early May 2013: Chicken Chronicles (by Sharon)

Yesterday, it was getting near to sundown, and we couldn’t find Ginger, our new chicken. We noticed that she hadn’t touched the cut-up tomatoes we had given her, which is extremely unusual, because she LOVES them. We couldn’t find her anywhere in our yard, and so we started searching. We started to wonder if someone had climbed over the wall and stolen her, but decided that’s not likely, because we would certainly have heard her squawk. Then we were trying to remember the last time we saw her, and no one could remember decisively. I wondered if she escaped when Ashta left, but David insisted she couldn’t have. We checked inside the library, the other part of the yard, everywhere we could think of, but to no avail.
I was standing near the front gate, part-way between the library and the guardhouse, and I started to call her, “Here, chick-chick-chick!” Suddenly I heard a little “bok”. David had just started the engine, because he wondered if she crawled up under the car… she likes being under there, but I wondered if he did that, and she was under the hood, wouldn’t we have diced chicken? Anyway, I told him I heard something, so he went outside the gate to see if she was there, and we checked the library again, but we found nothing. Then he suggested that she might be in the guardhouse. So we called again while he went to get the key, and Susan, who was standing next to the door, heard “bok-bok-bok”. Aha! She must be in there! She must have run in there before our guard left, and he inadvertently locked her in.
Well, then David couldn’t get the lock off, and was just going to wait until the guard came that night, but I tried it and was able to get it open (Yay for Mom!). David went inside with a flashlight, and searched and searched, but couldn’t find her.
So, we called to her a couple more times, and finally, he heard her under an orange plastic basin, which somehow had flipped over on top of poor Ginger, trapping her underneath. David said he could feel the heat rise when he removed the basin, so it was very hot underneath, and she didn’t have an awful lot of air in there. Ginger was not alone under the basin… she had laid an egg during her captivity.
We were quick to give her water, which she generously partook of, before we put her safely in her coop. She was acting quite disoriented, and was likely very dehydrated, but she was back to her normal self this morning… and left us another egg.

: I could not tell you before, but now that I am back in Abéché with the family I can say that on Sunday night, I watched a video with the President of Chad and fifty other guests!

April 21, 2013: Our recent trip to Iriba, and an aviary weekend

The trip to Iriba last week went really well. As I drove along, I was amazed to find signs of the work of the Chinese road construction company CGCOC as they begin to survey the road from Iriba to Bakaouré, in preparation to build a paved road all the way to Abéché! They were drilling wells in preparation for this task; I wish them well from my heart as they take on one of the most challenging road construction projects I know.
I went up by Twila (our Speed The Light vehicle) to coincide my trip with Andrew’s first visit in many years. Andrew’s hope was to begin recording stories in Z so he could learn how the language works. We even got up at 4:30 AM on Wednesday to spend the morning running around to try to find someone willing to be recorded. This brought us to three villages: Geme-Ba, Er and Kuba. Even though we didn’t find anyone willing to be recorded, we met a lot of people, drank a lot of tea and learned a lot about Z culture.
Perhaps one of the reason the people refuse to be recorded is that so much recording has been done in the past by other researchers. In any case, we were able to go to the Iriba market on market day (Thursday), and got as many mp3 recordings of Z songs, sugurdi (camel thief stories) and sermons as we could find. Hopefully this will help him get started on his research.
While in the Iriba market this past Thursday, I received the gift of a chicken! So around noon Friday, after the plane Andrew was in took off, I left in Twila with a Z friend and an NGO worker who had been dropped off in Iriba because there was no room for him on the plane. The speckled chicken rested at my passengers’ feet. We left at noon, and arrived in Abéché at 9:30 PM.
Henny Penny does NOT like the very timid new arrival, so we keep Penny in the backyard, and the new chicken in the front yard. They are kept separate by a middle gate, lest Penny decide to kill this chicken also, as she killed Prissy.
Over the weekend, a teeny little bird landed in our yard, having difficulty flying and needing help. Sarah and Susan gave her water, food and extra loving care. This evening, she flew off, hopefully strong enough to make it in this hot, dry world. The girls really enjoyed worrying and caring for our little visitor.
While up in Iriba, I exchanged the one battery on the solar system there for two, thus allowing me to set up power in an extra room for our host. I was then able to bring down the other battery and hook it up to the solar electric system in our house in Abéché… and what a difference an extra battery is making! Despite cloudy weather, we are not running out of power as we did before. We could have power all night and in extra rooms, and the system just keeps on running! So we are enjoying this extra blessing of electricity, just in time for the clouds…

