The First Week

This is Tuesday, one week into the mission. Mark has the responsibility to call PEF loan recipients to discuss their payment arrears. Most are nice and promise that they will be in “this afternoon” or “tomorrow morning” to bring in a payment. There seems to be a universal loss of memory, because there has not as yet anyone come in today, yesterday, or ever. I have the task of processing PEF loan applications that have been completed. All the documentation has to be sent to the South Africa Area Office for approval and for funding. We have had two applications this first week.

Mark found duty-free Belgian chocolate in the Brussels airport.

We arrived Tuesday August 7 on Brussels Air. The knee space was approximately one inch larger than the United flights from Washington D.C. to Brussels and from Salt Lake to Washington D.C., so it felt less like a straitjacket. We were able to sleep some on that flight so we weren’t too bleary to “enjoy” the arrival routine. The airbus can accommodate about 270 passengers. The flight was not a sellout but substantial. The flight went from Brussels to Luanda, Angola, an hour farther south than Kinshasa. A lot of passengers deplaned. What is this, why did we fly over Kinshasa to Luanda? No answer. Then they filled the plane again for the one-hour flight back to Kinshasa. Only problem - it was an additional one-hour wait on the ground before we could travel on. We were fortunate that there was not a major delay on any of the flights. We had to carry our baggage down metal stairs, Mark with his pillow under one arm, a computer bag on one shoulder, the water filter on the other, and a 40-lb. carry-one bag. I had one big shoulder bag and a 40-lb. carry-on bag. About this pillow. He left the pillow in the Salt Lake Airport outside security. He had to rush back hoping it would be there, but didn't want to go through security again. A friendly airport policeman fetched the pillow, sent it through scan, and we went on our way to our flight. The same pillow was left on the final flight after we gathered our things, so Mark had to swim upstream to retrieve it. So the pillow was the challenge. (Below is the cacophony of baggage claim at the Kinshasa Airport.)

We expected to have a vehicle and a driver’s license for Mark the first day (missionary sisters are not permitted to drive; it is hard enough for the brothers).  Now that a week has passed, we are still without both so another missionary couple gets to chauffeur us to the office and back. They have been kind to take us to stores and roadside stands to get food, so we do have something to eat. (Below is a clip of life in the Perpetual Education Fund Self-Reliance office.)

The couples assigned to Kinshasa in various callings took turns inviting the "Smiths 2" (another Smith couple is the "Smiths 1") to dinner the first four days. What a help while you are getting the hang of the system. The Smiths 1 had a wonderful meal featuring macaroni and cheese (Sister Smith 1 loves the cheese here). The Moons served Mexican dinner with enchiladas. The Bybees served a great chicken meal with haricots verts (green beans), sweet potato, and a beautiful green salad with a dessert made of plantains. President Cook and Sister Cook served a pot roast dinner; we were blessed, because beef roasts are scarce and very expensive. The Gates held a dessert night on Sunday for all the couples. Elder Gates' assignment is construction. He made a great rice pudding.