In my last post, I talked a bit about Andrew’s birth and foster families. My relationship with them is complicated at best. I’ve been told that the little boy in the picture is Andrew’s older brother, Baracka or Barack (his foster mother calls him Barack, his father calls him Baracka). While it’s certainly crossed my [...]

  By Erin Pohland Returning to Alaska was hard, knowing that I would leave again for good. It was also overwhelming, as I attempted to pack for a cross-country move with a toddler. Poor Andrew had already been through a lot of change in his life, and he got increasingly clingy with each box that [...]

When Andrew and I finally boarded the plane for Paris, I cried. I was so incredibly grateful to be leaving the Congo and to be on my way back to the first world. I wanted to eat fresh fruit, use my credit card, and drink water from the tap. I couldn’t wait to take a [...]

Whew! We’re HOME!!! It’s been a long couple of days, but we made it — Andrew and I are finally home. It feels really good to not be wishing you good evening from Kinshasa. We almost didn’t make it. At 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, we had no exit visa and a flight at 9 p.m. [...]

~Christmas greetings from Santa Andrew, 2011 Good evening from Kinshasa- To answer the obvious question right off the bat, NO, we did not get the exit visa today.  The DGM boss again decided not to show up for work, which means that no one was there to sign my papers.  The Congolese work ethic makes me [...]

~Shhhhh. Don’t tell him the cat is right behind him! Hello from Kinshasa- I am hoping that this is my last email update from Kinshasa, but it’s almost 4 p.m. local time and I don’t have my exit letter yet. I know that these things tend to come late in the day, but I’m nervous. [...]

By Erin Pohland Days 20 and 21 Good evening from Kinshasa- In 48 hours, I hope to be on a plane back to the U.S.  In 48 hours, I hope to get through customs with the help of someone called a “protocol,” who will deal with the paperwork relating to the baby for me.  In [...]

By Erin Pohland Days 18 and 19 Hi from Kinshasa- The past few days have been relatively tame, in terms of my typical day in Kinshasa. Yesterday, Andrew and I didn’t leave the apartment — and Andrew didn’t leave my arms. I must admit that as much as I love my son, it gets a [...]

By Erin Pohland NOTE: I wrote this post from Kinshasa on June 30, the Congo’s 51st anniversary of independence from Belgian rule. On November 28, 2011, the Congo will hold its second election since the “end” of its civil war in 2002. Whatever your beliefs, please take a moment to think of or pray for [...]

By Erin Pohland Day 14, Kinshasa Hey all- I’m utterly exhausted, so this email will be very short. The good news: we got the visa! The bad news: my agency (via Reverend Bashaka) messed so many things up that I had to spend 4 hours at the embassy fighting with the consul to get it, [...]

By Erin Pohland Good evening from Kinshasa- Andrew and I had a fairly eventful day, starting with a mosquito net maze (he LOVED waking up in it, and played with it for about 20 minutes before he let me take him out of it), proceeded to him bathing himself in peanut butter, and ended with [...]

  Day 11 Hey all- Today was a very easy day, so I’m making this short — I want to get some sleep!! Andrew got bitten by some bug in the middle of the night, and he woke up screaming and scratching at it at 4 in the morning. Needless to say, I’m a bit [...]

By Erin Pohland Greetings from Kinshasa, the city where my baby eats everything he can! So, today it happened — the DHL plane left from Goma, Reverend Bashaka picked up the Swahili paperwork (with translations — certified and notarized! — in French AND English) and brought it to me. I took it to the Embassy. [...]

By Erin Pohland Hi, everyone!Today was a much better day.  First, I’m not longer sick.  Second, Andrew slept in until 7:30.  And third, I spent exactly ZERO hours in a waiting room today. Shocking, I know. I was pretty upset yesterday.  I’m not scared being here, or even worried — I’m just frustrated at the [...]

By Erin Pohland Hello from Kinshasa, or should I say Hell’s Waiting Room…. Seriously, it seems like all I do here is wait.  Wait at the hospital, wait for the power, wait for my laundry (it took 4 days for 2 baby blankets and a sleeper), and wait at the Embassy.  Poor Andrew is going [...]