Non-Internet Days: Writings from the Month of February
Editor's Note: These are several blogs that were all written in February and part of March when there was no internet. No guarantees they're in order...
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***News update***
Rebel forces are 400km outside the capital. They want the Pres to come out and fight in the dessert. They’ve been reinforced with all sorts of weaponry from Sudan. Here’s where it gets tricky. Sudan is in support of the Tchadian rebels and they are because Tchad is in support of the Sudan rebels. (They’re from the same tribe as the pres, Dibie). So basically they (Sudan and Tchad) very well could be at war with each other! At least I’ve gotten to talk with Andrea. Mom or Dad hasn’t been able to get through yet – I sure wish they could! But I have a feeling we won’t be using the internet for quite a while. I have always wanted to go to a refugee camp and work in a war torn country or a war zone and now it looks like I just might.
]I’ll try to keep things up to date as the latest news. Somehow in writing this I realized perhaps Liz and I should be living as if tomorrow were our last day here. No more putting off buying souvenirs for people, get all longed for adventures finished. We live in a bit of a dodgy country.
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I sit here using the computer for the first time in a while. I’ve been without internet for over 30 days. It’s funny the things you can go without when you have to.
Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have internet or not. For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11, 13 (my personal version)
A friend told me last year that he was perfectly content to live without a computer and cell phone. I must say I was shocked then, that someone would actually want to live that way and I thought he was crazy. I couldn’t even fathom the idea. But I must now be honest. I have lived that way and it wasn’t so bad. I’ve gone without cell phone, internet, running water, toilet and normal toilet paper.
The only problem that I saw with no internet then is the same that I see now. I miss talking to the outside world, the people back home, my family, my friends and any ol’joe shmo who wants to write me. It has made it harder to work on my camp programming for Alamisco and it has put a block up for me to look for a job for after camp. But on the positive side I have put my complete trust in Jesus. I have no idea what I will be doing after I finish with camp in 5 months. I have had to put complete trust in God that He knows what I am going to do. In the mean time I can’t worry about it because there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. I just dream and pray. My dreaming for a job has changed as many times as there are mangos in the trees. It’s varied from grad school at Walla Walla to task force at an academy (maybe Milo), to finding a job around Chattanooga to most recently wanting to be a nanny for a couple I heard about last year in Prague, Czech Republic. Wouldn’t that be fun?! But who knows. I’ll be a shocked as you to find out :o) So if any of you have heard of a cool job for a BSW or an adventure let me know and I might just show up in your town to work :o)
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Friday afternoon Liz and I walked all the way down to Bendalay (the ‘suburb’ of Béré where Anne, Richard, Wendy and Gary all live) where I started to realize this was more real than simple rumors of rebel troops are 75 km outside the capital to a reb troops are in the capital surrounding the palace. Anyway Liz and I walked down there and back, and then the 4 SMs with Sarah and Camilla headed out to this Arab village Kulakomdo to spend the night.
On Saturday night Esther, Liz and I we let it all out, we celebrated life and wore 80’s costuming, curtsy of the volunteer’s leftover closet, down to Gary and Wendy’s for smoothies :o) Yummy! Fresh coconut with fresh pineapple with frozen bananas. Super good! It was fun being 80’s again. My hair seems to be born for it.
Ah, but last night tops them all. Wednesday night, a week until Valentines Day, was a night out for two at the Chadian Romanic Rebellion. I had wanted to do a Valentines Day gift for our three married couples but with all the trips that were scheduled for the capital (before the rebellion) we didn’t think we could do it at all. But thanks to the rebellion every one was here last night. So we all headed over to Concourse Roberts to prep food, set up tables for two with candle light and serve our guests. The menu was fajitas with beans, rice and fresh tomatoes, and guacamole. I made tortillas earlier that day and turned some into chips. Our dessert was an amazing fluffy chocolate cake that Liz concocted. We played sweet music for them in the background. It was grand fun to see each couple sitting close and eating by the candle light.
We just wanted to give them something they couldn’t usually find here. It was born out of the thought –do unto others as you would want done unto you.
Over all we’re not quite sure who had the most fun, us or the couples. Hans, Esther, Camilla were excellent waiters under the tutelage of Hans our resident waiter expert. Liz was our head cook and baker who whipped up a feast based on only a few imported American items (frichick, fajita seasoning, chocolate ect.) and African varieties (peanut oil, eggs, carrots ect.) I was upper management :o) and I filled in where needed. Fun, fun, fun and there’s more to come this weekend with moth Camilla and Esther’s birthdays!!!!!
