A lovely trip to Moundou

Ok, so I start another blog by noting that there has been a fair lapse between entries and again I say I’m sorry. I know that there are some people that read this blog and that it’s an easy way to track along with my trip. On the other hand it’s pretty well the only way I’m going to remember what happens here, and well gosh golly I’m going to be really peeved with my past self in the not too distant future when I start to forget about this trip. But this entry is my attempt to remember every detail of the events I shall now share. Behold: the story of my very first kidney stone!

So Naomi, Hannah (in country service workers with MCC, my own personal consulate) and I were travelling for a little vacation with another SALTer(service and learning together, it’s the program I’m here with (how many people are reading this and don’t know this already? A lot? In which case I feel like a jerk now)) working in Moundou. Moundou is about 6 and a half hours by bus and it’s one of the most interesting 6 and a half hours I’ve ever spent. I may even upload a pic (sceptical, I’m super tired right now and need to go to bed, so I press on). The bus it’s self wasn’t in horrible condition, it’s a pretty tight fit with everyone (5 across in each row) but it’s not bad. They have the little fold down half a seat that they use in every row that looks like it could really ruin your six hours. So we left pretty early in the morning, just before 7 when the day is still quite cool.

The road between hither and yon is much more the Africa I had anticipated, or at least the Africa you see in a magazine. Plains, not a single hill or bump, just straight horizon with the odd tree populating the grassy view. After we had passed a river and traveled further we then passed these little shanty towns that were incredible. Round mud walls with thatched roofs, all built round with thatched walls as barriers. And they’re so form the towns, it’s mind boggling. Yeah, I was just looking for a pic and realized that I took video’s cause they pass by the van too fast for me to get a decent picture timed. Sorry, I’ll have a big upload pictures day soon, not today, but soon. Today is almost over.

SO we arrived in Moundou around 230 (with stops and everything) and get our luggage from the top of the bus (people will carry anything on a vehicle if they have to, amazing, so interesting. There are people that cruise around with a goad in their lap while driving a moped, or a 20foot boat balancing on the roof of a flatbed truck… stack it up, or just hold on to it, but it will work) and walk to where we expect to find a ride. After we discover there has been some miss communication we are left to observe some rural life. This is the time when the president was in town (huge deal) and cops were driving around singing songs and such. They are usually so intimidating but that day they were so happy and a few waved at us, it was pretty much the coolest interaction I have ever had with an officer of the law (not that I have a lot of them or any more severe than some form of traffic violation), so needless to say we were happy to wait a bit and take in Moundou. Our ride did finally come and we found our way to the place we were staying. Dropped our bag in our rooms, and started planning the rest of our day. Naomi had an hour meeting so me and my other MCC peeps (Hannah, and Lisa) watched some Dr. Horrible (great musical, watch it…). Naomi finished, and we started planning dinner options when I decided that would be a sometime for one of my famous movements. I sat down, and within seconds started to feel this brutal pressure in my back. It’s crazy how fast the pain set, and shortly thereafter we had called for a doctor, found none, and instead called a local friend to drive us all to the doctors home.

Let me say that our driver was awesome. He was trying to get my there in the best time he could, but the roads there are dirt road and a roller coaster at 40kph. We were flying, all of us bumping off the doors and seats, all of which don’t agree with an angry kidney. We arrived at the doctor’s, but before we could even exit the car we were told that the doctor was not there and that we would have to try something else. Back across town, like a rally car we made it to another doctor’s home. We were ushered inside where someone told us that this doctor was also unavailable. To the hospital, another joyous drive across town.

We arrived at the hospital and were led to a room. Where I was greeted by a nurse who told me I’d have to wait, the ONLY doctor they had working was currently in surgery and… well, the other patient had priority. By this point I was unable to keep myself from displaying my discomfort. Really looked stupid. Anyhow, I was wheel chaired across the grounds to a private room. I’m not sure how long I actually waited for the doctor, but it felt like forever. MCC has some sweet emergency care systems set in place and were ready to have me medevaced out if it was deemed necessary. It was not. But through all of those wires crossing we heard about an American doctor who was in the area. Really kind guy who drove out and prescribed some medication (he later returned to check up on me, really nice guy). This was a source of tension when the incredibly overworked surgeon showed up. I felt bad that we went around him, but at the time I wasn’t really considering his reaction.

