Cultural Shuffle

Distel, my embassy lifeline here in the Congo, and I left our meeting with the Minister of Communication today and descended in an elevator where we commented simultaneously on the cultural aspects of elevator etiquette. In the United States, everyone on an elevator instinctually faces the door and stares stoically at a fixed point directly in front of him or her. In the Congo, people stand on the left and right sides of the elevator and face each other making eye contact and interacting socially. When I rode an elevator for the first time in Brazzaville, my American technique didn’t work, so I did the cultural shuffle inside this small box until I adapted appropriately.

When I am tired, my French becomes fragmented, stutters, waffles and trips. My listening skills in particular are affected.

While I was helping Joseph Ngawla with his CV today, I asked him why he only worked for one year at a bake shop in Kinshasa. He said that when the war started in the DRC, the bakery closed its doors in 2001. Joseph is a refugee in Brazzaville who worked for Joseph Kabila's political campaign. He's been unemployed for four years.

I thought about Corn Flakes and Pizza Hut this week. I haven't seen any American restaurants here and Corn Flakes would cost a small fortune.