Moving to Africa? Take a course in automechanics!

In many African cities there is little to no official public transport system. Expats are very reliant on cars to get around. But cars break, especially given the low quality of the roads, throughout the continent. Unfortunately, finding a reliable auto-mechanic or garage where you can have your car serviced is a bit of a novelty here. When taking your car in it is very important to demand that any parts changed or fixed be replaced by parts made by the original manufacturer of the car (otherwise you get Nigerian made copies and get charged for the original prices). Knowing this before we had our car serviced a few weeks ago we demanded that the mechanic use "original parts". The problem we had him fix, however, only seemed to get worse after the car was serviced. So we went to another garage. There the mechanic told us that the last mechanic had used "original parts" just the originals for a completely different car! We own a Nissan Terrano and the mechanic had installed fuel injectors for a Toyota Landcruiser! Only in Africa....we certainly learned our lesson!

Bretagne, France

After finishing my work in Nigeria last month I decided to come to France to brush up on my French before returning to DRC after the holidays. I ended up in Rennes, a medium size university city. The city itself is like something out of a travel book: clean, quaint, lots of students and cafes. Learning French here has been very enjoyable because there are so many exchange students meaning we are all in it together. My current French class has students from China, South Korea, Mexico, Iceland, Germany and of course the States!

Rennes is located in western France which has a culture and history all its own. Bretagne distinguishs itselves from Normandy in various ways but one thing is for sure: this area of the world which also includes southern England is constantly overcast, rainy and windy. Nonetheless, there are some great things to see. To the left is a picture taken in front of St. Michel, a town on the northwestern coast built around an abby on a steep hill surrounded by marsh. Absolutely beautiful.

Yoruba Land: Culture and Food

Nigeria can roughly be divided into three geographical areas which represent the three largest ethnic groups. These are the Yoruba in the Southwest, the Ibo in the Southeast and the Hausa in the North. Each group has its own language and culture. In my work observering the voter registration process for NDI I was assigned to cover the Southwest. Fortunately, I had an opportunity, through a friend of a colleague, to become better acquainted with the Yoruba people than my work alone would have allowed. After spending time with Seye and her family, including eating traditional food and visiting the family's livestock I received an honorary Yoruba name: Omodara. Omodara means "good girl" as in a girl that is well-behaved, well educated and pleasant. Of course I was honored to receive such a name and believe I was given it because I did not complain about the intense heat, consistant lack of electricity and ate willingly with my hands Nigerian style. Above are some pictures with Seye's family, eating pounded yam and a vegetable soup with chunks of cow skin, a delicacy in Yoruba Land.

Durbar: Zaria, Nigeria

Nigeria is roughly 50% Muslim, 50% Christian. The North is Muslim, the South Christian, cutting the country in half where the capital, Abuja, is located. Abuja is a new city, planned to be the capital and it reflects the complex challenge Nigeria faces concerning religious diversity. The National Mosque and the National Church are both grand and directly face each other in downtown Abuja.

Before jihad succeeded in the North a pagan festival to honor the town Prince developed entitled the Durbar. The people in the North, as many peoples from the Sahel region of Africa, were tradesmen and made their fortunes large in part due to the horses they owned. A display of vibrant costumes and horsemanship define the day-long parade and finale in front of the Emir's Palace. Today the festival coincides with the end of Ramadan and therefore has become interconnected with Islam in northern Nigeria.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to travel to a town 2 hours north of Abuja with some colleagues to see the Durbar. We arrived in Zaria just as morning prayers were starting. We quickly found ourselves in gridlock traffic as everyone abruptly got out of their cars to pray. We realized that as westerners we were going to have a difficult time parking and locating the festival. But wonders never cease in Nigeria. A young man recognized we were a bit lost and offered for us to follow him to where we could park and see the festival. We even lost him in the traffic at one point but he came back for us. First we got a street side view where we were undoubtedly the attraction until the parade started. Then he took us to the Emir's Palace to see the final running of the horses. Afterwards the man asked for no money but rather requested we come visit his family. Of course we gladly accepted knowing it would be a rare opportunity to see how many live in northern Nigeria. In the end we each offered him 1,000 Naira or the equivalent of 8$ for his family. It was a small token for the world he opened up for us that day.

