Catherine has been at her site at Pont Carol since Dec 4, 2005. Two weeks and already counting the days. She has little or no phone contact where she is. She was able to text me and said to call - RIGHT NOW! So I tried for about an hour and a half and gave up. She did finally text me and said she was OK and signal was very weak. I later found out she would go to the tallest rock she could find and turn and turn until she could get a bar on her phone. I told her I wanted a picture of that! HA Evidently she can text me, but couldn't receive my text or calls. She did go and visit some PC friends this past weekend Dec 16-17 because her school had already gone on strike and she had no class. Seems they go on strike regularly, I am not sure if they do that when they don't get paid or what. Anyway, she was able to call me from Lere ?? She said all of her intensive training had done very little to prepare for the complete isolation and lack of direction she felt. She was very down, another PC volunteer in Chad had already quit, #2. But by the end of the conversation, very long bye the way of calling card, she and I both felt better. I was able to talk with her several times on Saturday and I feel she will find her niche and be and effective in her village. She was going to go to the capital, N'Djamena for Christmas to meet up with some of the other PC volunteers that are stationed in the North. She says she is cooking for herself, one of the few things to break the monotony of the day and, and doing her own laundry. She mentioned that she has an audience at all times, comprised of the local children. Thoughts of military coup don't seem so bad right now, considering it would maybe involve evacuation of PCV's to anywhere else (some of the volunteers in the East have been moved already). I had to laugh at that one. She doesn't have a gouon?? yet, a person to help her bargain and introduce her to the vendors at the local market. Evidently this is common and much needed for a Nazara, foreigner. She has said that she probably has the nicest house that she has seen, it seems to stay cool in the afternoon, but she hasn't bought much furniture yet. So it will take some time to make it home. So copy your pictures and send to her to decorate with. I have a new address for letters only. :

PCV Catherine Cole

S/C Aaron and Emily Holmes

B.P. 11

Kelo, Tchad

Africa

AIR MAIL / PAR AVION

She will be able to get letters sooner, using this address, but packages need to be sent to her address in N'Djamena still, due to payments required, and customs is dealt with directly by the Peace Corps attache. I will update this site as I receive new information, so stay tuned. - Catherine's mom

....that I sign off for a while. We swear in as Volunteers tomorrow morning, 9am sharp, Ambassador's residence. We leave Monday morning for site and I'm afraid it will be a loooooong time before I will be able to get to a computer again (like 4-6 months, but maybe I'll get lucky...you never know). BUT, still keep checking in now and then for updates posted by the mom. I shall miss technology.

As for Thanksgiving, it was a smashing success! It was the best group activity we've been able to bring ourselves to do yet. We cooked all morning and into the afternoon with Christmas background music (courtesy of moi) and had a huge feast and celebration to mark our last full day in Darda. The food was plentiful and delicious, and I am not exagerating when I say that the asparagus casserole and pecan pie kicked all the other dish's ASSES. Ask anyone. So it was a nice little group bonding experience to mark the beginning of the end of training. Good day.

As for site and communication stuff: I don't think I have cell reception but I may get it at any time. For now, however, I will have to go 7 miles outside of town or some crap like that to get a bar. We only have mail runs once every 6 weeks (meaning I can neither recieve nor send letters except for once every six weeks, which absolutely sucks). They are, however, trying to change that to make the mail runs once a month, which would actually make a huge difference regarding my sanity, so continue to write so that when I DO finally get all your letters it will be like Christmas all over again! I may try to see if I can rent a P.O. Box in Kelo so that I could receive letters a bit more regularly (which I will post the address here if that should happen), but it would be wise to continue sending letters and especially packages to the N'Djamena address. I will be in Kelo for Christmas and will have cell reception then, so that will be good, but then it's off to site for another 2 months before I'm allowed to travel anywhere again.

By the time of my next posting I should be well engulfed in being an English teacher in Chad and will have been at site for such a long time that I should be able to consider myself a seasoned foreign veteran with many many stories to tell. But until that time I will have PLENTY of letter-writing time, so for those of you who are wondering where the hell your letters are, they're comin'. Keep up the communication and support for me, I'll need it. I'm entering into the abyss....

I want to wish everyone a very early Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Love to all, and I'll catch you on the flip side.

Peace Out.

And Happy Holidays to all. Although it never got extremely cold or snowy or anything like that around the holiday season in Louisiana, it's at least cool some days and even maybe a bit dreary-feeling. It's not like here: hot, bright, never a cloud in the sky. I'm finding it somewhat difficult to believe it's Thanksgiving today based solely on the weather. I've never had a 90 degree Thanksgiving, not even in Louisiana. But hey, later there's some pool time, so at least I can continue with the tan.

I gave my first test to a classroom of Chadian girls today. It was, mmmmmmm, interesting. Chadian students, it would seem, can't NOT cheat. It's like a genetic thing or something. Despite all my warnings (in French, mind you) and despite all my pleas for honesty and despite my all-out threats on their lives as the hour wore on, yup, they still cheated. I told them right off the bat that if I caught anyone cheating in any way shape or form I would deduct 3 points from their grade and 5 points thereafter for all subsequent infractions. Keep in mind that Chadian schools are based on French schools in all aspects, including grading, so the highest mark a student can receive is a 20. A 10 is a passing grade. Students rarely make 5's and 6's, even with cheating. So as I circled the classroom, eyeing each and every individual student as if I were scanning their bio-readings instead of merely searching for cheaters, I came across my first conquest. I told her to hand me her paper so that I could deduct the appropriate number of points. Somewhat to my surprise, I essentially had to rip the damn paper from her death grip and be the hated nassara English teacher, all while the student is pleading with the utmost sincerety in her voice, "NOOOOOOOOOO Madame!!" What can I say? They gotta learn and examples have to be made. All in all I'd say I made a miserable day for several of them. Oh well, they'll get over it. Besides, the last day of Model School is tomorrow anyway, but jeez test days are going to be S-T-R-E-S-S-F-U-L.

