44. A Patient Panties AND a P-Nut M&M Kind Of Day- But I Made It! Hopefully, " The sun Will Come Out Tomorrow!"

The day started off like a little piece of sand in my flip flops. Under normal conditions it’s just irritating. But then more “blew in” and I could not get any out of my flip flops fast enough!  Then a wheel barrow load.  Then a pick-up truck load. The final straw was a dump truck load! Just walked in it all day with the sand getting deeper and deeper!! How do you like that analogy? Poor Ken walked into my office and took one look at me and made the mistake of asking if I was ok. I teared up- Ken and poor Helene did not know what to do! But I got a grip on my Patient Panties, Ken ran for the M&Ms and the “Beat Goes On!” ;) When I am home I will tell you all about this day but as Ken says, “In 100 years – if that long- no one will know the difference!” And…It is Congo!

After this yucky day, I was sitting at the Meal Book writing which guests would be here for breakfast- one of the things I have to do each day by three thirty. Have the time programmed into my phone!! Anyway, I am sitting there in the quiet and the heat of the un-air-conditioned dining room being sure I have listed all of the current and arriving guests. One of the cooks comes up and says he needs to talk to me. After my day I am thinking “Oh, Dear, What Can The Matter Be?” He asks me- all of this in French- if I know the word “Consolation”. When I say yes he goes on to tell me that I have done all since arriving here with a “consolation love” and that Ken and I remind him of the work and attitudes of the missionaries of long ago. He thanks me for being caring and patient (Guess he could not see my Swan feet paddling like heck under the water! And definitely does not know about my Patient Panties and MM stash!) and said all that I needed to hear after the day I had had! Amazing Coincidence after my day? No. Just a gentle and kind way to tell me to “Hang in there, My Girl!” from The Man Upstairs – who I know has a sense of humor since He made me! ;)

I can’t remember if I have explained about the money here in Congo. They have Francs which are not worth much. All real trade is done in American dollars. B-U-T the Congolese Banks down to the poorest beggar are very picky about the condition of MY US MONEY they are using! The bills have to be post 2006, no folds, no tear or even the beginning of a tear, and no writing on it. It is a real pain! Their money has all but bullet holes in it and it is fine- worth almost nothing but fine to hand me as small change! Go figure. Anyway I am forever looking for “Good Money, Mama!” For pay day, guests. Almost everyone has been arriving with $100.00s. So I am now down to all too all 100’s and 50’s and bad money in smaller bills which I do give to guests returning to the US and ask them for all of their “good” money before they leave. So the next guest is in trouble or has to leave a big enough tip where their bill is an equal amount. Bills look fine to me and then I come back to give them to the accountant and “No, Mama, It’s bad!” So back I go to our apartment, unlock the door, go to the room where the safe is, unlock a combination lock on the door to the room, go to the closet, unlock the combination lock to the closet and then put in the combination to the safe and get what I hope will be acceptable money and do it all in reverse to re-establish security. I do this every time a guest checks out to get the Money secure ASAP and then all the times for pay day to get good money. This last week while we did budget I asked the accountant to get all good money from the start. Hoped that would help. NOT!  So it is Congo and the Beat goes on and on!!

Have the AC man doing a check etc on all the MPH ACs. So I have to get him into empty rooms. There are two different types of ACs and one group is fairly fast and the other is tedious. Yesterday it took all day to get my office, our Apartment and the pantry done. These are the rooms where I spend the most time and I selfishly had them done first! ;) He is a joy to work with!! Always happy and smiling.

The fact that my Type A Personality and I are getting ready to leave soon has resulted in getting a list of things to get done, cleaned and or organized before I go. I feel like a one armed paper hanger taking one step forward and two steps backwards. But we are all getting there.

Earlier I was asked to work with a newer cook. He was hired to help when we had all the French guests. He is much “younger”- by comparison-and can read, write and do math!! He is now the one in charge of the pantry and all supplies, ordering food for the week, counting it all and verifying it on return from the grocery , washing all vegs and fruit and drying them so all is ready for use, putting out all ingredients the other cooks will need for their preparation of each meal, doing a control count each Tuesday with Inge and/or me,  and other chores when time allows.

I was asked to verify that he knows how to double and triple a recipe etc. Almost all of MPH recipes are based on Serves 4. So we take a count of the number expected for a meal and then double or triple or whatever it.  So I had two bowls, one with water and every measuring implement MPH owns. I asked him to double, plan for 70, tell me how much  3/4  plus 3/4  is. I was- yes, Lenore was- working with fractions. So we did all of this for about an hour. Then he asked my kind of Math question. “If I am doubling a recipe, Mama, why can’t I just put the amount in two times!?” My question for years in math class!!!  So I asked, but what if we were serving 70? “Just do it more times, Mama – about 18 times!!” HA! HA! Love it!! Only this new cook is allowed to be in the pantry, to order or to dispense. Only he, Inge and I will have a key to the pantry. If he does not leave out the correct stuff for breakfast the cooks will have to wake either Inge or me up at 6 AM. Not a good move I told him!! So far so good!

This Skype Stuff is pretty cool. Just had a nice visit with Jon in the early afternoon for me and on the way to work for him! I have a feeling his Dad may have told him I had an almost Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  It was great to catch up on his work, Karie and her job and the two little girls ending week two of school. We could even talk on his car phone as he drove to work! Unbelievable what technology can do. If we don’t use video there’s almost no delay when we have a good signal here at MPH. Wonder what it would have been like for us here in Congo long ago if we had had all of this stuff! WOW!!

Went and got some Congo Wax cloth with Ken on Grocery day. The tailor is coming tomorrow and he will measure and make stuff for us at $10-15 an item plus $1.00 for taxi ride here. Got Ken to pick some out for two night shirts in a “Scrubs” design and then a Congo Material for a shirt to go with the bright ones he got in Hawaii.  Also some material for some lounge pants, jackets and blouses for me. We just show him a picture of what we want from the net and he measures and makes it!  I was surprised at the brightness of the material Ken chose. I love it but thought he’d go more muted. I did not take him to the $150 a yard store. Have a gorgeous long piece I will probably use for a table cloth at the lake in blues and browns. I love riding down the streets here and seeing all the ladies in the bright, long, Congolese dresses. Pure “Color in Motion” as they walk down the streets!

Forgot to tell you!! Don’t know why but I decided a couple of night ago to start to put on my flip flops in the dead of night when I get up. Ken always does but I hadn’t been all this time. Last night as I was up I heard this crunch and my shoe sort of rolled. I kept on moving aware but sort of asleep. When we got up with the birds- now I know where that saying comes from- there was a huge Centipede sort of dead on the floor. So now I will always slip my flip flops on. The maid came today so all is clean at the apartment. She thought Ken and I were moving here to Kinshasa and wanted her sister to work for us.

Well. I have rambled long enough. We will go out tonight with the Ex-pats. Probably the pizza place. Have the chauffeur coming to drive us so Ken and his knee can take it easier getting in and out. We have the chauffeur reserved for all of the Friday nights we have left here in Kinshasa. He was delighted. He drove me by the headless goat restaurant while we were out grocery shopping. “Look, Mama!” and he grins and I react for him! Another poor headless goat hanging was there!!

Have a great weekend!

Love Ya! Me