Tuesday 1:20 pm

I love Chimpanzee lunchtime. We were all playing outside -- it's been really beautiful before noon every day for the past week, and the chimps were additionally excited because Balume, their caregiver who now only cares for Shege, was in the compound visiting them.

I remember when I first came to the Chateau Chimpanzee -- Balume was a full-time babies caregiver since Shege hadn't yet arrived. Balume was, by far, Etaito's favorite. One of my most severe bitings was, in fact, when Balume was doing his wash and Etaito couldn't find him, went into a panic, and took out the frustration on one of my knees, through my jeans.

Now that Balume isn't here anymore, it was just so clear how much things had changed as I watched him interact with Balume today. Of course he was happy to see him and jumped into his arms straightaway. The longer Balume was there, though, the more I realized how "important" I'd become as Etaito would rush Balume, biting him, playing rough, stealing his shoes, and then come back to me, hop into my lap and want snuggles and grooming.

It made me so proud, and also so honored to have won this tiny chimpanzee's trust, and, dare I say, "love"... And once you're being treated like a mother, it's hard not to act like one. Achilles came in with the food Mwacca had just purchased for the chimps, and I saw the bag come in and initiated the food-hoot. Okeysha ran down from the tree, and Etaito jumped onto my back.

Okeysha crawled up my front and I hooted, they hooted -- Etaito right into my ear (since he was behind me) as we headed over to the big plastic bag. Achilles grabbed a big banana and reached down to give it to Etaito.

"No," I scolded. "Etaito n'aime pas les grand bananes. Il mange seulment les petites bananes!"

Almost in sync, Etaito took the big banana from Achilles and threw it onto the ground. I reached into the bag, reassurance-hooting and took a handful of small bananas, as well as some passion fruit and hooted as I opened the passion fruits for the kids.

Kanabiro gets so excited when there's food that she jumps up and down, smacking her feet hard on every landing. Of course, when she's sitting on you, it's somehow less fun, but still funny.

Bonane was putting away the food into the fridge as the kids kept eating. I had both Kanabiro and Okeysha climbing on me, so I decided to sit down. I backed into the chair and plopped down. Etaito climbed up onto my lap and I helped him open a passion fruit. The gooey slimey seeds went all over my lap and after he got up, I tried to brush them off.

Bonane wanted to sweep up the fruit carnage from the cement floor, so I went to stand up, helping Etaito get onto my back. When Bonane started to laugh!

"Que passé?" I said in my awful, wrong French.

"Regardez!! Le Banane!" squealed Bonane.

... Yeaa... I guess there'd been banana in the chair when I sat down. Because I had smushed, slimy banana all over my butt.

My friends know how much I hate the "eating banana" noise. It colors my opinions of bananas in general, having to hear that gross slimy smacking whenever someone is eating banana. Amazingly, chimpanzees don't seem to make that noise with bananas, although they make it with every single other kind of food.

Had I known what the feeling of smushed wet banana in fabric was SO disgusting, I'd never have complained about the sound. Just trying to brush the banana off my butt was horrific. I couldn't help but laugh, because as I squealed, Achilles and Bonane laughed, and Etaito protested that I was moving more than 2 feet away from him.

The whole thing was sort of farcical -- since I already had passion fruit seeds all over the front of me, it was pointless to try to wipe the banana off the back of me. Every time I brushed somewhere new, there'd be more banana.

After everything, we went and flopped on the mattress in the "drop" between the two houses. The kids played and I nearly fell asleep.

I've got more video to upload but I'm honestly not sure when I'll be in the office next. I'm still not sure at all when Debby and Liz are coming, and I'll admit to being nervous about my five days with Liz. I'm also not sure if Debby will think I did a "good job" since I was never really sure to start with what it was I should be doing. hehe.

Either way, my dad and Ruth get to Uganda in 8 days and I get to the US in 14!! Time really is running up!

Saturday 3:21 pm

I'll admit that the isolation is making me a little stir-crazy, but it doesn't prevent me from sending huge birthday wishes to booksymagnifico!!

And, because good things always come in pairs, happy birthday to vlamidala too!!

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Something wonky is going on with money at the office, but it was certainly surprising to me when the groceries-guy came back and told me the office didn't have the money to buy the food for the chimpanzees -- or the humans -- at the Chateau Chimpanzee. It was annoying too that Jean Bosco, the potentially questionable Head Accountant at the office -- told them to get the money from me.

It's hard not to resent being put upon, or to have people's welfare resting on your fiscally insecure shoulders. The fact is, I didn't have all the money they needed, so I gave them money for the chimpanzees' food, and today, around noon, I walked over to the Grand Lac to get lunch and dinner from my favorite Lebanese restaurant.

I've commented on it before, but there is such dichotomy in Goma. I walked across "the elephant graveyard" -- the area where the lava flow runs clear through the center of town and car husks lie there, stuck in time. The air was rank with the stink of burning, festering trash.

Over to my right was the remnants of what must have been an incredibly posh hotel. In front of it now was a stinking sea of trash. Reflected in the enormous bay windows at the side of the hotel, you could see small children with no shoes and scraps for clothing, rummaging through the sea with their small green plastic bags open, ready for whatever treasure they might unearth.

I was talking about the state of Goma with Wamud, the guy who owns the Lebanese restaurant. I was dying to speak English with someone -- anyone -- so I was really glad when he asked if he could sit down at my table while I waited for the food to be prepared. He didn't understand half of what I said, but I expressed the frustration to him about constantly being asked for money that, honestly, I don't have to give. He didn't believe me when I told him that I'd lived in Goma for two months for less than $1000.

Laughing, I received the sage advice that, in Goma, "nothing is cheap but the women" ...

It was really nice to sit down and chat with someone, although our conversation included the requisite question: "Are you married?"

I guess even for a Lebanese guy living in Goma it's a favorite pick-up line. *sigh*

I think that, aside from the chimpanzees, what makes Goma so endearing is the fact that these people, living in absolutely deplorable conditions, find joy in the smallest things. It's what drew me to the villagers in Kenya, but here things seem so much harsher.

Two days ago I saw this guy who had one of the traditional Congolese "bicycles" -- but he'd painted it white and had these enormous glittering silver tassels on the handlebars. He was singing, coasting down a big hill, his tassels fluttering in the wind.

There's also this bent-over old lamppost on the way to the elephant graveyard. I'm sure the lava bent it in the heat, but now it's pretty much parallel to the ground. It sort of bobs up and down, and most every time I pass by, there are kids on it, using it as sort of a pseudo-see-saw.

I really enjoy my daytime walks through Goma, although it's often difficult to keep your eyes off the ground -- volcanic terrain is pretty uneven, and, as most of you know, it doesn't take volcanic rubble to make me fall down.

I'm going to head to Gisenyi tomorrow for some respite -- plus, I really want to swim in Lake Kivu. Then I'll head into the office on Monday and sleep there Monday night. With any luck, I'll get paid back on Tuesday for the money I've doled out. As much as I've enjoyed finally learning to communicate with Bonane, and the various door-security guards (I actually managed to explain evolution in broken French!), I could really use someone else to talk to.

So, next week (since this won't get posted until Monday), if anyone feels like calling me, I'll be really grateful. I'm 7 hours ahead of EST -- and the number is posted in the top entry of the page.