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Rehydrated green things, mac ‘n’ tinned cheese with tuna and bugs, that was dinner. Atteta, one of 
our cooks was taught by Michelle, our intern, to fix “macaroni tuna” with canned cheese and Blue Band (margarine). Add a Coke and you’re set! I’ve never had a diet this bad.
One week in and I’ve nearly given up many things. I can’t quite let go of my deodorant although it makes absolutely no difference. I’m hot and sticky all the time so there isn’t much point but I just can’t let go. I have given up brushing my hair most days, it’s too much work and nobody can tell the difference. My feet are clean for 2 seconds when I get out of the open-air shower we have. I am covered, covered in bites of some kind. I don’t think they are mosquito bites but who knows. I’m pretty sure I got them when I traversed our swamp to get to the Land Rover.
We have to park on the road across the swamp because everything gets stuck now. Even our quad bike got stuck today. If only I could send some of this water to California!!
We’ve had a fair amount of excitement in the last several days. There are a lot of changes taking place and people are moving around. Shortly after I arrived, Richard (mission director), JD (former program officer for TARGET), and Chris (new program manager for TARGET) arrived in Juol Jok. All of the LINCS (my program) staff arrived at the same time and we had 20 people in the compound. On Saturday we hosted a big party in Abyei town (technically in the north) for the opening of our resource center. We had the Abyei Jazz Band (damn good), a drama troop, roasted goats and lots of speeches. It was very successful. That evening we transported the band along with three Land Cruisers full of people to another town of which I don’t know the name. I’m not sure it’s really a town, although I’m sure it has a name, but it’s a market that the TARGET program helped electrify. The band set up, we toured the market, and then had another party. This one we didn’t host but it was to honor us. Who knew? I thought we were staying for 10 minutes to see the lights. We had more speeches and more dancing before heading back to camp where we all collapsed of exhaustion after a beer and the chasing of a cow. But that’s another story.
OK, this is a short one because there are bugs eating me alive here. I have to shut down the light. 
I finally boarded a plane to begin the rather long journey to S. Sudan. On the first day I went as far as Loki which is on the Kenyan and S. Sudanese border. Loki was once just a small town but that was a long time ago. It has since become a stop-over for aid workers and a storage place for WFP and other UN agencies. That’s pretty much all you see.
I stayed in Afex there which was really nice, pretty much like a safari camp for those of you that have experienced such. Some aid workers live there and some just pass through. We have a couple of staff there and a small office. There are two other Afex camps, one is UN and the other is Red Cross maybe; can’t remember. Regardless, my safari tent had its own bathroom (nicely tiled and built of stone) with a real shower, power to plug in my computer, a fan, etc.
The next morning, about 6:00, I went to the airport via taxi (kind of funny given the environment) along with a couple of air crew. I then boarded a WFP airplane, piloted by an Australian (?) pilot I met the evening prior at Afex and we headed for Juba.
At Juba I was told my flight to Rubkona was cancelled. What to do? With no Sat phone and no plan b I went on to Rumbek, where I was supposed to change planes, in the hopes that it would all just work out somehow. I arrived in Rumbek and, again, it’s pretty much just a humanitarian airstrip, only UN planes, and went to the office. They had already been in touch with Mercy Corps about the change and I was told to go to Afex and wait until Monday (it was Saturday).
As I settled in for a nice nap, in my tent (not nearly as nice as the last one), one of the staff came to tell me I had visitors from IRC. Surprise, surprise; who knew I had friends in Sudan? I met four young guys at the bar (how often does that happen) who were sent by Beth to see how I was. When she heard I was stuck she called them. They are our partners in the LINCS project, the project I am working on.
On Sunday they picked my up and took me to the office. I hung out, ate lunch, checked my email and then we went to a party. They were roasting a goat and celebrating with a colleague who was heading back to Nairobi. I became a vegetarian that day although I did drink a beer. I also met Esther from Guyana who just started working on this project too. All-in-all, it was a good day; met lots of people, made a speech, and had fun.