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cgcoc road marker iriba to bakaoure

April 2, 2013: my last bus trip… for a while… I hope…

Over the past two weeks, I have spend six full days traveling in as many buses. It has been pretty intense for our whole family, but we are glad to be together again… Though when I got to the house, I had to deal with a switch to turn the fridge on and off that needed replacing. Once I finally got the emergencies waiting for me taken care of, it was nice to be home.
Somewhere along the way, I must have picked up a strong respiratory infection, as in this dusty, dry season, everyone is coughing, especially when they are traveling. I am now on antibiotics, and it’s great to be able to breathe better and better with each dose and each coughing spell.
I am especially thankful that on the Abroum bus I was on today, they have new Sudanese music videos. Can you imagine watching the same set of Sudanese music videos over and over again?
On our last bus trip, we spent at least four hours watching . Al-Hadj owns a boutique somewhere in Chad, and sells essential goods and beauty products. He usually gets the worst of it from his customers.

Patisserie L’Amandine: What would N’Djaména be without it?

The Amandine is a durable N’Djaména classic; what would life in N’Djaména be without it? The bakers and staff have been serving baked goods, pizza and ice cream for over twenty years and through at least three revolutions. During one of the skirmishes when they were on Charles de Gaulle Street when the trees were intact, the ice cream dispenser was put out of commission by a stray bullet!
For many years, it has been a favorite gathering place for Chadian musicians and artists. Now it reaches out to all sorts of people as a meeting place, a special treat during the week, a place to celebrate and meet with friends and family.
L’Amandine is a bakery of special treats for any time of the day: there is pain au chocolat and fresh bread for breakfast. For lunch, have a cheese omelet or a panini here, but be sure to buy the biggest fruit juice of the flavor of the day that you can! For supper, take home a pizza or two, or a hamburger on a homemade roll to re-heat in the oven.
For a birthday or special occasion, a delicious gourmet chocolate cake will be an unforgettable touch to that special day.
La Patisserie Amandine opens around 7:30 AM and closes around 8 PM Monday through Saturday, so you have plenty of time to pop in and enjoy an ice cream cone or two to get you through the day. Be forewarned, however: on Sundays, they are open from 9 AM to Noon.
The busiest times at L’Amandine are during the morning commute when children are being dropped off and picked up at school, or right after work. If you can, try to pop in when things are a bit quieter, such as from 7:30 to 8:30 AM, 2:00 to 5:00 PM or 6:30 to 8:00 PM.
Throughout the year, they provide seasonal treats, such as Saint Michel cakes in January (the ones with a little statue baked into the cake, and a crown on the cake for the one who finds it) and Easter chocolate for Easter. For Christmas, you can pre-order a “bûche de Noël”, the well-loved French cake in the form of a log.
If there is a weakness in the way things are run there, it is the perpetual lack of waitresses and waiters. This place is extremely popular, so you may have to be patient… but your patience will be well-rewarded. The staff they DO have is professional and kind, always ready to give you a smile, even if it is weary one as they try to keep up with the near-constant demand.
Seating indoors in the air conditioned lobby is limited, so be ready to try sitting in the garden outside, behind the patisserie.
Note: I do not work for l’Amandine, nor do any of my relatives. They have not paid or compensated me to present this evaluation. It’s just that La Pâtisserie Amandine has been a part of my life in Chad for twenty-one years, that I wanted to be sure you knew about it.

