mmmmmmm dude

what up. This is a blog based solely on the purpose of procrastination. I am studying right now and I desperately need a break. I feel like we at the heart of avalon have been doing better in our blog writing activities. I will try to leave the essay blogs for joe to write. ahahhah, just kidding joe, although, you do write long blogs non the less. anyway, to quote a good song, "whisky and beers, they don't make me drunk, these blues are gonna make me pack my trunk..." I'm not quite sure what it means. maybe that the music is so good they get "drunk off the music." or maybe by blues, he means that he is sad, and so he resorts to drinking, or maybe, his enjoyment of whisky and beers is gotten stagnent and he's sick of the temporary feeling; maybe music is his "way out" now. Or, he could just be an alchoholic, and constantly be drunk, therefor whisky and beers cant make him any drunker. I don't even know if drunker is a word.

Rats, I'm out of iced tea. speaking of rats, how did that ever become an expression? I think that maybe it came about when there was massive rat infestation in san francisco in the year of 1892. One night a man by name of phineas mcdougal, came into his home, and saw a bounch of rats in his living room. he then yelled "Rats!" in a funny sounding high pitched tone. His college aged neighbors heard him yell it and it was so funny that they started saying "rats" for every bad thing. and thats how "rats" got started.

but I am really out of Iced tea.

-M

here are some pictures of my brothers and I for your enjoyment...

Lack of understanding

I call it this because I don't expect anyone to understand what I am about to explain. I was emailing Tim Fox and he was the first person I tried to explain anything of real confusion here in Kinshasa. I told him i was going to put it on the blog because i think it will help a little to show that I can't really explain what is happening here. Trust me, everything that is written here is both confusing and on purpose.

Trust me, you might not get most of this stuff and i might sound insane or just rambling but i think that is the purpose. Alright, where to start, the airport. My first interaction with Kinshasa. Well, i got off the plane and had to hike to the airport terminal. Quite a task. We were then lined up, i miss the point of the lines and went into the wrong line The guys firmly told me to go back into the line i was to go into, which was still not in the terminal I waited till the guy took my passport, vaccination papers, and airplane paper i had to fill out (there go the periods) this was horrible because i was tired and didn't understand what they were saying He looked through it all and then moved me inside Once inside another line for international entering the country I was that Went to window Took my passport vaccination airplane Stared for a long time Confused Why you here Visiting parents No understanding Gave passport Vacc moved me on Man stops me You american yes bags I don't know to right need help my name john i'm Joe over here Joe yes help good Dad sit cokes wait open close open close out we go down sit ride. Okay, i can't handle it anymore...i told you i just can't explain it very well, it is all just inexplicable. Sorry, that all might have been really confusing but I hope you enjoyed the show. I actually think this is a good explanation.

So that is it. Try to understand if you can but I doubt anyone will. I miss you all and hope to hear from you!
Joe C.

I'm back!!!!!!!!!!! Muahahahahaha

Hey everyone, I know that all of our faithful readers must have been wondering where the heck is Keith??? Well to tell you the truth I asked the same question. It took a slap in the face with raw meat by my roommate to help me realize where I was. So I just finally floated back to the heart of avalon yesterday. It was a sweet trip. While I was gone I did some pretty sweet recording with the Pat Little Band and have been getting worked over by the speediness of the quarter system. And I think the main reason is that I met a girl. Her name is Keely and she is great. There will be more stories to come in the near future. That's all for now I am going to jump back into my time continuum and will return in 2.84 kips.
Until next time-
Keith
"To infinity and beyond" -Buzz Lightyear

Week 3

I think this is week 3 for me. I am not completely sure but as I am sitting at the computer, Faustin, which I am not sure how to spell nor does anyone else, our "house boy", who is actually a 60 year old (at least) man, is doing the dishes and doing OUR laundry, cleaning our house and, in between his work, enjoying a nice cup of coffee. Very strange, this very short but friendly little man. He greets me every Tuesday and Friday with a huge grin and a slight bow with his hands together. If you are wondering why we have him, it isn't necessarily that we really wanted someone to come do this but email me and ask me, I can explain better there. He actually just swept under my feet, i had to pick them up off the floor. It is funny just the different life I live here.

