Stan is the man
PS reference future mission
Take lots of small bank notes
Lots and lots!
learned that from Stan, too
Lingala
Can anyone help me ? I'm looking for any website or book (in French or English) to learn lingala in order to prepare a future mission ?
Thanks in advance.
Mike
Stan is the man
PS reference future mission
Take lots of small bank notes
Lots and lots!
learned that from Stan, too
In DRC, you can use dollars in Eastern DRC and Euro in Kinshasa now....Originally Posted by Tom Odom
Stan is the man
PS reference future mission
Take lots of small bank notes
Lots and lots!
learned that from Stan, too
Fantastic !!!!!
You could when we were there, too, at least US dollars
When we didn't use enough the Zairios made more...
Stan use to approach traffic lights or stops in K-Town with a wad of 5, 10, 50 Zaire notes (when the Zaire has been replaced by the New Zaire) and throw them out the window to the ever-present Zairois beggars before they could swarm the vehicle (which is what they did to everyone). When the road bandits saw Stan's blue Isuzu Trooper they would chant his last name. It was kinda like a K-Town based cargo cult.
So months later we are out in Goma, 900+ air miles from K-Town in Stan's Trooper and as we approach a stop, we hear a familiar chant...
Some of the bandits had come east for the refugee festival. I can only wonder how...
Tom
GReat story. Nothing has changed.
Dollars worked perfectly well in Kinshasa too, at least they did up until I left in March 2007. The smallest bill they were normally willing to take though was a $5. They didn't like one's, especially in places like Mbandaka and Kisangani. They couldn't change them into francs easily.
In the smaller places, they wanted francs. The payroll for the park rangers in Monkoto had to be in francs. That was a big pile of francs.
"We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again." Gen. Nathanael Greene
Tom ! I hate it when you do that ! We could end up in jail together at this rate (or has the statute of limitations run out?)You could when we were there, too, at least US dollars
When we didn't use enough the Zairios made more...
Stan use to approach traffic lights or stops in K-Town with a wad of 5, 10, 50 Zaire notes (when the Zaire has been replaced by the New Zaire) and throw them out the window to the ever-present Zairois beggars before they could swarm the vehicle (which is what they did to everyone). When the road bandits saw Stan's blue Isuzu Trooper they would chant his last name. It was kinda like a K-Town based cargo cult.
So months later we are out in Goma, 900+ air miles from K-Town in Stan's Trooper and as we approach a stop, we hear a familiar chant...
Some of the bandits had come east for the refugee festival. I can only wonder how...
Tom
According to the OPSCO communication system, the mamas along Avenue des Aviateurs still function (Wall Street), but the franc has been replaced with the Euro and the dollar still works. However, they don't do coins
I often pine away at the thought of Mwembo and Kambali eating fried grubs before coming to work (but, I've gotten over it).
OK, I'll see if we can hook Mike up with some real useful terms
If you want to blend in, take the bus
From Frog To Lingala in 10 years !
Jeez, I hope you have some time on your hands, Mike. Anyway, Pascal's site (Français-lingala, Lingala-français, Grammaire et al) should get you into sufficient trouble, but not enough to get out
In the meantime, remember this one (posted all around the Embassy):
Kasuba awa tee....Don't piss here
On a cool Zairian night (90 degrees F.), there's good reason why one should not continue to piss on the trees in front of the US Embassy
The Belg were several floors above the ground level
Study hard, get back to me (forget that one).
Regards, Stan
If you want to blend in, take the bus
Thanks again, i sure will use this as a main reference.Jeez, I hope you have some time on your hands, Mike. Anyway, Pascal's site (Français-lingala, Lingala-français, Grammaire et al) should get you into sufficient trouble, but not enough to get out
In the meantime, remember this one (posted all around the Embassy):
Kasuba awa tee....Don't piss here
On a cool Zairian night (90 degrees F.), there's good reason why one should not continue to piss on the trees in front of the US Embassy
The Belg were several floors above the ground level
Study hard, get back to me (forget that one).
Regards, Stan
A Mundele.
Michael,
On a serious note, I would warn you that there are special varieties of Lingala, depending on where to intend to establish your domicile on this mission. As early as 93, delinquent urban youth actually created a version of Lingala (call it a social movement or special language) which replaced certain functions in the Lingala language such as repertoire and expression.
The only way to describe this new lingo in K-town would be something like RAP music in the USA and Europe. However, these delinquents are by no means a nice bunch of folks to be around. Leaving Gombe as a foreigner in my day was foolish (well, I had Tom along).
Spend a little time listening, and a lot of time observing. We used to have a two-man rule for visiting pilots, soldiers, etc. By no means a bad idea.
Remember the Rose colored glasses you purportedly own ? Don't wear them to the DRC please !
Regards, Stan
If you want to blend in, take the bus
I'm quite used to the "cite"s so don't worry too much. I was aid that street children "Sheges" in main cities around Africa developped their own language as they live in close, often hunted, communities. According to the last figures, they are about 20.000in Kinshasa....
Just for the fun, a little story: I met once a guy who wanted to visit the Marche des voleurs. He went with some friends, bought a few stuffs, returned and said he took nice pictures,...when he opened his bag....empty...he reacted by saying "How could someone have stolen me my camera on the Marche des voleurs (Thief market in French)?"
Who knew there are thiefs on the street in Africa?
Besides it is not stealing. It is extended borrowing necessitated by the fact that you were not using it at that moment in time when I needed it as demonstrated by the fact I have it and you don't.
Tom
L'expérience interdite... C'est un beau jour pour mourir
I think the Zaïrois at the marché got a bad rap overall. Besides, I got a lot of great camera deals there in the 90s
Jungle Rules... Far easier to translate than "possession is 9/10ths of the law"
If you want to blend in, take the bus
I had a student worker from Botswana once who always referred to such activity as "organizing." "I'll go organize that for you" was one of his favorite phrases....
"On the plains and mountains of the American West, the United States Army had once learned everything there was to learn about hit-and-run tactics and guerrilla warfare."
T.R. Fehrenbach This Kind of War
Congolese are funny about theives. There are many of them but when one gets caught, he get beaten up on the spot and every step of the way to the-container with a door cut in it-police post down the block. That is a great sight to see.
Also, everybody pitches in to help if you yell "Moyibi" (I think that is the right word). That happened once. I lost the guy but when I looked behind there were 8-10 people running along with me ready to help with the beating.
"We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again." Gen. Nathanael Greene
Yep they get offended when one gets caughtCongolese are funny about theives.
Makes 'em all look bad
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