It's Saturday morning and I'm at the office. My hair is a little frizzy from having been thrown in the pool at the South Africans last night. I didn't have the time to boil water for a warm bucket-bath, so I just put it in two braids and threw a hat over it. The South Africans have three small above-ground pools. The water was actually quite nice and had I not had my clothes on I probably would have enjoyed it even more.

The ministry people are still in town and today we are going to take them out to meet our beneficiaries. I think they were quite impressed with our powerpoint presentation, but considering since I've gotten to Africa I've seen some of the worse powerpoint presentations of my life (yellow font? small type?), it's not too hard to impress. I've made peace with the fact that their perdiems are more per day that the average Congolese makes in three months. It's just how it is here.

I have one week left in Kindu before I head to Kinshasa, from where I will head to the states for a month. I've finally allowed my less to fully realize that I will be getting out of the Congo and heading home. I haven't left Africa in 11 months. My last trip home left me a bit shell-shocked upon arrival. The jump from third to first world wasn't the smooth transition I had anticipated. I think that this time will be much better in that regard because I know what to expect.