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March 2, 2013: The break-in

We were on the road to Abéché before sunrise, even before Amandine was open. This helped us get out of town before the traffic gridlock began.
The trip was mostly peaceful and pleasant. We made good time until we got to the part of the road between Mongo and Mangalme. It was great to see the progress they are making in the road, but the part of the road we are supposed to drive on is still terrible due to a severe case of washboard-itis. I tried to drive on the nicer of the road, but this only got us lost and turned around, for it isn’t open to the public yet.
About 40 km from Mangalme, the wheel felt strange. I pulled over and had Sharon check the tires, and sure enough we had a flat tire. As I was mounting the broken tire to bring it back to Abéché for repairs, I noticed that there was a huge bolt stuck deep into the outer tire. Apparently, it had been shaken out from one of the cars in front of us and was now lodged deep into the tire.
We passed many broken down vehicles along this part of the road. It was then I decided to avoid bringing “Twila” our Speed The Light vehicle along this trail until it is fixed, unless absolutely necessary.
We also had a break-in at our house while we were gone. Thinking our neighborhood was fairly safe, we decided that it would be okay to give our guard friend permission to go to his classes from 4 to 8 pm. While he was gone, he discerned from the footprints left behind that a young man had jumped over the wall and tried every door. The young thief noticed the lock on the library could be broken, so he broke it. There were many things he could have taken, but he saw some gifts we had for the Zs from donors in the US, and took all that was there. When things like this happen, you feel like you are in a spiritual battle to make progress on an uphill climb! That is why we SO appreciate the prayers of those who stand behind us; we can only move forward as a result of your prayers…
Needless to say, from that day onward, our guard friend stayed at the house until I could come back and help out when he needed to be absent…

February 25, 2013: A productive week in N’Djaména

Our time in N’Djaména was very productive. I spent all day Monday and half of Tuesday sitting on a mat in an Arab neighborhood as a mechanic who specializes in suspensions and transmissions took the transmission of “Twila” apart and put it back together again! What a blessing to have that problem taken care of right away, and so quickly! They have no hydraulic jacks or pits to get to the underside of the vehicle, so they lean the front axle GENTLY onto an old engine block to get to it. As ever, I am totally amazed at what people get done here with less; having less in hand seems to stretch your mind!
With that out of the way, I began Wednesday morning to work on the visas. Things were moving slow; I was told I needed to get an introductory letter ready, but was unsure if my sponsor would be willing to help me get it ready at such short notice and with limited computer access. In the end, our friend Tony came through for us! He helped us to write and print the letter, and we submitted it on Thursday, with the Z picture booklet series.
I arrived on Friday, that short work day that was the thing between us being able to get our visa done or not. My contact there said that the boss had seen the booklet, and wanted to meet me. So I ended up waiting several hours for him to show up. He finally did, and I was ushered in to his office with joyful conversation in Z! He was thrilled, I was thrilled… and he mercifully officialized our girls’ visas, and we were set to leave on schedule, early the following Monday.
In between these tasks, there was a lot of shopping for supplies and foods we enjoy. We found tahini for hummos, strawberry jam, marshmallows and peach drink mix to enjoy while we are back. We also bought trash cans and table lamps to make the house feel more like a home.
Our time in NDJ also gave us the time to meet with friends, and eat with friends. We ate at Royal Chicken THREE times while we were there! We also ate treats like sausage, beignets, milk-based ice cream, grapefruit soda and paninis! I was getting quite the tummy on me by the time it was time to go.

February 17, 2013: a sudden extraction

I was tired from yesterday’s trip, but could not refuse to get beignets for my girls from the lady who makes the very best beignets! On my way there, I discovered that there was going to be a Men’s Prayer Meeting today near to where we live. I did not think I could make it, but after our breakfast was done, there was still time.
While there, I found out that there was a dentist in town. He was supposed to leave today, but the Harmattan (dust storm) hindered them. So we went and he looked at my back tooth which has been falling apart since 2004. He recommended that I have it extracted, and, before long, there I was.
I enjoy writing about my experiences here in Chad… But, while it was a very necessary procedure, the long process of getting it out is something I would rather not describe here. Suffice it to say that I followed the dentists’ instructions to take it easy for the rest of yesterday and today.
There was one exception, however. My two older girls had the opportunity to go to a sleepover; I just had to get them there. So I braved the road construction detours and congested Saturday traffic in low gear once again to get them there, then came home and went to sleep.

