Christmas in August

After two and a half months of living in a five room apartment with a mattress and a plastic table our container arrived of Friday afternoon. Adrian and I have been diligently unpacking and setting up our home for the next three years. It truly has been like Christmas as much of the stuff we bought new, including a cappuccino machine and a huge television with surround sound. Normally, I would feel guilty about having so many gadgets but in Kinshasa, where there is no movie theatre and/or Starbucks such things will help cure homesickness for sure.

Check out the before and after picture of our bedroom above!

All Quiet in the Western Capital

Since Tuesday's cease fire agreement Kinshasa has remained quiet. Nonetheless, people are tense. A street kid threw a rock at a policeman today, injuring him. The police promptly fired into the air to disperse the crowd, not an uncommon practice in Kinshasa. But because everyone is keyed-up right now people panicked at hearing the gun shots and ran. The grocery stores and banks locked their doors with customers inside. The whole city seems to be on edge, waiting, expecting and yet hoping at the same time. Nous allons voir.

Although our building does have some bullet holes in it the side of the building where our apartment is remained bullet free. The German Foreign Ministry has let us know we can move if we would like but with so many UN tanks and soldiers coming and going around our building I don't know where in Kinshasa we would be safer!

Renewed gunfire

Just as I was about to post that the city seemed calm and the candidates had excepted last nights results (Kabila: 44%, Bemba: 20%) renewed fighting broke out. Since 2:30pm Kabila and Bemba forces have been exchanging gun and tank fire. When Kabila fired on Bemba's house an envoy of foreign diplomats was at Bemba's for negotiations. They have since been traped there. UN tanks have passed by our building (as we live down the street from Bemba and the trapped ambassadors) and the gunfire has slowed. Nonetheless, it continues. Above is a picture from a Reuters news article. Colleagues live in the pinkish building in the lower right hand corner and we live not far from there, in the direction of the black smoke which was coming from Bemba's military compound. UN tanks have tanks have just parked in front of our building. Adrian is at the German Embassy and I home. Unfortunately, both Kabila and Bemba's houses is located between the German Embassy and our building.

Results

First off, apologies for the lack of posting. With the internet at home now hopefully I will be able to post a lot more often with a lot more pictures!

Today, after three weeks since the elections, the results are supposed to be announced. Most expats are under some sort of house arrest and ex-rebel leader, current Vice President and favorite Kinoise candidate, Jean-Pierre Bemba, has called for a "dead city" meaning every one should stay home. The problem is the results most likely won't be announced until late this evening. If Kabila wins in the first-round most people expect demonstrations and possible rioting during the work day tomorrow. Alas, Kabila, according to the BBC does not seem to have more that 50% of the vote meaning elections will go to a second round. More tomorrow....