Cumulative Driving

*NOTE* click here and open in a new window to listen while reading for full effect (you'll know your cue)!

Today was the culmination of every random driving experience I have ever had...
Learning to drive off-roading with Dad (bushes and cliffs)
Not giving up on learning to drive a manual
Excessive use of horn in Mexico
4x4 driving with Dad
Driving on the right side of the road in the US
First time in NYC traffic while driving a 30ft box truck
Massive farm pick-up truck with ridiculously hard gears
VW bus and the joys of sheer mechanical movements
Driving on the left side of the road in Hong Kong
Moped maneuvering in Thailand and Taiwan
Manual stick shift on the left of a huge truck in HK
ATVing in the dessert with Dad
Los Angeles traffic aggressive defensive driving

I am permitted to drive any of our Land Cruisers now that I've passed the test. I know how to say the engine parts in French. I can start and stop forwards and backwards on mud slicked steep roads. I can maneuver in 4 wheel drive. I can drive on the right hand side of the road even though the wheel is also on the right hand side, clutch to the left. I can honk at kids, ducks, dogs, people, soldiers and whatever else needs to move out of the way...

Thanks Pops.

Methlomare Shakes

This morning I awoke from a methlomare (wherein I was evacuating my mom and children from a building only to find there was a panther outside who sniffed my head from a tree branch as I ushered everyone out) to the tell tale sound of an earthquake coming. I placed my hand on the cement wall beside me and felt the earth move as our house shifted. I thought of all the places I have taken cover in quakes throughout my life. About how nice it was that my sisters' and my bedroom doors faced each other in the hallway, making for easy comfort when late nights brought quick awakenings. I thought of the cracks in my aunt's walls. The news camera shaking live morning anchors. Sleeping on linoleum and feeling it all. About how lucky I have been to have never known the terror that can come as the most sure foundation you have ever known gives way beneath your very life.
I thought these things as I listened to it roll away, like a truck with too heavy a load.
The night gave into rain before it did daylight. 

The Deep End Begins

Today I...
Aujourd´hui je...

Woke up, ate breakfast and went to the office
Worshiped and listened to a devotion
Met my new co-workers
Sat in on a sector coordination meeting
Visited 3 UN bases for maps and to see available goods
Walked through le petite marché, le grand marché et les galeries
Went over logistics structures with manager
Laid down for 7 minutes
Ate lunch
Slept for 19 minutes
Had health briefing with Dr. Raoza
Learned ways to avoid snakes and sleeping sickness 
Walked and talked with our country director
Attended OCHA meeting at their offices
Went over history of region and Medair projects with boss
Read over project proposals and relevant donor guidelines 

... all in French. My brain hurts and I am so tired.

... tout en français. Mon cerveau fait mal et je suis trés fatigué.

Bunia, DR Congo

Je suis arrivé.

First thing upon arrival I had my security briefing. I am trying to get geared up to hit the ground running. The team here seems very nice... hard workers. This is tough work. The front lines. In just a few weeks I'll be on the remote edges of it in Ango. 

The small MAF plane provided a great view of the land from Uganda. So many people. So many lives.

Moi, je suis fatigue. 
Mais, se soir, nous allons au MONESCO House pour le dinner.

Entebbe, Uganda

Woke up to the sound of Guinea Hens descending from their nightly roosting trees outside my door at the Guesthouse here. I slept like a rock last night, it was amazing.

Walking out of my room this morning, I was greeted with a chorus of sounds I had forgotten sound so good together. Birds in tropical trees, children singing at a school nearby, sweeping, laughing and all under a slight veil of thousands of tiny buzzing bug wings hanging in the air with the humidity.

My rabies vaccines made it, I am glad. They weren't required until my assignment put me in Ango, too remote to receive the vaccination in time if I am bitten by something nasty. So, I got the first in Lausanne (procured all by myself in French, thank you very much) and had to pack my next two doses (syringes and all) with me, keeping them frozen while traveling 10 hours to Africa... you can imagine my excitement when I opened the thermos and found their ice cube travel companions still frozen! Luckily, I'll be working and living with a whole slew of medical staff, so one of them can administer the shots.

I have always wanted to learn how to give shots and stitches... I feel like both could come in handy.
Huh, I'll have to ask.

Two hours to hang out, then back to the airport to catch a MAF flight to Bunia. Nearly there.

Where to Begin

I learned to use a BGAN today.

This is me, right now, tonight.
I have one more day in Switzerland, have been shamelessly indulging in good chocolate, excellent wine, timely transportation and solid bandwidth.

I am sitting on one of three couches in Medair's flat. Two of the guys are discussing river rafting guide jobs, living a life that feels more comfortable abroad, a brother in the secret service and other standard conversational topics for these types. These types. These people. In some ways it is like a strange dream being among these people... but in most ways, I feel right at home. I feel I am among 'my people'.
If you are in this flat, you are in transit.
South Sudan, Afghanistan, Haiti, Somaliland and the DR Congo will soon dust our shoes. We've shared Skype time with family members, swapped field stories, shared advice on how to deal with fraud, how to stay soft and still love people after years among the worst situations humanity has to offer...

Honestly, I don't feel I have much to lend but an ear and maybe a hand or two.
The goliaths we are up against tower above our line of vision.

Hopeless.
Unreachable.
Forgotten.

There is love.

Love that fills in the spaces cracks in hope have left dry.
Love that stretches out beyond any one person's capacity.
Love that does not forget.

A God who is overflowing with love that hopes when there is none, that gives when there is nothing, that abounds when all is bleak, that remains after all is lost. This love is beyond me. This love is beyond you.
There is no sense in doing anything without it.
Ah, but what freedom in such love.

Beginning in love does not assure all will end in love, but all is futile without love.

Ecublens, Vaud

I've finished up with HQ Briefing at our Swiss office...

Medair Introduction
Health Insurance and Policies
Paperwork
Coffee
Operations and Logistics
Information Services
Coffee
Communications
Project Management
Beneficiary Accountability and Feedback
Finances
Paperwork
Ango, Isiro and Bunia Project Briefing
Coffee
Stress Management in the Field
Medical Forms
Security Procedures Briefing
Spiritual Support
Coffee
Sign my life away... quite literally.

I've had more questions answered than I've asked, feel more prepared than I could in any other position, am confident I have brought more stuff than I will need and I am completely at ease with my next steps.

The ease doesn't come out of naïvety - much to the contrary - it comes out of an abundance of knowledge and understanding what I am getting myself into. I understand the risks, I realize the challenges will be beyond anything I have previously encountered and I know that it is not just me that is sacrificing for this, but also friends and family. I have counted the cost and deemed the work worth it all.

This weekend, after my rabies vaccines, I'll just be exploring... debating Florence, Madrid or Bern.
Next week is Logistics training (how to get people and things around with no roads) following Information and Communications Tech training (sat-phones, radios, etc). Wednesday, I fly to Entebbe. Thursday, a small plane in to Bunia where I'll train for 8 weeks before heading to Ango.