Changes

I've been away from Chad for six months and inevitably some things have changed in that time. Some of the more obvious changes that have struck me in my first week include:

• Major road repair to the streets around our compound. What used to be pot-holed dirt roads are slowly being transformed in to smooth tarmac (although the tarmac has not yet appeared). No-one is quite sure why these side roads have been singled out for this improvement and although it's quite disruptive now, with lots of diversions in place, it will make a huge difference when it is finished.

• Increased security around the airport. Since the Chadian army and the French military based in Chad became involved in the situation in Mali security in N'Djamena has been tightened up. There are three roads that lead to the airport and you used to be able to drive freely on any of them. Now two of them have been blocked off and all access to the airport is through a police checkpoint about 200 metres away from the main terminal building. As the MAF hangar and office is at the airport this means that I have to pass through this checkpoint each day to get to work. This involves slowing down enough to show the policeman my MAF ID and I am then waved through.

• A reversal of the law, passed last year that required motorcycle users and their passengers to wear a helmet. It is now against the law to wear a helmet - a measure introduced so that any members of Boko Haram who may try and cross the border from Nigeria can be easily identified.

• A second branch of the most popular 'import shop' (think small neighbourhood mini-market like Spar) called Modern Market has opened on the main street. This is very exciting to an ex-pat in a city where the number of such shops can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

And some things have not changed - it is still as hot as ever, the driving is still as crazy, the internet is still painfully slow and the supply of electricity and water is still erratic. Welcome back!