Residence 165

So we are all moved and pretty much re-settled. Eli is napping. Raya's awake. She's a pro cat-napper, and is lying there jabbering away and kicking her feet.

We left Sunny Day and went and looked at a place called Residence 165. They first showed me a room that was $220/night. That was way more money than I was hoping, but at least it's less than Hotel Royal by a little bit. (Seriously. Kinshasa is ridiculously expensive!) It had a sitting area, and 2 bedrooms, and a kitchenette (basically just a stove and sink- It was even smaller than the one at SD). I asked if there was a 1 bedroom one, which I then walked through. It still has a sitting area, tv, fridge, table/chairs, bed (bigger than the ones at SD), and bathroom with tub/shower. They do have wifi, and free laundry service (!), and a restaurant on site, but no pool, and no cool neighbors. The 1 bedroom does not have the kitchenette, but was only $150/night. So I went with that. I couldn't see spending an extra 70/night for just a tiny stove, although maybe I'll miss it more than I think. I do have a hotpot at least, but I'm not sure it's working very well. We'll see.

So, the pros and cons of this place (compared to Sunny Day) as I see them so far are:
Pros:
better sitting area (comfy chair, loveseat thing, coffee table)
bigger bed
better tv channels, including an English movie channel.
restaurant on site
free breakfast
free laundry service (Yay! Can I send everything on the first day!?)

Cons:
no pool, in fact, basically no grounds at all. Just one small patch of grass.
no friendly English-speaking neighbors
no kitchenette
less storage space (but we found space for everything reasonably well I think)
Slightly more expensive than Sunny Day

I'm hoping maybe Kelly and Stephanie will come and move into the 2 bedroom spot It's cheaper than Hotel Royal by a little bit, and had the kitchenette, (and separate bedrooms!) which would be nice for them, and maybe they'd even let me use it. :) (The stove I mean, not the bedroom) Plus then they'd be here with me, for some company. It seems safe enough, tho. It's about like Sunny Day atmosphere-wise. It's on the main strip, but is gated and guarded and all that. The grounds are very well kept. I'll take pictures when we go exploring this afternoon (after Eli wakes up), but I finally tried to load some pictures on here, and figured out the type of card that Amber's camera uses isn't one that fits in my adaptor. So there will be no more pictures until I get home unless my cord miraculously fixes itself and I can use my computer again.

I think we are going to go the Bonobo Sanctuary on Wednesday. Sounds like we're going out to lunch tomorrow. (And Kelly's going to come look at the rooms for them. Yay! Maybe I will get some English speaking neighbors!)

David said he'd call with an embassy update this afternoon. But when I was checking in here, and paying I asked if he thought we could be out of here before Saturday, and he said no, he didn't think we'd have DGM exit permits before Friday. He thought we'd get our visas Wednesday or Thursday. But then he said he'd call later with an update, so hopefully he'll get some good news today when he goes to the USE.