Israel December 2012

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Chris and I were able to meet in Israel for a week over the Christmas holidays.  I arrived in Tel Aviv on Christmas Eve night, and was exhausted from almost 20 hours of flights.

The next day was Christmas Day, but being Israel, everything was still open.  I walked all around Tel Aviv and down to Jaffa, exploring the Carmel Market, the beaches, and Old City Jaffa along the way.  Great temperatures in the 70′s and lots of sights to see.  Late that night Chris showed up, and the next morning I took him to visit all the sights I had seen the day before.  Then we got on a bus for Jerusalem.

After finding our hotel in Jerusalem, and having a great late lunch at a Georgian restaurant, we tackled the Old City.  We had two maps but as soon as we got in the Old City, we were totally lost.  So we decided to just wander around.  We happened upon the Via Dolarosa (stations of the cross and internet stand), I bought a souvenir from a friend, lots of churches, mosques, and synagogues.  At last we stumbled into a plaza and realized we were at the Western (Wailing) Wall.  The sun had set and the moon was coming up and it was quite a picture.  Luckily we were able to get two last spots in a tour of the tunnels beneath the western wall, where we learned a lot about the history of the second temple, built by crazy Herod the Great, of which now you can see only one wall of the former embankment walls.

The next morning we returned to the Old City to see the rest of the sights- the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, David’s City, The Temple Mount- we were not allowed to go inside the Temple Mount to see Al Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock- but we climbed to the top of the Austrian Guest House and could see Jerusalem from above.  Later that day we took a bus to Bethlehem, where a friendly taxi driver showed us the Fields of the Shepherds, the Church of the Nativity, and lots of Palestinian street art on the wall that separates Israel from the Palestinian West Bank.

On Friday we took an organized day trip to see Masada and the Dead Sea.  Along the way we saw the Qumran caves, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  We took an aerial car to the top of Masada and learned about the siege by the Romans in 73 AD, which ended in the suicide of the Jews on the mountain.  We went to the Dead Sea, covered our arms and legs with mud from the banks, and floated in the salty water.  When we returned to Jerusalem, Sabbat had begun, so no trams, buses, and few restaurants open.  We walked down to the Old City and found an Armenian place open and it was great.

On Saturday we paired up with two other people and rented a taxi to Haifa, north on the coast.  What a beautiful city, or at least the part we explored!  It was a bit rainy and we were pretty exhausted from our continuing jet lag and all our walking around, so we had a late lunch, walked around a bit, and went to bed.

The next day, Sunday, we went to see the Museum of Clandestine Immigration and learned about all the sneaky ways the Jews got people into Israel before the British left in 1947.  They had artifacts and photos and even some of the ships they used.  Very interesting, especially if you’ve read Leon Uris’s Exodus.  Across the street was Elijah’s cave, a sacred site to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and open to all.  Then we took a tram to the top of the Baha’i Gardens and took a tour down through the amazingly maintained green space.  It was really lovely.

All too soon it was time to take a train down to Tel Aviv, where we got a hotel right on the train tracks near the airport.  Chris left late that night, and I flew home the next morning.  At least I got a layover in Istanbul- mmmm, Turkish delight!!

Back in the US (April-June 2012)

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One of the great things about coming back to visit the US is the chance to be a tourist in your own country.  Some of the local or near-by sights that others take for granted have a new-ness to them that is refreshing.  And the ease of public transportation and the efficiency of the US National Parks Services is a great thing.

After leaving Chad, we stayed in the DC area for a month, looking for a new house.  During that time, we explored a lot of the hot-spots of DC, visiting monuments, museums, and restaurants.  My parents came to visit, so it was great to see them and celebrate with them.  We visited the Washington and Lincoln monuments on a beautiful April day when the kites were flying, the trees were blooming, and the flowers were at their most colorful.  It was great to see my parents again- it had been almost a year since our last visit- and Dad and I enjoyed the Smithsonian together, while both my parents got to meet my new husband.

In June, between Chris’s training and his deployment, we had an unexpected free week, so we split the distance between us and met in Charlotte, North Carolina.  We spent a week exploring the city, as well as nearby battlefields, the US National White Water center, the Speedway, the Biltmore House in Asheville, and the Great Smokey National Park.  The views were amazing and we learned so much about the area while we were there.  Plus, it was nice to spend some quality time together before a lengthy time apart.

