week 2 in Congo

(Cool land rover picture borrowed from my friend Jasmin) More exploring of our surroundings on Friday and Saturday, I really like the pointe-noire area. And after several days in a row of not leaving the ship, I was so ready to get out again and remember that I am in central west Africa. Three fellow nurses and I headed to the market after work on Friday, here are a few photos:

Quick funny story: we passed by the main section of the market, it has rows upon rows of wooden tables where people sell almost everything you can think of, especially produce. And dried fish and peanuts and bananas and fabric and shoes and the list is endless. Anyway there were people with their wares spread out all over the place, just like normal. Then all of a sudden someone up the street shouted and everyone moved at once- all the ladies scooped up their vegetables into a bag, grabbed their babies and ran away. My instinct to move when I see a crowd moving toward me kicked in immediately and I got out of the way. Some ladies saw me and started cracking up. Through broken English, French and mime they helped me understand that the market is actually closed on Fridays and Mondays and its illegal to sell things. The watch person saw the police and warned everyone, and they thought it was hilarious that the white girl ran away along with them. Now I know. :)

I was in the middle of buying some bread, and when I turned around this guy was busy taking my picture on his phone. So naturally I told him that I needed to take his picture as well, and this is the pose he did:

And then the people I bought the bread from motioned that they should have thier picture taken as well...so here is the corner where we bought some fresh bread:

Peanuts and sugar cane for sale:

An African proverb we learned in community meeting last week, I think this one was from the Kongo tribe:

Don't try to fry peanuts and bananas at the same time: Peanuts are peanuts and bananas are bananas.

Apparantly peanuts and bananas both take a very long time to cook, and it is a bad idea to try to mix them together to save time. It's a lesson in patience and doing things the right way the first time. Just thought I'd share that bit of wisdom. :)

Borrowed the last two pictures from Nicole and Hope...we finished our day having a picnic dinner. And Saturday we did some hiking in this nearby gorge:

The gorge is about 45 minutes outside of the city- and so beautiful!

Anyway, I love getting to know this area of Congo, and I have so much to learn about the culture. Just thought I'd share a glimpse of life here- hard to believe it was just over two weeks ago that we pulled into port! Screening day is this week- another post on that soon but prayer for that day for both patients and crew members would be very appreciated.