And I cannot WAIT for it to be over. A typical model school day goes a little something like this: 5am: rise and shine, 530: depart Darda for N'Djamena, 700: arrive at Lycee Feminin, 715-whenever: classes, 1230: head promptly to PC bureau to work on the computers or to the Ambassador's residence or the Marine house to work on tan, 1500: depart N'Djamena, 1700: arrive in Darda, 1900: dinner, 2000: pass out due to exhaustion. It's pathetic, I tell you, but like I said, it's all over tomorrow.

But, how's THIS for FATE: in the grand tradition of Thanksgiving dinners, it is always pertinent to have an asparagus casserole courtesy of the mom for those delectable and tasty delights for Thanksgiving. This year I nearly thought that is was not to be. The mom had sent a Thanksgiving package complete with ingrediants for pecan pie as well as, oh yes, asparagus casserole, but as the days wore on I was certain that the package would not arrive in time. To my total delight, I received the much anticipated package yesterday. The timing could not have been ANY better. So I jumped and yelled for joy at the site of canned asparagus and pecans upon opening the box that had come in the mail. A fellow trainee said it best when she said, "Just the idea that we're talking about having asparagus casserole and pecan pie and knowing that it can now actually happen is amazing!" Therefore, my fellow trainees have proclaimed July 13th (Mom's birthday) as the Mother of Catherine Day, or Phyllis Day. And speaking of FATE, here's another shining example of something that happened yesterday: Also included in the Thanksgiving package (thanks, Mom, it was awesome) were some flour tortillas, Mmmmmm. Now perhaps this may sound odd to some of you out there reading this, but what did we have for dinner last night that we had NEVER had before throughout our entire staging? Rice and beans!! So, I got my flour tortillas, another kid got his taco seasoning, and another girl got her Taco Bell sauce packets that she had packed away and we had a makeshift Mexican feast. Yesterday was a very good day. It's the small things, ya know....

So yes, I'd like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful beginning to the holiday season. I warned everyone here to not hang out with me come later tonight because beginning after dinner it's all Christmas music all the time for the next month!! I may be hated by the time Christmas actually rolls around, but hey, I'll be by myself for most of that time anyways with no one to torture. So eat a lot for me, enjoy the parade, watch some futball, and, most importantly, eat some asparagus casserole and some pecan pie knowing that I will be thankful for being able to do the same.

Love to all,

Happy Thanksgiving.

....soon-to-be Peace Corps Chad Volunteers. One of our fellow trainees has decided to opt out of Peace Corps Chad for personal reasons. We will miss him, BUT I now think I know where I will be living: Pont Carol, Chad, Africa. Pont Carol is about 50k east of Pala, and not too far west of Kelo, so it's not far from where I was supposed to have lived to begin with (but don't try to find it on a map, because it's not there, but it's just north of some national forest on the main road from Kelo to Pala). On our way out to site visit we passed through Pont Carol (on the way to Pala) to dispose of the parting trainee. I was able to meet his family (unbenownst at the time that they would wind up being my family) and saw his house (which is now my house, I guess), so that was good. The family seems like a pretty progressive family. The mother is a respected woman of the community and the father does a lot of work with HIV/AIDS education, which could be good for me in the way of finding a secondary project. The house that I presume I will be living in was, I thought, one of the nicer houses (remember we're talking Chadian housing standards, so by no means a penthouse, but nice, nonetheless). It's brand new and was built for a Volunteer to live there. It might even have lights eventually, which will be nice. The only bummers: well water access (meaning it's not the clearet water you can find), and there isn't cell phone coverage in Pont Carol just yet. I've heard that coverage is supposed to come sometime eventually, but there's no set timetable so no one really knows. I don't really have any details about the school or which grades I will be teaching, but I do know that the "classrooms" aren't in buildings. They are outside under hangars, that is, thatched roofs only held up by poles, no walls or doors, which may be nice during the hot season (I'd prefer to not be trapped inside a sweltering building in 130 degree temperatures). So all in all, it sounds like not a bad deal. The village is a great deal smaller than Pala, but I am still considerably close to both Pala and Kelo (where I will be spending Christmas), and those two sites both have nice big markets. So that's that.

As for me, this is the last week of model school. It's been going pretty well and I would actually consider myself a relative natural at teaching English. My classes are about 80-90 students strong and I can actually keep them quiet and interested for classes that are 2 hours long. By Chadian educational standards, that's damn good.

Thanksgiving is this Thursday and naturally I have to teach, but we've been invited to spend a small part of the afternoon with a woman who is second only to the American Ambassador in Chad for a pot luck meal. Not quite Mom's home-cooking, but I'll take what I can get. We have to leave her residence by 5pm, though, because it gets dark around 6 and they don't want us on the roads back to Darda for obvious reasons. She has a pool, however, so maybe I can continue with getting my base tan...in NOVEMBER. On Saturday our group has decided to attempt to cook up our own Thanksgiving dinner, African style. What's on the menu, you ask? Maybe wild quail (but if it involves killing and plucking them ourselves, there's no way...we are, after all, American, heh), shish kabobs, some kind of potato something or other, I'm praying for asparagus casserole (depending on whether or not the package my mom sent with the goods and the recipe to make it arrive in time), maybe some bad versions of some homemade pies made by people (us) who have never made anything from scratch, karkanji (which is a sort of punch/juice made from the flower petals of hibiscus...it's a nice deep red in color and does not look good on light-colored clothing), and for cranberry sauce we've conned the 'chef' of the kitchen at Darda to make us a guava compote tart-thingy (it's really good), and then probably skittles and m&m's for dessert. Should be interesting, to say the least. I'll let you all know how the first experiences with camp-style cooking for a full Thanksgiving dinner on a Saturday turns out.

