Potpourri from Mark

Uh oh. There’s a problem, and it’s got me quite worried. I might have developed lactose intolerance. Ahhhh!!!

For those who know me, they are aware that two of the things that I most looked forward to from my recent trip to the states were ice cream and cheese. I love them both. But I’ve had an upset stomach for the last 3 weeks straight, and I took meds and it doesn’t seem to be working… I’m going to go no-dairy for the next week, starting tomorrow. We’ll see. I certainly hope my stomach gets better, but man, I also hope that I can eat my beloved dairy products too!!

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This last week was overall sad for me. Monday and Tuesday I certainly felt depressed, especially first thing in the morning and in the evenings. My situation here has a number of challenges that don’t feel like they’re getting better, and I feel like I’m not really able to be of much help either. My stomach made sleeping not so good, and I was just uncomfortable most of the time. I also didn't feel like exercising, which in turn brings my mood down in a vicious cycle... 

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When I got back from the states I was pretty jazzed about doing a series of lectures on human rights at local universities. It hasn’t gone as well as I’d hoped. The second school I was in discussions with just never called me back to set it up, even after I went there again in person to remind them. In that conversation they said like 5 times “no, no, in June we’ll call you.” That was 6 weeks ago. I get it.

The school that did officially let me lecture ended up giving off a similar vibe. I wanted to do 5 lectures there, and I had detailed conversations with them in early May planning exactly which days I would do them. Unfortunately, I only got through 3 lectures. 

I did my second just after getting back from the states and it went fine (about 30+ students in attendance). I then waited 2 weeks (as was planned) to do the 3^rd. The day before the 3^rd was planned they emailed me to say that there was a conflict and they had to reschedule for the next week. So I showed up the next week and there was no one there. Office locked, my contacts all gone, and the room where I give the lecture occupied and being used for something else. They assured me that the next week it would happen, so I showed up then. But again my contact wasn’t there, and it didn’t appear that they had reserved the room. They kind of cleared out whoever had been in it, and a different person was “hosting” me for the talk. Again, about 30+ students were there. After 10 minutes he told me that actually the room was scheduled to be used for an exam, so I needed to wrap it up. I had planned a talk for 40 minutes, with 20 minutes of questions afterward, but only got through 2.5 of 11 pages of material I’d prepared. And this is still 3^rd talk (on the date we had planned for the 4^th). Since I did only about ¼ of what I had planned, and because it wouldn’t really work to just skip everything in terms of the flow of the lectures, I decided that next time I would just complete the 3^rd lecture. That is, on the date we’d planned for the 5^th lecture, I would actually be finishing the 3^rd. 

That day was last Tuesday, and with all my adventures I called ahead on Monday to find out if we were still on. Turns out that Tuesday, in fact, didn’t work anymore, and they suggested Friday. I reminded them that Friday was DRC’s independence day, and so they countered with Thursday. So yesterday I showed up, and again found that my contact was not around (in a meeting). His colleagues were, however, around, and were surprised to see me. They asked me “oh, are you lecturing today?” The room also wasn’t reserved, and no one had told the students about it. So we started at 1:25, even though I still had to be done at 2:00, and there were only 6 students there.

Despite all of this, I actually quite enjoyed delivering the lecture itself yesterday. I don’t want to get too down, because I felt like it went the best out of any of them so far. Having a small group meant people were more engaged. Also, because I had prepared to give this same talk on 4 different occasions (having read through it orally about 15 times by now), I was now very familiar with it, and so my French was the best it’s been! I was even able to insert small comments here and there where they felt appropriate, or to clarify something when I felt I was losing the students. Also, the questions they asked were ones that I actually understood and knew the answers too! As we were leaving the room, a student I recognized from earlier lectures came in and asked my host “why didn’t you tell us you were doing the lecture today?” Both encouraging (apparently he wanted to attend) and discouraging (feels like the administration doesn’t really care). 

I talked with some of the staff there afterward, remarking that the fact things had been cancelled so often, or not planned, left me with the feeling that perhaps they weren’t really interested in me giving these lectures there. They said that this was not the case, and that they were just all so busy that it was forgotten… 

We’ll see what happens going forward. I really do enjoy delivering the lectures, and I’d like to do it more. But it’s hard emotionally for me to get myself all ready to do them and show up and have it be cancelled. I can start to just feel like they don’t really care if I do these lectures, that they don’t see any value in them. Or that they’re just saying “yeah, you can do it, whatever day or time you want” because they feel it’s rude to say no to the white guy’s face and they’re just trying to be indirect and polite about it. Hard to know. 