The next three days were a lot of fun, off and on again pain, a ton of IV and good times. After I passed the MICROSCOPIC(SO anticlimactic) stone it got easier. There are a TON of bathroom stories, but I’ll save those for face to face convo’s. There was one point then a nurse came in to drain the blood out of my IV ( I was standing too much) and chose to drain it into my bed pan. As he did so he dropped the line into the pan, and proceeded to try and put the line back in my arm without cleaning it. I am glad Naomi was there for that, she would have started throwing first before shed let that happen. I don’t kow how beig of a deal that actually was, but I was a little thrown by it.
SO we were ready to leave on the third day, the end of our trip. We left in the afternoon after the doctor gave me the green light, and I spent the evening enjoying a lovely meal with my now very well acquainted friends. The next morning we were up early and caught the bus back home. We were a bit late and suffered the midday heat all the more this time. Just to add to the experience on the ride home Naomi was stuck behind a very large woman in the half-a-seat and shoulder to shoulder with a breast feeding mother who did not stop feeding her child for the entire trip and our driver was Muslim, which meant we stopped several times for prayers, which was actually pretty cool. Saw mosques in different settings, different gatherings. They were pretty short.

After we had gotten well into the middle of nowhere we popped a tire. I started to run through the lion attack in my mind, but in no time at all the driver and friends ( in know a car like I know open heart surgery, I’ve seen some general actions modeled on TV) had the tire changed and we were on our way. After another half hour the bus dies completely. SO far from town I start to get uncomfortable, but we wait. I am looking out my window when I see our driver on the back of a moto driving the direction we had just come from. A brief wave of panic flushed over me but I realized that there is no danger, just inconvenience, so we waited for his return…spark plug I think, new one worked fine. We arrived after a little over nine hours a little stiff and pretty tired.

That is my kidney stone story, sorry it was so long, if you read it all you’re incredible, if you didn’t that cool, I wrote it all out to remind me of any details I’ll forget with time. It is night and I’m bagged. I’m getting baptized this Sunday which will also be a huge event, deserving a blog and photos and yadda yadda. Sleep.

a less than satisfactory quarterly report

So in my now established just-write-it-down-and-hope-it's-readable fashion I feel obligated to really dig down and give you a taste of how I am feeling. First I have to say that I am healthy. I have some bacterial intestinal issue, but it's effects are far less severe now and I'm hoping to have an antibiotic in hand by midweek. I am thankful to hear of all the support from my family at the meeting house. It's humbling to know that so many people are following me in my trip.

SCHOOL
School has been getting better, with the departure of another missionary has come a bit of cover work that looks a bit daunting. But i'm very encouraged after meeting the teacher who will be filling the other english teacher position. She was away due to some medical reasons but is now returning, I am hoping that she does not over exert herself in the next few weeks as to avoid further injury and recovery. She will be starting in 2 weeks, meaning I am taking the classes for the two weeks, it's about 30 hours in class and I'm not really sure how it will go. But I know I have my church, friends and family's(not mutually exclusive lol) prayer and support. I am also actively reforming my disciplinarian profile. I have been a pretty slack authority figure, I don't like, like really don't like, punishing, or seeming like the bad guy. But almost every voice of experience I have spoken to has told me that severity is essential for an effective teacher in a Chadian classroom. I have begun to see that many of my students don't respect me as an authority figure. Initially my french was too weak for me to really work through some issues, like students not bringing books to class or needing to leave the class for some complicated reason. I have since grown as a French speaker and am not letting things I don't understand immediately pass. I have also had a hard time keeping my students quiet in class. The school here has an awesome system set up to help teachers with such issues.I haven't really known how to effectively access this resource, but I am gaining confidence in progressive action against, and reaction, to students not participating or disrupting the class. On Thursday I sent my first student out of the class due to disruptive behavior, my second student followed shortly after..