The pictures above do not do the experience justice but perhaps capture some of the color we witnessed.

Lagos, Nigeria

Lagos is the second largest city in the world, after Mexico city. Nigeria is Africa's most populated country and rich in oil. Unfortunately, the latter fact has not changed the quality of life for many in Nigeria even though the country has been a democracy since 1999. There are highways, road signs and traffic lights in Lagos. There are also open sewers, dirt roads and absolute gridlock traffic.

Oyibo means white person in the Yoruba language, which is the national language spoken in Lagos along side of English. Being identified as such is not uncommon. From the street children that happily chant the word in melodic tunes while begging for money to the receptionist announcing my visit to a state official it is hard to tell if the reference to race is meant to be a statement or a judgement. Either way it is impossible to forget here that my skin color affords me a certain status. I recently told a woman I liked her dress, she told me she liked my skin. Unsure of how to answer I thanked her and told her my parents gave it to me.

Being in the Minority

For the last four weeks I have been taking French lessons at the Alliance Franco-Congolaise. Unfortunately, the school is located next door to a building that distributes unemployment payments to former "soldiers" that have agreed to lay down arms in exchange for these payments. They are often disabled and traumatized men. It is a current occurrence that the money the state provides for them goes missing before it can be distributed. They then gather outside the building and wait exactly where I park my car.

Today was such a day. In the past I have found a parking spot and been able to enter the school without incident. But today there were no parking spots. In an attempt to wait for a space one man stood in front of my car and then acted like I had hit him with my car. I had been warned this is a common practice elsewhere in Kinshasa and was not worried that I had hit him based on the smiles on other men's faces but of course this event enboldened the 100 or so men that were now enclosing my car. They started rapping on the windows with their fists. I honked my horn to draw attention to myself as many at the school know me and a police station is just down the street. No one, however, came to disperse the crowd. Instead of continuing to look for a space I left.

The experience was upsetting to say the least. I am not sure if I should have tried to find a place and parked to stand my ground or not. In the moment though I was too frusturated and scared to get out of my car. Of course, I am left with the quandry--can I go back and park there in the future without incident? I was planning on visiting the director of the school tonight to pay for my course so I will bring the incident up with him. Perhaps he will have a solution. I may not have learned any French this morning but I did learn what it feels like to be in the minority.

"Kinshasa is Totally Trippy"

NDI colleague and friend Honorine Muyoyeta visits a vote compilation center in Kinshasa

The DRC has the largest UN peacekeeping force in the world, with 17,000 troops. Unfortunately, in a country the size of Western Europe with only 300 miles of paved roads their presence is barely felt in the country. Where they are felt is in Kinshasa. I'll describe by way of anecdote:

Shortly after the elections Adrian and I were taking, Jakob, a friend and EU election observer, home for the evening. Since there are few street lights in Kinshasa driving at night makes avoiding potholes especially challenging. On that particular night we noticed headlights coming toward us on the opposite side of the road. The curious thing, however, was they were too far apart to be the headlights of a car or even of a large truck. At first, Adrian wondered if they were two motorcyles riding in perfect sync but as we approached and passed the strange headlights we realized the vehicle was none other than a UN tank. That was a first for me. Jakob couldn't have described the situation better when he said "Kinshasa is totally trippy".

Of course, living in a country where four UN armored personnel carriers (basically a tank on wheels) stand guard over your building every night to keep the heavily armed, drunk/high militia soldiers in line is not a pleasant experience. I don't mean to make light of it here. But it is a daily reality in Kinshasa and humor is the best way to deal with the stress and anxiety that come with living in such a place.

The important thing is to keep your wits about you and know your rights. No one here has a right to search your car, ask to see your passport or come into your home unless they are the police. And even then you should call your embassy before allowing anyone to search you. Of course this is easier said than done when the other person is holding an AK47 assault rifle. Nonetheless, the men with the guns here know harming anyone in the international community could create big problems for them and/or their leaders so if you are assertive with them they will back down. There are many things I am learning here which is why I wanted to come. But there are many things that I miss about home. Being able to walk down the street, not be driven down it, is one of them.