I'm still in Chad, but N'Djamena feels already like a different world. When I arrived in Chad, my flight came in at 10pm and I had a bus to Moundou at 6am. I didn't get to see any of the city.
On Friday, after rounds, after saying goodbye to my patients, giving some instructions to the nurses about specific patients, and telling one of my patients that if nobody came to do his evening dressing change, his job was to scream at the top of his lungs until someone came, I went to find myself a minibus to N'Djamena. The buses here don't leave at specific times, they leave when they're full... and it seems not many people wanted to go to N'Djamena on Friday, because I was sitting in the bus for 2 hours before we started to move. They also said it'd take 6, maximum 7hrs... Well, it took more than 8... So I was in that bus for a total of 10hrs...
In the middle of the journey, they make a stop in a city called Bongor, so people can eat, go to the bathroom, whatever. I decided to get off the bus and get some food. This was already 3pm and I had not eaten yet. So I got a whole grilled chicken and a baguette. Granted, the chickens here are a lot smaller than elsewhere (no hormones!!) but I still devoured an entire chicken by myself, with my hands, while sitting in a bus, somewhere in Africa.
Anyway... I eventually made it to N'Djamena at 8pm, and Kristin, my German couchsurfing host and friend picked me up and immediately took me to a concert at the French Institute. It was fun. There were a lot of white people there, and I realized that I hadn't seen that many white people in almost 2 months! In Moundou, at least for the last month, I've been the only white person... It was a little weird to see so many again. I met another German guy who is married to a woman from cameroon, and he mentioned they were going to a museum on Saturday and invited me along.
So the next day we took off to look for this museum, lost in a village, somewhere in the outskirts of N'Djamena. We finally found it, and were treated to a private tour to look at utensils, vases, shoes and clothing dug out by a French archeologist. They represent a little bit of the Sao people, rumored to be giant warriorrs of up to 4 meters, who could "kill an elephant and carry it home on their backs". Well... probably not, but legends are fun... :)
After that, I went to CLAC, a community center where Kristin and Emery organize cultural activities for the kids. They had a show planned for the end of summer vacation, and it was awesome. From babies to teenagers, they were all there, singing, dancing, laughing, having a grand ol' time. And man alive, they can dance!! They have an incredible control of their bodies, and seem to have joints and muscles I didn't know could move... :)
Then it started to pour, and rained monsoon style for a while. We were trapped for a while, but left when it let out a bit, because we had a barbecue to get to...
The barbecue was organized by ex-pats that work for a construction company, and live in a very nice complex with a pool. There was a lot of really good food, a fussball table, and a bunch of white people... I keep bringing this up because I got so used to seeing only black people with their big smiles worthy of colgate adds, that it's weird to see a lot of white people together.
Anyway, we ate, talked and played fussball until the rain finally stopped and everybody jumped in the pool. It was more like a giant bathtub, it was really warm and just wonderful. I was the second person in, and the last to come out. We went home at 2am, after a really full day. I was tired...but...
Got home and couldn't stop thinking about my patients and how they're doing... Couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I had just been to a party in a nice complex, with a ton of food, and they probably spent more money than most people here make in a lifetime.
I feel I'm in limbo, caught between two worlds... A world of stress and indescribable pain and suffering, but where I am needed, appreciated, and can do something to improve people's lives every day. And a completely different world where nobody dies, and nobody goes hungry. Where life is easy, and there are things like fussball tables and pools. But where I end up crying in the pool when I think about the girl that died last week and I did nothing.
I knew Africa would be hard, and amazing, and that it would change me. I think going back into the world next week will be the real culture-shock, and readapting will be a challenge. Luckily, I get to spend some time roaming around the mountains of Nepal... I have a feeling those mountains will hear a lot of stories, prayers, and tears...
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