Back in college, I had two Congolese friends... one a fellow CS student, the other a professor who taught an intro course in African history and literature that I'd taken. They would hang out together because they were the only Congolese in town, and I'd sit with them sometimes, chatting about school and weather and pretty girls walking by an anything but politics.
The professor's family was highly placed in the Mobutu government. He had enjoyed a childhood of education at the best private boarding schools and colleges in Belgium and England. My fellow CS student? He had been labeled a communist, and fled the country with his wife and children. He somehow managed to make his way to the US and enroll in college.
Still, they were genuinely friends, and great company to be with.
The professor's family was highly placed in the Mobutu government. He had enjoyed a childhood of education at the best private boarding schools and colleges in Belgium and England. My fellow CS student? He had been labeled a communist, and fled the country with his wife and children. He somehow managed to make his way to the US and enroll in college.
Still, they were genuinely friends, and great company to be with.