COMMUNITY
The church I am attending here has just celebrated it's dedication. It was quite the party. The choir and worship has been incredible to witness and be a part of. I don't understand all of the songs, but anyone can understand the message. EVERYONE dances in the pews, I have a video(it's really common for some one to just walk up in the middle of the service and take a picture of the pastor, choir or congregation)of the choir and the ensuing dance party. It's great. I'm not going to try to upload it, you'll just have to wait for my return. I'll upload it them then. I have to say that entering the community here has been a bit different than what I expected. I will say this before I say anything else, any and all difficulties in establishing an intimate sense of community here has been my responsibility, the people here are very welcoming and interested in my presence here. They are open and hospitable. I think the greatest hindering factor has been my own linguistic limitation. It is hard to really have a meaningful conversation when I am unsure to ask them how to ask how their day was. I have however really connected with the two boys I am living with here. They have been my most prevalent French teachers and have really allowed me to laugh at myself and enjoy life here. I really think that there are enough potential friends here that I just need to really test my French and make a more conscious effort of seeking people out.

EMOTION
I have started to become irritable. I think it is due to the increase of work load aided by the constant cultural abrasions.(always minor and slightly humorous at time. but ever present and ever so slightly discouraging)I also think that I have been shutting myself in my room too much. I'm going to try to spend less time reading or watching tv shows on my laptop, and more time just being around people. I think that will really help. Other than that I'm doing really well, I'm feeling more confident as a teacher and as French speaker, two huge obstacles I'm sure I will struggle with through my entire trip, but I am feeling encouraged and optimistic at the moment. I am feeling really glad to have been blessed with the opportunity to be here and be exposed to such a different and jovial community.

STORIES OF THE WEEK
I think one of the really neat moments I had here was the other day talking to some visiting family from Nigeria. My host father (Dingamyo)’s brother was talking to me about how hard it is for him to leave the privileged lifestyle of Nigeria to see the poverty of Chad. I have also had a conversation with a family here; the wife told me that she cries every day for the poverty in Kenya. I’ve really begun to feel that there is some significance to perspective more than anything else. That people we would consider to be horribly impoverished sit and talk about how horrible the poverty is in some other country blows my mind. Early in my stay I saw a man in his office supply store in the grand market. I thought that he must be very proud of his store as it was one of the biggest in the market. I thought of him becoming incredibly vain and proud of his possessions. I then thought of how humble he would be if he knew about staples. How in his world he is the top dog; that he takes such pride in what he has, but that it would be laughable by any employee working. I then thought of how God must look at our pathetic accumulation of material here, and how he must see our pride as such a joke.
Other story, less important but way more fun, I found out that leopard geckoes are indigenous here. This is awesome because my family almost bought one in Canada. Turns out that people here are petrified about them, there are roumers that if you boil water with one in your drink you will gain the ability to walk through walls, and there are other fears that their skin gives off a potentially lethal oil. It’s true there is an oil, and it can lead to some very light skin irritation, but nothing serious at all. SO I picked it up and handled it a bit. This is when I remembered that when a leopard gecko feels threatened it will drop its tail.(it stores all of its body fat in the tail to distract predators) I have some pretty sweet videos of him and me scaring my host brothers SO badly with it. Again, when I am home I will try to post that video too. It’s hilarious that a house pet for kids can scare some one soooo badly here. It was not what I expected at all.
Other story, there was a massive fire here the other night. Some oil drums went up and burned an entire mini market to the ground. No one was seriously hurt, but the financial toll is beyond what I can imagine. There were vehicles that were completely destroyed by it, and apparently explosions that woke other members of my family up in the night. (I guess I’m a very deep sleeper) We went by the next morning and I took a few pictures (SUPER sketched about it, I have to have a photo permit there and have already had people yell at me when I pulled out my camera (tried to take a picture of guys repairing a power line, NO safety standards) the guy walked towards me all angry, I thought he was going to try to take it) hiding my camera from the army personal walking around. It was really brutal to see the devastated shop owners sifting through the ash.
Let me know if you have any questions, this is really long and I am done with this computer for the day.
Thanks for all your support!