The Sunday following Thanksgiving is the day that we leave Darda (sniff sniff) and move to N'Djamena for a week before swear-in. We are supposed to receive our settling-in allowances so that we can essentially hang out for a week and do the "shopping" for things that we will need for site. I am going to attempt to buy: a bed. A REAL bed, as big a bed as I can get with a COTON mattress and a real BEDFRAME. I'm somewhat excited about this and being able to sleep well for once, yes!! As it is now, I may as well be sleeping on the ground. Otherwise I will buy a genoun, which is a wire basket used to hold the charcoal for cooking, and some wash-basin sized buckets for laundry and washing and all that stuff. I should try to find a table and at least one chair, but I may wait until after I move in and just go to Kelo to get stuff like that. I already have tons of stuff that we will have to pile up on the cars for the move from N'Djamena to Pont Carol. Throw a bed and other things in the mix (times the other 18 people's stuff) and it makes for a large and heavy load.

We swear in at the US Ambassador's residence on Friday, December 2. I was chosen by our group to give a speech in Chadian Arabic (HA HA) during the ceremony, and another trainee was chosen to give a speech in French. We're all trying to coordinate outfits for the ceremony so that we can show some solidarity amongst the group (other groups have also done this in the past), so I think I will have a complete made, which is just and African-y outfit of a skirt and a top. Whatever, new clothes. Sometime around December 4th is when we leave for the real deal and begin our sejour as Volunteers.

Today marks 2 months in-country. It has FLOWN by. But from here it only gets more intense. I will be on my own for the first time since arriving in Chad. It's exciting, to say the least. I must peace out now, but I miss you all.

A la prochaine fois....

...I haven't been scared at all (yet) since being in Chad. You'd maybe think that having Al-freaking Jazeera gendarmes pumping the muzzles of their AK-47's through the opening of the windows in the cars we travel in at our faces two times a day would scare us a little. Oddly, I've thus far felt totally safe. That isn't to say that I have not been acutely aware of what's been going on for the past few weeks in Chad (see the article Mom transcribed below in the previous post). It occurred to me that Peace Corps Chad is one posting of the PC that is probably on the brink, of what...who knows, no one is exactly sure. But as other PC country Volunteers go about their daily lives living in the nostalgia and exoticism of a foreign and underdeveloped nation, knowing full and well they have nothing drastic to worry about and that their two years of service will more than likely be completed with no disruptions, those of us in Chad are living on the edge of our seats knowing that at any moment we could be pulled out.

Our cars are stopped daily at multiple gendarme checkpoints. Sometimes we are forced to get out of the cars and flash our diplomatic passports or our US Embassy badges (God Bless those things, sheesh). The gendarmes are, to say the least, scary men with big guns and turbins. We are at a heightened state of alert here in good ole Chad, and apparently today they are testing the EAP (Emergency Action Plan), which is what would be activated in a time of civil unrest in order to efficiently culminate all Volunteers and staff in-country to several specific locations around the country, from which point we will be evacuated or sit tight, depending on the severity of the situation. Political instability in Chad is no joke, and this I am seeing first hand.

As my mom reported, the town where the 4 people were shot and killed is a town that we go through twice daily, and a town where there are a couple checkpoints. We saw them digging the graves for those 4 who were killed on Monday afternoon on our way back to Darda from N'Djamena, no lie, on the side of the road.

Although there is all this, rumors floating around, speculations flying as to how severe something that would happen could become (we've heard that nothing will happen ever so stop worrying about it, to, it will be the worst thing to ever happen in Chad, so be prepared) I have not been in fear for my safety. This could change at site, when I'm alone (I still don't know where that will be...) and I have to rely on taxi-brousses for transportation here and there and I do not have the luxary of traveling in cars with diplomatic plates and Chadian drivers who work for the US Government, but alas, we shall see. Presidential elections will supposedly be in January, and there's trouble with that, too. But despite all this, know that yes, I am safe, I feel safe, and my intuition is open and sky-high regarding sketchy situations in which I wouldn't want to find myself. It's extremely interesting here right now, in this l ittle corner of the underdeveloped world. Stay tuned....

(Reuters published a good article that kind of lays out what is going on with all the instability issues. Find it HERE. There is another article that you can read HERE.)

CNN.com reported 11/14/05

Insurgents Attack Chad Military Camps

(Catherine is traveling through this area twice a day to reach the capital for Model School training)

N'DJAMENA, Chad (AP) -- Dozens of suspected rebels attacked two military camps in Chad early Monday, triggering clashes with security forces in which at least four insurgents were killed, according to an official statement.

Four members of the security forces were wounded and at least 15 assailants were captured during the pre-dawn raids, according to the statement released by government spokesman Mourmadji Moussa Doumgor.

The government now has the situation under control, according to the statement.

One group of assailants attacked the military training camp of Koundoul, 25 kilometers (16 miles) south of the capital, N'djamena, in an effort to seize arms and ammunition. At least two insurgents were killed and four others captured during clashes with security forces.

A separate group attacked a National Guards' camp near the airport, also in an attempt to capture weapons with the help of some members of the force. At least two other assailants were killed and 11 others detained during the ensuing clashes with the elite Special Forces, according to the statement.

Investigations have begun to establish whether Monday's attacks are linked to a brewing rebellion, according to the statement.

