Chad is hot- Official

You would expect us to think that it is hot, our last entry didn’t say much else! Now the Chadians are all saying it is hot, ‘haami’ , one of the few words we’ve picked up in local Arabic. It is so hot that more children than usual are falling ill and the Ministry of Education has decreed that Primary schools should finish at 11:00 rather than the usual 12:30
We got our Chadian driving licenses this week, they took 2 weeks and 4 visits to the office by N’dilmbaye our administrator, rather than the 2 days that it is supposed to take. Interestingly they are both stamped 28/04/2010, just 2 days after we applied. Does this mean that they were really ready all that time? Or do they post date things to make it look efficient?
We are now eating Chadian food, as Rebecca , a widow from the local church, is now cooking for us. The food is delicious and we can benefit from all the food at the markets, maize flour boule, rice, and locally grown veg.
This week saw our first Chadian Arabic lessons. It is one of the 2 official languages and is much more widely spoken than French. Local officials can often only speak greetings in French so mastering Arabic is essential. Three mornings a week we have a three hour lesson at a development centre. Our teacher, Aboukar, has a masters degree in linguistics from a French University and can really teach well. So now it is up to us to do the hard hours of homework each day.
Bye for now, stay cool,
Mark and Andrea