All this and there’s a war on! I think if there’s ever a group of people to be stuck in a small bush village with during a coup on the pres it’s this one :o) We are a lively bunch.
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6 months here! Who’da thunk it!
I have put this off long enough. 7/2/08 [Feb. 2]
I am in a country at war with itself. And not in the metaphoric sense. As for about a week now there have been rebel forces “on the move”. The capital was under siege since this last weekend.
The rebels came from Sudan, word on the street has it that they are already wealthy and don’t want more money. Which explains their route over to the capital as well as the reason the villages weren’t pillaged as is common in these situations.
Rumors have been flying all week. The capital has been shut down no flights in or out since Saturday. Power’s off up there and perhaps the water is off as well. On Monday or Tuesday the rebels backed out of the city to let the civilians leave. Word had it that more Chadian reinforcement was on it’s way up from Mundu and that there was more rebel reinforcements on it’s way over from Sudan again. It’s been a long week in that sense. Over all PRAISE GOD that everything wasn’t a week later, because this week we were supposed to pick up 3 Danes and Stan from Collegedale. I could have been up there, Gary could have been up there and all sorts of things could have happened! As it was all of the missionaries in this area were here at home for it.
The sobering part is people have died. Innocent people were killed in crossfire. The rebs had the presidential palace surrounded over the weekend, bombs were dropped and guns were shot. Gary said that Tchadian helicopters have dropped bombs on the reb troops just west of the city! Bombs are being dropped only 8 hours away by car! All the 1st part of the week I just kept repeating all the news and rumors back to Liz because I was in such disbelief about the whole things. Then slowly it’s been hitting me – I am in a country with a civil war and wither way people are going to die and the capital will be in disarray for a while. No flights in or out, no regular reliable cell phone coverage, no internet. Other countries are evacuating their people to Cameroon and such, but we continue to stay here in Béré. We’re safe here no need to go anywhere. While 18 years ago when Idris Debie (the current pres) came into power – the same way mind you – over throw. The route out of the country to the south was through Béré. Now however it all goes through Kelo (post office townJ), not here. Our only discomfort is we are stuck here; we can’t go out for fear of the car being taken or something. We also don’t have internet because in N’djamena the tower is down for Tigo – the same with Tigo cell phone power. This leaves me in a bit of a quandary. Do I try and call home and tell them I’m fine and risk informing them that there is a war front 8 hours away? Or do I just hold out and assume that they don’t know? I’ll just trust that they don’t know and if they do that they know I’m okay. Part of me wants to inform someone that I’m okay, but no need to cause undue panic.
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Here’s the latest on the Coup.
Rebs gave people till Fri (tomorrow) to get out of the city. Then I guess they’ll go back in and all hell will break loose. Already it’ll be interesting to go back up there to see the changes on the city.
Currently Andre, the Administrator, has gone up there via moto to try and help find his wife and 2 kids that are up there and get them to safety. All of us at the house thought that was a bit silly because of the danger and possible difficulty in finding them because what if they passed each other on the road. But who are we to say. Gary has also been up to that area, specifically Lake Tchad with his plane. He’s been helping people evacuate. We have refugees!
This is something you only hear about happening – Never for real in the same country! A country at war with itself.
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Bubble land
Several weeks ago I broke out the bubbles. Anyone who knows me from Southern will most likely know that I love bubbles. In the spring or any warm day I can be seen chill’n on the promenade blow’n bubbles. So on this lovely warm day when there was quite the northern breeze blowing all the dust in from the Sahara I got out a trusty bottle of bubbles. It didn’t take long for my possie of kids to come out for this one. As the numbers of my possie grew my location moves further out to the fields. Where I started was on the wall of the court yard with 3 kids or so but where I ended up was the large open field with somewhere around 30 kids attacking the bubbles that the northern wind was rapidly creating for me. The wind made it great because I don’t have to get light headed blowing all the time.
