Bonne Fete Nationale!

La fête nationale française (le 14 Juillet) est la fête nationale de la France. Elle a lieu à cette date depuis 1880. Elle a été instituée pour commémorer la fête de la Fédération en 1790, jour d'unité nationale, et non pas la prise de la Bastille directement. C'est un jour férié en France.


Le 21 mai 1880, le député Benjamin Raspail dépose la loi faisant du 14 juillet la fête nationale annuelle en commémoration du 14 juillet 1790, (fête de la Fédération). Le 14 juillet 1789 (prise de la Bastille) ayant été une journée jugée sanglante, c’est la Fête de la fédération qui emporta les suffrages. C'est finalement le 14 juillet 1790 seul qui est commémoré.


ENGLISH TRANSLATION: The French recognize Bastille Day as the end of the monarchy and beginning of the modern republic. The lasting significance of the event was in its recognition that power could be held by ordinary citizens, not in the king or in a higher power. Remember the movie "Marie Antoinette" with Kirsten Dunst? Her character, along with Kind Louis XVI, took refuge in the castle Versailles while the peasants pillaged and burned the Bastille, a castle symbolized hypocrisy and corruption of the aristocratic government.


Our new team member, Emmanuelle, arrived this week from France (somewhere in Normandie) and brought with her French cheese, chocolate, and ham. Who could resist French cheese and chocolate? 

It's no Eiffel Tower picnic, but it's Bastille Day celebration!

French love everything about cheese - yum!

This means that for now the independence day celebrations in our office include:

• March 2nd - Texas from Mexico
• June 30th - DRC from Belgium
• July 4th - US from Great Britain
• July 14th - France from its own monarchy
• July 21st - Belgium from the Netherlands
• September 2nd - Vietnam from France
• December 12th - Kenya from the United Kingdom

SUMMER, SUMMER, SUMMERTIME: Seems like a lot of action takes place in the summer. Likewise, this summer is no exception. It's been quite busy the last few weeks. First off, the Women's World Cup. U-S-A, U-S-A! I'm rather sure I'm the only one on this continent that cares, but it's great to see the team capturing the country's imagination, with the dramatics against Brasil and France. Secondly, another event I'm probably the only fan of within 1,000 km of this city is Copa America. Argentina has just started picking it up while Mexico's U-20 team wasn't so hot. Otherwise, it's been a lot of work - proposals, staying sane, preparing for the field trips - apparently one of the areas we normally work was where a murder/riot took place. It's not going to get any better with elections (November 20) coming up and the completion of FARDC (National Congolese Army) trainings, meaning country deployment and less presence to ward off the rebel groups. Goma is a large enough city where there is a high presence of NGOs and multi-national organizations; thus, a lot of coordination necessary to present a more comprehensive approach to solution-making.Today, our Country Representative swings by the office for the weekend, which is pretty exciting because she's located on the complete opposite side of the DRC, in Kinshasa.

Striker Alex Morgan scores the go ahead goal.

LABOR LAWS: Congolese labor laws reflect the Belgian system. The Congolese legal system may be divided in three branches, namely public law, private law and economic law. Public law regulates legal relationships involving the state or state authority; private law regulates relationships between private persons; and economic law regulates interactions in such areas as labor, trade, mining and investment. The DRC is a civil law country and as such the main provisions of its private law can be ultimately traced back to the 1804 Napoleonic Civil Code. Overall, notwithstanding significant policies and legal reforms the government has formulated and adopted factors such as the lack of infrastructure, weak institutional capacity, and corruption undermine the effectiveness, stability and predictability of the legal system. One particular note is that once an organization hires someone, it is quite difficult to fire them - this incident factored into events last week.


SALT and PEPPER RESTAURANT (Ave du Rond-Pont, 0899275588): A-, Heard about this restaurant but never quite found it, until one day.. our driver drove us  to Petit Bruxelles, everyone's first-time restaurant upon entering Goma. Makes sense why - it even has the famous statue like in Brussels. Quite an expat hangout. Anyway, to our surprise, Salt and Pepper is right next door. It's an Indian/Pakistani/Chinese restaurant run by an Indian family. Had vegetable samosas, 3 times of dishes, and lots of really good naan, completed by sweet lassi. Our local staff said it wasn't good but I'm going to attribute it to difference in tastes. We all quite enjoyed it (authentic spiciness). The MONUSCO mission's presence in the DRC helps stabilize the country, with the primary presence from the Indian and Uruguayan units. Thus, it's not hard to imagine why this restaurant would be popular. To note, the South African contingency is also here - they helped us out in Kitchanga to ensure safety during the fairs.


HAIRCUT: B-, generally, Congolese men shave their head because it's (1) easier; (2) quicker; (3) more convenient. Compound that with the fact that mzungus, especially Asian Americans, don't usually get their hair cut here and you have a perfect storm for catastrophe. On the first floor of the building where our gym is located, there is a coiffure called "Afro-Style Hair." I took my chances, walked in, and was stared at by every person within eyesight.. for 1 1/2 hours. This country seems to take everything to the extreme - it's almost ridiculous. Of course, I scrutinized every move to ensure hair maintenance; in the end I simply took the razor from the haircutter and did the sides myself. Hopefully, he remembers it for next time. Because all in all, it usually costs $2 for a local guy and I paid $10. Still, that is less than in Dallas and in DC.


TRIVIA!

This post's trivia: 

1. According to the CIA, how many households in Kenya have electricity? 
2. What are the "big three" credit rating agencies?
3. Which continent has the most countries? How many are there?
4. Which club team has won back-to-back CAF Champions League (equivalent to the European Champions League for Africa) titles? What country does it represent?
5. Which Argentinean revolutionary met with the former president of the DRC, Laurent Kabila?
6. BONUS: Who sings "I'm double fistin' now, under a strobe light..It's lookin' like a movie but it's feelin' so tight..?"

Last post's trivia:

1. What is the most populous French-speaking country? Democratic Republic of Congo!
2. What author wrote: "I believe there is no sickness of the heart too great it cannot be cured by a dose of Africa...if I have ever seen magic, it has been in Africa?" John Hemingway!
3. What country has the highest rate of infant mortality? Afghanistan - followed by Sierra Leone, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, and the DRC.
4. What 2 animals are the closest living evolutionary relatives to humans? Which one is only found in the wild in the Congo? Chimpanzees and bonobos. Bonobos are only found in the DRC!
5. When is the DRC's Independence Day? June 30th!
6. BONUS: What's the longest word in Spanish? Electroencefalografistas but I'm going with superextraordinarísimamente - sounds much cooler.

My passport is currently in the capital, Kinshasa, to be processed for permanent residency, work permit, and  a cross-border, neighbor travel permit. When it returns, likely end of August, I'm open to travel. Any suggestions welcome!