ca-va

SO I would like to apologize for the gap between posts, but would also like to say that I’m thinking this is about as frequently as I will be able to post. (Do you REALLY want to read more anyhow? The more frequently I write the less interesting the posts will be( nothing really crazy has happened these last two weeks, can you imagine this post stretched into TWO posts?))
First thing to talk about it the teaching I guess, it is what I’m here to do right? The class room is very different. I think that the teacher is much more respected and revered by students here. But I think I’ve missed my moment to establish fear. The class sizes average around 50 so trying to keep them all on task is proving difficult. I was really struggling with talking in class and a general disinterest in what I was teaching initially. But believe I am starting to make some progress. I have leaned pretty heavily on grammar so far. I think it’s easy to feel like we’ve made progress but also requires little creativity. Sad but honest confession…
I can’t say my social network has really expanded much. This is of course my fault. I come home at the end of the day and do some prep for the following classes, and by the time the day is done I just want to read a book and implode. I’ve never been an introverted person before, but I find myself retreating to solitude far too often. Perhaps a subject for prayer and encouragement. Funny stories are limited this week. I’m writing this in my bed which means several things, the bug net keeps all of the incredibly large grasshoppers out, we have power (my family tries very hard but we do spend the odd night without power due to difficulties with the generator. They bought a new one shortly after I arrived and it’s been a lot of effort for them (I have no small engine skills, no skills concerning any size of engine… I am man)). YUP bug story, spiders of death!! (Do I have your attention?) ps I’m totally exaggerating, I don’t think they’re lethal. They’re huge and the local teachers have told me that a bit will really hurt and flare up, but I think most people survive (like all). Trying to find the particular type. Look up golden orb spider and you’ll see a bunch of different types, there’s one kind I keep seeing that is TERRIFYING to look at. He hangs out at the school a lot and I’m hoping they all just die when the rain stops. Think I found the name “golden orb spider” or “Yellow Argiope”. It’s my closest effort. So my limited research would imply that they float like a monster but sting like a bee…
My audio jack has stopped working, so now if I want to watch a movie or listen to a show everyone can hear. My window is metal slabs and there are aaalways people out and about, and I feel guilty when I try to watch a show alone, it’s a way to recharge for me, but now I have to broadcast my entertainment. Probably will curb it a bit.
I’m thinking I’m going to get baptized here, there’s a three month course that I’ve heard is REALLY intense that I will have to work my way through. The people here really connect with the Old Testament; I think he lifestyle here really provides a better understanding of old testament and the motivations, and significance of events.So I think I’ll have my OT knowledge tested pretty savagely. But yah at the end of it they have this massive baptism with thousands of people in the river. Pretty excited about it!
More news to come. My power is almost gone and so is my internet so I’ll wrap this up by saying that I miss you all at home and if you want to send me any pics via mail or email that you think would make me smile I’d appreciate that. I tried cruising facebook to grab some pics but the internet is SOOOOO slow, I’ve given up on skype and trying to be more intentional about what I want to accomplish with my time online.
Thanks for reading and sending encouragment.MUCH love... Stay classy

