Ok, there are many things I can say about my return from South Sudan and my temporary reentry back into the US for a short visit. I could talk about how I've missed cheese, pop culture and I totally don't see the point of putting a bagged lunch in the fridge (I'm still alive after eating 2-day-old rice that stayed in my house in the African heat; I think your yogurt will survive 4 hours in an air-conditioned building). Although I'm excited about direct communication, I miss the hospitality and friendliness of Africans. I could also talk about how I watched entirely too many pirated episodes of Sopranos on my laptop, making me totally obsessed with salami, something I can't buy in Yei. However, let's talk about infrastructure, more specifically, roads. The smooth ride was the first thing I noticed and appreciated from when I first landed at Dulles and left the airport by car.
I was traveling up to Pennsylvania this past weekend and we had the gall to complain about the state of the state's roads. Compared to Virginia, they're sub-par; compared to South Sudan (and really much of the rest of the East Africa region, especially in rural areas) they're heavenly.
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| Not great, but hey |
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| South Sudan: from bumpy... to bad... to worse. |
This is why the only vehicle that can survive the roads are the Land Cruisers, and even they reach their limit when they get to about 5 years of age. Forget some of these small cars we use in Europe and the US. If your vehicle can't drive successfully through a pond, it probably won't make it in South Sudan.
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| POND |
And I only left at the beginning of the rainy season...