Alright, so i have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia (actually I am almost done with them) and so I have begun to write like them, which by the way is a very long writing style. So, this post may be VERY long. What I did want to update, because honestly not too much has been going on with my life in recent, I mean some REALLY exciting things and then the rest mostly reading or helping my dad with swimming in his PE classes. Okay, so for the really exciting...at least one thing, is that on Sunday I got to go and have a crazy fun day! Now i will explain so time to use those imaginations.

Sunday...We went to church that morning and it was good, i enjoyed it, I go to an international church where Walt Shepard, a friend of our family's, is the pastor. After church we always, I guess, go to lunch. Well, my mom was with Paige, a woman that just arrived and had to go pick up her luggage (which is a HUGE task), and they went to the airport so no church for them. My dad was horribly sick with a fever and shivers and a cough, so he stayed home and slept. I bravely went to church "on my own" but not really because I went with some friends of ours, The Stones, Sara Ewbank, and suppose to be Daniel Ligon but he got a ride with someone else. Anyways, After church we decided, since there was STILL no water and the electricity had recently turned off (this had been going on ALL weekend and is still at times going on). So, we went to a place called Aladin's. I was there with all previously mentioned people including Peter, the micro financing guy I hopefully will be working with, the Trillers with their two daughters, and the Shepards, minus Val, the mother, because she too was sick. So we sat and ate. I had 2 (trying to remember how to say it all, let alone spell it) Shwarma shinwa poulet (the t is silent on the last word and this is spelled how it sounds, most likely NOT how you actually spell it). I enjoyed one with Pili Pili, which i will hopefully be bringing home because i love this sauce, and ketchup on the other. After our delicious lunch we sat and chatted, mostly Eva, Sarah, Theo Shepard, and Daniel Ligon. We talked about whatever and enjoyed ourselves. While we were eating, a friend of Eva's, Chaima (Shame-a, is sort of how you say it...no offense) came in with her boyfriend, Mohammad, and his friend, Hussein (again not sure how to spell or really say this name). Both Eva and I walked over and met them, an awkward first meeting but then we were invited to go to a pool where i can not say, spell or even remember the name of the place. Eva was for sure going and I was VERY unsure. I finally told Chaima NO because I didn't know any of them well. As I was walking out, Mohammad asked why I wasn't going and so I decided to change my mind. Both of the guys are Lebanese and both work somewhere in Kinshasa. So, i told my ride that I was going with these younger folks and jumped into his really nice something or other. This actually was the first time I really had been with people around my age. Eva and Chaima are both still in high school and Mohammad and Hussein are around the age of 23. I was the middle, which i am okay with.

We first had to drive to get my suit and then drive to get Eva's suit and then drive to get Chaima's suit and towels for the pool. Mohammad is a crazy driver and in Kinshasa, though i cannot explain to you the roads or what it is like, there aren't really any rules for driving. Mohammad was just passing everyone whenever he could and that was ALWAYS in other people's lanes. So, we got everywhere really fast but really fast in Kinshasa is still a long time. Finally, when we got to the pool I found out that it actually cost $15 a day to swim in this pool. I though these people were insane to try and make people pay that much but I didn't pay for it, Mohammad did. We all got to the pool and it was crowded! Lots of people everywhere, which most of them were NOT actually Congolese people. They had two restaurants but i only saw one. They also had two really high diving boards, which Chaima kept begging the guys to dive off of. I had already jump and dove off the lower diving board and the higher one was probably 6 feet higher. They both were high but everything is in meters here so i don't understand how high they actually were. Trust me, they were high. By the end I dove off of both Diving boards and jumped off of both but it hurt my head and neck, just a little, each time I dove. So, i enjoyed the jumping much more than the diving. We played in the pool and after a time Liz, Eva and Chaima's other friend from school came and joined us. We all swam and tried to play odd pool games but most of the time was taken up by Mohammad constantly splashing Chaima, his girlfriend. I didn't really join in the splashing because I am use to swimming laps so i don't know what to do with myself when i am in a pool just for fun. We played with a giant heavy ball and tried to play volleyball with no net. It didn't seem to work but was fun none the less.