But they said they wanted me to do them again, and I don’t have anything else to do. So I’ll go back in two weeks to talk with them about perhaps setting up plans for me to do something similar next school term (which is in September? Or October?). 

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As for next week, I’m going to be playing a support role for the 4 day training that Karen and Serge will be leading for the Seed program. It’ll be outside of Congo, and I’m looking forward to a bit of a sense of break. Karen will likely feel like she’s working all the time, on the other hand. But it should be in a pretty and quiet spot, and that will be nice in any case.

No winter, summer, etc, just Rainy and Dry Seasons

When writing the date on something yesterday, I wrote “October” off the top of my head. Because we don’t have seasons here and because I have moved around so much in the past 10 years, I have no biological sense of that time of year it is based on the weather outside.  Four years ago about this time, we were arriving in South Africa, which was much colder than I was expecting and we both lived in our fleece pants for most of July and August.

In our current location, sure, one could say it feels like summer. Days are sunny and warm; nights are clear and cool. It’s dry season, so there’s not the chance for a rainstorm to come cool the afternoon off.  A lot of people are already rationing the water in their tanks. Thankfully, we still have water (and good pressure most of the time!) coming out of our taps. (Thank you, God! And after living here for a year and a half, we are convinced God is the only one who knows when and why water comes or doesn’t…)

This is our last week playing Frisbee on our normal field, a five-minute walk from our house. During dry season, they close the field so that the fragile, dry grass doesn’t get completely decimated. So we’ll have about three months of playing on a small “field” that’s a 15-minute drive from our house instead. But we’re glad we’ll still be playing.

We continue to be really content and in a good place emotionally since our return from visiting family. In fact, our boss complimented us, saying “I don’t know, it’s like you did drugs or something!” We did not, but we’re equally grateful for our positive outlook.

I, Karen, am a third of the way through my practicum for my MA in Conflict Transformation. I’ve really enjoyed thinking strategically about the goals and learning objectives of the Seed program and how they can inform other important decisions and guide the creation of curriculum for the program. This practicum has given me a reason to reach out to a number of people who have thoughts to contribute but we’ve just never made the effort to connect with them before. I’ll be really happy to have my degree in September and cross that off my list!

things I've been looking forward to

When we came back from the US, there were three things I had thought of that I was looking forward to. Two of them have already happened and one will happen next week. And I already have more things I’m looking forward to as well!

First, as much as I love working with Serge, I was looking forward to a couple of weeks alone in the office while he participates in a training in Kampala. I like getting things all straightened up and I think I really like that I know what to expect. When he’s in the office, I never know when he’ll be around or will have to run out to do something, so I try to be flexible and take advantage of opportunities for conversations when they come up instead of planning them and finding out that he has something that he needs to do. It has also been nice to be alone for these first couple of weeks of my practicum to get things set up and put some extra energy into that. Of course, I’m also putting double the energy into Seed, as I’m alone in handling the requests and questions and support and logistics.

The second thing I was looking forward to was the three day event called a “prayer breakfast for students” that our pastor hosts. I got to be a part of organizing it and also spoke to the students at the seminar that happened on the second day. Thirty minute speech in French on visionary leadership. Props to Mark for so much help on the translation! I also felt very satisfied that of the seven people I invited to come as adult mentor figures, six of them came! At the same time, I realized that they may have been responding to my status as a white person and didn’t want to disappoint me… One gal came who I’m really excited to get to know better. She’s a fiery and motivated lady who paid for her first year of university herself while working at an elementary school and whose family has bucked the system of paying dowry, which is really a serious economic challenge with huge negative social implications.   

The third thing I’ve been looking forward to is happening next week when an organization I like is putting on a training for local lawyers and we’ll visit some with the director, who I also really like.

Sad news, a friend of ours who’s been here as long as we have leaves tomorrow. L

Happy news, our friend who we met in Brussels and now works in Goma is coming to visit soon! I’m really looking forward to that!

two weeks after our return...

Back in our routines, here are three things Karen is loving:
- New Mexico pecans. I'm so glad we brought a bunch back with us! I'm eating them by the spoonful! And in oatmeal. And on salads...
- warm water coming out of our tap on a reasonably consistent basis! (don't jinx it.)
- pray-as-you-go podcast (http://www.pray-as-you-go.org/home/)

I'm feeling so thankful that after our time in the US, I feel like I have a reserve tank that allows me to deal with the challenges without fear of falling apart.

Also, I found more pictures to share

Karen with Roebuck nephews

When Laura made a perfect cheesecake for Mark1

backyard art

Mark is such a good uncle!

with S & M

three generations

In Texas with our sweet niece S

And then we were at the airport.