....a little computer time. How's it going everybody?? Allow me to take this moment to thank the following: JACKIE, I recieved the 3rd package of Times and US Weeklies today and I can only say that I'm the most popular girl in all of Chad because I was the first to know that Nick and Jessica had split (and that Stephen from Laguna Beach is dating Trashy Trischelle??), so thanks for those, I absolutely love them (oh, but wait, now it's Harper's instead of US Weekly...no matter, thanks!). The regularity is great, if you know what I mean, heh heh. Emily Cotter, got your card today, thank you!! CRAIG, mmmmmm yeah, you know already. MOM, Got another package yet again today and apparently there will be 2 tomorrow!!! Thank you for all the picture cards and the updates. I reeeeeally like reading about everything that's going on at home with everything (even if Mr. Shadow does suck). Just so you all know, there are letters in the mail and the Chrsitmas gift search has begun, although you may not get anything until next March, but whatever. So keep those letters comin'. They're much appreciated, I swear.

We are in N'Djamena for Model School for the next 3 weeks, so I may be able to get on a computer every now and then, which will be nice for updates. I'm teaching at an all girls high school. It's...interesting, yet TIRING. We're still staying in darda, but have to commute an hour each way back and forth to the capitalevery morning and afternoon (meaning that I have to get up at 5 to get there to start school at 7 to teach til 12:30 to come to the bureau and leave again at 3 to head back to Darda to eat, shower, prepare lesson plans, and pass out only to dot he whole thing over again the next day). But it's good experience, I guess. I totally feel for teachers now, especially those poor French women who came to teach me French in elementary school. I can now say that I relate oh so well.

As for everything else, and there is a lot to report and not nearly enough time to do it: No one in our group has ET'd yet (early terminated), but some of us are banking on a few who are starting to show signs of weakness. Damn, that just sounds awful, doesn't it? We swear in and officially become Volunteers on December 2, so that's cool. After that we will be permanently installed at our sites. As my mom reported (by the way, thanks for doing all that, Mammy), I don't have a site. Well I did, but then I was pulled out before I ever moved in, so naturally I'm the only one in our group who's semi-homeless come December, but PC staff people are out there this week trying to find me another site to replace Pala, which would've been a very cool place to live, but alas, didn't work out (to make a very long story very short: the family that I was to live with didn't want to host a volunteer, c'est tout). Soooo when I do get another site I'll be sure to let everyone know ASAP. I haven't been sick again except for minor colds, so that's good news, and we're getting ever closer to the end of training, which is even better news. So for all of you out there who are wondering what you can send me once I get to site, I have set up a small list of items that are chep/light and may be mailed easily in boxes or padded envelopes should you so choose to do so:

FOOD STUFF - Tony's, garlic powder, Nutella, Skittles (all kinds of candy welcome), crushed red pepper, cracked black pepper, other spices and spice packets, ground ginger, easy mac or ramen, instant drink mixes, dried fruits, BEEF JERKEY, and anything else instant!

OTHER STUFF - Hand sanitizer (like Purell), incenses or candles, friendship bracelet string (I have allt he boys in our group making them, so my supply is being depleted, HA!), pictures from home of anything/anyone/everything/everyone, deodorant (like Old Spice Active Fresh Scent ((it's the only kind that works and it smells like Craig!) )), new music and movies, good books (classic heavy readers welcomed), american money (heh), good pens (gel and ball point - they're hard to come by here), moisturizing lotions, and fragrant soaps (bar and liquid).

Just remeber, Christmas is coming up soon!! OK, there are now others waiting for the computer so I must run. But I love you all and miss you and wish I could hear SOMETHING from you all (e-mail, too, I'll get it eventually). But take care and know that I'm doing well!!

Peace out.

So Catherine has a new phone number : to dial from the US : 011 235 47 31 79. And the site in Pala evidently fell through. There was some problem with the past year and the host family not being paid by the school district, and some other nicities which were not observed. Anyway, Catherine is the only one who now does not have a place to go to ... as yet. There are plenty of villages that have asked for a volunteer, but she doesn't know if they have a place for her to live, etc. , etc. But she seems to be taking all in stride and they have a month or so to figure it all out. She has been in country for 43 days now and it seems the ole Catch 22 is working for her. I hope some of her friends have been writing, it has taken a while for her to get my letters since we couldn't even buy stamps for almost three weeks here. You couldn't get near a real live postal service worker, lines out the door and around the block since all mail was general delivery, but most of that has been resolved. It still takes two weeks or longer for Catherine to get mail. She should have some computer time soon, so hopefully she can contact you all. Cat's Mom

I heard from Catherine this morning, she has been assigned to Pala, which is East of Kelo in the South and close to the Cameroon border. She was pretty excited about that, feels like she will have more access to fresh fruit, etc. She leaves for a week stay at her site on Thursday. But she was bummed out because someone stole her phone at training camp. So until she can get back to the capital of N'Djamena and purchase a new phone, she won't be able to text anyone anytime soon, or receive calls. So I will let everyone know when she has a new phone number. Hope all your letter writing skills are kicking in.

Just to let you all know, I can text message Catherine from my Cingular phone for $.20 (cents) which is a good deal, you may have to ask your service provider how much texting is for international. Calling by way of using a calling card is the best. I bought a card from mobilecaller.com the "african plan" for 'Chad mobile numbers' , you can get 50 minutes for $10.00 and they are very fast in responding once you purchase. Chad is 5 hours ahead of EST, 6 for CST, etc, She is usually available after 5PM her time and the work until Noon her time Saturday and off on Sunday. To mail a 1 ounce letter is $.80 cents, 2 ounces is $1.55. So if you send her some pictures, remember to weigh it , make sure you have airmail/par avion on your letter. I hope you all are well, I wasn't able to mail to her for a couple of weeks after the storm here , since our postal service was interrupted for several weeks. Only one tree down on the house, but no water damage. We were lucky, many in my area weren't. Help keep her informed about what is going on, they don't get any real news for weeks.