March 2012: Togo, Burkina Faso, and Ghana

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First, a big thank you to Joy, for being my first visitor to come see me in Chad!  It was great to have Joy visit us for a week and show her around town, and totally cool that on her last day, we took a boat ride on the Chari River and saw a HUGE herd of elephants drinking at the river!

With Chris in the US visiting family, and Joy back to Sudan for work, I took off for Togo and parts unknown.  As soon as I landed I could see the ocean and smell the salt- and feel the humidity!  The first two nights I stayed at Le Galion, unfortunately in a non a/c room- big mistake.  West Africa sure is sweaty!

I tried to visit the Lome museum but it was closed, and after visiting the big marche, there wasn’t much else to do in town (except enjoy being out of Chad).  So I hopped on a bus and went north to Kara, the gateway city to the Tamberma Valley.  I met up with three Belgian volunteers and we hired a car and driver for the day to take us to see the traditional villages out in the hinterland.  Very interesting architecture, but it made me sad to see the way the people live in the village- they seemed really malnourished and out of step with the world- and not in a good way.  The next day, the four of us had the same taxi driver take us to the Burkina Faso border (a seriously bad road).  After paying a whopping $190 for my visa, I entered Burkina and the four of us got a bus to Ougadougou.  We arrived late at night and they invited me to stay with them at a friend’s house that night.  We slept under the stars in what was to become a surprisingly chilly night!

The next day I dropped off my passport at the Ghana embassy for a visa, and took off for Bobo-Diolasso.  I liked it better than Ouga- a bit quieter, more manageable.  But both cities have this quality of a dusty, dirty, run-down city.  I guess nothing on the edge of the Sahara desert stays pretty looking for long.  I loved my little guest house, Villa Bobo, and sampled some great cuisine, especially a totally delicious local yogurt with honey.  Mmmm.  Had it three times.

Back to Ouga to pick up my passport and visa, and I stopped at the village of Sabou along the way to see my volunteer friends.  We visited the sacred crocodile lake (animists in the village believe the crocodiles are the reincarnated souls of the chief’s ancestors) and we actually paid a visit to the chief himself, as one of the volunteers was new to the project and the chief likes to meet anyone new to the area.  That night we slept outside again, as the volunteers’ house has no electricity.  Living rough in Africa!

I stayed in Ouga for two days after that, recovering from some unfortunate stomach distress, at a beautiful little garden pensione called Jardin de Kouloubra.  A great place to recover.  Finally I was feeling ready to take the 8 hour bus down to Tamele, Ghana, where I spent the night at  a Catholic guest house, then another bus to Kumasi (hello, humidity; I remember you!).  There I visited the Asante palace and museum and learned a lot about the Asante culture.  From there it was an easy bus ride to Cape Coast, where I finished up my trip with some visits to the beach, a slave castle, and a few good restaurants.  The history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade was pretty interesting and very moving to see the actual places.

From Cape Coast, I skipped right over Accra and took my flight back to Chad.  Although I’m really glad that I went, because I had really wanted to visit West Africa before we leave the continent, I found the whole trip a lot harder than I had anticipated.  The infrastructure, the (lack of) hospitality industry, the huge amounts of trash everywhere- all of it is just not ideal for easy tourism- definitely not for the faint at heart.  The fact that Togo and Burkina both speak French, and even in Ghana, most people spoke a native language more than they really spoke English, made getting around and getting things done just that much harder.  In the end, I felt like West Africa didn’t have the amazing animals like Kenya and Tanzania did, the fascinating culture like Ethiopia did, the stunning scenery like Rwanda and Uganda, or the general together-ness like Namibia and South Africa.  West Africa has a lot of ground to cover if it wants to have tourism be a big draw for their economies.

Central African Republic January 2012

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After five years living in Africa, and twenty-some odd countries visited in the continent, I finally had the chance to accompany a friend going to Central African Republic on business.  Having visited southern, eastern, and western Africa, it was time to venture into the center of the continent- the very heart of darkness.