a day in the life... perhaps more eventful than most

SOOOO I have alot of other things to say, a few things that I want to reflect on, teaching and such (it's going well, i know that's not a satisfactory update but i promise to elaborate in my next post. But lets just talk about today.I'll mention a family after i figure out what I should say about them. (Speak to some people about my blogging etiquette But don't worry, today was eventful enough to keep slightly entertained. The morning started off with hopes to visit a Chadian hospital. I have mode some fantastic friends at the weekly volley ball game i attend on Sundays at a bible translation complex. Some of these friends are doctors and pharmacist assistants. They were kind enough to invite me out promising that i could be useful at any time i could get out there.( It's a pretty far cab and i'd have to go in the early am so i'm thinking a bike is my best solution) But due to several factors we were unable to go into the hospital today and ended up going into the grand market for some supplies. Side tangent. I live in the sticks, in the country where the driving is easy and the population is sparse. I can walk (side side tangent, i'm writing this at night in the dark with the little battery i have left on my laptop. it is the only source of light and there is a bug in the room with SIGNIFIGANT mass flying around. but i'm totally fine and maintaining composure, i'll let you know if the situation develops) down (bug update. it's the largest grasshopper i've ever seen= not dangerous and kindda cool) my incredibly long road (20km, probably a bit less) without seeing another person. So i don't do well in tight situations, rubbing shoulders makes me cringe and the grand market is a chaotic ocean of bodies moving ins a seemingly random dance that one has to stop thinking about. you just have to start moving and go with it. (major bug development. grass hopper to the face) So i'm am in the market testing out me totally partial but kind of awesome french skills talking to people in the market about really trivial things, like where can i but a metal pole (gunna make my own weights using powdered (breaking bug news, i'm not making this up, this is a write it in one run and just ramble blog, grasshopper landed on my head. still super cool about it. it's not like the dark gets to me...) milk cans and cement).We (my medically inclined friends and I) started to make our way into the makret and saw a little ally shooting one sides(the market is outlined by a massive square building (like a castle wall) filled with vendors. (think this is my last bug update, he's really active and it sort of ruins the flow, but he landed on my hand and i have him my best beyonce shouldda put a ring on it evasive maneuver). we went into this dark alley only to find that it is where they do alot of the actual butchering. the ally was probably about 100 yards in length. The amount of walking space down the middle was limited, maybe 5 feet. and on either side where these 10 by 10 butcher cubicles, all identical, all with a section of some animal, beef goat and lamb is what i'm thinking. there were meat hooks and crazy looking knives, people shouting at us to look at their meat, and a ton of people all squeezing through. I saw cuts of meat that i honestly don't know where in the body they could have come from. some looked like different types of a coral reef or something. we emerged only to find that we had walked into the fish section. so of course we investigated, same idea, but filled with fish, some super large, most normal looking. there were none that seemed incredibly abnormal. thus concludes my description of the fish market. after we found the food we were looking for we started to make our way out, and then it happened. I saw him from about 5 feet away. crash collision course. this happens every few feet in the market so i side stepped to avoid, but he kindda side stepped with me rendering contact inevitable.It was heavy and high up, his shoulder to my collar.BOOM (me slowing down time) I feel alarmed and confused, the impact was avoidable... intentional i realize. and then i feel him reaching into my pocket. with all the skills a yellow belt in karate can teach an 11 year old (yo i'm a weapon) i swatted his hand away and yelled at him really loud. he didn't run like i kind of wanted but he made a sharp 90 and walked away pretty quick. I was so stoked, first thought: bloggable!! quick times wrap up for the market today, no metal pipe.Oh i also walked there, about an hour walk, fantastic experience. the homes and people and everything are so interesting when you take the time to really look at them. After a jog at the school (on the field next to some crazy talented students playing soccer, i mean crazy talent. like i should be charged admission) i received a phone call from Samson. he goes to my church, speaks english like any friend you'd find in Canada, and just so happens to be really nice. He has told me in the past that he's working on some movie. So he's inviting me to be a small part in the film( the film is about prostitution and the risk that is poses to both parties involved). could i say no. so no dinner, back out the door, meet Samson a short walk from the house. (walking at night, different experience) The production of this hole thing is WAY more than expected. they've got a ton of equipment, lights and everything powered by a generator kept in the back of a van. it's pitch black out (7PM is DARK yo) we're on the side of a major road, like as major as a road can get in rural Chad. and i would say that half the bikes that rode by stopped to see what was going on. the crowd got crazy big, and then i felt really anxious about my cameo( this is also my frist interacion with the police, they stopped by because they thought we were actually trying to sell the girls, not the only people. pretty sure at least 2 early passerby's made a move on our actresses) . lights are on, bugs burning on them. leaving a constant tail of smoke. crowd has assembled and is waiting expectantly. Samson walks over and explains that i'm going to go over and attempt to purchase a prositute, (SIDE NOOOOTE fully saw a "night market" where a guy was selling girls while we waited for some crew to show up to help make movie about how "night markets" are horrible) She doesnt' speak English and I don't speak french. I offer her 15 thousand franks for a night's rental, she wants 5 but thins i'm offering 3, insists on 5 i hear 50 and leave. that was the extent of my explanation, I think it went well, the crowd didn't boo me so i'm thinking if the teaching here doesn't work out, maybe there's some need for a white man in chadian day time television. It was done quick and i walked home. I then sat in a very buddy room with the only source of light and stayed up way past my bed time. GOOD night