WOW, I have no time to write, but let me start off with this:

PCT Catherine Cole

Corps de la Paix

B.P. 1323

N'Djamena, Chad

Central Africa

VIA AIR MAIL/PAR AVION

Yup, that's a cue.....WRITE TO ME AND SEND ME PACKAGES, WOO WOO.

OK, now the phone number: 011-235-37-01-41

It's expensive to call, but that's the US exit code, country code, and my 6-digit number.

OK, now, whew! Well, Chad has been an experience and a half, and I've only been here a month. In that month I have lived with a Muslim Chadian family, learned a good deal of Arabic, chopped of my long locks in exchange for some convenience, gotten parasites and had something called Giardia (not fun), gotten better, learned to do laundry by hand, sweated A LOT, taken taxi brousse's after walking 10 miles at 4:30 in the morning to get to the station, and tons other stuff.

We are so busy now during training that it's often difficult to write and ESPECIALLY difficult to get to a computer, so my apologies for lack of communication, but now I have a phone.... Tomorrow we find out where our permanent sites will be and on Thursday we leave for a week-long site visit. That week will be the first time that I will be alone since I left, and I mean ALL ALONE, so I'm sure I will be pumping out the letters then and pondering the bugs on the wall and the roaches in my latrine. I'll probably be in the South, which is good because I'll be more able to access fruit and stuff from Cameroon. I'll update in a couple weeks, hopefully, so stay tuned.

About Chad: never in my life did I expect a country, ANY country, to be so impoverished. Chad is the hardest Peace Corps posting, and I definitely know why now. The capital, N'Djamena, is the most impoversihed place I have ever seen, or probably will ever see. There is the First World, there is the Developing Third World, and then there is Chad. It's no joke and sickness and other troubles are a constant worry. BUT, I am doing very well and learning how to stay healthy and taking showers with buckets. It's great, really. I've learned sooo much just int he short time I've been here, so I feel fortunate just for that. But if I could have any one thing to eat right now it would be a #1 Whopper with Cheese value meal, king sized, from Burger King (the Africa diet is in full effect and now my thighs don't rub together when I walk, HAHA).

But no, I really am doing well. I miss everyone terribly and am looking forward to all those letters you'll all be sending (wink, wink). I LOVE to know what's going on in the outside world, so feel free to tell me all about it. But alas, I must go now. I hope to be able to write again soon, I miss you all and I love you all and I can't wait til I can tell you all more about this thing called me-in-Africa.

All my love, ME.

This may be the last posting for a while. I've heard before that once we get to staging and in-country that we should expect not to be able to communicate for at least a month. I'm in Princeton with Craig right now and I said goodbye to my mom yesterday. These days are emotionally draining, siiiiigh. Anyways, I love you all and will miss you all terribly. But until the next time where I'll be writing from the other side, I'm out. Peace everbody.

....2 days. Yeeeeeeeees, it is creeping up and time here is becoming short. The official itinerary is as follows:

DEPART: Lake Charles, LA - 8:40 a.m. - Saturday, September 17, 2005

ARRIVE: Philadelphia, PA (via Houston) - 3:17 p.m. - September 17, 2005

*******then*******

DEPART: Philadelphia, PA - 7:25 p.m. - September 20, 2005

ARRIVE: Paris, France - 8:45 a.m. - September 21, 2005

DEPART: Paris - 4:50 p.m. - September 21, 2005

ARRIVE: N'Djamena, Chad, Africa - 9:30 p.m. - September 21, 2005

(so I'll get to Chad around 2:30 p.m. [CST] on that day, for those of you who are thinking about stuff like that)

Now, the Peace Corps specifications for baggage to bring are something as follows:

"Limit two checked bags and two carry-ons (one + personal item). No more than 80 pounds total; no one bag weighing more than 50 pounds. Total dimensions (length + width + height) of checked baggage may not exceed 107 inches; larger pieces of checked baggage may not exceed 62 inches; total carry-on cannot exceed 45 inches."

HAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHA Ok Peace Corps, whatever you say. I'll be doing good if my bags aren't 80 pounds A PIECE, but I'm shooting for the airport guidelines of 50 pounds allowed per bag and carry-ons can be as big as you want, as long as you can shove them under the seat.

As for the items I'll be taking along...I've bought everything from a two-year supply of tampons to easy-mac for those days that I just need some instant macaroni. The heaviest things are all hygienic, and those are MUSTS, as I don't necessarily trust the effectiveness of African deodorant or bio-degradable body wash. Judging from the responses of past and present Peace Corps Chad Volunteers, I should spend my baggage weight on books, kitchen supplies, hygiene products, and candy. If I go over, so be it, but it's difficult to come by those things when in Africa, so I'd better bring them with me. I've sort of organized what I have into little stockpiles of similar items (including 50 or more pairs of underwear to cooking utensils to aesthetic objects such as candles, room sprays, watercolor paints and journals), but I have yet to actually coalesce the items into a workable arrangement into my huge rolling duffles. My mom and I will work on that later tonight, after the early Thanksgiving dinner she's cooking (so that I won't have to miss the best food that has ever been cooked)!

As for clothing, my mom has made an array of wrap-around type skirts that stretch to mid-calf length, which should be appropriate for daily life in Chad and that are adjustable to fit when I get on the African diet. She's even made a Christmas-themed skirt for that special day, as well as a few with golf patterns as well, heh. She also bought me some comfortable Columbia button-down short-sleeves that will be very appropriate/comfortable and I'm also bringing, of course, the requisite t-shirts, tanks, baggy comfortable shorts (all the latter for wear in the privacy of my own hut), and various footwear including a billion flip-flops, some Chaco sandals, tennis shoes, and light-hiking waterproof shoes (for the rainy season).