Visit to the US!

Here are a few pictures of our time in the US! It was really refreshing and wonderful and, of course, flew by, but we're thankful that we had as much time with our family and friends as God knew we needed. (We're still waiting to get some pictures off of phones of Karen's family and other niece and nephews who are super cute so come back later to see them!)

Scroll down for our highs and lows.

Karen and Laura in African dresses with Mom

Uncle Mark with Penelope building something in the yard

Mark with dear friends Ryan, Cecelia and Amie Likes

In Arkansas with Ken and Danielle (Mark's brother and sis-in-law)

Mark, David and Dad on the way to a professional frisbee game

Dear friends Angela and David with their sweet kids in San Antonio

Dawson family hiking in Austin

Mark's highs and lows

-     -     Wonderful positive time with family, in particular playing with nieces and nephews. Many of them are now old enough that I can have a conversation with them, and they're just a treasure and a half. Love you Seeley, Penelope, Maven, Maverick, Siloam, and Lewis! (I love David and Lena also, but didn't get to see them on this trip)

-   - Seeing old friends from college (Ryan Likes and Travis Chaney)

-   -       LOTS of ultimate Frisbee. Got to play more than 12 times, which is just wonderful. Also really good for me to play against others, and get reminded that my fantasies about playing competitively if I lived in the states are pure pipe dreams. People are so good now, and they’re getting better every day. The grandson of my dad’s boss started playing ultimate 1 year ago and is already better than me, having made the pro team in Austin whose game I went to. That was another highlight, actually. I got to see some of the very best players in the world, and watch some really high-level ultimate. It was so much fun, and just so cool to see what they can do with the disc.

-   -       Lots of delicious food- bacon, cheddar cheese, barbecue, blue bell ice cream… it’s been a culinary dream for me. I can’t eat like this all the time (the scale says I’ve gained 7 pounds in one month!) but it’s nice to do so every once in a while.

-   -       Going on walks, and enjoying the green everywhere of an American Spring, and the fact that no one stopped me to talk with me!

-   -       Living on vacation… it’s not real life, but man, it’s nice to get up and have only fun things on my agenda for the day.

-     -     Our friend’s funeral. High and low, of course. It was beautifully done. It was wonderful to cry some more. 

- - Experiencing this nice and pleasant life in America, knowing that it's nice here because it's not nice in Congo. That is very hard. I think most Americans are not willing to think about that, much less accept it. 

-- Saying goodbyes to people

- - Being asked 16,832 times what we're doing after Congo. We don't know. We'll know when we need to know.

Karen’s highs and lows of our visit to the US

Highs: Being with people who know us!!! Having good, deep conversations! Getting clothes out of the laundry – they’re so soft and fluffy and smell so good! Playing Frisbee a lot was fun. There weren’t really any unexpected surprises, which is a big positive in my book! We didn’t get called “mzungu” (white person) all month long!

Lows: Lack of routine. Being an introvert while trying to squeeze in as much time with loved ones as possible. Saying goodbye to family. Again.

The Volcano

In the car on the way. So cool!!!

What else is needed to get your attention? I spent a while just now trying to come up with an eye-catching title for this post, and then realized that embellishing this thing is not necessary: Volcanos are cool. Full stop.

I've known about this volcano (Nyiragongo) since before Karen and I came to DRC. According to the definitions of some volcanologists, it is in a state of constant eruption. It's about 11,300 ft. above sea level, putting it just under 7000 ft. higher than the city of Goma (pop. over 1 million), which was devastated when it sent lava flowing down its banks in 1977, and then again in 2002. They say it's not a question of whether Nyiragongo will erupt like that (and ruin Goma again), just a question of when (wikipedia tells me that since 1882 it has erupted 34 times).

They say it's erupting even right now because it has a constantly-boiling real-live, Lord-of-the-Ring's-esque lake of lava in the crater at the top. It's a huge thing (internet stats tell me anywhere from .4 to 1.2 miles wide), and it is in fact the largest lava lake on earth (there are only 5 continuous lava lakes in the whole world!). The crater itself is breathtaking enough without the lava, being more than a thousand feet deep and several miles wide.

But the lava lake... oh. It's maybe the most breath-taking natural wonder I've ever seen. I find waves entrancing, and love watching them. Similarly, I can also watch a fire dance around for a while. A liquid, boiling, lava lake is kind of like both of those things combined, on steroids, and gone Super Sayan after 20 years in a hyperbolic chamber (my apologies for anyone who lost me on the Dragonball Z reference). It's just amazing.