So I have not blogged in quite some time, I apologize, but my electricity access is somewhat limited. I have just purchased a pay as you go modem which has given me a fair amount of grief, but if I have posted this blog, I have figured the issues out. Since it has been a while and I have experienced much, I am going to break down some of the more notable things I have encountered this first month (in no particular order) My poo (you don’t actually have to read this part, you can skip to the next section if you please) Yup, the kind of bowel movements I have been having here are definitely noteworthy. Since we first touched down, my stomach and bowels have been involved in some of the most ill-humoured civil war my body has ever endured. I had a regular poop one day here… that was it. The rest have been all up and down the shade of grey. Consistency is always a surprise, some days it is pure liquid, other days it’s possibly worse. The smells have been so foreign to me I am not sure they are from my body. The WONDERFUL family I am living with has a western toilet (bucket flush) that I use, and provides me with toilet paper. The only thing is that if there is no TP they have other methods that I am not familiar with so their urgency to keep the bathroom stocked is not as severe as my own western culture. I will let your imagination wonder while you consider the predicaments I have gotten myself into. The rain/weather in general First I must say that I am adjusting to their cool season quite well. I sweat all the time, sitting down, sleeping, always. But everyone sweats so I’m not worried about my sweat stains, and am kind of enjoying it. This is the rainy season (contributing to the cooler climate). The rain is really an event. When it rains it pours. There are sections of the road that won’t dry up between rains that make transportation via vehicle and foot very difficult. I LOVE the clouds here. I don’t know if it’s the pollution that is the real difference, but the weather systems are amazing to watch. The clouds are so defined; a giant thunder cloud will just stand alone in the sky. The best part about these rain clouds is the lightning they produce. Again I don’t know if it’s the climate or air quality, but these clouds produce an incredible light show. The lightning shoots through the middle of the cloud illuminating the entire body, or circle the outside like a pulsing vein. They also have no thunder until they are right on top of you. I have filmed it a few times, people look at me like I’m insane for getting excited about the things they don’t expect. Fish head soup I am very fortunate; I have been blessed with a family that can really cook. We eat tons and a wide verity of vegetables, fruits and meats. But the meat of choice is definitely fish. I don’t think that’s as much a family thing as it is a cultural thing, but we eat a lot of fish. I’ve never really appreciated how many bones are in a fish until now. They often serve the entire fish fried up. It was alarming the first time, but once you understand that everyone eats with their hands (I say hands quite intentionally not fingers, you palm that fish) the meal becomes a lot more manageable. I have also eaten a chicken gizzard (customary welcome for a visitor in the home) which was way tastier than I had expected (not only does it look a little funky for Canadian eyes, it’s TOUGH). There’s a lot more I can say about food, but I will save it for another entry. En Franҫais French has been a really interesting endeavour. I have been attending a class for the last few weeks. I start every day hating the French language; few things anger me as quickly as my own incompetence. But as the day progresses I begin to understand a new and exciting part of the language and leave the class feeling much better about the language and myself. I am just now able to have small conversations with people. Every time I walk away form a conversation in which I’ve actually spoken entirely in French I celebrate on the inside. They are few, but they are very exciting. Poverty I have a lot to say, and am not sure how I want to articulate myself. So I’m just going to ramble and hope it makes sense. I’m sure I will back track later in the year and correct myself, but these are my initial impressions. I have to say that I had some preconceived notions about what poverty looked