Driver's License Day- Sept 15th, 2009

I just finished a busy day of things that I didn't think would be very interesting to tell anybody about. It was just kind of an ordinary day in L'ishi (the easy way to say Lubumbashi). So, I went in to just relax a minute in the bedroom, which is the only room with air conditioning & rapidly becoming my favorite place to be, when suddenly everything went black & we experienced our first power outage. I think it was pretty good that we've been here for four days & just had our first power outage. We had begun to think that it was just frightening stories that we loose power. So, I got my trusty shake flashlight and went to rescue Brent who was in the office. We have candles by our beds left by the kind people who have been here before. So we lit them and laid on the bed discussing the day & how it seemed fairly normal.
We worked around the house for a while & then we went with our trusty guide, Monga, to get our driving permits. I think that I said that the Congolese DMV has been shut down for 2 months because some employee forged a driver's license. But you can get temporary licenses, so we headed off to get it. This outing seemed pretty normal to us while we were doing it, but now that we think about it, it was an adventure.
First we went through the middle of town, which is quite a sight to see. There were hundreds people just walking around & quite a few cars too. It was just your normal African scene - men sitting around on the ground or in white plastic chairs, other waling as if they had some business to do, women with babies in wraps strapped to their backs, and people carrying all kinds of things on their heads. This time there was nothing very unusual, just giant baskets of bread, bananas, mangos, or bags with who knows what in them. It is beginning to feel normal to see these kinds of sights. The weirdest thing is the money sellers. They are all men who sit in a chair on the side of the street with a "brick" of Congolese Francs to exchange for Dollars. They just put out a piece of cardboard that says $$$ & they're in business. I wonder why somebody doesn't come along & just knock them over & take their money, but they don't. Strange in a place where people have nothing. A "brick" is about 2 inches tall & about the sized of our money. It would be lots of money here, but the CF is not worth much. The smallest denomination you see is 500CF & that's worth about $.60. So, it takes a pile of money to get anything.

A "brick" of Congolese Francs

Working in CFs is a challenge. It seems crazy when they say they want 8,000CF for a picture. It sounds like a log, but it's only about $6.50 for five little passport size pictures. What a laugh to see us counting out $100 worth of CF to pay for our groceries. They finally offered to help us. Very pathetic!
The picture taking was another adventure. Besides the fact that everybody stares at us like we have two heads because we are the only white people around (literally we haven't seen an Anglo since the mission home) it was quite the interesting place to have pictures taken. We sure were glad the Brother Monga was right beside us the whole time. The photo shop/shoe store was a tiny room about 12x12 as are most of the shops here. We had to go up some stairs for the actual picture. The stairs were really a bit terrifying. They were sort of suspended so they moved as you walked. They were padded & then covered with heavy plastic so that you couldn't see what was under there & I think that was a blessing. We stood in front of one of the 3 circles (white, yellow, & green) to make a nice background for our photos. That room was about 8x8 & I was glad to be out of that tiny place.
Next we thought we were off to the Congolese DMV. We left the main road & drove on other streets that were just dirt with huge ruts & gullies in them. It's like a 4-wheeling trip every time you leave the main paved road in Lubumbashi. Instead of ending up at the DMV we ended up at a Dispensary, which is a clinic. there we met a woman who was dressed, like most women, in a beautiful African dress (almost no women wear pants) and a matching scarf wrapped around her head. She was very beautiful (wish I'd had a camera for this whole adventure. I'm going to take it with me everywhere I go from now on). She had a little boy with her because she'd taken him to the Dispensary. the kids really stare at us & most won't acknowledge us when we wave or say hello (freaky white people). It turns out that the Congolese have a great way of doing things. You just pay somebody to go to the DMV and negotiate & get your license for you. Pretty cool! I've pent hours at the DMV to ask a simple question & we got driving permits without stepping foot in the place. They are just pieces of type paper with our picture stapled to them & signatures on them. But they're what has kept us prisoners in our own home because if you get stopped without one, you are in jail.

Here is Brent's drivers permit

Now we can go out & see what this town is all about. We have about eaten all our food from our first trip to the store, so it's a good thing we're free at last.
So, just a typical day in L'ishi! Now we're all locked into our house & the lights are back on and life is good!
I've done lots of cooking. Everything has to be made from scratch & with rather funky ingredients. Made my first brownies tonight. They turned out OK despite the weird sugar & no shortening. Our password is FLEX!
Tomorrow the mission Pres. & his wife arrive for a week. We have stake conference & our first trip to an outlying city, Likasi, for a zone conference. There is no internet in Likasi & no food we can buy there, so we're packing a lunch & it will be most interesting. Life has not been dull since we left home. I don't think it will while we're here.
Have to run. I'm on the program for both Zone Conference & Stake Conference to "say a few words" & it will be in French! Easy for them to say. But I'm doing better un peu par un peu! The people are so kind when you try to speak. They are just pulling for me & helping me when I can't find the word. It's amazing!