These few days have been getting to know each other, the campus, and Kinshasa. It has been wonderful for developing cohesiveness but hard on the kids. I am torn between wanting to be around others and needing to be alone. It is a process of listening and watching to see who might be a friend and a test to see if I can really manage the children alone. No. Well, it’s not too bad but Nabih throws fits with regularity. He’s tired and overwhelmed and sometimes I think it would be easier to just stay home. Which is what we did tonight.
There is every kind of character here and I am in flux about the many ironies confronting me. We are in the middle of Africa but it is not the same as being welcomed by the family of dance. I appreciate my secure surroundings and the fact that I can walk home on a dark street in complete safety. I am coming to appreciate some of the neighbors and quick chats or informal stop bys. It could be a community. I wonder if I could fit here.
Just outside the wall I hear the sounds of city life. Children are playing and chickens are roaming. Tonight as I read the boys to sleep, I heard the night drumming with energy. Sometimes it feels like out there is Africa. In here is just a lovely place to be.
The rain forest is beautiful (and I’m told it’s not even really green yet. My eyes cannot prepare for the feast awaiting them.) Today I saw my classroom and became excited about the business of being here. In the summer, I forget how much I love to teach. But the school really is amazing and seems to have so much to offer. I am looking forward to being part of a team again.
Mohamed has made some friends and had some fun riding his bike around. He was so bold as to make his way home alone one day and, though frantic at his absence, I can be glad that he has so quickly learned the way and knew the right place to go. There is a volleyball game on Sundays that will make him happy to join and even a Congolese dance class we may try.
But this is all here, in relative safety and seclusion. It is a different way to be in Africa. I miss the warmth of being around artists, the music and dancing. The easy way of talking without speaking.
With patience things will come, connections that are meant to happen. That is what I am really doing this week; learning how to slow down and to have patience. Life on campus.
