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!