February 15, 2013: Our mostly uneventful trip to N’Djaména

broken down along the way

We were able to be on the road to N’Djamena at 5:30 AM.  Things went really well most of the way; we saw a family of monkeys, a guinea fowl couple and over a hundred storks headed lightly south, spread out in the air just above us for miles.
The girls were so eager to get to N’Djaména that we mostly ate in the car.  We had pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins to hold us through the trip.

As we were paying the last toll at Pont Belilé, where they make the string goat cheese, I put the car in gear, and CRUNCH!  KRRRRRR!  A terrible noise coming from the axle.  We could not move forward.  Then I tried to put it into low gear, and we were able to get out of the way.
We prayed, and were able to make our way to where we are staying using the low gear.  This was a huge challenge, because of all the road repairs, along with all the new roads and the roadblocks for the “tapis rouge”.  A tapis rouge is when the roads the President might travel on are blocked off so as to give him freedom of movement.
To finally know where we were, it took hours of being stopped and made to turn around or in the opposite direction of where we were headed.  So we were very hungry when we passed by the Royal Chicken Restaurant, and decided to stop.  Our meal was delicious!  Sharon says that it isn’t as good as KFC, but we all had to admit, that at that moment it was the best chicken I had ever eaten!

February 7, 2013: Treasure Hunting

I was so excited about going to Iriba yesterday that I was up, tossing and turning at 3 AM… So I decided to get up and to try to get ready to leave.
The touchscreen on my old Palm Pilot stopped responding to commands, so I had to find a workaround to see the final items on my packing list. I was on my way at 5 AM, and arrived in Iriba at 2 PM.
I only knew at 8 PM that I was going to be able to take this trip. So with such short notice, I was unable to inform anyone that I was on my way. I tried to call my landlord, but no response, and sent a message to the Sultan, whom I heard was in Iriba.
The trip went very smoothly, although I had to find the road in the Wadi Fira area and had to adjust my GPS landmark in Er; apparently all this time I have been circling the town counter clockwise when I could have simply passed it on my right heading north.
I was so thankful to my landlord and his family; when I got to Iriba, the roof to the other house had been repaired, and the stuff in that room had been moved back in neatly! This place is starting to look less like a storage unit and more like a home away from home. On the other hand, the fridge had gone warm on us because the external switch had failed. I loathed having to get rid of those eggs…
Arriving so early allowed me to pop my head into the Sultan’s palace to say hello. In Z culture, you never jump right into the tasks at hand, you have to ease into it slowly, staying aware of signs from your powerful Z friend that the time is right. I like sitting with the Sultan whether I have work to do or not; my job allows me to have a reason to enjoy getting to know him better.
I came to the Sultan’s house in the morning after my morning routine, but he was falling asleep at his chair while watching TV. And so I asked him if I could come back this afternoon. This freed me up to go to the market (Thursday is market day in Iriba). What a joy to see old and new friends, to buy items in Sudanese currency, to walk around and see what is for sale.
Then I went to the village where my landlord works, which gave me an excuse to go see it from the ground for the very first time. I found a few guys from the village to show me the road, which was also fun.
And he was not easy to find, either. I started at his workplace, then we drove to his house in a neighboring village, then back to the market, where we walked around searching for him for about 45 minutes! It was a great excuse to see all there was to see.
The meeting with the Sultan started out nervously. My mental preparation for the meeting only got into the way as I tried to rush through my prepared speech before the next interruption. Finally, a Z who was really strong in Arabic was there to greet him, and, after a segway by the Sultan into the topic, this man had the ideas.
I had six words to check and see how the Sultan would like to have them written using Arabic Script, each with up to five options on how to write them. Each option had its own page, and the Sultan would hand me the page which was written the way he liked best. The Sultan made the final decision, but his visitor helped explain what he saw as normal… And they both were favorable to the method of transcription found in Chad Arabic literature, which do not require any new symbols to the Arabic keyboard that is typically found in every computer!
After I got back to my Iriba home and the day had finally settled down, I analyzed the Sultan’s choices and prepared a chart. Discovering that chart with the Sultan is an absolute treasure to me, a key that opens the door for us to prepare all sorts of books that have been waiting to be published.