Aesthetics include: incense, candles, watercolors, pictures for a makeshift album, stationary, pencil colors, room sprays, body sprays, fingernail polish, iPod, a 13-month calendar of tropical islands, a frisbee, sand wedge and golf balls (or maybe I'll take my 7 iron instead), and plenty of scarves to cry in when I'm feeling homesick, or to wear around my head as Chadian custom for women permits.

In short, packing will be a daunting task and traveling will be even more strenuous. But hey, I'm young and have carried 4 huge bags that weighed waaay more than 80 pounds through the metro system of Paris before when I lived in France, so I figure if I can do that, I can do ANYTHING (if you've ever seen or heard of the layout of the Paris Metro you'll know exactly what I mean, ugh).

I have resigned myself to the fact that things will be different when I get back in December of 2007. Different is good because: I will have grown as a person and my knowledge of the world will have greatly expanded; my mom will have gotten to see the sights of Europe, and maybe Africa and/or Egypt (with the winning of the lottery and all); my cousin Faith will be able to speak in more complete and understandable sentences (HAHA I'm KIDDING, I swear); I hopefully will not have been a major economic burden to my parents for the 2 years; I will have received many wonderful letters and packages from all of my friends and family (multiple times! hint hint); I may get to travel a bit to other parts of the world; I will gain experience that will win me some awesome job when I get back or let me in to some awesome JD program (oh, please God, let one of these things happen); and, last but not least, the African diet will have done wonders for my figure.....HA.

Different is not so good because: my dog, Change, may not make it that long, bless the poor old dog's lumpy soul; I may forget how to ski after having to skip nearly 3 winters; I may feel like I have to start ALL over from the VERY beginning with whatever I wind up doing; I may have lost contact with people that I don't want to lose; I may have the malaria strain for the rest of my life (kidding again, but hopefully this won't happen)....and that's all I can think of. But look there, the positives far outweigh the negatives in quantity as well as quality of experience!

Ultimately I think (and hope) that my Peace Corps experience will be one that I will look back on as being one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. With support from everyone, especially my mom, I know it will be. So I'm looking forward to keeping everyone up to date on the exciting happenings of a PCV in Chad, woo woo.

FYI: The current National Geographic Magazine is all about Africa and the Washington Post wrote an interesting article about the choice of cover photo (or lack thereof) for the issue. It looks like this (see right) and is on newsstands now. It costs about $5, and hey, you get a free map of Africa with it, so go get it and check it out (they talk about all the oil coming out of Chad these days, how freaking ridiculous Nairobi is for a multitude of reasons, the AIDS crisis, and even Pygmies).

In other news, the reports out of New Orleans are sounding better by the day. Tulane swears it will be up and running for Spring Semester and Entergy is being surprisingly valiant in their efforts to restore power to the city (they've restored power to about 800,000 homes of the 1.1 million total).

BUT, I've been perusing other web blogs and bulletin boards concerning the plight of Tulane and its students that have popped up since this mess began. I find it funny (weird and ha-ha) that the comments left on these boards and blogs are left by students, parents of students, and Tulane supporters, as well as those who could give a damn about poor poor Tulane students. I find it funny (ha-ha) because of all the students I have spoken with about the dilemma in which they currently find themselves (that usually being having to spend the current semester as a visiting student at other universities around the country), pretty much 100% of them say, yeah, it's inconvenient that I have no clothes or that all of the things that were in my apartment in New Orleans are pretty much ruined, and yet, they're grateful that they're alive and that they had the opportunity to get out. They're without, but they aren't as without as many other citizens of New Orleans, and they understand and realize this and are THANKFUL for their situations because they know it could have been much worse.

I find it funny (weird) that of all the negative comments that have been posted on these sites (see this and this for a couple examples) are either by bitter parents that still have to pay Tulane tuition for their child to go to a state school for a semester (however that is NOT to say that there aren't MANY supportive parents, too), and others who never liked (or just resented) Tulane and it's student body and who believe that every student that attends the University is the well-endowed son or daughter of a multi-millionaire. Being an alumna of Tulane (and one that is barely floating above the poverty line, at that), I can say that my experiences there were some of the best of my life thus far. I made lifelong friendships, had lifelong relationships, and my support for the University will also be lifelong. I never necessarily agreed with some of the decisions the administration made during the course of my four years of undergrad study, but I didn't go around anonymously bashing those decisions or placing the blame on unnecessary parties. Tulane is not about that and neither is being a survivor of such a catastrophe. It's about being thankful for being allowed to attend such a prestigious university and being able to achieve a degree from TULANE no matter where you attend class. Many students only want that, and to get back to the city they love, nothing more, nothing less.

Ok, gotta go shower and get ready for Thanksgiving dinner. Peace out.

....only to eventually return to the place and the city I love more than I ever thought. Some things I will miss about New Orleans:

Central Grocery mufallettas the calmness of Audubon Park being able to get around via the backstreets (because that's what 'locals' can do) still, foggy mornings hole-in-the-wall music clubs locals-only restaurants spontaneous picnics on the levee with wine, beer, and/or champagne 36" po-boys from that Conoco station on the Westbank (the BEST in the city!) Dick N' Jenny's golf in City Park making fun of tourists

having to look for the streetcar before crossing the tracks the nostalgia of Tulane Abita Beer (especially Purple Haze) fighting the traffic just to get to Barnes and Noble in Metairie the beautiful Garden District (a home I know well) watching the barges and HUGE foreign ships gliding down the Mississippi spontaneous crawfish boils courtesy of Capt'n Sal's knowing that I could visit at least 10 gorgeous plantation homes any time I wanted OAK TREES (New Orleans has some of the finest) the Louisiana Philharmonic in Audubon Park after the annual 5K Endymion Martin's fighting the road rage and potholes Uptown Downtown all of it

...there is now so much I could be doing here, in Louisiana, thanks to that bitch of a hurricane, Katrina. I know there has always been plenty that I could do to help the citizens of this country. As a nation we are by no means perfect and I think it's this sentiment that many Peace Corps volunteers run into from others who canÂ’t understand why we would want to go somewhere else, halfway across the world, to help the people of another place when we could stay here and fix our own problems first. I myself, the wannabe adventurer wanderlust looking for any new experiences I can find (the more exotic the experience the better), have always wanted to serve in the Peace Corps not solely for the ideal purposes of optimum altruism, but for the selfishness of myself, to enrich myself, to see for myself what the rest of the world is like and what I can offer it as well as what it can offer me. Ask not what you can do for your Earth....

