11/20 8:41pm

In N’d, drivers in cars and motorcycles are very generous with their honking. They will honk every few meters, to make a turn, to announce their arrival, to speed up, to slow down, and to do a number of many other things I have not figured out yet; they have their own code. But most of all, they honk to tell others on the road (cars, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians) to get out of the way…because they are not going to change direction or velocity.

Since it is Sunday, we decided not to bother our gracious “benefactors,” Dr. F or his amazing assistant B. Instead of asking for a driver, we took a taxi to the business section of town, for a bite to eat and to get on the internet. The ride there was normal, with its near misses and close calls. The ride back is a completely different story.

It was four of us, Chris, Gabe, S, and A, an aid organization’s new program manager, who will work out of Abeche; she arrived early in the morning. Our taxi driver was young, and his car was old. Chris negotiated a good price for our ride to the guesthouse, and we all piled into the small Datsun-like auto, Chris getting in the front with another paying customer and the driver. When the car took off in what seemed like the opposite direction of where we should be going, S asked if he knew the way. The driver stopped the car, turned around to look at S, read the address on the card Chris gave him, and said something like “that’s where I’m taking you.”

Well, it wasn’t long before we were sure he had no idea where he was going. We went off-roading into some of the, let’s say, interesting neighborhoods of N’D. S began to be very concerned, or at least she was the only one showing it, since I know that we were all wishing we had bothered Dr. F’s driver.

The young driver stopped and asked for directions, but it did not get any better. We kept getting deeper and deeper into what seemed like a labyrinth of dirt roads, in a large community of mud houses. The car was ready to literally fall apart at each of the considerably large bumps on the road. S’s door would not close, so she had to hold it with one hand and hold on to the front seat with the other.

We finally told Chris to tell the driver to take us back to where he picked us up. We eventually made it back to a paved road and then to the internet cafe, from where we walked to Dr. F’s office. Always smiling B showed up a few minutes later. With B, anything he does for you seems as if you are the one doing him the favor. He’s a good guy, and riding back “home” with him and his driver felt like heaven.

Paz

11/20/05
Hello everyone:

This blog might be out of sequence, since I sent some other entries through our sat modem to Rachel to post, and now I have a chance at the local internet cafe.

Today is Sunday, a day of rest in Chad. The streets are quiet and empty, for the most part, although you can always find, or they find you, young men selling phone cards. There are probably about 20 in a short one block section of town.

The day started really great, with our friend B waking us up with our satellite phone in hand. B works for Dr. F, and he is well on his way to becoming one of the most popular guys in town, number two right after Dr. (and I’m only talking about civilians here, ok). He is a young Indian man with a great smile and a friendly way of carrying himself. He has only been here a few months, but he knows who he needs to know. I’ll describe more about him later.

Tonight we’ll be trying to upload our first video feed, and it’s great to have the phone, so we can have Yuen-Lin, our tech guru, walk us through it.

OK, I have to leave. Again, thanks for all the comments. I read all of them again. Cynthia, it was great hearing from you, and from all the rest also! A big hug to all. Pali High, you are the greatest! And, of course, Mt. Saint Mary’s.

Paz