The kids were so funny. They were spread all out. I had smaller ones up front near me with the others all fanning out further back. I would lift the wand up high in the air and make the bubbles able to float really far back to the kids who would kick and punch them. Then I could hold the wand down low so the bubbles would pummel the littlest kids. At first they were all very curious about the bubbles then they would get one on their face and in their mouth, I couldn’t help but laugh at their reactions to the soap taste, especially because the bubbles are scented and lovely smelling. Hehe
Mr. Rogers sums it up best in one of my mom’s favorite operas of his:
“There’s never any trouble here in bubble land, bubble land.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***News update***
Rebel forces are 400km outside the capital. They want the Pres to come out and fight in the dessert. They’ve been reinforced with all sorts of weaponry from Sudan. Here’s where it gets tricky. Sudan is in support of the Tchadian rebels and they are because Tchad is in support of the Sudan rebels. (They’re from the same tribe as the pres, Dibie). So basically they (Sudan and Tchad) very well could be at war with each other! At least I’ve gotten to talk with Andrea. Mom or Dad hasn’t been able to get through yet – I sure wish they could! But I have a feeling we won’t be using the internet for quite a while. I have always wanted to go to a refugee camp and work in a war torn country or a war zone and now it looks like I just might.
]I’ll try to keep things up to date as the latest news. Somehow in writing this I realized perhaps Liz and I should be living as if tomorrow were our last day here. No more putting off buying souvenirs for people, get all longed for adventures finished. We live in a bit of a dodgy country.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I sit here using the computer for the first time in a while. I’ve been without internet for over 30 days. It’s funny the things you can go without when you have to.
Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have internet or not. For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11, 13 (my personal version)
A friend told me last year that he was perfectly content to live without a computer and cell phone. I must say I was shocked then, that someone would actually want to live that way and I thought he was crazy. I couldn’t even fathom the idea. But I must now be honest. I have lived that way and it wasn’t so bad. I’ve gone without cell phone, internet, running water, toilet and normal toilet paper.
The only problem that I saw with no internet then is the same that I see now. I miss talking to the outside world, the people back home, my family, my friends and any ol’joe shmo who wants to write me. It has made it harder to work on my camp programming for Alamisco and it has put a block up for me to look for a job for after camp. But on the positive side I have put my complete trust in Jesus. I have no idea what I will be doing after I finish with camp in 5 months. I have had to put complete trust in God that He knows what I am going to do. In the mean time I can’t worry about it because there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. I just dream and pray. My dreaming for a job has changed as many times as there are mangos in the trees. It’s varied from grad school at Walla Walla to task force at an academy (maybe Milo), to finding a job around Chattanooga to most recently wanting to be a nanny for a couple I heard about last year in Prague, Czech Republic. Wouldn’t that be fun?! But who knows. I’ll be a shocked as you to find out :o) So if any of you have heard of a cool job for a BSW or an adventure let me know and I might just show up in your town to work :o)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday afternoon Liz and I walked all the way down to Bendalay (the ‘suburb’ of Béré where Anne, Richard, Wendy and Gary all live) where I started to realize this was more real than simple rumors of rebel troops are 75 km outside the capital to a reb troops are in the capital surrounding the palace. Anyway Liz and I walked down there and back, and then the 4 SMs with Sarah and Camilla headed out to this Arab village Kulakomdo to spend the night.
On Saturday night Esther, Liz and I we let it all out, we celebrated life and wore 80’s costuming, curtsy of the volunteer’s leftover closet, down to Gary and Wendy’s for smoothies :o) Yummy! Fresh coconut with fresh pineapple with frozen bananas. Super good! It was fun being 80’s again. My hair seems to be born for it.
Ah, but last night tops them all. Wednesday night, a week until Valentines Day, was a night out for two at the Chadian Romanic Rebellion. I had wanted to do a Valentines Day gift for our three married couples but with all the trips that were scheduled for the capital (before the rebellion) we didn’t think we could do it at all. But thanks to the rebellion every one was here last night. So we all headed over to Concourse Roberts to prep food, set up tables for two with candle light and serve our guests. The menu was fajitas with beans, rice and fresh tomatoes, and guacamole. I made tortillas earlier that day and turned some into chips. Our dessert was an amazing fluffy chocolate cake that Liz concocted. We played sweet music for them in the background. It was grand fun to see each couple sitting close and eating by the candle light.
We just wanted to give them something they couldn’t usually find here. It was born out of the thought –do unto others as you would want done unto you.
Over all we’re not quite sure who had the most fun, us or the couples. Hans, Esther, Camilla were excellent waiters under the tutelage of Hans our resident waiter expert. Liz was our head cook and baker who whipped up a feast based on only a few imported American items (frichick, fajita seasoning, chocolate ect.) and African varieties (peanut oil, eggs, carrots ect.) I was upper management :o) and I filled in where needed. Fun, fun, fun and there’s more to come this weekend with moth Camilla and Esther’s birthdays!!!!!
