cold beer, clean bathrooms and cheese

I arrived back in the US on Sunday. First stop (after the aforementioned clean bathroom) was an airport bar for a lovely breakfast of beer and french fries.

The rest of my last week in Chad was pretty awesome. Due to some unforeseen events, I was the only one on maternity for the whole week. And though no day ever quite lived up to the excitement of Tuesday, I did get to participate in a forceps delivery, do two skin-to-skin tubal ligations (meaning, I made the incision, did most of the actual procedure, and then sewed the incision back together) and consult on a lot more patients. I left feeling like I was actually capable of doing some basic OB (with a lot of support). It was pretty awesome.

Friday morning found Tuka, I and baby Diana on board a bus bound for N'Djamena. Tuka had offered to see me off, and because her family lives in N'Djamena, this meant we had a place to stay. It was really awesome to have a friend with me on the long, dusty, hot ride back to the city. Baby Diana was remarkably well behaved, and giggled and slept her way through the 8 hour trip. The poor little baby who sat on the other side of me was not so well behaved - but that is my fault. He and his mom got on the bus when we were about an hour outside of Bere, and as the woman climbed to the back of the bus to take the vacant seat next to me, the little boy was tied to her back, and so couldn't see ahead of him. When she reached the seat, she twisted him around and that is when he saw me. He screamed and screamed and buried his head in his mother's chest. Having never seen white skin before, he was terrified. For the next 7 hours, every bump or jostle in the road that brought me into his view also brought forth horrible screams.

Eventually, we all made it to the city in one piece, and Tuka and I took off on motos for her house. Her family was incredibly kind to me. They fed me, and prayed over me, and fed me, and entertained me, and fed me. Tuka must have told them I'd lost some weight when I had malaria, because her mother was determined that I eat. She cajoled and threatened and guilted me into eating more and more until my stomach hurt and I felt nauseated.

The next day, Tuka and her brother and friend took me to the airport and waited with me until it was time to go.

"Goodbye," she said, as Diana demonstrated her newly learned skill of waving, "Come back soon."

Inshallah.