Originally Posted By disneydad109 Keep your head covered in public,LOOOONG dress, no shorts/pants,watch jewelry in public,TAKE YOUR MEDS!!!! watch your watch in public,I lived in N'DJamema ,Gongore,Bakine,mongo & Abech. The more in the bush the better I liked it. TAKE YOUR MEDS,watch the water. Where are your going ? I knew a group of young french folks who worked at the children home in N'DJamema. Do not be worried too much, folks are folks,just be aware of their ways and I am sure you will get along fine.The place is full of mission folks so you will be able to meet others and have some social life.there at some places to eat and one has/had a hawk that walked from table to table begging food.
Originally Posted By disneydad109 Did I remember to say TAKE YOUR MEDS,Trust me you don't want to be in hospital in that place.So TAKE YOUR MEDS
Originally Posted By mickeymeg Hi. I am going to N'DJamema. My Aunt and Uncle, who are also Canadian, live there. My Aunt runs a school and my Uncle works for the American Embasy. I am traveling with a friend. We will both be working at my Aunts school, with the children who have disabilities. We are in the Child and Youth Care program at the University of Victoria and doing 4th year practicum to graduate. I have my maleria medication all ready to go, I am now up to date with all my necessary puppy shots and they have given me diahrea medication as well, just in case. What was your experience with the language ? My French is not good unfortunatly. I can understand well enough to get by, but my speaking skills are few. Were you there for during any of the political tention ? I know things are starting to flare up again right now. Should I be worried ? thanks for the heads up on clothing, I assumed shorts would be out but didn't realize pants might be a problem too. What else can you tell me about your experience there ? I am really interested to hear anything you might want to share. I have been asking my Aunt and my Cousins who are from there many questions but they can never think of anything to tell me as it is all perfectly normal to them. Few people I have told I am going can even locate the country on a map, so I am very glad to have come accross you. Thank you so much for being willing to chat with me. -Megºoº
Originally Posted By disneydad109 I speak a little Tchidan arabic and less French.I was way out of town on the border with Sudan a lot and we really had little contact with much of anyone.We also were doing a little border jumping with Sudan so we tried to keep away from folks if we could. Things will be mosty safe in the capital but stay in touch with your uncle .If you need to get out of town he will know 1st. Always remeber that they are a Islamic country and some times they really get touchie about that. They will not treat you with the same respect that they would treat a man,not rude just kind of a sense you may note. DO NOT take pictures of military or goverment buildings in fact try to stay away from them if you can. You may notice a few french military types around.They have a unit of paras in the capital and if you the number of them grow suddenly be aware something may be in the works. Gosh ,I wish I was young agin. I miss adventures a lot.
Originally Posted By mickeymeg How long ago was it that you were there ? Thank you so much for helping me out. Keep an eye on this thread as I am sure more questions will come up as it comes closer to being time to go. talk to you soon -Megºoº
Originally Posted By disneydad109 I was in country about 9 years ago. I don't recall the exact dates anymore. I guess I should also mention that the contry of Niger is just next to N'Djamina and if things go sore you can at least get that border in front of you.It may noy be much but at least you would be out of Dodge City.
Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy I'm keeping up with disneydad's sock adventures. They're a staple on LP! ;-)
Originally Posted By disneydad109 I wore sandals most of the time,sometimes sneakers and white gym socks when driving the land rovers . You remove your shoes to eat even thou you are just sitting on the sand and the table is a ground cloth and never ,never let someone see the bottom of your feet facing them. that as dirty a thing as you can ever do. Bad mojo to those folks. If you wear native foot wear it does not stand out in case you leave tracks. You never know who may come across your trial. Los Banditoes me amego in the bush.
Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy <and never ,never let someone see the bottom of your feet facing them.> But what if that's your best "feet"ure???
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost Sounds like an absolutely charming place. How come you never see any special offers on Travelocity?
Originally Posted By disneydad109 When visting be sure to have some watchie and aish ( I am sure that is not spelled correctly) for dinner. Don't miss fungaso (Sp) for breakfest . A free one week trip to Tchad to whomever can guess what they are ! Second prize is a two week trip to Tchad.
Originally Posted By disneydad109 I could eat a bunch of Fungaso right now. The other " not so much ".>
Originally Posted By disneydad109 W & A is a loose "meat "stew that is eaten with a soft flat "bread" . One breaks off a piece of A and grabs a chuck of W from the pot. I was never sure what type of " meat" was in the stew. Fungaso is hot dough balls rolled in coarse sugar .think doughnut holes ,they good. For drinks have tea served very very hot with a lot of suger.It seems you can feel you teeth starting to decay as you drink but it also is very good. plus since it is so hot it is most often safe to drink.it's in very little cups. We were returning from the border one day and had dinner at a place that would be called in English "the Fruit juice hotel" they had COLD Coke's . I never had a better bottle of coke in my life but I was scared to ask where they came from cause they may disappear.
Originally Posted By disneydad109 I have been thinking of anything else to tell this nice young lady and I remembered the lovely air there in Tchad. It is made up off 4 parts (1) air,(2) dust ,(3) smoke ,(4) dried out poop. Most folks coming from western nations have a dry cough after a few days,I do recall anyone getting any serious problems from the dirty air but it is interesting to be able to see the air you are breathing. There are a lot of open fires,and the epa rules for vehicles have not gotten to Tcahd as yet.
Originally Posted By mickeymeg Thanks for all the info, I have been in DL for the last few days, so am just checking back in now. Its great to have this first hand information.
