The Congo Chronicles: Introduction

So here we go! Friday night, in my castle, candles lit, vino tinto by my side, cafe del mar lounge music accompanying me...shall I dare to start? I came home from the office with so much energy after the mate (Argentina's national drink, a stimulating herbal infusion part of a social ritual) which I had with Lu this afternoon, and since I don't have any plans to go out, I decided to just go for it, and make a start to what is probably the most difficult story to share with you, none the less because it is so dear to me. I just read the entries in my diary from my one-week stay in Congo, and my throat is closed off with emotion, tears forming in my eyes.

How can one share what is so close to one's heart, without being afraid to give oneself, vulnerable, almost naked, to the eye of the reader? But then again, the only way writing works for me, is if it comes from the heart, uncensored, freeflowing, giving, honest.

The consultant in me had already thought about a logical way to organize my blog and pictures: background about Congo, politics, economics, family, daily life, and off course my grandmother, the central theme in my diary, memories, heart! But...to hell with logic! I've decided to just start writing, and see where the inspiration of the moment takes me, just the way I would like to live life, in the here and the now, guided by this incredible faith that everything will be allright and is exactly as it is supposed to be. Hopefully you'll be able to follow me, as I so much would love to share with you what I felt, Emotions with a capital E, which probably boil down to one universal theme: that BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER!

Gang bang...in Puerto Madryn



Puerto Madryn Picasa Web Album

 Just reading the title of my last blog, "Three months"...Funnily, it's been exactly three months since that last blog, and honestly, since I've discovered Facebook, I'm even more confused about whether I should be posting pictures on my blog, or just on facebook, but then the wall posts are just not suitable for stories...And God knows I've got a hundred stories sitting in me since my trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo! But somehow, that experience was so big and profound, that I dread putting these first words on paper, I need to let it all sink in a bit more...So, for those of you who are dying to "meet" my incredible grandmother (Kaku! in Tshiluba), to step into the vibrant daily life of the Congolese in Kinshasa, to taste and smell the african cuisine, to feel the incredible hope the population has vested in one of the candidates for November's presidential elections (a first Spring revolution in Sub-Sahara Africa?)...patience!!! I swear it will come, I've already started sorting through more than 350 pictures and video footage of my one-week trip...;-)

Allow me to start with something smaller, easier to swallow and digest. One week in Congo has definitely woken me up! I came back with the promise that life is too short to just let it pass by, and looking back at my first six months in Argentina, I noticed that I've barely seen anything from this beautifyl country! Work and lots of stress are barely a good excuse! And since one never knows how much longer this experience will last (especially me with my short-term contracts), I've decided to venture out more, starting with the first weekend since my arrival, which happens to be a long weekend!

A twenty-hour bus ride south from Buenos Aires, Puerto Madryn is a small port town, entry point to northern Patagonia, which counts Argentina's biggest aluminium factory, but more importantly, has the luck to host some of the world's largest mammals on their annual breeding tour, the Southern Right Whales (Ballena Franca Austral)! Those of you who know the author of this piece, the city-girl born and raised in Brussels, are probably already chuckling internally: how on earth can Rose now be so lyrical about a bunch of whales (after last year's dolphins in Mozambique)...

I'm writing this piece from Yoaquina, a cosy beach-front cafe, with a view on the emerald green and deep blue Gulf Nuevo, where I was greeted again by four or five whales just off the coast on a solitary and glorious morning walk! Amen to the solemn sandy beach, the wind playing in my hair, the sun making my little brother's gloves and scarf (no idea how these got in one of my boxes in South Africa, Tom) just perfect to ward off the polar cold, and amen to these incredible creatures who are putting up a show again for the third day in a row!

August-September is the mating season, and thanks to Sebastian, our passionate guide on yesterday's tour of the Peninsula Valdez (Huinca Travel, I can really recommend!), I feel like I know all about these big blubby sociable beings. So, the female (hembra) is, with 15 meters and weighing 50 tons, the bigger of the sexes, and the dominant one! Upon her call, she attracts four or five males, ready to follow the female in the mating dance. For hours, they will circle around the female, a gang of brothers cooperating to try and get her into the right position, but she leads them on and on (not tonight honey) and wears them out (part of the selection), until finally the persistent males get a chance each to inseminate her (which lasts just a couple of seconds), after which the real selection is based on the sperm's quality!

