Around 3:30 in the afternoon on Sunday the 18th a taxi came to pick me up to begin my long journey to Goz Beida, Tchad- my home for the next 2 months. My first flight was to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where I had a brief layover and then continued to the capital city of N’djamena. Two things to note from my time in the Addis airport- first, I have never seen such a rush for the Duty Free zone- people were excited and literally buying out the place. These shoppers were skilled and strategic and they meant business! Second, there was a strange behavior among those that were on my flight to Chad. There was a noticeable difference in how they responded to the airline staff and to each other. Chaos is the only way to explain it. People were in a frenzy and not really following any rules but somehow it worked.
With the two flights, the layover and crossing a few time zones I finally arrived just after 1am on the 19th of January- which happened to be my birthday. I was pretty beat but was all alone and now in a French speaking country so I needed to be alert and try my best to catch all necessary cues as I attempted to get through immigration and then customs. I managed pretty well and was happy to see one of our staff holding a World Concern sign after I passed successfully through customs. We gathered my 2 bags and headed to a taxi, which incidentally did not start. After many tries the guys finally caught the attention of someone else and the three men pushed the car until it started and off we went.
I was tired but still trying to notice as many things as possible as I was in a new country. I noted right away how quickly we lost the tarmac, just a couple of minutes from the airport the roads became like those in the back roads of Narok- uneven, full of garbage piles and animals and made of dirt and in this context also sand. The other thing that was hard to miss was the dust and sand which made the night sky have a bit of an ominous glow to it. On our way from the airport Jonas let me know that he had noticed from my passport that it was my birthday. I was surprised by this and pleased, not only to be remembered, even in Tchad, but more by the fact that it showed his attention to detail.
About 10 minutes from the airport we arrived at the gate of our guest house/office. By this time it was well after 2 in the morning and I had just received the news that I had an appointment booked at 8am with the French Development Agency. Not the best of news this hour of the night but I am here to work so I might as well hit the ground running. So, without any further delay I located my pj’s, got a glass of water and went to bed. It made me laugh actually as I found a heavy blanket on my bed but I promise you with the heat that still remained from the day, there wasn’t even the need for a single sheet.
With the two flights, the layover and crossing a few time zones I finally arrived just after 1am on the 19th of January- which happened to be my birthday. I was pretty beat but was all alone and now in a French speaking country so I needed to be alert and try my best to catch all necessary cues as I attempted to get through immigration and then customs. I managed pretty well and was happy to see one of our staff holding a World Concern sign after I passed successfully through customs. We gathered my 2 bags and headed to a taxi, which incidentally did not start. After many tries the guys finally caught the attention of someone else and the three men pushed the car until it started and off we went.
I was tired but still trying to notice as many things as possible as I was in a new country. I noted right away how quickly we lost the tarmac, just a couple of minutes from the airport the roads became like those in the back roads of Narok- uneven, full of garbage piles and animals and made of dirt and in this context also sand. The other thing that was hard to miss was the dust and sand which made the night sky have a bit of an ominous glow to it. On our way from the airport Jonas let me know that he had noticed from my passport that it was my birthday. I was surprised by this and pleased, not only to be remembered, even in Tchad, but more by the fact that it showed his attention to detail.
About 10 minutes from the airport we arrived at the gate of our guest house/office. By this time it was well after 2 in the morning and I had just received the news that I had an appointment booked at 8am with the French Development Agency. Not the best of news this hour of the night but I am here to work so I might as well hit the ground running. So, without any further delay I located my pj’s, got a glass of water and went to bed. It made me laugh actually as I found a heavy blanket on my bed but I promise you with the heat that still remained from the day, there wasn’t even the need for a single sheet.
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