Monday morning finally came and I lugged my bags the 100 yards to the airstrip only to find that my flight was cancelled again. This time we don’t know why. It hadn’t rained. But that’s just how it is. I waited around a bit and another flight came in from Juba on which TJ arrived, another Mercy Corps staff who I met in Nairobi. With him was Nyanchol, one of our community based trainers and Richard, our mission director. Finally, I boarded a small WFP plane (Cessna Caravan) and we took off for Wunrok.
In Wunrok we have an office and I was able to check my email briefly and eat lunch quickly before a driver arrived to take us the last few miles. Leaving Wunrok was a bizarre experience. The driver heads out on a track that pretty much just turned to nothing. I kept expecting a road to appear somewhere but it never did. We just drove through the grass and an occasional track and the MUD! Actually, it wasn’t that bad, we didn’t have to kick in the 4-wheel drive until we arrived at our own driveway where we promptly got stuck. It hadn’t rained in a few days.
Anyway, we arrive in Jol Juk which is where my new home is. I use the term driveway loosely. There really was just a muddy area that clearly people had used before us. This place is one big marshland. There is water everywhere. Rainy season is something else here. It’s also beautiful right now. Everything is green. I say everything but there isn’t much. There is grass, tress dotted along a few yards, cows, goats, tukuls (mud huts), and a few people here and there. That’s it; no joke. The entire drive there were little, tiny, miniscule villages (maybe 3) and we drove for 3 hours.
Our compound is pretty big; it was built by GOAL, another NGO that has since moved out. We’ve got 4 big safari tents, and office structure, and several tukuls. We have trees and about a million frogs that croak all night.
I wish I could describe the rain and mud and do it some justice but I don’t think it’s possible. You cannot imagine unless you’ve experienced this. The first night it started thundering and lightening; the ground shook and it was bright outside for hours. It rained, it poured, it came down in sheets, for hours, at least 6 but probably more. It rained until noon the next day. When I stepped out on my porch, (I am very grateful for cement right now), I realized why I had been issued a pair of gum-boots. The mud was inches deep if you were lucky and if not so lucky, it was just a huge puddle. It’s like walking on ice but sinking at the same time. I am now sitting in the office wondering when I can make a break for the tent and the latrine. It started raining again about an hour ago and it will not stop any time soon. The thunder rolls and the lightening flashes, it is impressive on a massive scale.
But, this means that tomorrow we may or may not be able to get out, even on the quad. The Land Rover will not get through the “driveway” and will have to be parked on the road (not such a good option). Even with gum-boots I won’t be able to navigate the swamp so we shall see what tomorrow brings, tomorrow.
Now the food, well, many of you heard that I was warned my diet would be rice and lentils. There is more variety than that, but not much. Macaroni and spaghetti are common too. And tinned tuna cooked in some bizarre fashion with all the oil. I feed it to our cat and her kittens. They always cook meat but I am now a vegetarian for very good reason. So, I eat dehydrated green things when they fix it, noodles, rice, beans, and on a really good day, chapatti. In the store we sometimes have Laughing Cow too. So glad I brought all those granola bars and peanuts.
Bugs and things; yup, we have a ton. Tons of snakes in the rainy season and tons of scorpions in the dry season. Huge beetle bugs that of course freak me out. Last night, it wasn’t raining, and the porcupines were out. They are so cute and roll up in a ball if they are scared. Johnny (one of our engineers) touched it with a stick to show me. He says they live in his tukul and he keeps them because the snakes stay away. I think I’ll adopt some. You never go anywhere without a light because you might step on a snake and you always check the latrine and shower before stepping in. I don’t want to learn the hard way because there is no anti-venom here. And we have these huge flying ants that loose there wings everywhere. Apparently they are quite a delicacy in Uganda. Fortunately, not here so I won’t have to try them. Oh, and frogs, thousands of frogs. Millions of frogs. They croak all night long but admittedly, there are no other sounds, except the thunder. It’s quiet here once we shut of the generator. Very quiet. Given that not so long ago this was a war-zone, that’s a good thing.