The last 5 steps or so before you get to the actual edge of the crater rim, you start to hear it. These loud sounds, explosions, coming up from beneath you. And then carefully you look over (so you don't fall 1000 feet to your death), and your face gets hit with an odd warmth, and it just overwhelms you like a ball pit at McDonald's.

This is what it looks like to watch the volcano.

Just kidding, it's way better than that. All we did on top was just sit and watch it, and we did so for hours. The lake, like any boiling entity, is dynamic. So right now there's two "lava fountains" down on the right, but in 45 seconds there will be three on the left, and it's kind of all flowing from the middle to the outside, where it either gets tucked under the edge or flung up on it, glowing in it's otherworldly and fiery shade, that is (quite rationally) exactly the color of molten metal that you see in forges and smelt's and places that used to be all over Pittsburgh.

And at night... oh man. That's when you really see how bright it all is. I sometimes wanted to put on sunglasses. It was that bright. The actions remain the same, but you can see the cracks in the top of the lava lake more easily, and in fact they almost seem to widen at night (though I think they're just brighter, and thus more easy to see).

he hike itself was fantastic. The Lord answered my prayers, and it didn't rain on us at all! We hike all 5 miles, with 5,000 feet of elevation gain, in about 5.5 hours. Not bad at all. I was greatly aided by a trekking pole loaned to me by our friend Joelle. That's sad, actually. Cuz Joelle was originally supposed to go with us (and thus would have been using her trekking pole), but she sprained her ankle a few weeks beforehand, and wasn't healed enough to do the hike.

She was wise to not hike with a weak ankle, by the way, because we were on loose, misshapen, volcanic rock about 70% of the time. Lots of people fell, and the rocks were often shifting under our feet. But it was still a very enjoyable hike for me. Call me odd, but I rather enjoy hiking on rock, and this was no exception. Although we were in just regular forest for the first hour, it soon gave way to low bushes and shrubs for the next 2 hours, as we hike over the 2002 lava flow (amazing to me that it already had that much vegetation on it). There were 20-30 foot long lava tubes scattered around (imagine metal pipe about 10 inches in diameter, perfectly smooth and circular on the inside and but on the outside it looks like rock), and once we climbed past the cave where the 2002 lava came out, entered back into forest-ish cover. The trees were actual quite cedar-like, and we even saw some Ross's turaccos.

In addition to all of this, the air was unusually clear, and we could see the two nearby 14'ers (Mikeno, where the Gorillas and Guerillas live, and Karisimbi, right on the border with Rwanda). I've NEVER seen them so clearly, and it was such a treat to see such tall mountains, both of which are higher than anything in lower 48 states.

In the evening we made bean and cheese quesadillas (which one fellow hiker told us "everyone was talking about") using the white cheddar cheese I found the day beforehand, and then watched the volcano some more.


As you can see from the pictures, the lava lake is constantly smoking. I believe that ash is actually the rock itself, just turned into itty bitty peices and then carried away by the wind created from the tremendous heat (hot air rises). Anyway, if the wind was blowing toward us we couldn't really much, and it smelled like sulfur and was actually much more difficult to hike in. But most of the time it blew away from us and was just amazing.

After a warm night's sleep (thank you to everyone who told us horror stories about it being cold, because we were well prepared) I got up to watch the sunrise, we ate bagels, took a few last looks at the lake, and then headed back down again at 7am (imposed by the guides. I would have stayed much longer!!).

It was only maybe 3.5 hours down, and actually remarkably encouraging for the state of my knee. The next day, though, my calves and left quad (the healthy one, which I can really put more weight on, and which was not being supported by the trekking pole) were ACHING. I haven't felt that sore in years, not even after I played an ultimate tournament in 2015. Wow. Super sore. But totally worth it.

scary or funny, I'm not sure

Last night, I woke up around midnight because of men yelling. It was a loud group of voices that sounded a bit like "Braveheart." There was also a higher pitched yelping/screaming sound, and it freaked me out.

Probably living in Congo has affected me when my first thought is "violent attack." But there I sat in bed scared and after a few minutes I took Mark's hand (he was already awake) and we prayed for whatever was going on. The noise seemed to move away from our house, and we turned the fan on to drown out any further noise and tried to settle back to sleep.

This morning, I asked our domestic worker if he had heard anything about what had happened, and he hadn't. Mark called another neighbor who said...it was a football (soccer) game. There was a big upset in the Premier League. And the people screamed and yelled and woke me up.

Mark was, in fact, pretty impressed with what had happened in the soccer game.