The briefings in Amsterdam at the MSF Holland headquarters were..well, brief. We will learn mostly on site. They did load us with extra carry-ons, mostly mail and electronic equipment. It is not often that five expats were going to the same place, hence, HQ using us as cargo carriers. Added to our little trio was the log for Shamwana, L from France who is now on his second mission. There was also a Dutch mechanic.
Dragging our bags of Thurayas, we also loaded ourselves with Dutch cheese and chocolates for the expats at Schiphol airport. Let's say that our little group landing in Lubumbashi looked like a camel caravan, with a whole bunch of extra yellow duty-free bags! On the flight from Nairobi to Lubumbashi, there wasn't enough room in the overhead bins so we had to keep our carry-ons on our laps. I hope that this is the first and last time that I am using my computer as a table and a pillow...
Landing in Lubumbashi was uneventful. The MSF welcome team was there immediately so there was none of the zoo that I'd come to expect from developing world airports - the porters haggling about and the crowds. Finally yesterday after a good meal and some taste of the local blond beer Simba, we collapsed in our first beds since the last 48 hours.
Our multiple bags and us will be loaded out to Dubie tomorrow morning by plane, where I will stay for four days. Then next week L and I will finally stop being in transit and arrive to Shamwana, my future home for the next six months.
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Les sensations de l'Afrique m'ont assaillie dès l'atterrissage - cette vague odeur de fumée mêlée de sable, les couleurs plus fortes que nature, la poussière et bien sûr la chaleur. Neuf ans déjà depuis le Cameroun et pourtant les souvenirs ont été réveillés. Lubumbashi ressemble à Maroua, climat similaire (en tout cas en saison sèche), poussière poussière poussière, et mêmes quadrillage colonial et vastes maisons enclavées. Les routes par contre sont en pire état, et on m'a prévenue qu'en région ce sera encore pire.
Tout le monde a été tellement gentil à la base MSF. Les expressions africaines me reviennent - j'en ferais un lexique plus tard - et les onomatopées aussi: le petit 'tskg' d'approbation guttural, et le 'mffffssssk' buccal de désapprobation, répandus partout en Afrique et même dans les Caraïbes. Je sens maintenant un peu plus que je suis ici et que la grande aventure MSF commence.
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