Abeche Sux

I’d forgotten how hard life is here in Abeche. It’s not quite as hot as in N’djamena, but that’s not much comfort when there’s no air conditioning anywhere. By nine AM, you’re sticky, salty and shiny, and the rest of the day is about accumulating layers of dust on your skin. At the end of the day, you can look forward to a shower – consisting of a large rain barrel full of hot water that you scoop out with half a plastic water bottle.

Falling asleep is hard, because the beds are uncomfortable and you’re plagued by mosquitoes. The fact that you’re slick with sweat again only attracts them, and even though you’re sleeping under a mosquito net, the little buggers are crafty and always seem to find a way in. There’s nothing to eat, because there’s no kitchen and anyway you haven’t exactly had time to swing by the local market, where as it happens there’s really nothing to buy that isn’t canned. Even these goods tend to be deeply dodgy, given their Sudanese provenance. Needless to say there are no cold beverages, either.

Then there’s the boredom and isolation. The internet connection is a whopping 10 mbps, making it too slow even to connect to most websites (which is why I’m not getting many posts out), and I’m nearly out of credits on the mobile phone. There is a TV, but the viewing room is uncomfortable, crowded, and to be honest I’m just bloody sick of French by this point anyway. I’ve made up my mind that the last word of French I’ll speak tonight will be for the controle radio, the nightly security check over the radios. “November Oscar Victor Uniform bien recu.”

I suppose this all sounds terribly negative, and perhaps it is. I recall it being this way last time – where Day 2 brings down the full weight of where you are and how much it sucks. Fortunately, I won’t have to spend more than a few hours here on Day 3. Then it’s back to wonderful NDJ.

If you're not sure whether I'm being sarcastic with that last, neither am I.