Open Writing

By now you’ll be building up a picture of just how claustrophobic Kinshasa life is. Due to this state of affairs, I have very rarely felt inclined to write, feeling no inspiration at all, concentrating primarily on my work.

I still do my aquagym at my Elaeis; this remains my oasis and retreat, although I know the menu by heart (I can recite it backwards) and all the staff by their first names. I’ve been forced to give my tennis a break for a while, due to a couple of injuries – I used to take lessons from some coaches at $10 an hour – so my water activities are what keep me going and I’ve never tired of them in four years. In fact, it’s taken the cliquish group of Belgian women who organize and attend it almost that long to accept an “English” native into their midst. I am still not party to their private Belgian jokes, but I can live with that.

One of the advantages of having been here this long is that I’m on the invitation list to many social functions – most of the embassies have at least a yearly function, more often than not the national day, and these are usually held in the residence of the ambassador concerned, which is always a palatial mansion on the Congo River, with unlimited food and drink. I’ve now been to four Queen’s birthday events at the Brits, three German Unity Days, two Italian national days etc.

There is nothing to spend one’s money on here, so dining out has become a major pleasure for me here. Thankfully, there is a good choice of fine European cuisine, mainly French and Belgian, two very good Indian restaurants, some decent Italian pizza places, two or three Greek restaurants (wouldn’t rave about any of the three Chinese) and even some passable Congolese hang-outs. I can also call up any one of four restaurants who know me well and get food delivered at the drop of a hat. This is a privilege not to be under-estimated.

Medical care is minimal to non-existent here and I’ve done my best to take care of my health the best way I know, through exercise, eating well, sleeping well, natural therapies and a homeopathic approach to malaria prevention.

I must have tried out about 15 ‘massage therapists’ over my time here, hardly any of them with any qualifications (there’s only one decent physiotherapist in the entire city who has any proper training from Europe and knows anatomy well). Some have picked up what they know from friends and people who’ve worked abroad in spas; others were to some degree trainable and some completely hopeless. But it’s been fun finding out, especially at only $10 per massage.

Having been in the business, I’m the worst critic, but I know what I want. Predictably, you get what you pay for, and four years on, the best ones charge $15-20 an hour. Like all my other connections here in Kinshasa, I now know the best ones and am no longer going to give away their telephone numbers to others and then find I can’t get an appointment for myself! Older and wiser ….

My health strategies seem to have worked as I’ve had very few problems so far and have managed not to get malaria yet – perhaps it’s due to the voluminous gin and tonics I get through! The health issues I’m facing I could face anywhere in the world and I don’t give the Congo any blame for that, e.g. a little arthritis here and there, joint pain, the odd out-of-sorts day – usually my ailments stem from traveling OUT of Congo rather than staying here. In other words the sheer stress of preparing for and returning from a holiday and the climate change I usually go through can turn the body on its head.