After our fun pool party we decided to go and get food. I was nervous about this because I didn't bring any money (I didn't know I was suppose to) and so we drove (again, just as crazy but still very fun) to City Market, a nice store which i believe is owned by Lebanese (especially because it seemed that Mohammad and Hussein knew everyone in the store). We ate at a place called CFC which tries to be like KFC and has almost the same things. I had fried chicken and bread and fries with a can off sprite, only the second can of soda i have seen since i have been here. As we scarfed down food, we sat and talked and sang "happy birthday" to Chaima, even though it wasn't her birthday. We actually all ate from Mohammad's pocket (as in HE payed for everything, which he probably had the most money). Very nice of him to pay and then we all got two "bowls" of ice cream but really they are just scoops that they call bowls. I had a "bowl" of cheese cake ice cream and a "bowl" of the cafe ice cream. Very delicious. We got back into the car and had a crazy drive with a crazy dance party all the way back to my house. Everyone piled out of the car and were able to meet my parents and Paige. It was a wonderful day with a very international crowd. Eva and I were the only two white people I saw for a long time but it was wonderful. i really enjoyed that day.

That is all,
Joe C.

I don't even know what to call this.

Soooo, I don't know what to call this blog. I don't know what to write about in this blog. But I feel like its been such a long time since I've written on this blog that I need to write something... so I'm going to force it, and it will probably be horrible to read. Just awful. Absolutely dismal... Lets see, Since I last blogged...

I finally have my motorcycle license, so now I ride free as a bird. boo ya.

I turned 21, which has its privileges...

I visited my broomski and his wife in Vail, which was dope off the rope... (i love you guys)

I went to mens retreat, which was bomb, and me and some buddies ran around with sticks and bones, in our underwear chasing cattle.

I ran an obstacle course for little kids for easter, and it was fun.

Ummmm, thats pretty much it. I'll close by writing a poem, or maybe a peom. I think I like peoms better anyways...

Blum dee dum, by matt fitch

Ho hum, my mouth went numb
I think should keep mum.
Tilly dee, my lips are free
I think I'll look and see.
Whop tee doy, my eyes are coy
I think I'm still a boy.
Oogly do, my ears seem new
I think I'll hear the view
Gilly gash, I'll grow a stash
so they will bat their lash.
The end, and you my friend
will have a thought to spend.

Attatched are pictures of A) Me and Mel and Zac at Vail,
















and B) Men's retreat madness...



all yalls be peacin out I hopes...
-M

Kifoliating in Kikongo and The Storm!

Alright, so this is a general update of what i have done so far so this may be long. If you don't want to read the whole thing then i won't be offended because i won't know.

It all started back on Wednesday at 5:30 am. My family woke up and we got ready to go because we were on our way to our adventurous spring break trip. It was my parents spring break and they wanted to go somewhere...anywhere. Their friends and neighbors, the Lowerys offered to have them and others come with them to Kikongo, a small village 45 min. flying east of Kinshasa (where I am). The Lowery family has a house there because Mike and Jill work there and the family use to live there until they moved to TASOK. So, my parents and i, Todd and Shannon Stone, The Lowery family with their two kids, Matt and Hannah, the Gorenflo family (i am not sure how to spell their name) with their three young daughter (Sarah, Christiana, and Rachel), Ms. Sara Ewbank, and the Shepard family with three of their eight children (Evangeline, Sarah, Theo but their other children are older and don't live here) all flew into Kikongo on two different flights. My flight was the early bird flight with Mr. Gorenflo as our pilot and the second flight coming two hours later (Mr. Gorenflo flew back, picked them up, and then came back to Kikongo.) So, in the end, there were 21 people there on Wednesday. We started our adventure at the Lowery's house just hanging out and then preparing for an ultimate hike. I put on my swimming suit and we hiked about 5 minute down a narrow path to the river we affectionately call Uncle Wamba. todd, Shannon, Sarah Shepard, Eva Shepard and I all played Frisbee and created an entire company with the amazing "sugar" sand that we found on the bottom of Uncle Wamba. We named our company, which would provide sand for skin exfoliation, Kifoliating and the actual process would be called kikoning. We rode in a narrow canoe that I later learned how to drive (sort of but i ain't any good at it) up the river to the other side. From there we hiked deep into the middle of congo to a river and waterfall that very few have ever been. Amazing how I can actually say i have been to places that few have been or done things that no one has done. The water to the africans near Kikongo is evil so they do not go in the water. On our way back Eva, Todd, Walt Shepard, my dad and I were the first people to swim across Uncle Wamba. Everyone floated down the river back to the sand bank we claimed as our own.

