First impressions of Chad

It’s hot.

According to the information given on the aircraft as we landed at N’Djamena it was 33 C and that was at 9.00 p.m. The immigration hall at the airport had two completely inadequate air-conditioners, which said that the room temperature was 30 C and they were trying to cool the room to 17 C. They were not succeeding in their mission – not anywhere close to it! Fortunately the air-conditioning where I am living and working is much more efficient, something I am very grateful for as I slowly acclimatise.

It’s French.

I successfully picked the right immigration queue at the airport, according to the signs (I chose ‘autres’) and was feeling quite pleased with myself until the immigration official decided to engage me in friendly conversation at which point I found myself at a loss for words. Fortunately, he was very forgiving of my inadequacies and that has been my experience with most people I have met so far. I managed to buy some vegetables from a street-seller today although I found following the conversation during meetings quite a challenge. I am hoping my language skills will improve with practice.

The French-ness of the city extends beyond the language to the wide-streets, the public seating areas, driving on the right, imported French goods in the shops and the patisserie selling croissant and baguettes!

It’s African.

Despite the historical French influence on the country, it is also unmistakeably African. I find this quite difficult to describe as it is a combination of so many things. N’Djamena is a relatively small capital city (much smaller than Kampala or Nairobi) and so is quite quiet but there is still something chaotic about the driving, with the motorcycles dodging in and out of the traffic and there always being some confusion about who has right of way. The streets are lined with small little shops selling a variety of goods from fruit and vegetables to haircuts and mobile phones. As a white person you are frequently approached on the street by people wanting you to buy what they are selling, which is most frequently mobile-phone credit but in a short trip to the shops I was also offered DVDs (pirated!), USB sticks, peanuts, apples and eggs. People are very friendly and it is important to take time to greet them, shake their hand and ask how they are. And so much more… It’s good to be back in Africa!

Sorry that there are no photos to accompany this blog. I hope the words paint a bit of a picture and I will try to take and upload some pictures over the next few weeks as I get more settled and used to life in a new country.