On our first night in Bangui, we wandered down to the Bangui Plage, a small outdoor restaurant on the banks of the Oubangui River.  It was dark by the time we arrived, and we met up with two other travelers seated on the patio.  Over wonderfully ripe and creamy avocat aux crevettes, and several ice cold Mocaf beers, the pilots told us stories of flying over the jungles of Africa (“Basically, this whole continent is on fire”) and the perils of trying to get fuel with a credit card in cities such as Bangui and Juba (“Headquarters does not like handwritten receipts written on a napkin and signed by an illiterate man”.).  In the darkness beyond the restaurant, we could see an occasional kerosene lantern across the Oubangui River representing small huts in a Congolese village, but not the river itself.

The next day was a hustle of activity for me as I set off to explore the small city- village, rather- of Bangui.  The French called the city “La Coquette” (the beautiful), but the few signs still bearing the name were peeling, flaking, dirt-covered placards of a by-gone era.  I set out to look for the Musee de Boganda, housing artifacts from “Emperor Bokassa’s” reign and more, but it was closed.  I found the office for the Hotel des Chutes de Boali, a small hotel 100 km outside of town at the edge of a waterfall- the office was also closed, but helpfully listed a phone number to call to arrange a ride out to the hotel.  I tried a small hotel listed in my guidebook (four pages dedicated to C.A.R.) that boasted a band on Sunday nights, but after finding the manager, discovered that the band in question no longer played in the hotel and had not for some years.

As I walked along the red dust-covered streets of Bangui, shouts of “Cherie” and “Americaine” followed me wherever I went.  Small children walked along side me, practicing their few phrases in English  that they knew, and tugging on my pants pockets for change.  Around every corner, half a dozen young men stood, selling phone cards, making 2% profit on the face value of the cards.  Taxis beeped their horn as they trolled the few paved streets, looking for a paying customer.  Men carried flats of egg crates stacked a dozen high, only the top three flats cut and stacked with eggs to make a pyramid.  Only the tops of their egg towers could be seen as they wound their way through a crowd.

For dinner that night we drove to the edge of town, to the property owned by the Oubangui Hotel (a Sofitel property in an earlier life).  The tallest building in town, the Oubangui Hotel sits at the easternmost side of the city, overlooking the Oubangui River and Congo.  A series of natural rocks juts out into the river, with a concrete walkway connecting them to the hotel.  Atop the peninsula are a dozen covered tables, all bearing the names of French and West-African cities.  We sat at the “Nice” table and sipped a cold drink, watching the sunset over the river.  Sellers and workers drifted across the river towards Congo in their pirogues, calling out to each other in Sango.  As the sun set, the river fell silent.

Having secured a ride to the waterfall at Boali, the next day we headed outside the city.  The falls are not too far from the city, and the road was surprisingly well-paved, considering that few roads in the capital itself are paved at all.  A little more than an hour after we left Bangui, we had arrived at the village of Boali.  Bags of charcoal stacked alongside the highway sat next to piles of ripe papaya, waiting for a traveler with the coins to purchase one.  As we passed into the village, the local outdoor church finished its services, the congregation drifting towards their homes, the women wrapped in brightly colored pagnes and the men wearing crisp white shirts, pressed pants, and freshly shined shoes.  Once at the falls, a group of six young men attached themselves to us, eagerly offering to be our “guides” as we descended to the bottom of the falls, ascended the other side, and crossed back over the river upstream of the falls on a swaying, precarious vine bridge (reinforced by steel wire).  Feeling rushed by our young friends, I rebelled against their hurried tour guide spiels and took off my shoes and socks, slipping my feet into the clear, cold water of the Mpoko River. Later we hiked back up to the top of the waterfall, and then crossed back over the river on a vine bridge- very scary!  After our water adventures we had a lunch of grilled chicken, fried plantains, and cold beer at the water’s edge.

Also while in Bangui, I got to try two tennis lessons.  I hadn’t played since college, when I took tennis as one of my P.E.’s and pretty much was terrible at it.  The two lessons went well and I’m hoping to practice some more once we return to Chad.

All in all, Bangui: interesting place to visit, wouldn’t want to live there.

Back in Khartoum- Oct-Dec 2011

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I went back to Khartoum to do some emergency substitute work.  The day I arrived, Tina had a Halloween/birthday party, so I got to be a surprise guest!  It was a great re-introduction to my Khartoum friends.

While I was there, I enjoyed a few boat trips on the Nile (always fabulous in the “winter” weather), some nice hashes, the Caledonian Ball, and several parties.  The last night I was there, Chantal and I hosted a Going Away/Graduation party to celebrate my newly awarded Master’s Degree.  At 2 am the party ended and it was time to get on the plane and retun to Chad.

