It should come to you all as no surprise that I am cheesy, so dig the title and move on. I am also a fan of double entendres. In this case I am referring more to the city than to the actual research site. I will say I wasn’t prepared, mentally, for what I encountered after getting off the plane in Kinshasa. I can only compare it to Barnum and Bailey’s on acid. There were 2 belts that luggage came off of and it seemed that there were 3 people for every bag. One of my friends who came out here before me used the term ‘oompa loompa.’ She was referring to the little guys in orange jump suits who, immediately on seeing a bag, grab it and start moving it around. At first there seemed to be no reason or rhyme to the circus before me, but I began to see guys with two way radios and cell phones ordering the oompa loompas around. I recognized a crude spelling of my name on a sign and assumed it was my ‘expeditor’, a term which SHOULD be misconstrued. He called a few of the oompa loomas out and they began excising my items from the mass of baggage on the carousel. A couple of fist fights broke out as disagreements about who gets the tip ensued. I noticed a few familiar faces as the four quasi-physicians, also with an accompaniment of oompa loompas, shouted obscenities at me to get my attention.
As they were also being received by the embassy, they had their bags put with the ‘critical medical supplies’, under guard at this time, in a bid to ensure their bags didn’t walk off. We exchanged pleasantries, offered out ‘professional greetings’ Spies Like Us style (doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor) and gave a last adieu as our expeditors moved our bags to different vehicles. Afterward, several small children surrounded me, very surreptitiously, and began berating me for money. “NO” is a word most everyone understands.
The drive from the airport to the hotel was enough to ulcerate my innards. The electrical grid in Kinshasa is spotty at best. About every 15th streetlight is functional along with the occasional incandescent light bulb on the road side shops. All other light comes from an assortment of vehicles which may or may not have two working lights. This is especially important given the fact there are no lines or boundaries on the road so you are not sure if there is a motorcycle or semi headed your way. Couple this with the NYC quantity of cars and pedestrians after dark, no sidewalk, and stationary (broken) and/or pushed cars and it makes Brussels look like a Sunday drive on a country road. After dropping my boxes off at our receiving facility, I arrived unscathed after 45 minutes at the hotel and checked in.
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