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| Sunrise from the plane window |
In Nairobi, our ticket reservations said our flight left around 3:00am. So we woke the children and headed out the door around 12:30am. Upon our arrival we found out our flight was not until 5:00am and the ticket counter would not even be opening until 2:30am at the earliest. So we hunkered down and waited with our trolleys of luggage (remember how we did shopping for things like beans, coffee, tea, etc.) holding our place in line. Eventually we got our tickets and made our way to the gate with a brief stop for some water. We got on our flight, made it to Ethiopia, caught our next flight, and arrived in N'Djamena with all of us a bit sluggish but our entire luggage collection arrived (only 10 checked bags and a few carry-ons). We piled in a van and a car (courtesy of a friend) and arrived at the SIL guesthouse. Unfortunately when we had made our reservation two months earlier, something went wrong and our request had not been recorded. Fortunately the kind people there worked hard, cleaned an apartment for us, and settled us into a 3-bedroom apartment. We arrived Saturday afternoon and stayed through Tuesday morning. This allowed us a little time to catch our breath, meet with friends, and sleep before our bus ride.
Upon making our bus reservations, we were informed that we
should be at the station at 5:00am Tuesday morning. We wanted to ensure that we were on time so
we could pick out good seats (the back is a bit rough and we needed to be
together) as well as have a place for all our luggage. We got everything loaded up and seats picked
out, but no other passengers arrived for at least an hour. So from 4:30am until 8:30am we sat and waited
on the bus, without it actually moving.
(It turns out that the bus driver had just driven from Sarh to N'Djamena the
day before and needed some rest before making the return trip.) Not only did the bus leave late, but also we
made frequent stops that took quite a while. We finally arrived in Sarh around
10:30pm. Our guard came with his
push-push (a wooden cart with 2 wheels and a handle), loaded it high with
luggage and we returned to the house. A
friend in town had come earlier in the day, filtered some water for us, and
fixed us dinner. We ate our food and
went to bed.
Ever since we returned, the washing machine has been running
pretty much non-stop. All the sheets and
mosquito nets needed to be washed. All
the towels, sheets, blankets that were used for covering things had to be
washed. We also came with dirty
clothes. I swept my little room twice
and got big piles of dirt (along with a few dead cockroaches). The dry season has commenced (though luckily
not the hot part quite yet). My poor
nose has never worked so hard to filter the dry air. Dust is pretty much everywhere and impossible
to stop. Putting lotion on twice a day
is not enough to keep skin moisturized and my heels have started to crack (not
painfully yet). Fortunately the nights
are still cool. I did make the purchase
of a pop up mosquito net (sort of like a tent) so that when it starts to be
really hot, I can sleep outside (although the bugs will be minimal around
then). Cleaning and school prep have
consumed most of my time, but have no fear, I found a moment to hang my hammock
and read a book or two. It is truly
amazing how heat simply exhausts the human body. Last night the neighbors were having a party
(wedding celebration we think) and today the President is in town celebrating
the completion of the road into town (for which we are thankful). Life in the desert has begun again!
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