointed that we where not leaving together but it turned out well, we met in “Paris” and flew to Montreal together. ( Kind of romantic) , the first time for me to be asked.........“Lets meet in Paris!”
The winter weather , when we landed in Montreal hit us with a blast, plenty on snow on the ground and a -18 C temperature. After the temperatures here in Kinshasa that is always at 30+ it was very fresh start to our holiday break, from T shirts to Coats…….

Dorianne our daughter got us tickets to watch the Junior Hockey Championships, in Ottawa and the teams playing was Russia vs. Slovakia…(8-1)… I really enjoyed my first ever live Hockey Game .

Our time with the family was very special the only complaint, far too short, now we are back to reality…… “Living in Kinshasa”………………….