like, and how I would emotionally respond to it. These were all incorrect. The poverty here is everywhere; I used to look at the world vision commercials with such scepticism. I thought they really had to search to find a child with mud caked into their hair and on their face wearing torn and damaged cloths. One merely has to turn off the main streets and open your eyes. We have had the opportunity to meet a few families that live in these conditions and I will tell you that there is one thing that stands out in all of the poverty I have seen, and it is this. People are happy. They are not any happier than the truly happy families you see at home, but people are not crying in the streets, they do not feel sorry for themselves. (I feel that there are much less functional families at home than here, the emphasis on family and time allotted to joined company has really challenged me (I’ll go into greater depth later))They do not ask me for money even though my very presence declares that I have disposable income I could easily share. Instead they take the opportunity to extend their hospitality and gracious joy. I was struck when we were visiting an orphan and her new family. Their home, as well as half of the homes here (total guess but I’m not nervous to say half when considering the size of the under developed areas) was built our of straw and goat feces bricks. It was a one room home with a very large family. We sat outside on a rug and we were served tea. Initially I was nervous to take the tea, but then realized that what was such a small gesture by North American standards was a much greater sacrifice for this family. They are so generous and joyful about giving it reminds me of how irrelevant the size of the gift is, but with what heart it is given. I have been reading some of Mother Teresa‘s work. She talks a lot about how one should approach poverty and giving. She speaks about the heart of giving, and the eyes through which we should view our neighbours. She speaks a lot about poverty at home, how we should prioritize caring for our family, then our neighbours. I feel kind of dumb that I had to come all the way to Africa to really learn about how we should be more aware of, and active in, the poverty in our cities. CHILDREN The children here are adorable. So cute it kills me. The range of responses to me is quite entertaining. Most of the infants I meet shy away or straight up scream. But most of the young ones are wildly interested in me and will call out “nassara” which is Arabic for white person. From time to time they will follow me for brief stretches of the road. I have even had a group of children follow me off the street into my family’s gated area. I was introduced to a young girl who would not look at me. Her father sternly told her to shake my hand (it is customary to shake everyone’s hand every time you meet. To not do is very disrespectful and personal). She extended her hand and as soon as I reached for it she withdrew hers. She then extended it half way only to withdraw it again. It was like watching my stepfather Rob trying to pick up a hot dish. So funny to watch. There is a young cousin living here named Ari. He speaks Ngambaye (the native language from a large tribe in the southern region of Chad) and is learning a bit of French. I am just learning a bit of French now, so our linguistic overlap is extremely thin. But we get along quite well. He enjoys my facial expressions and I enjoy his laugh (pictures will come). There is also a one year old child named Prince Noel (born Dec 25th) who tries to imitate my beat boxing. This is a perfect moment to explain that I cannot beat box. I understand the basic idea which is far more than these children have seen, so even my meagre imitation is wildly entertaining for them. This includes my juggling, Frisbee, and boom snap clap skills (keeping rhythm with pounding your chest, clapping your hands and snapping your fingers). I have also been called Piqué (not sure how to spell it) who is a defensive player on the Barcelona soccer team. I’ve been told we look alike. I have seen a picture and I think it’s because we’re both white… This is about half of my list of topics, but it’s raining out and I don’t want to get the second half from my room. SO I hope this instalment was satisfactory. Hopefully I will be a bit more consistent with my entries.

