A Land Of Confusion

Yesterday I was made an honorary member of Keyshero Footballclub, a veterans only (Although by African standards this is apparently around 28, making me probably the oldest and most sagacious member of the team.), club with what seems like around 200 members all sharing 11 yellow kits. I promised to look into getting some new ones from Norway, so if anyone (How desperate to advertise on a blog that no one reads.) has ever dreamed of sponsoring an African veterans team, here’s the chance of a lifetime.
Practice was over at 9 am. Having spent the previous night eating goat and drinking a mixture of sweet sparkling rosé and local beer, 7 am was an ambitious time for sports, but nonetheless non-negotiable.
What made matters worse, was the matter of the post-training-celebration. Apparently someone knew of a bar that would let us in at 9 in the morning, and the players insisted that we drink all the beer in the entire universe. A great way to start a Sunday.
Having slept off the beer, I went to Matt in Mercy Corps house to see if I couldn’t get some inside ex-pat info on Goma, and take advantage of his large satelitedish.
After several hours of rubbish American sitcoms, that made my heart leap and my soul feel at home, we concluded that if a doorman has had a kid he deserves $10, and if he has a kid every 2 months, you need to have a talk about contraceptives. Also, the Chinese will rule us all, if we don’t send cannon fodder or techsupport.

This was pretty far from being my most efficient or educational day in Congo, but in my defense it was a Sunday, and it was nice to spend the afternoon hanging out with my local friends. People say that it is difficult for foreigners to make friends in Congo because of the presumably large difference in income and lifestyle. Perhaps my Congolese friends cantell I'm not a very rich muzungu, because I don't seem to be having any trouble.
To those of you who was expecting something profound and insightful on my African experience today (as if anyone even reads these shambolic rants), I apologize, and promis to be back on form tomorrow, hopefully with something meaningful to say.