Dust, dust, dust

After two long flights on Turkish Airlines and sitting in the Entebbe airport for several hours, I was starting to think that Eagle Air either didn’t really want our money or didn’t exist.  It took Jay finding the pilot to finally figure out how to get on this small flight to Yei!  Then again, we were there from 2 to 6am; maybe not the busiest times of the day.  After drinking a Nile Special, some Ugandan tea, and reading the New Vision (ah, nostalgia from Mayterm in Uganda!), we boarded our tiny plane, which the gentleman sitting next to me called a “boda boda” of the sky.  This was in reference to Kampala’s reckless, dangerous and small motorcycle taxis that weave through traffic… and NOT comforting.

Our plane stopped first in Arua, the largest town in northern Uganda, to drop off a few people.  It also conveniently served as a bathroom break for me.  I didn’t realize a flight could be simultaneously domestic and international, but I suppose anything is possible in Africa.  Once we landed in Yei, South Sudan (on a dirt runway, a first for me), we greeted Milcah from RECONCILE and then filed into the Immigration Office… which was really a small shed-like building that had a piece of paper taped to it that read “Immigration Office.”  The Immigration Officer was most certainly not concerned with speed, seeming to move hilariously in slow motion.

We then drove in the RECONCILE Land Cruiser over the gloriously potholed and bumpy roads to the compound I will be living on for the next two years.  All of the senior staff live on the compound, so it’s easy to walk across and knock on someone’s door if I need help.   

My apartment has a main room with a small kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom with a shower and toilet.  I took some pictures with my computer, so I apologize for the poor quality and lack of artistry.  I forgot my hookup for my camera. They're also mirrored images.

My kitchen, including gas stove and a very nice pineapple

My bed and mosquito net

Shower head which has an electric heater

My "front yard," complete with a well

Not only did I just miss mango season (and I'll have to wait until April), but I also came to South Sudan right at the beginning of the dry season.  Almost everyone I've talked to laments about the dust and has asked me how I’m coping with the heat since I came at such an annoying part of the year.  It’s actually not too bad: just imagine how ones house in the US gets so dusty week to week, and then imagine that on overdrive x20 with red dirt.  Many things you touch smell like they’ve been sitting there for months.  The brush on the side of the road looks like it is the dust itself.  Still, the weather’s not too bad.  It’s cooler in Yei than in Juba, and I actually got chilly during the first night I slept in my new bed.

Some little things I’ve learned and experienced in my few days here:

         Tangerines here are green and look deceivingly like limes.

         I don’t know how to cook. Not really.

         Papayas, ugali, and warm, instant milk

         Many things here are built from mahogany… poorly.

         Quickly escape conversations about homosexual or gay marriage. 

         Get off the road when cars are coming or else you’ll choke on dust.

         When you ask someone how many languages an African speaks, first he/she pauses, and then slowly counts.  “Around four, I think,” has been a typical response.

        Christmas is not a peaceful time around here. All the wives want their husbands to purchase them new clothes, and it "causes quarrels," and later, more burglaries...

        “Ata kweis?”  “Ana kweis!”

Up to now, I’ve been slowly settling in and adjusting my sleep schedule. I attended church yesterday and mostly had no idea what was going on, but I met some Americans there, so at least that's a connection I'll have in the first few weeks, even though practically everyone's leaving for Christmas.

Ma salaam!