HEEEERE

SO i'm here, i'm not going to correct my spelling and will leave my i's all lowercase just due to the finicky nature of the internet. things here are amazing.
i will first describe the flight and travel process (31 hrs). Ethiopian air  happens to be the nicest airline i've ever been on. so many movies and leg room i could write a song. the 14 hr flight was a dream. the airport terminal was a little confusing, paper signs reading now boarding and general waiting rooms can be a bit alarming. BUT we caught our flight from Adis Ababa into N'djamena without any problems.
we(one other salter by the name of Elizabeth(SO glad she's here, an incredibly interesting person with a great sense of humor)) have spent the last few days with our in country repesentatives Doug and Naomi Enns along with their daughter Hannah. They are an amazing group filled with love and knowledge(they also speak english)
My french, for those wondering, is starting to come along in baby steps, i start classes on friday to help with the transition.
SO Chad is incredible. the weather has been uncharacteristically cool which has afforded me with a nice period to adjust. i sweat constantly in the coldest weather of the year. so far so good. The food is different, they eat twice a day which is the only really different thing, i'll come around soon. The rain leaves fresh water puddles everywhere making transport pretty difficult on the less traveled roads. any time your feet get wet, you have to bleach them to ward off cholera. we bleach all of our food. So one starts to get the idea that you really have to love Chad to survive it.(a few mosquito bits so i'm holding my breath for the 11 day incubation period of malaria ;))
we had a chuch service that was AMAZING. there is so much energy joy here, you can't help but wonder why people at home are so unhappy all the time.
I have met my host family and am so excited that i can't really explain it on a blog fairly. The mother is so smiley and laughs with such an honest laugh, i think she will really bring me out of my dark places. the father is so gentle and easy to be comfortable around. he smiles and waits for me to scramble some french together with grace and appreciation for my effort. i have also met my siblings, i have not had much time to speak with them, but from what i can tell so far, i should be very encouraged. (they are a very handsome and educated family)
I will blog again but right now i must run, internet is not cheap
I LOVE you mom, and anyone else who is reading this

A hop, skip, and a...

So I am now sitting in Akron PA in one of the most interesting and wonderful environments I have ever been in. We are at the MCC offices, who are currently hosting all of the SALTers as well as all of the IVEPers(a cross cultural exchange program).
I have said all the goodbyes. I am going to say that I'm just glad they're done. I would not have cried if my departure party simply hugged me goodbye and ran out of the door. Instead they opted to stalk me along the customs line. The line crept behind the other baggage claims which provided me with periodic shelter from crying eyes. These eyes ultimately won, affording me the honor of being "the guy" standing in the customs line with a case of the sniffles trying to pretend he's not crying.
As rough as that may have been, the rest of the trip has been a dream. I had planned on sleeping, but as fate should have it, a very concerned father sat down beside me. After a brief head nod, which I planned on following up with a little turn of the head with a 2 hour sleep to finish. BUT before I could turn my head I was launched head first into a conversation about what purpose leasing a room off residence has for a second year daughter.
I landed and, for the first time, was beaten by my bags to the baggage claim. WAY TO BE PA!! My excitement was brief, as my brief survey of the arrival pick ups found nobody from MCC. I then jumped into a very calm panic and simply walked around the terminal at least 4 times. Just as I decided to take more aggressive action, I was greeted by another SALTer, who had very much enjoyed my thinly veiled fear.
After all of the SALTers had been corralled we began our incredibly scenic drive through some very Amish and Mennonite towns. Their lifestyle makes more sense to me know than it did when I first read about them in high school.
After some icebreaker games, we played some ultimate frisbee. I am reasonably confident with a disc and was happy to play. I was much less happy when we changed to soccer. I have no skills... None. There are some IVEPers from Brazil who were so good I fully stopped playing to stand back and watch.
AND that is my first day away from home.
so far so great! ( I am not proofing these, so comment if you notice any grammatical  or spelling errors that I should correct)

I'm pretty sure I messed up my profile... so far so good.

This is my first blog. SAWEET. I must begin by warning any and all readers that though I can speak, I do not translate my own thoughts onto paper very well. Continuity is sparse, I jump from thought to thought. So be prepared for some confusion. Just trying to manage expectations, such is my life. (Joke)
This blog is a service to my mother and others who are wanting to follow my trip to Chad for the next year. Nothing interesting has happened yet, just getting my shots and everything lined up. I'm starting to ask people for money, this is my least favorite thing in the world to do. If you are reading this, you are supporting me, please respond to these and allow me to feel your presence.
If you have any questions about the trip please ask and I'll try to respond.( I often don't cap my "I"s, bad habit enabled by auto correct.) That was supposed to be a side note but I would like to mention how conditioned I am to rely on all these grammar safety nets. They have ruined my attention to detail. I've become SO lazy and thoughtless about spelling, that the tear of English education seems a bit daunting. BUT I'm working on it.
So yes, this is my first blog, and I hope to keep it going.