The long-awaited day came and went. Today was the day I should have started the trip to S. Sudan. But alas, it was not to be. I am still in Nairobi. Not that I mind too much, I like it here, but I am anxious to see my new home.
It seems the planes just aren’t landing right now. I may get re-routed tomorrow; I will potentially fly to another town, not Loki, which has an oil landing strip, vs. just a dirt/mud strip. If this works out, a vehicle will pick me up and we will presumably slip and slide our way for 5 hours until we reach Agok. This won’t be the first mud adventure I've had!
If that doesn’t work, they might re-route me through Loki and Wunrok or Loki & Rumbek where, again, I believe I will finish the journey over land. The Agok strip is just too saturated. One way or another, within the next week, hopefully few days, I will be in So. Sudan.
In the meantime, I will check back into the Gracia Guest House. I did visit the guest house Mercy Corps keeps (to store my excess luggage). It's a pretty nice flat. It’s a lot like Lisa’s place but a bit bigger and without the awesome view she has. It is comfortable though and is fully equipped. Unfortunately for me, it is occupied by some of my colleagues, part of the Somalia team, and they might find my presence rather uncomfortable and not in keeping with their religious or cultural values. So, Gracia it is.
I had lunch with Lisa yesterday. She seems to be doing quite well, for those of you that know her. She is extremely happy with Bella in her life. The two of them flew out to visit friends in the U.K. today so I won’t see her again until R&R. Bella is adorable but quite a handful. She’s almost 3 so I suppose it’s to be expected.
I finally arrived in Nairobi, after 29 hours, most of it flying time. I thought I was going to go nuts confined to the space of an airplane at 35,000 ft. I was actually on an airplane for 19.5 hours. But alas, I arrived and I think we just about raced off the runway because we came to a very abrupt halt, a complete stop, in the middle of the runway. I’ve never actually experienced that before. I don’t’ know, maybe the aircraft just needed more runway; it was a 747 with a full load. I saw one vacant seat.
Anyway, I got through customs easy enough. They didn’t even glance at the forms I completed. Just took my fifty bucks, stamped the passport and off I went. My luggage was some of the last to come out which caused me a little concern for a while there. Fortunately, the guy next to me was friendly and we chatted about his annual trip to Kenya to visit family. Apparently he lives in Toronto now. I’m pretty sure he was a political refugee from Uganda, or his dad was. He was just a kid during all the nastiness. (For those of you that don’t know, rent The Last King of Scotland for a Hollywood version that is quite good.) Anyway, he brings his kids every year to visit his wife’s family, who is Kenyan. Dad, he works in a tool factory making molds. You would have loved to talk with him.
Finally the luggage came and I found my driver and I landed in a guest house. This guest house is clean yet very Kenyan. It is actually not unlike a B&B. Seriously, they have floral bedspreads and lace bed skirts and little sitting rooms for people to hang out in and watch TV or read or whatever. They serve a nice breakfast. No kidding. They even have wheat bread and Bear, they will fix your eggs any way you desire. No arguing about the fried vs. scrambled thing. They have a toaster and real coffee. Yes, real coffee. How the times have changed.
Even though it was late I was sure the guest house was somewhere near the YaYa Center. It was all so familiar. Sure enough, it’s next door and the office is next door to that. That makes everything rather convenient. I haven’t been to the Mercy Corps guest house (flats they have) but I hear it has a pool.
So, I’m back in familiar territory and pretty happy about it. I also Skyped with Salamah today, old Peace Corps friend who I am looking forward to seeing soon, I hope. She is living in Kampala and one way or another; I hope our paths cross soon. I also located a friend who is in South Africa and we Skyped too. It was a big day!
You know you have landed in a developing country when certain things happen. The first night, in my dazed and confused stupor, I managed to find the hot water button (in large part because it was impossible to miss) and thought a shower would be very desirable. Now, some of you have experienced this, I have no doubt. A shower head comes out of the ceiling so water pours directly on top of your head. For those of us that don’t wash our hair everyday, this is an issues, but that wasn’t’ so much the problem. I was, in fact, washing my hair because of the traveling. Moving on, the issue really had to do with the curtain that hung from a rod.