Upon my arrival on Saturday, I witnessed two groups playing already from the beach. But yesterday's boat trip brought it all up close (and personal?)! Amazing, what I liked best is that our captain was not trying to follow the whales, but that the whales decide whether or not they would come close to us! How blessed a spectator I felt to see their enourmous callous heads spray up water, their big backs swirling in and out of the water, and, cherry on the pie, the jumps and tail fins gliding back into the water, surrounded by subwoofer stereo sounds! Amen to Nature, when you get so close and almost under my skin, you take my breath away! Thank you!

Three months...

It has been three months now since I arrived in Buenos Aires, so I had to leave the country to renew my entry visa...

Excellent excuse to visit the landlords of my apartment, Rosita and Ovidio, in their farm in Uruguay, near the awkardly Swiss town of Colonia Valdense...Colonia is probably the most visited town by foreigners living in Buenos Aires who need to cross a border for visa-purposes...just hop into the buquebus ferry, and one hour later you´re in Uruguay!

So if you´ve seen the pictures of my apartment, you will no doubt understand that this old farmhouse has been restored with exquisite taste by Rosita, one of the most creative and giving souls I have ever encountered! Good vibes, nice family atmosphere with their 2 little blond angels Ovidito and Beltran and Malingo the little dog, and the real outdoors..so nice to leave the city for a weekend! Even though the wheather was not really playing along, I managed to accompany Ovidio and Beltran to feed the 60 calves - one of which is tenderly called the "crazy calf" and gave rise to some discussion between Ovidio and Rosita as Ovidio has grown a special attachment and does not want to sell his beloved friend; Violeta the sheep who thinks she´s a dog; their two horses; the geese...Driving their truck to the neighbours to pluck kaki (fruits) from the trees with the kids...Long discussions about the act of creation and life over lunch and dinner...Watching a family movie with the kids...Playing football on the beach 20 minutes from their house...Food for the soul with this beautiful family! I surely will be back!
https://picasaweb.google.com/rose.vervenne/ColoniaOvidioYRosita?authkey=Gv1sRgCP_ElayzmbPBhwE#

Saturday Night Live...

A new Saturday night ritual has come to life here in Buenos Aires: cooking nights with my gourmet friends Luis, Angel and Milton! Always a surprise what they will be cooking, as the menu depends on whatever fresh produce they come across in the Chinese neighbourhood! And for some reason, even the most basic dish reaches another, spectacular level with Milton and Angel, like the guacamole, mixed with some South African peppadew "sweet and picante" peppers - brought to me by my colleague Charlotte during her short holidays in Buenos Aires...

The menu this time ensured fully operational saliva glands again:
- Fresh guacamole on heated chicharron bread (fried pork rinds)
- Consome of chicken with milk piglet
- Pate of chicken wings with mushrooms
- Chickpea stew with beef
- Entrecote with duo of potato and leek creme and glazed peppadews with garlic
- Pure hot cocoa foam with cinnamon - imported and prepared the traditional way by my Colombian friends Marcela and Carlos, who demonstrated some salsa steps as well...

And the best part about hosting these dinners at my place, is that I get to keep the leftovers...hehe!
I am thinking now about a Belgian-Colombian specialties nights with Marcela and Carlos, so any suggestions of Belgian dishes are welcome!

Some more pics of our dinner via the link below! Buen provecho!

https://picasaweb.google.com/rose.vervenne/CenaCastillo_7DeMayo?authkey=Gv1sRgCIz38ab5w8nrsgE#

Zeg het in het Afrikaans...

Today in the online Belgian newspaper, the presentation of ANNA, the first dictionary Afrikaans - Dutch! Especially for my friends in South Africa and Belgium, take the test...

"In het Antwerpse provinciehuis is woensdagavond ANNA, het eerste groot woordenboek Afrikaans-Nederlands, aan het publiek voorgesteld. Het Afrikaans is de aan het Nederlands verwante taal die in grote delen van Zuid-Afrika en Namibië wordt gesproken. Het woordenboek telt liefst 2.232 pagina's en 60.000 trefwoorden.

