Our First Snow in Chad
One reason you need to take a vacation in Chad is simply all the work that you have to put into going away and coming home from your vacation. We were joking about it with friends, but really it is a huge obstacle to getting some rest. In the western world, we would simply pack our bags, turn off the lights, turn off the thermostat and lock the doors. Then when we came back, we would unlock the doors, turn on the thermostat, turn on the lights and unpack. Everything else should be the same when we came home.
In Africa, things are never that simple. To leave, we have to rid our house of every kind of accessible food, so that unwanted guests don't take up residence. We have to empty our fridge of anything we don't mind spoiling incase the electricity stops working. We have to get everything off the floors incase the roof leaks, and we have to cover everything with some sort of waterproof cover so that if it does leak, it won't ruin everything. All of that probably takes a week to do. Then there's packing. In some ways packing is easier because all our 'American clothes' are still in the suitcase. But first we have to sort through them to see if they still fit, or if there are enough of them. After we sort out what we are taking, we set everything aside to pack onto the car. Lastly, we prepare food and water for the trip, dump out any water in our barrels that will be totally stagnant when we come back (saving enough to flush our toilets the next morning before we are off) and go to bed, usually very late, in Morgan fashion.
Now, you can imagine all the work you are looking forward to on arrival, not to mention the fact that you usually arrive past dark, and there is no food or water in your house, and there is now a layer of dust coating everything, just because you live in Africa.
Thankfully, if you are us, (and we are :) you have some amazing friends who meet you at your home with food and hugs!!! Thanks Schraders!
One surprise we had upon arrival is that after it rained, water seeped down into our cement celling and caused the paint to peel off of the celling and fall on our stuff and the floor. Because we were not there to squeegee the water off the roof, our bedroom suffered the brunt of the water flow. The paint peeled off so much that it literally looked like it snowed in our bedroom. Upon seeing this, all I could do was laugh, hysterically, for a long time. Next time I'll remember to give our house helper a key to that room so hopefully she can clean it up before we get back. And, hopefully I'll never see another 'snow' in Chad again!
In Africa, things are never that simple. To leave, we have to rid our house of every kind of accessible food, so that unwanted guests don't take up residence. We have to empty our fridge of anything we don't mind spoiling incase the electricity stops working. We have to get everything off the floors incase the roof leaks, and we have to cover everything with some sort of waterproof cover so that if it does leak, it won't ruin everything. All of that probably takes a week to do. Then there's packing. In some ways packing is easier because all our 'American clothes' are still in the suitcase. But first we have to sort through them to see if they still fit, or if there are enough of them. After we sort out what we are taking, we set everything aside to pack onto the car. Lastly, we prepare food and water for the trip, dump out any water in our barrels that will be totally stagnant when we come back (saving enough to flush our toilets the next morning before we are off) and go to bed, usually very late, in Morgan fashion.
Now, you can imagine all the work you are looking forward to on arrival, not to mention the fact that you usually arrive past dark, and there is no food or water in your house, and there is now a layer of dust coating everything, just because you live in Africa.
Thankfully, if you are us, (and we are :) you have some amazing friends who meet you at your home with food and hugs!!! Thanks Schraders!
One surprise we had upon arrival is that after it rained, water seeped down into our cement celling and caused the paint to peel off of the celling and fall on our stuff and the floor. Because we were not there to squeegee the water off the roof, our bedroom suffered the brunt of the water flow. The paint peeled off so much that it literally looked like it snowed in our bedroom. Upon seeing this, all I could do was laugh, hysterically, for a long time. Next time I'll remember to give our house helper a key to that room so hopefully she can clean it up before we get back. And, hopefully I'll never see another 'snow' in Chad again!
Comments
Post a Comment