Sorry for the lack of posts recently but I’ve been somewhat busy travelling and have not had much access to the net. The thing is, I’ve left South Sudan. My work here is over, only peace will ensue from now on... You're welcome.
It has been a tremendously exciting experience and I am eternally grateful for having been able to be here for such a momentous period in the history of this new nation.
Anyways, something a little personal, here is a list of things of consideration that I will be taking away with me.
Things I’m going to miss:
- My peoples
- Riding my motorcycle through Juba while being terrified for my life as cars seemingly target to run me over
- Playing ‘Boda-boda’ (motorcycle taxis) to the local law enforcement, as well as random strangers
- The consistency of the sun
- Hazy nights hanging out and exchanging stories with my SPLA buddies
- Watching the rapid development of Juba. As each day passes, building get taller, the streets get brighter and life gets ever more decadent….. for me.
- Not being in an always-thrilling context that never stagnates.
- Working in a context where you can claim to be an expert of simply because there isn’t really any way of verifying the stuff you just totally made up.
Things I’m not going to miss:
- The UN
Things Im going to struggle getting used to in the real world
- Humvees not accounting for 10% of vehicles on the road
- Not using the hazard lights when signalling to drive straight through a rounadabout
- Speaking dialects of Arabic that has a proper grammar
- Not seeing people carry livestock on to an airplane…. straight up, two ducks in a basket.
- Picking my nose in public like it’s noteven an issue.
- Traffic laws
- Being around people who think Prendergast is an alright guy with good ideas.
- Being around people who think the Machine gun preacher is going to win an oscar
- Having to worry about crime….. unless I happen to have aload of cattle.
As for the blog, if you all will permit me, I would like to continue writing when possible. To counter the fall in the legitimacy due to my absence in South Sudan, I have ‘field correspondences’ who I know will be very vocal to any bullshit I try to post and who will also keep me updated on information that is readily availableto those outside the country. There are probably more heartfelt sentiments that I could share about leaving, but I am on my first holiday in a very very very long time andwill therefore go and have fun with that instead.
