Arrival!

Hello!

This blog post coming to you from my new home at the Bedouin Hotel in Juba.  Getting here was somewhat of an adventure, I didn't get my day in Cario due to a flight that took off thirteen hours late, but I did get to have ful (fava beans) and excellent Egyptian tea for breakfast, which made things so much better.   I don't know why tea always taste better in Egypt, but it does.

Anyways, I arrived here to the airport into a ridiculous amount of chaos at the baggage claim/customs check/baggage check room, which all took place in one ridiculously small un-airconditioned space. After having my bags checked, which involved the guy poking the top of my clothes in a very uninterested way, I finally got out of the airport and was picked up by Moses the logistics guy for IsraAid.  I haven't seen a paved road yet, but I feel a lot safer driving in Juba then I ever did in Cairo because the unpaved roads keep speeds down.  Driving is not nearly as frightening here as a result since everyone has to drive a reasonable speed, so when you turn in front of a car it probably has a good chance of actually being able to slow down, or even kindly wave you through.  Each ride in an Egyptian cab felt like a bit of a gamble, but my drive from the airport here was very leisurely.

Once I arrived at the Bedouin I got to meet Ophelie, my boss and the head of IsraAid (IA) here in Juba.  She's a short French/Israeli who is constantly smoking Marlboro's and right away introduced me to a local beer called Tusker.  After that it was off to tour the office which is right next to the shelter for sexually abused girls that they work very closely with.  The girls are ridiculously adorable.  The office is lacking AC so I may work from my room more often then not, which thank goodness does have AC.

A little about my accommodations.  The Bedouin is not what you would describe as your standard American hotel.  Each of the rooms are actually plastic walled/metal roofed sheds/huts.  The beds have mosquito netting draped over four poles. I'm told I'll get a desk and refrigerator in the next couple of days.  The rooms hold the AC surprisingly well and are kept ridiculously clean by the staff.  The lizards occasionally find their way in, but they stick mostly to the walls, I imagine the rooms are a little too cold for them anyways.  The thing that really is getting me is the toads, which at night jump all over the pathways, they're totally harmless, but I have to remind myself when I go out not to scream when something moves on the path because it's just a toad disguising itself as a rock.  I'm sure at some point I'll end up waking people up because I scream because some toad jumps on my foot, I've made not doing this one of my goals for the summer.

After a tour of the office Ophelie took me down the road for dinner to the hotel where all the UN people stay.  It's much fancier (read: horrifically expensive) and has the best food.  You can actually eat salad there and they have decently priced dinners that you can load up on and then take home when you don't finish.  I have the feeling I may frequent it a lot.   It's right by the Nile and we sat there until well after it was dark chatting with some other ex-pats.  It was really beautiful and the food was excellent.

I managed to stay awake until a reasonable time last night, only to discover I then couldn't sleep.  It wasn't until I finally gave up and put in earplugs around 4 am that I really got to sleep, but then I got a solid 6 hours, which I was pretty impressed with.  The jetlag hit hard today though so I need to try and get synched up as quick as possible so I can start being effective.  Fortunately Ophelie knew I would be a mess and had me take it easy today.  She says the best way to avoid malaria is to take care of yourself,  and wants to make sure I'm feeling alright before she starts me on full days.  I have the feeling most of this week will be a partial loss as I adjust to the time change.

I did manage to get things mostly unpacked today, enjoyed my leftovers from the hotel last night and was very happy to discover that everything I packed made it in one piece without any incident.  My lack of hangers means most of my clothes still need to be put away, but I'm told someone from the hotel is on it.  We'll see how long it actually takes, I might just try and improvise since I have yet to see a single store.  I'm not really sure where people buy things around here yet.  There is however massive construction everywhere, I'm told due to a lot of foreign investment.  It seems a lot of hotels are being built.

I had about a million things I planned to write about but this is all I've got right now.  I got to sit down with my boss and talk over some logistics today, which is great, so I've got some things to go over and it looks like I'll meet the Ministry people I'm working with on Friday.  Apparently they're having a ceremony to welcome me (they're big on ceremonies I'm told) so I need to break out my fancy dress work clothes for that.  Clothes are a big deal around here so dressing up is a must, not exactly my strong point, but I guess I'm going to have to get good at it fast.

I'll try and have some pictures to go with the next post but they are highly discouraged around here for a number of reasons, so I have to be very careful with any picture taking I do.

Alright, I hope all of that made sense, I think I'm more tired then I realize, but otherwise doing well and getting settled in.

Until next time.