The next day, 11 of the people left and all that was left was my family, Sara Ewbank, Todd and Shannon, Jill and Matt Lowery, and Sarah and Eva Shepard. It was a day filled with learning to canoe, swimming with Uncle Wamba and getting extremely sun burned! Many card games were played at night and the food was great. We also had camp fires, singing, and stories.

Friday we took a nice tour of Kikongo, Mitedi (a neighboring village) and the hospital in Kikongo. All of it was an amazing experience that very few get to see. We walked through an actual African village. Children surrounded my dad as he marched through Mitedi. There were drums being played and we walked over to watch. All of the kids began to do their dancing and it was amazing to see. One of the kids was doing the chief's dance and all the others were clapping and jumping in unison around the drums that two boys were playing in the sand. We got pictures (which we can't get in Kinshasa since it isn't allowed) and it is hard to explain, like much of my trip in Africa so far. We again began to walk back through the village and the kids would try to hold your hand. Most would only grab a finger or two and as many kids as possible would try to hold your hand. most of the kids tried to grab your entire hand and be selfish. Strange that I felt more honored by these children than i probably ever have in my life. One boy would hold my entire hand and others would try to grab my hand. He would swat them away but i scolded him and wanted the other kids to hold my hand. Just a crazy experience. The hospital was in horrible conditions but i could describe that.

The rest of my trip was games and more of Uncle Wamba. A small rain storm with a little lightening, keeping us from joining Uncle Wamba. More cards, a great game of spoons, eating and just hanging out talking, stories, fires, and fellowship. Tough to describe but a great trip. We left on Saturday and flew back in the afternoon.

Easter Sunday was an early 5:30 am service where we sat watching the sun rise over the Congo river. An amazing experience with beautiful acapella singing. One of the songs was in French and it was beautiful. We later all said "He is risen indeed" and Pastor Walt Shepard had people say it in different languages. Amazing to hear a statement of rejoicing in so many different languages. God truly is a universal God. Sunday night brought about a lot of just relaxing and reading. I finished my book "Monster" last night but we were interrupted with no power and an amazing storm. Honestly this storm was the biggest storm anyone in my family has ever seen. More lightening and thunder than i have ever seen or heard in my entire life combined. There were times where I jumped because of the crack of the thunder not even a second after the HUGE flash of four or five bolts of lightening seen. It was constant lightening somewhere in the sky. It looked like a battle was in the near distance and constant flashing and rolling thunder that shook our entire house. Just an amazing experience.

As I write these experience, I realize how 1. hard it is to share with others because most of my trip is indescribable, no matter how much i try to describe it to you, i never will. 2. God is simply amazing in ALL aspect and in EVERY country. He is risen, He is risen indeed. Though at times it is easy to wonder and ask what God is actually doing in Congo or where God is. The people are so poor and needy. So much heart ache here. Driving down the down town I saw bullet holes from the week before in buildings. I see gunned police and special forces all over. Things I would never see in the states. Just amazing to still know and NEEDING to TRUST that God is in control can be hard here. He has a plan and in the end HE comes out on top but it isn't always easy to trust him or see him in everything. God is good but trust me, though i was not challenged with trusting that he is always good in the states much, I am challenged here to understand that he even has these people in his hands and had them on his mind when he was on that Cross. All i can say here is that I Trust Him when he says he is good and He is risen, He is risen indeed!