I was becoming more and more excited as the departure date for Africa grew near, but with the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, I have lost much of the enthusiasm I had only a week ago. After being a resident of New Orleans for almost my entire adult life, it is so difficult to watch what has happened and to attempt to comprehend that this is a reality. It is impossible to understand how the current state of New Orleans and the rest of the affected Gulf Coast has come to be, and it is a subject that disgusts me and pisses me off to such an extent that I do not wish to write of it now (except for what I am about to say).

What happened in the aftermath of the hurricane is a genuine human atrocity and a national catastrophe, one that should never have happened. New Orleans is a great city and the cultural heart of much of what is most important to me. I am grateful that those that mean so very much to me made it out of the city before impact. Unfortunately for some of them, Tulane has cancelled the Fall semester, an unprecedented move, and we are all hoping that their residences and belongings have sustained minimal damage and that looters and those that mean unnecessary harm to people and things will suffer a severely uncomfortable and utterly inexplicable and painfully slow death. I have no mercy for the fate of people like that. They are a waste of air.

As I write I am becoming ever more angry at the situation and my words will never be able to express what I and many many others feel did not have to happen. Hurricanes and natural disasters happen, yes, I understand that. But blatently abandoning a cultural pearl in the heart of a great state in the core of a great region of this country in the absolute most dire time of need after the greatest natural disaster to hit North America ever is something that the citizens of this nation will never forget.

God save the city of New Orleans. More to come....

You can always check the weather report for N'Djamena here, or here for other cities as well.

Everything's done now. Completed. Paperwork sent in. It only took me about a week to finish 5 minutes worth of work, but it's been sent in, airfare bought, done deal. Whew.

Recently I've been obsessing over other people's blogs and websites about different Peace Corps experiences, as well as the Peace Corps experience in Chad. All of the sites have been created either by returned Peace Corps Volunteers or those currently serving in their respective countries. To my surprise I have been able to find a few good sites about Chad. They're very informative and helpful accounts written from first-hand perspectives and many of the journal entries are written very well. They often vividly describe individual experiences including the daily happenings of village life, trips to the markets, the hell that is Chadian transportation, and how things work in general. Many of them also have expansive photo galleries, which are always interesting. Three of the sites I've run across concerning Chad have been put together by Volunteers who will still have a year left of service when I arrive, meaning that I will most likely meet all of these people I've been reading about. That could be a bit strange; I think I'd feel like a groupie for some of them because I know SO MUCH about their experiences thus far and could tell them all about themselves without ever having met them. They've been able to keep up their own sites, albeit somewhat infrequently, but they've nonetheless kept it going, as I hope to do with this blog. We shall see....

Now on with the shopping and the packing preparations. So far, via internet, I (or my mom) have ordered and subsequently charged to parentally paid credit cards: solar-powered battery charger for Ipod and cell phone (for use if I am in an area with cell phone coverage, that is), 2 LL Bean rolling duffles, crank-powered flashlight and shortwave radio, 'Chad is Rad' t-shirt (available here), firestarter, cool and comfortable Eastern Mountain Sports pants that convert to two different lengths of capri pants as well as full on pants by a snapping function, and a camp shower. I can almost assure that there will be more to come, you know, just for last minute excitement. And that's just the mail-order stuff. You wouldn't believe how impoverished my own parents will be after totaling up the costs of the stuff we haven't ordered, but simply bought in stores. Ugh, thanks Mom and Dad.

As for clothing, I know I will be able to buy much of what I need in Chad at the markets, but my mom has graciously taken it upon herself to sew about a week's worth of wrap-around skirts from very pretty fabrics that she found. Thanks, Mom. I also have a set or two of very nice and very conservative cotton shirts. Now I need to go buy about 50 pairs of underwear and 30 bras and I'll be all set!

Everything is sort of all coming together. Slowly, but definitely surely. I'm beginning to have more time to think about the immensity of the whole situation a bit more these days. Although it hasn't fully sunk in yet (I don't think it really will until I actually get there), I'm beginning to feel more apprehensive about having to say so long to so many people that I'd rather not. That will be the hardest part; but then again, think of the reunions we'll have....

...not even when you aren't in school. I've been TRYING to get myself to complete this revised resume and aspiration statement that I'm supposed to send to the Chad country directors and maybe even the country ministers themselves. You'd think I'd get it all done and turned in, right? I mean, what are they gonna do if it's a little late, tell me I can't go? Like I said, I am the queen of procrastination, ugh.

Anyways, new in the news: I got my staging packet, all the info that tells me when and where to be for the pre-departure orientation. I'm leaving a bit earlier than originally thought. I fly to Philadelphia on September 17, a day earlier than everyone else, because if I'd flown in on the 18th I would have been late for orientation due to a lack of conveniently timed flights. We can't have tardiness now, can we? The Peace Corps takes up the bill for everything, of course, and when I booked my flight it literally took 3 minutes flat and I had an itinerary in my hand. That's the fastest I've ever gotten ANYTHING done with travel stuff. Gotta love the government. After staging in Philadelphia, my group and I leave for Paris on the 20th and from there we head onto N'Djamena (pronounced nah-jah-MEE-na, I think), which is the capital of Chad, and thus will be in-country by the 21st, when we begin our 3-month pre-service (survival) training.