All this and there’s a war on! I think if there’s ever a group of people to be stuck in a small bush village with during a coup on the pres it’s this one :o) We are a lively bunch.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 months here! Who’da thunk it!
I have put this off long enough. 7/2/08 [Feb. 2]
I am in a country at war with itself. And not in the metaphoric sense. As for about a week now there have been rebel forces “on the move”. The capital was under siege since this last weekend.
The rebels came from Sudan, word on the street has it that they are already wealthy and don’t want more money. Which explains their route over to the capital as well as the reason the villages weren’t pillaged as is common in these situations.
Rumors have been flying all week. The capital has been shut down no flights in or out since Saturday. Power’s off up there and perhaps the water is off as well. On Monday or Tuesday the rebels backed out of the city to let the civilians leave. Word had it that more Chadian reinforcement was on it’s way up from Mundu and that there was more rebel reinforcements on it’s way over from Sudan again. It’s been a long week in that sense. Over all PRAISE GOD that everything wasn’t a week later, because this week we were supposed to pick up 3 Danes and Stan from Collegedale. I could have been up there, Gary could have been up there and all sorts of things could have happened! As it was all of the missionaries in this area were here at home for it.
The sobering part is people have died. Innocent people were killed in crossfire. The rebs had the presidential palace surrounded over the weekend, bombs were dropped and guns were shot. Gary said that Tchadian helicopters have dropped bombs on the reb troops just west of the city! Bombs are being dropped only 8 hours away by car! All the 1st part of the week I just kept repeating all the news and rumors back to Liz because I was in such disbelief about the whole things. Then slowly it’s been hitting me – I am in a country with a civil war and wither way people are going to die and the capital will be in disarray for a while. No flights in or out, no regular reliable cell phone coverage, no internet. Other countries are evacuating their people to Cameroon and such, but we continue to stay here in Béré. We’re safe here no need to go anywhere. While 18 years ago when Idris Debie (the current pres) came into power – the same way mind you – over throw. The route out of the country to the south was through Béré. Now however it all goes through Kelo (post office townJ), not here. Our only discomfort is we are stuck here; we can’t go out for fear of the car being taken or something. We also don’t have internet because in N’djamena the tower is down for Tigo – the same with Tigo cell phone power. This leaves me in a bit of a quandary. Do I try and call home and tell them I’m fine and risk informing them that there is a war front 8 hours away? Or do I just hold out and assume that they don’t know? I’ll just trust that they don’t know and if they do that they know I’m okay. Part of me wants to inform someone that I’m okay, but no need to cause undue panic.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here’s the latest on the Coup.
Rebs gave people till Fri (tomorrow) to get out of the city. Then I guess they’ll go back in and all hell will break loose. Already it’ll be interesting to go back up there to see the changes on the city.
Currently Andre, the Administrator, has gone up there via moto to try and help find his wife and 2 kids that are up there and get them to safety. All of us at the house thought that was a bit silly because of the danger and possible difficulty in finding them because what if they passed each other on the road. But who are we to say. Gary has also been up to that area, specifically Lake Tchad with his plane. He’s been helping people evacuate. We have refugees!
This is something you only hear about happening – Never for real in the same country! A country at war with itself.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bubble land
Several weeks ago I broke out the bubbles. Anyone who knows me from Southern will most likely know that I love bubbles. In the spring or any warm day I can be seen chill’n on the promenade blow’n bubbles. So on this lovely warm day when there was quite the northern breeze blowing all the dust in from the Sahara I got out a trusty bottle of bubbles. It didn’t take long for my possie of kids to come out for this one. As the numbers of my possie grew my location moves further out to the fields. Where I started was on the wall of the court yard with 3 kids or so but where I ended up was the large open field with somewhere around 30 kids attacking the bubbles that the northern wind was rapidly creating for me. The wind made it great because I don’t have to get light headed blowing all the time.
The kids were so funny. They were spread all out. I had smaller ones up front near me with the others all fanning out further back. I would lift the wand up high in the air and make the bubbles able to float really far back to the kids who would kick and punch them. Then I could hold the wand down low so the bubbles would pummel the littlest kids. At first they were all very curious about the bubbles then they would get one on their face and in their mouth, I couldn’t help but laugh at their reactions to the soap taste, especially because the bubbles are scented and lovely smelling. Hehe
Mr. Rogers sums it up best in one of my mom’s favorite operas of his:
“There’s never any trouble here in bubble land, bubble land.”
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