On Dusty Roads

Showers mean a lot because of how dusty you get. The streets are terrible. I had forgotten this. They are totally sand and they are awful. Went through neighborhoods that are basically nothing. They are so many nameless streets without pavement, - not even entry-ways to houses can be seen, but the backs of concessions. A concession is a large courtyard in which a few families have their houses. These are walled around the outside, and these outer concession walls define the edges of the roads. So as you walk down the street there are seven-foot walls on both sides of the road. People walking back and forth – guys on bikes with huge boxes of bread on the back, women carrying stuff on their heads, little kids running around, a lot of people just standing around...I want to ask "What are you all doing today?"

Marketplace

At the big markets, inter-tribal commerce happens in French or more frequently Arabic. In French the prices are given straight up: 500=cinq cents. In Chadian Arabic however, the word for the price 500 means literally 2500. They think about prices in units of five. Anyway that gets really confusing when you are speaking foreign languages in the first place, neither of which you are expert at. Finally we figured that out. David got some sunglasses. We bought mango, and David and Stephen bought head wraps. We were dressed western, but I wished I had worn a headwrap because of all the dust and the direct sunlight. I didn’t wear my sunglasses today. Stupid, what am I thinking? Of course you need them. The sun was overhead the whole time we were at the market. I overheated. I drank 25 glasses of water today easy, 35 probably. I drink ALL THE TIME. You’re just always dehydrated. Water is life here.

Bush Taxi

If you don't have a vehicle of your own and you live in eastern Chad, you have several options for getting to and from the village or town you work in. One of the more economical options is the "bush taxi." This little beauty carried us from a major town to the little town where our team is hoping to work. As you are whizzing along through the desert, you have to hold on pretty tight to those ropes to avoid going overboard. An exciting ride with breathtaking scenery. SPF 30 recommended.