LIST 158) A guest list, by Bryan Mealer*: Items on my desk: April 10, 2005; Kinshasa, Congo; 1:17 AM

1. Stack of receipts (Feb-April expenses: Kin-London-Bunia-Kin)
2. Map, Cartographia: Democratic Republic of Congo
3. Map, United Nations issue: Ituri province
4. Two lamps
5. Bottle of water
6. Swiss Army knife
7. Studded bracelet
8. One ball point pen
9. Roll of toilet paper
10. Three spiral notebooks, used
11. Pack of cigarettes: Ambassade lights, three left
12. Pack of cigarettes: Camel lights, bought in London, two left
13. Headphones, earbud
14. Bottle of vitamin C
15. Tube of Airborne Formula
16. Antacid tablets, Rennies
17. Visine
18. Bottle ibuprofin
19. Insect repellent, spray
20. Anti-malarial tabs, Lariam, three
21. Roll of clear tape
22. One new lightbulb, 40 watt
23. Certs, three left, covered in crusted shampoo from bag
24. Saddle and leather dressing
25. Tube of Chapstick
26. VPN SecureID passwords
27. Silver dope tin
28. Hole puncher
29. Two candles, new
30. Two cellular phones: one local (Celtel), one roaming GSM (Thuraya)
31. List: bean yields for Djugu territory, Ituri – source: German Agro Action
32. Money: 9 GBPounds
33. Money: 25,600 CFA, West African States 
34. Money: 20 Congolese francs
35. Business card: Emmanuel Bob-Akitani, opposition leader, Togo
36. Bill for dial-up internet service: $197.33
37. One glass tumbler
38. Press credential clamp, metal
39. Bag of raw peanuts, source: Bule, Congo
40. Book: Oxford French Dictionary
41. Book: Webster English Dictionary
42. Book: Roget’s International Thesaurus
43. Book: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown
44. Book: Bescherel book of French conjugations
45. Book: Allah n’est pas oblige, by Ahmadou Kourouma
46. Book: The African Stakes of the Congo War, edited by John F. Clark
47. Book: The Mosquito Coast, by Paul Theroux
48. Book: Traveller’s Guide to the Belgian Congo and the Ruanda Urundi, 2nd Edition
49. Book: The Great Lakes of Africa: Two-Thousand Years of History, by Jean-Pierre Chreitien

   

 

   

*Bryan Mealer, author of All Things Must Fight To Live, was the Associated Press staff correspondent in Kinshasa, Congo, and has reported from locations across the African continent, including Nairobi, Somalia, and Togo. His writing has appeared in Harper’s and Esquire, among others... including our high school literary magazine.