No worries…I made it! First of all, I'm so sorry I haven't been able to update. This is the first chance I've had to use the internet...but that should get better now that I am more established here!
After a several months of anticipation I have finally made it to Moundou! While it has only been a little over two weeks since I left for orientation, so much has happened. I guess I’ll begin at the beginning…
On August 12th I said my final goodbyes, finished the interesting and difficult process of packing for a year in one suitcase, and got in the car for the short trip to Akron, PA for a week of orientation. I was only missing one thing…my visa. The trouble began when I first mailed my application and passport to the Chadian embassy in DC back in mid July, only to have it returned to me a week later marked as “undeliverable as addressed” After some investigation, I found a new address on the embassy’s website. Apparently they had moved last September and neglected to update the information. I remailed the application that same day, crisis averted…or so I thought. It was an interesting and scary thing to leave home for a year and not know if I would actually be able to leave. Lacking the one thing that was required before leaving the country, I was in limbo. I tried contacting the embassy multiple times to no avail, and finally on the 16th, three days before I was scheduled to leave, I called one more time. “Chad” said the voice on the other end of the line. Finally someone answered! And what was the problem? The embassy would not accept the type of check I sent…so nothing had been processed. With only three days left before my flight there was only one thing I could do. I sent my dad to the embassy in DC the next day, he picked up my passport with a newly inserted Chadian visa and hand-delivered it to me in Akron!!! Following so much uncertainty and nervousness I must admit I was a little emotional. I might have even teared up a bit. I know, crazy right? I was just excited that I would actually get to go :)
After a week of orientation with around 60 other SALTers heading to countries all around the world, around 30 IVEPers coming from countries all around the world for a year-long service term in the US or Canada, and 7 YAMENers coming from several different countries and heading out on service assignments elsewhere, I was a little sad when it came time to leave my newly made friends. (MCC really likes their acronyms if you haven’t noticed!)
We left for the airport at 2:00am on the 19th. Rose, Arienne and I were the first three to leave Akron to catch our flights in Philly. We flew from Philly to DC to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a tech stop in Rome (unfortunately we didn’t even get off the plane). Once in Addis, Rose and I bid farewell to Arienne who is spending the year in Burkina Faso, walked around for a bit, then passed through security to board our plane to N’jdamena. It would be an understatement to say we stuck out. Our flight was full of mostly men, dressed in suits or the typical Islamic dress, and our efforts to fit in by wearing skirts and headscarves probably made us stand out even more.
We arrived safely in N’djamena and made it through the airport without a problem. Pastor Sem (who we will be working with at CENTRAM), Levy (the MCC country rep), and Doug and Naomi Enns (MCC service workers in N’djamena) met us in the airport. We spent the next four days in N’djamena with the Enns recovering from jet-lag, learning about Chadian culture, adjusting to the heat, and adjusting to the infrequency of electricity :)
N’djamena is an interesting city. It is the capital city of Chad but has very little infrastructure…less than any city I’ve visited anywhere in the world. Next time I head north I will try to take some pictures...which could apparently get me in trouble with the police! Pictures aren’t supposed to be taken in the capital, but I’ll make sure the coast is clear before I attempt to take any!
Pastor Sem picked us up Wednesday afternoon for the trip to Moundou. It is not too far—about five hours, but the heat, bumpy roads and lack of any restrooms along the way made it seem far. Once we arrived in Moundou we stopped first at Pastor Sem’s house for dinner, headed next to my host home…and ate another dinner, then I said goodbye to Rose as she headed to her host home for a third dinner!
Since Wednesday I have been settling in here in Moundou. It is much cooler than N’djamena, and less desert like. I LOVE my host family. They are wonderful, welcoming, and patient with me and my broken French.
Sorry for the novel…but a lot has happened since I left home. I love you all and I will leave you with a few fun things that I have done/seen…
*communicated only in French
*ate three chicken gizzards (Giving the gizzard is the Chadian way of welcoming guests)
*ate pigeon
*swept a dirt courtyard
*saw a man riding a moto (motorcycle) with a live sheep strapped on
*rode on the back of my host mom’s moto…in a long skirt…without showing my knees
*sifted sand out of flour
*was followed by children chanting “Nassarra” everytime I left my house (Nassara is a Ngambaye word for white person)
*figured out how to change google and blogspot out of arabic so that I could actually sign in to my blog!
*LIVED IN CHAD FOR TEN DAYS!!
