celine is the iron lady

today i arranged some more meetings with ministers and brought my colleagues didier and serge along. mostly because i am trying to stop serge from disappearing from the office like he usually doesn, and because didier wears real snazzy shirts and suits, and has a car. the office has run out of cash, and no cash means no gas, and so the drivers are all up in arms so you can't get driven anywhere in the office land cruiser.
i don't know how the conversation started but it was about margaret thatcher, and serge is a little older and he was deadpan serious when he said she changed his life. i seriously think a tear welled up in his eyes. i was totally making fun of him for it when didier said "but the real iron lady is celine dion!" and turned up the stereo. all of us, including some lady we picked up who needed a ride were suddenly screaming the lyrics of the titanic song, windows open, all wearing our sunglasses, mine of the jackie-o variety and the boys with their tom cruise aviators.
it must have been an odd sight because even the scrubby kids who beg at your window and snatch whatever they can from inside your car stayed far far away. good to know.
the meeting was in the fabulous oldest building in kinshasa, which formerly had the titanic-style indian restaurant up top with the super scary elevator. well the indians are gone, it's all ministry of environment, and the elevator is out of service :(

use at your own risk?