Estop!

A typical Chadian mini bus

You are sat in a rickety mini bus squashed between a lady wearing a laffay with a big bag of leaves and a boy dressed in a school uniform. Peering out of the window, you realise that you have just passed the petrol station which marks where you have to get off to go to your friend’s house. You say "stop" but nothing happens, the lady next to you realises that you want to get off so she says “estop” and the young man by the door taps the roof. The bus comes to a halt and you get out squeezing past all your fellow passengers and give the man 100 francs thinking next time, I will remember to say “estop”!

In the past few weeks, as I have moved into my new flat, I have had to learn how to use Chadian public transport. A swiss missionary helpfully explained to me the a few of the main routes of the mini buses (and the fixed prices) and I have been taking mini buses, learning along the way that if you want to be understood then you have to say “estop” as that is how Chadians pronounce it! So far it has been going well and I am slowly getting used to catching buses and taxis though it is nice once in a while when I get a ride in Annie or  Mum and Dad’s air conditioned cars! I have seen quite a bit of them as I have been finishing my medical school applications. This Thursday I took part in a “rally” which was organised for all the French speaking short termers. 

Mandawa

We were put into 3 groups of 3 and given a list of things to do around town like buy something you don’t know and ask how to cook it, greet 15 people in Chadian arabic, buy 500 francs worth of “mandawa” which we discovered was a special type of peanuts after a long walk to a different market following a boy selling bags! All these activities were designed to help us get to know N’djamena and to force us to use public transport. We ended up taking 4 buses and 2 taxis and only got lost at the very end before arriving back at our start point an hour late! It was good fun and certainly has made me more confident, I’ll never be lost in that part of town again!

Selling bags, cards and soaps at the international service at SIL

I have been in my new flat for two weeks now. It’s very nice to be right next to the centre so that I can check on things and open it up if anyone needs anything! It also means I’m always already at our meeting point, in the past two weeks we have been to two mission conferences to sell soaps, cards and bags. All the ladies have been working hard to make enough bags as they are selling very quickly! I have started sewing one but my job at the moment is ironing the straps which suits me just fine as I have always liked ironing. I think will have heat proof fingers by the end of the year as the waxy material gets very hot! I also have to cut a lot of material with Annie to make sure there are enough bags ready to be made. In the past week with have made a test batch of scented candles which we hope to sell around Christmas time! I’m really enjoying getting to know the women as we work together.

Things have been going well in my new flat. It is just the right size and very conveniently 5 minutes’ walk away from one of the city’s biggest markets! I went there today with Ophelie my flat mate and Estelle and Lucile our neighbours to buy a mat so that we can receive visitors outside (where it is much cooler) in a shady area as well as round platter for serving drinks! So far we have been out to visit a few girls who live across the street and they have also come to see us. It’s nice to have neighbours who speak French and not only Arabic like in Guinebor, it means we can play games with them so we have been teaching them how to play dobble!
My everyday French has been coming on very rapidly as I have to speak it at home with Ophelie. She is here for a year to work with street children and Estelle and Lucile are here to teach French at an evangelical school not far from where we are living.

Ophelie in our front room

They arrived in Chad from France on the same night as Ophelie and I moved house so we have been busy introducing them to life in Chad.  It is very nice to have unpacked all my things (after 3 months of living out of suitcases!) and to have a more normal and predictable life style. We have been experimenting with cooking, using sweet potatoes, Chadian chili peppers and okra! Just this last week a lady from the centre has started coming to help us at the house; hopefully she’ll be able to give us some lessons in Chadian cooking.

In our first week we went to eglise 12, an evangelical church which is right next to our house. About 1000 people worship there every Sunday so we felt a bit isolated and lost in the crowd (even though I’m sure everyone noticed our presence). Last week we went to a smaller church which is a bit farther away. It has a congregation of about 300 on a Sunday morning and everyone was very friendly and welcoming. We are going again tomorrow and Lucile and I are going to ask about joining the choir! I already feel like I have learnt a lot more about Chad just by living independently for a few weeks but I am hoping to be able to get involved in the church and make more Chadian friends.