Bagels and Bribes

It was a fairly relaxing weekend. Well, John ran 65kms on Saturday, but he finds that kind of thing relaxing. I opted for watching our wedding video. I still love it, think it was the best wedding I've ever been to, and cry and laugh in all the same parts (yes, I'm a geek). Best day of my life... John also made bagels, which I have been craving (do I have the best husband or what?) We saw two interesting movies ("Lions for Lambs" and "Into the Wild") and I finished two books ("Who are these Salvationists?" - Shaw Clifton and "Blood River" - Tim Butcher). Blood River is about a journalist's voyage in the Congo - trying to copy the route of the explorer Stanley. It's a fascinating commentary on the Congo today, and interesting to me since we have just been to one small part of that country recently. One theme that comes up over and over is the absence of law and order in the Congo. We certainly sensed this corruption and this fear of those in authority! Even at the airport, when we arrived, we never went inside. Our friend had hired a "protocol" to handle our papers and bags. As foreigners, we would never have been able to tell who was asking for legitimate fees and who was asking for bribes. Even leaving, we just sat in the waiting area while the protocol did everything. Everything just seemed "random" - some people are in uniform and others aren't, the security test for our bags was someone shaking them. How would you know who to trust? I would have never identified lack of law & order as a number one problem in a country, but now I understand how it can destroy a nation. Back in Zim, they've announced that there will be a run-off for the elections, but no one knows when. In the mean time people are being beaten - some for voting the "wrong" way last time, and others because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. People have taken the "law" into their own hands in the rural areas, and it's scary. We're safe - don't worry. It's just worrying.