Since I've been back home (I'm in Lake Chuck now, folks) my mom and I (but especially my mom) have been going kinda crazy trying to do some quick brainstorming about what to bring, how to bring it, and how this will all ultimately happen. Due to my very recent acceptance notification I only have about 4 weeks to prepare as opposed to most accepted Volunteers' 2-3 months. I guess you could consider this a crash course adventure where we don't have enough time to think about all the sad and depressing parts (leaving, skipping holidays, etc.) It's been fun, though. Last night, for instance, we kinda bought out the camping section at Wal-Mart. I thought Wal-Mart had some really good stuff. You know, the essentials, like mini toilet paper rolls and unbreakable camp mirrors, all the ABSOLUTE necessities to go along with my solar-powered Ipod charger and crank-powered flashlight. I'm sure my dad's laughing right now. Girls and the African bush just don't quite seem to mesh.

So that's that. September 17th and I'm gone. One thing I did learn that EVERYONE NEEDS TO TAKE NOTE OF is..............

The address where you can all send letters to during pre-service training!!

Ready? Here goes:

PCT Catherine Cole

Corps de la Paix

B.P. 1323

N'Djamena, Chad

Central Africa

AIR MAIL/PAR AVION

Be sure to mark all envelopes and packages clearly with an Air Mail/Par Avion stamp or simply write it. Otherwise I probably won't get correspondence for MONTHS, if at all. All the multiple letters and packages that I know you're all going to send me can be sent here for the first 3 months, until about mid-December, when I will be moving from the capital to my on-site location. It takes about 2-4 weeks for mail to reach N'Djamena from the US, and another week or so after that to reach whatever town or village I will be living in after training. Whenever I know what other address I can be reached at I'll be sure to post it here, but until then just keep on sending those American greetings. It's a good idea that if you do plan to send multiple letters or packages you should number them so I know whether or not I receive all of them. Receiving mail can be a little sketchy in some parts of the world, and Central Africa is no exception. Oh, and for all of you curious people out there, Chad is 7 hours ahead of the Central time zone, 6 hours ahead during Daylight Savings, or something like that (so right now, it's 7 hours ahead, but in Fall and Winter or whenever the time changes it will be 6...err...uh...damn Daylight Savings). Just if you wanted to call me up, now you can compute the time, HAHA, I kill me.

OK, I suppose that's enough for now. There's plenty more to come once I finally finish my paperwork. It's not like it's a difficult thing to accomplish, I'm just, well, me...lazy. Not for long, though.

I'll leave this post with an interesting photo. I don't think this is unlike some of the trucks I'll be hopping on to get to different places I'll need/want to go. But then again, that's for another time to discuss....Peace out.

Click on the map for enlargement.

Note: I will try my absolute best to be stationed as near as possible to Moundou.

Since about the middle of July I've been driving up and down the east coast and out to Ohio, visiting people and staying primarily in Princeton with Craig and in DC with Jackie and her parents. Jackie's mom has a friend at work who's daughter is currently in Zambia on a Peace Corps assignment, so Mrs. Karp. set up a little lunch date with she and I and the friend and their boss. The boss was a Volunteer in Honduras back in 2000, so Jackie's mom thought it appropriate and helpful that she come along as well. So listen to this next part and tell me it's not a small world....

We get to lunch and I meet the mother of the girl who is in Zambia (I'm now in DC, remember). I remembered meeting a friend of mine's (Virginia) friend in Denver who was visiting for the week back around New Year's (Virginia is my culinary friend from VA, but whom I met while going to school in Denver; she was doing her culinary schooling there). I knew Virginia's friend was going into the Peace Corps at the end of January (which was only a couple weeks away at that time) so I was talking to her and asking some questions because I was considering applying, blah blah blah. ANYWAYS, we get to lunch today, I meet the mother, I find out that the mother is the mom of the girl who is Virginia's friend (her name is Libby), and that she is loving Zambia. Go figure, small freaking world (those in Denver will think this craaaazy, especially you, VA...I met Libby's mom at a pizza place in Arlington, whatevah).

So yeah, that was way random and cool. After talking to the mom and the boss, though, I got a lot more excited for what I was going to be doing. The boss, Gayle, was particularly helpful. Being as blunt as possible, which is what I needed, she told me some of the things that all Volunteers would experience, no matter where they served. Safety is a true issue, duh, but corruption is out there and USE YOUR HEAD when in all situations where ANYTHING bad could happen (which could be every situation). She also said that this job is for people who are ok with being alone with themselves for long periods of time, so I hope I don't have any Apocalypse Now episodes or anything. She made me feel particularly bad-ass when she said that most returning Peace Corps Volunteers consider the Africa Volunteers to be the real deal, more so than those who take assignments in any other part of the world. Hell yeah, hardcore, woo.

She told me many more things and gave much more advice and it was nice to hear what it was like from a mother's perspective (the mom's name is Ginna). All in all I would consider it a very productive and enlightening lunch. Not bad for pizza.

Tomorrow I'm driving back to New Orleans with Craig and becoming that much closer to going home and the departure. Thank you, Karpovich's, for a good stay. I really appreciate it.

I now need to update my resume and write another aspiration statement for the Chad Country Director. I'm constantly thinking of all the things I really shouldn't forget to pack and bring, trying not to procrastinate, but alas, I'm the queen of that, so I'm sure it'll all be last minute. Maybe not though....

FYI - My mom, the Phyllinator, found soap for me to use in Chad that's used for hair, body, and dishes, HAHAHA!! Can't wait to try that out. OK, more packing, then the Real World with Jackie. Real World...somewhat ironic.