The rod protrudes from the wall next to the sink about 2 ½ feet, curves around for about 3 feet, and then curves back into the wall on the toilet side. Presumably they installed this curtain to spare the sink and toilet from a good soaking while one bathes. Well, and also to keep from flooding the room apparently.
The curtain, however, is so close to the shower stream that it suctions itself to your body if it is in fact pulled around the rod as was intended. I, being a little squeamish about such things, don’t want the curtain touching me. It could use a little washing itself. So, in my infinite wisdom, I left the curtain pulled to one side, protecting the toilet because I also prefer to have a dry seat when it’s needed. Thinking that any carpenter with sense would ensure that the tile floor sloped towards the drain, I thought nothing of it.
But alas, the floor didn’t really slope at all and when I emerged from my shower, and stepped down into my room (yes, there is a large step up into the bathroom), there was a pond in the room and the area rug was my own personal marshland. Yes, I thought, I am in Kenya again. How could I have been so remiss in my thinking that the floor would actually slope in the proper direction?
The next morning I was again reminded of my assumptions. As I leaned over the sink to rinse the sleep from my eyes, I slammed into a glass shelf that hung over the sink. The sink, being very small, was directly under a nice glass shelf (something like on might find in a nice little B&B) that was inordinately large considering the size of the sink. Except for spitting (you know, toothpaste) there is no way to actually wash and keep the water in the sink. I have to hang my head over the side of the sink to avoid bruising my forehead yet again, leaving the water to splash to the floor.
It’s not the particular things that I remember so well but the copying of western things gone amiss that I remember. It’s such a common phenomenon and it boggles the mind. There is a part of me that truly understands the logic but that logic conflicts so completely with my logic it is still hard to comprehend. Now I find it laughable. In a few months it will drive me nuts.
Work is overwhelming. There is SO much to learn. Tomorrow, for instance, I have a meeting with finance, procurement and HR all before noon. These meetings are just to get a basic idea about what I have to do in order to keep my office up and running. They have nothing to do with the actual program which I am trying to grapple with. That alone is overwhelming. And then there are the politics with the staff and within the country. I could go on and on about this stuff but you would likely be just as confused as I am. I’m on that steep learning curve, in 6 months, ask me again.
Earplugs. I now remember why I began using them and how effective they can be. This is one noisy place. How did I ever survive without them? The guys down a floor or two cook late at night. They just came in and they are going on and on about whatever. I can hear them preparing food and talking loudly. It’s 10:20 PM and I can barely keep my eyes open. Again, thank goodness for earplugs. This bed isn’t bad except for the big dip in the middle and the pillows are fantastic! Some things have changed.
I met this woman Cecilia; she is a professor at UC Irvine. She wants to interview me tomorrow. She’s doing some kind of research about humanitarian aid and religion or some such thing. I didn’t quite catch it all. Could be interesting.
After Sri Lanka, I am finding Nairobi to be very expensive. I spent $26 on Tinidizole and Amoxicilin. In Sri Lanka, it would have been $3. Then I bought a towel, a notebook, a bottle of Scotch, a bag of coffee (yes, the real thing), and 6 AA batteries; $30. I forgot how expensive it is here. Fortunately, there is nothing to buy in Sudan. I will complete some paperwork tomorrow that states how much I want to be paid in Sudan and how much will be deposited to my bank. Veena suggested, on the high end so when I’m in Juba or Yei I can eat and drink well, that I take $300 month. I could be frugal and take $100 month; she said it would be no problem to live off of that. Thank goodness I brought all those granola bars. I’ll spend $100 month on granola bars and candy to schlep into Sudan so I can survive because there isn’t anything there! Rice, lentils, and Coke. Ugh…
our cooks was taught by Michelle, our intern, to fix “macaroni tuna” with canned cheese and Blue Band (margarine). Add a Coke and you’re set! I’ve never had a diet this bad.