Ndjamena, Chad

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Aside from a missed airport shuttle and a 500 yard dash down the terminal to reach my plane (last passenger on), the flights to Chad went pretty smoothly. A quick layover in DC, one last slice of pizza, then a layover in Addis Abbaba, a beer (8 am, y’all, that’s how I roll), and finally to Chad around 1 pm on Wednesday. Of course I didn’t sleep on the plane and instead watched six movies.
I spent Thursday and Friday settling in, unpacking my suitcases and some of our boxes from Sudan. It’s nice to see all of our souvenirs and momentos around the place. I can’t believe I still have 30- yes, 30- boxes of stuff at mom’s house. How is that possible? Does it breed when I’m not there, creating new stuff all the time? I can’t wait until we move to DC next year and will truly have all our belongings at one place, one time. Get ready for a garage sale.

We tried a few restaurants around town- according to the “Welcome to Ndjamena” handout we got, there are about 10 here in town- and had some pretty good food. Restaurant prices aren’t too bad, about $40 (or 20,000 CFA- Central African Francs) for the two of us. We tried a Lebanese place, a pizza place, and a French restaurant- very good beef medallions with a yum sauce at that one. There is also a couple of Chinese places, a couple of Chadian places, and I think another Lebanese place as well.
Grocery shopping, on the other hand, was not so successful. We visited 2 tiny little groceries- like the size of a small 7-11 back home- and spent about $50 at each one and came home with…. not much. No fresh fruits/veg, no fresh bread, no meats. Apparently everyone gets a maid 5 days a week and gives the maid some money to go to the outdoor market to purchase fresh food. I suppose if I was really brave I’d go to the outdoor market myself…. but after 8 years abroad, I already know that scene. Me, the only white lady there, plus 100 degrees outside, surrounded by dozens of begging, demanding, sometimes very aggressive vegetable ladies selling their wares- and all in French. No thanks, we’ll continue eating at restaurants and get somebody to do our shopping for us.  Five days a week maid? $110 for a month. 
Speaking of the weather, it’s hot all right, (this is Cental Africa, yo) but not quite as bad as Khartoum. It’s rainy season right now, so it rains- and I mean really rains- every afternoon around 4 pm and that really cools things off, so you can actually go for a jog in the evening or something. And someone told me that the weather gets pretty nice by late October. I’m sure next April, May, June, July, and August will not be too great though.
Internet went out at our house Friday night, so no communications on Saturday or Sunday. I was really starting to panic by Monday afternoon, as I had a paper due in my grad class by midnight, so we went over to some friends’ house and I used the computer there and we watched the Emmy’s on AFN. Ah, good old Armed Forces Network. Right now our antenna at home doesnt’ work, so we need to get that fixed, but I’d like to wait until my Capstone week ends (starts Friday!).
Of course after going to the SOFLE guys’ house and using their computers, then to dinner for Chinese food, we came home and our internet was working.
Tuesday was a better day- I worked on my classwork a while, got all caught up, read all the requirements for my Capstone week- please, oh please let the internet work that week- and then I went to the Embassy for a security briefing (pretty basic: lock your doors and don’t get in a car accident… and buy evac insurance, just in case), visited the doctor there (he gave me some malaria pills- in 8 years I have never taken malaria pills but maybe this year I will start)- visited the CLO and her library (ooh, books and dvds- season 5 Grey’s Anatomy, perfect!), and finally met with the Public Affairs Officer who may have a job for me. Looks like that will all get decided soon (inshallah).
Chris and I were supposed to go to yoga at 5:30 at the Esso oil compound but it got canceled, so we went instead to the 531 club (5:31pm, get it?) and had a short happy hour with folks from the embassy. I met some more people and got a tentative job offer as an “escort” (always wanted to do that!)- no, it’s escorting Chadian workers to US government owned homes and property and making sure the work is being done. Sounds kind of boring but still better than staying home all day!
I’m going to French Conversation lesson tomorrow with Mrs. B, the ambassador’s wife, who is also from Dallas…. there’s also a possibility of tennis lessons at the French Rec center….. yoga…. possibly reorganizing the now defunct Ndjamena Hash House Harriers….. there’s a play being put on tomorrow that we’re supposed to go to, a reception on Thursday night for the new political affairs officer, and a goodbye party on Friday night for someone that is leaving here. So…. hopefully between my class and getting a job (hoping to talk to Esso oil people this week, see if they have any openings- they pay big bucks), plus lots of extra curriculars, our time won’t be too hard here. And Chris is going to Germany in November, so there is a possibility I could go along for a little R&R. We’ll see how it goes!

