A Fun Change in Routine

My normal Saturday routine includes working on the blog in the mornings and playing softball in the afternoons. These last few weeks, we have not had enough players in town to continue softball, so in order to stay active we've had to break that routine a bit and take walks or go swimming. Yesterday I changed up the morning blog post and afternoon softball game routine to do something different and play a different game. I've written in previous posts about our missionary friends Jim and Nancy Smith. They raised their children here in the Congo. For the past few weeks, their son in law, Rob, has been here helping them in their ministry in Nkara. This was Rob's first trip to Congo. Friday evening he returned to Kinshasa so he could fly back to the states today. So yesterday morning Daniel, Pepe, and I took Rob to the artisans' marketplace. In the photo above Pepe, my driver, is on the far right. Between Rob and me is an artist/vendor holding one of his paintings. When ever we go there to shop, this gentleman gives us good prices on his paintings and walks about with us telling the other vendors to give us good prices so that we will keep coming back and bringing our friends. Generally it works, but shopping in the market is also a game. They always start with a ridiculously high price. We always counter with a lower price than we hope to get away with. We all end up meeting somewhere in the middle and everyone is happy. It's how you play the game. Even if it is 99 degrees outside, and you are hungry and tired, and you and the vendor both know exactly what you paid for the same item the last time you shopped, and you really just want to skip to the end, you can't. You can win the game, lose the game, or even quit the game, but you can't skip the game. 

Daniel and Pepe at TASOK campus, Shawn's school

We also visited some of the old stomping grounds of Rob's wife, Shawn. He was able to see places she lived, studied and worshiped and take photos to show Shawn what has changed and what has not. I'm sure when he gets home with his photos and shares his experiences there will be some nostalgic moments for Shawn. I remember what it is like to be in a strange country trying to travel and shop when no one speaks my language, so I was glad to be able to help Rob. I had a lot of fun seeing Kinshasa through fresh eyes again and explaining things for him. I also remember the first time David took me to see the places he spent his childhood and how that felt, to have that added connection and to actually see the things he had described to me. Very cool beans.