Adapting

The other night I was out to dinner with friends. One of them, Congolese, asked how I was liking Lubumbashi. I told him that I liked it here a lot, which was an honest answer. He laughed and couldn't understand why I would like it here after growing up mostly in the USA. Maybe I'm just in a different state of mind knowing that I'm here for just a year and this is just an "experience" for me before I return home to the comforts of the States. Whatever the case may be I do enjoy living here so far, even though I recognize the ways of life here that can bring so many frustrations. Things like having traffic police spread out all over the city, whose main purpose is not to ticket the crazy drivers, but rather to pull over the people whom they think they can get the most money out of for ridiculous infractions. And speaking of those crazy drivers. So many of them trying to get the advantage by going weaving in and out and coming head on with oncoming cars or pedestrians in the street. There are also frustrating things like not getting the city water pumped to your house for 5 days or the electricity being out half the time. I've also learned that things happen slowly around here, or in 'Congo time' rather. Like if something is said to be built in 2 years, it will actually happen in 5 years. Or if you are waiting for someone who says they are almost here, it means they haven't left yet. "I'll be there in just a couple minutes", means they'll show up in at least an hour. These are just a few examples of how one could be frustrated by life here in Congo if not normally accustomed to it. So far it hasn't been a huge frustration for me. It is all kind of humorous to me at this point, but again, maybe that is because I'm in a different state of mind because I know it is temporary for me or maybe it is because I'm still new to life here and at some point in the next couple months I'm going to lose my marbles. Either way, I appreciate and am thankful for the things I have.