Sri Lanka March 2011

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After Chris and I won plane tickets at the Caledonian Society Ball in November, we decided to use those plane tickets to fly to Sri Lanka for my spring break.  We left on Sunday around 3 pm and after a short layover in Abu Dhabi, we arrived in Sri Lanka around 3 am.  We were tired but happy to be there.  We hired a car and a driver and set out just before dawn to the city of Dumballah.  We arrived around 10 am and luckily were able to check into our hotel a bit early.  A small nap, and we were ready to see the Sigiriya Rock Fortress, a tall magma plug that sits in the middle of a huge plains area.  You can climb to the top and see where a fortress once stood in the 4th century.  Beautiful views and remnants of the past in the rock paintings and lion’s paws that are all that are left of some past statue.

We also visited the Dumballah Buddhist cave temples, home to over 150 statues of Buddha, some over 11 m tall.  Also around the caves were dozens of monkeys, which are always really fun to watch as they scamper and play.

After a good night’s rest, we headed into the center of the island to visit Kandy, a former capital city.  Kandy is a lovely city with a square man-made lake in the middle, with dozens of guest houses and hotels on the hillsides looking over the lake.  We visited Buddha’s Sacred Tooth Temple and went to a traditional Kandyan dance show, including firewalkers.  We also visited an elephant orphanage, where I got to bathe an elephant and Chris and I went for a ride on one.  Very fun!  Later, our guest house provided a fantastic meal of rice and various curries, with ice cream for dessert.  We ate it all, with several Lion Lagers to wash it all down.  So far, the food had been excellent everywhere we went.

On Wednesday we left Kandy and on the way out of town we stopped at the Botanical Gardens that were once a rajah’s pleasure gardens.  Huge bamboo trees, a giant javan fig tree, tall majestic king palm coconut trees, and amazing expanses of grass… a wonderful park.  I only wish we had been able to really laze around and take a picnic lunch and enjoy the park all day.  But, we wanted to go down to Ella and see some tea plantations and visit an ayurvedic spa, so we were soon heading south again, winding around high mountain roads with green tea fields on either side.  We stopped for a look at a double waterfall, Rombola Falls, and a tour of a tea factory (with a cuppa tea and a slice of chocolate cake afterward, yum).  When we arrived in Ella it was misty and raining but for us from Sudan that is a great feeling.  We went for a walk, I had a massage, and we sat at a roadside bar and shared some spiced cashews and some beers as we held hands and watched the pedestrians.

Another fabulous meal at our guest house, with a wonderful view of Ella Gap.  Bedtime came early for us and the next day we left the highlands and headed for the coast.  We passed a national park and without even entering the park we counted 12 elephants sighted just along the perimeter.  Wow!  Then the coastal road as we headed toward Unatawuna, a quiet and simple stretch of beach with a dozen or so guest houses and restaurants, and two dive shops.  We arranged two dives- one around a large rock on the ocean floor and another of an 1869 sunken ship- and had a great time in the ocean.  Later, a long walk on the beach and a fish dinner, complete with more Lion beer, made a fantastic end to our day.

On our last day we went into Galle and walked around, enjoying a lunch while overlooking the ramparts of the fort.  While driving up towards Colombo, we stopped at the Matura River and went on a boat ride, stopping at a cinnamon island, a fishery, and seeing several shrimp catching systems along the way.  Monkeys, water monitors, and lots of birds kept our attention as we boated around the seawater river and “lake”.  After leaving the river, we passed through Colombo, but as it was raining and rather dark we really didn’t stop to see much.  We enjoyed one last lovely dinner with our driver at his house, meeting his family, and then we were on a plane heading home.

As we had a 24 hour layover in Abu Dhabi, we got a hotel room in the city so we could enjoy some shopping, a movie, and a dinner at Chili’s.  All too soon it was time to board the plane to Khartoum and start thinking about work again.