Bad News

Monday 4:22 pm


Delphine just came in and said that a bunch of the DFGFI guys are getting warnings to get out of Goma because something really bad is going to happen tonight.

She's heading back to Karibu to get her cat and some stuff, but we're all crossing the border into Rwanda tonight and staying there until whatever it is happens.

I'm really worried about my chimps. I hate leaving them here. We have NO armed guard, and that's shit too.

Delphine seems freaked out, and that's got me a little freaked out. I've got everything that's important -- laptop, camera, passport.

(no subject)

Tuesday 8:20 am

It's somehow anti-climactic to be evacuated to a four/five-star hotel in Rwanda. Ever wonder where all the mahogany in Africa is? It's here, at the Kivu Sun, surrounding the sink basin, helping create the atmosphere by acting as the faux-bamboo-shaft for the standing lamp.

It really is a gorgeous hotel, with yummy food. The food is probably the best selling point, but even the bed came with four pillows - a real luxury for me who sleeps on one of those airplane pillows at the Chimp Chateau -- the horseshoe-shaped ones and mine also happens to be plush and have a monkey head & tail.

Regardless, it was a terrible night's sleep. Yes, I'm congested, no longer achey, but I kept waking up in the night. I took a bath to try to calm down with no immediate effect. I had no idea what was going on in Goma, and my imagination was running wild with what might be happening to my kids back there.

Anyway, when I woke up at 8 am, the room was empty too! Very disconcerting!

It always strikes me as odd whenever I'm in a designated "muzungu" place, because it makes me wonder "Wow, do people really think Africa is like this?"

Also, I got confirmation that my dad and Ruth are coming to visit in March - they've got their tickets and everything! Hearing that was thrilling!!

It seems too that there was no new news on the Goma front last night -- clearly better to be safe than sorry. Plus, it was a great night away, minus the sniffles and sleeplessness. Maybe once everyone leaves in February when I'm looking to get away I'll just go to the Kivu Sun :)

Things Not to Say To One's Mother

Tuesday 10:50 am

One learns as one grows up that there are certain *buzz* words not to mention to one's parents. These include most terms having to do with sex, drugs, drinking or general recklessness.

For some, this also includes relationship words, inferences to sexual kinkhoods, allusion to tattoos, piercings or teenage shenanigans.

I learned this week to add another word to my buzzlist:


evacuate


Without meaning to, I totally freaked my mother out by telling her over AIM that we were evacuating yesterday to Rwanda, but that everything was fine. However, despite my reassurances, I still used the word "evacuate"

I shouldn't have been surprised to find a missed call on my phone this morning (which i didn't hear in my sleep) or to discover that Georg Strunden of the JGI-USA office had received a frantic call from my mother, and that he had called Brad (Delphine's husband, DFGFI) to make sure we were okay.

Sort of embarrassing, but it's just punishment for using the "e" word I guess.

Goma!Danger

Tuesday 12:16 pm

Well, it's not all bad, but it's certainly not good. Delphine heard from ECHO and some other people (ECHO is the humanitarian wing of the EU)

Planes have been flying overhead all day long and we were told that the government is sending troops in from Kinshasa (the capital city in the west).

There's some general who's causing trouble in the outer regions, and people think that he's bringing in troops to take over Goma, starting with the airport.

Either way, nothing here is good, and we'll probably go back to the Kivu Sun today and stay in Gisenyi again tonight.

No one is sure what'll happen, that's for sure. Or how long we'll have to stay in Gisenyi. I'm increasingly worried about the chimps. I feel bad for Delphine too, because she's really in her last week here.

It's not exactly a bon voyage, is it? I'll admit that I never noticed so many of the random people on the streets with guns before yesterday.

During our great gorilla conversations last night, Stuart from DFGFI also mentioned that he's been hearing a lot of gunfire north of Hotel Karibu too.

So, I'm not using the "e" word but I'll be at the Kivu Sun in Gisenyi until further notice -- we'll probably evacuate leave the office around 2 pm today. If their internet is working, I'll post from there.

Whose Shoe is It Anyway?

Tuesday 3:10 pm

The sound of planes overhead is pretty much constant today. Sure, usually there's maybe 2-3 planes a day, but it sounds like there's about 2-3 planes an hour.

If there was a first shoe -- I'd say that it feels like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Carol and Delphine are on their way back from the Karibu, picking up more stuff. I'm pretty sure after they get back we'll be on our way to Rwanda.

I'm off to pick up my Western Union. Cash is always key.

Wading Through Uncertainty

Tuesday 4:50 pm

I've gotta say, the not knowing is killing me. Of course there's no Oracle that can tell us what tonight is going to be like, or what the troops are doing here, or if it's safe.

But no one has ANY idea how to proceed. Go to Rwanda? Don't go to Rwanda? Waffle? IHOP?

So, I'm not sure what we're doing, and, in the interim, I'm just sitting in the office. And sitting in the office, waiting, Metaphorical Shoes... dropping?

*sigh* It's sort of making me crazy. Everyone at DFGFI is heading back over to the Kivu Sun, and I'm thinking even if I'm the only JGIer, that I will too.

(no subject)

Tuesday 5:08 pm


Everyone is staying in Goma tonight. See you all tomorrow.

(no subject)

Tuesday 6:23 pm

Oh well. How things change. We showed up at DFGFI and Patrick told us that someone had received a call from the Security office telling them to "keep their head down tonight"... What's more, Ben, the volunteer whose pseudo-family runs DOCS (Doctors on Call) had their huge truck CONFISCATED by the military for troop transport.

Probably nothing will happen, but, for what it's worth, I'm back in Rwanda again.