It's been about two weeks since I left Chambéry, and in some ways it feels like a year has passed already! The Carters and I had a good trip to N’Djamena, Chad (our airport of entry onto the African continent), beginning with not having to pay any overweight charges when we checked in our bags! Apparently the airline agents confused the luggage requirements for Chad with those of Cameroon, and so we got an extra bag each. Praise the Lord!

Once in N’Djamena, we were met at the airport by two of our new best friends, Marcos & Yusuf. Marcos works with another organization in Chad, and over the next few days, made it his personal responsibility to show us the ropes of life in Chad’s capital, as well as guide us through the maze of bureaucracy at the Chad/Cameroon border. Yusuf is the head of the porters at the N’Djamena International Airport, and he made worked hard to help us find the two missing bags that didn’t arrive in Chad at the same time we did. Sure enough, Saturday night, the bags were there, in plenty of time for our departure on Monday.

During our stay in N’Djamena, we had to eat and so Rachael and I plunged head first into Food Preparation in Chad 101. After a successful expedition to the central market (in which we proudly purchased everything we wanted for the weekend’s meals using some French and a bit of Rachael’s Jordanian Arabic), we set to work soaking our fruits and vegetables in bleach water and laboriously cutting up the meat we had just bought. A few conclusions after this experience:
1. You should never cook in hot season; it makes not only the kitchen but the rest of the house much too warm for comfort.
2. Househelp really isn’t such a bad idea
3. Mangos are Ben’s new favorite food

Monday we set out for Meskine, Cameroon (Google Earth coordinates: 10°34'01.38"N 14°15'58.62"E). The drive seemed doable from the N’Djamena perspective…we only had to cross the border and then it was a clear shot on paved road all the way to Meskine. Thanks to Marcos’ help, the border crossing went relatively smoothly as David took our passports to all the appropriate offices to get the appropriate stamps. Ben weathered the wait in the car quite remarkably until the last 20 minutes when he did have a melt down, but you couldn’t quite blame him; you would have melted too in the heat. After that, it was a straight shot to Meskine, if you don’t count the confusing roundabout that wasn’t a roundabout in Kousseri and the skillful maneuvering of potholes that often took us from one side of the road to the other. Ben was the only one who didn’t seem to mind the jolting ride; in fact, it rather lulled him to sleep!

Here in Meskine we received a very warm welcome from the MCWA (Medical Centers of West Africa) hospital staff. We were quickly set up in comfortable, furnished housing which the Carters found came complete with Dada Dorcas, their new househelper and possibly the best part about Cameroon so far. Ben discovered the endless sandbox that is the Sahel while in Chad, and was not disappointed to find it stretches as far as Meskine. He loves exploring inside and out and except for the 30 seconds after his daily bath, usually has a good layer of grime covering his body.

Arabic lessons started this week, and now my head is swirling with a whole new set of vocabulary. While there are some Arabic speakers around, most of the local population speaks Fulfulbe, the language of the Fulani tribe, and French is only sometimes useful. We will be trying to locate some Chadians over the next few weeks so that we can practice what we learn in our language lessons.