Afrikaans is een relatief jonge taal die zich sinds de 17de eeuw, toen Nederlanders massaal naar Zuid-Afrika trokken, geleidelijk losmaakte van het officiële Nederlands en een eigen karakter kreeg. Het spreekt bij veel Nederlandstaligen tot de verbeelding omdat ze het vrij goed kunnen begrijpen. Maar het zijn vooral de originele beeldende woorden en uitdrukkingen, zoals 'moltrein' (metro) of 'blokkiesvloer' (parket), die ons aanspreken."

Hoe goed is jouw kennis van het Afrikaans? Doe de test...
http://www.standaard.be/extra/afrikaans

...Party!

My friends know how much I love a good party, and even more so to throw a party! So, following my new philosophy, I decided to just set the date for my "Fiesta de inauguracion y cumpleanos", Saturday the 16th, and hope for the best! The big question for me was off course, how many people would show up, and, unlike Kate or now Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge, my biggest nightmare was not to show up naked at my own wedding, but rather to have only three or four people attending in this huge apartment of mine, watching the clock to see at what time it would be polite enough to disappear from a boring non-event... 

It turns out, twenty-five (25!) people showed up at my party - way more than at my farewell party in Johannesburg ;-) No, I didn't have to hand out flyers stating "booze for free" on the streets, but with some weird stroke of luck (or not), I made some new friends the Saturday before, at another birthday party - the first party I was invited to! Santiago, who studied anthropology with my friend Dorothy in London, invited me to his 50th birthday party in his house in Hurlingham, outside of the city. He arranged a ride for me with Luis and Angel, two of his old schoolmates, and our 1-hour drive including me having to read a map to get back on track, turned out to be quite some fun! And somehow that night, I was in an extremely great form, which means that I ended up entertaining Luis, Angel, Marcela and Carlos - a Colombian couple - with my stories about my great country Belgium, and so for hours tears were rolling from laughter, and we ended up closing the party without even noticing...Luis and Angel are gourmets, and so they offered to prepare the food for my party. So the next Saturday, Luis invited me for lunch at his house with this gourmet crew, just 5 blocks from my place, and then my new friends moved to my place for the party! Milton, part of the crew, is the creative chef of one of Buenos Aires' best restaurants (http://www.chilaweb.com.ar/), and he ended up cooking gourmet food all night for my guests, including specials for my three vegetarian friends! A real show in the open plan kitchen and living / party room, as you can judge from the pictures! We had a special chickpea stew, a huge fresh octopus a la plancha, a spectacular peruvian dish called "Tacu Tacu", and, especially for me, a pot of mussels in white wine, as I told them the weekend before that this is one of Belgium's specialties...I closed the door around 4.00 for my last guests after tea and cake, with a big smile on my face...And have since then been invited to the weekly informal gourmet cooking gatherings which turn out to be a lot of fun...

You'll find more pictures of my party and friends on the link below!

https://picasaweb.google.com/rose.vervenne/BirthdayEnBuenosAires?authkey=Gv1sRgCN-Uv_fP5LbRxQE#



Birthday...

If you read this post and haven't wished me a happy birthday yet, it means that, yes - you missed a very important date!!! April 12th was just a regular Tuesday, actually a really busy Tuesday. I started my day with a meeting out of the office, and when I finally arrived at the office, Luciana and the guys from the foundation surprised me with a whole bunch of "facturas" - a term used for croissants and other morning (and afternoon!) pastries! Plus a HUGE box of artesenal chocolates - they must have picked up on my chocolate withdrawal symptoms...And then an even bigger bouquet of flowers and a bottle of champagne from my friend Heloise were delivered at the office...making quite an impression on the girls at reception - damned, I should have sticked to the "mysterious admiror" story!

All these attentions were so sweet...But still, I didn't have any plans for the night, so ended up working until 20.00 (yes, I know), when Alexander - a consultant with Dutch roots working on the same floor - decided that it was a NO GO for me to just sit at home by myself on such a day, and having been an expat himself, he invited me for dinner with his Greek wife in my favourite restaurant Petanque, a French brasserie close to my home, where I had an awesome Steak Tartare with frietjes and mayonaise, followed by a birthday cake with a candle I had to blow out and a glass of champagne! So, even though I had nothing planned, it turned out to be quite an awesome day...And the PARTY on Saturday was even better...as you'll read in my next post!