Monday, February 28, 2011

Juba...the land of fancy toilets.

The travels are finished...mostly. I made it from Nairobi, Kenya to Entebbe, Uganda in 14 hours by bus. Along the way we could see some zebras which was sweet. In Entebbe I rested for 1 day and then left again for another 14 hour trip to Juba, Sudan.

Do you know those days when you were a kid and you were sitting at the back of the bus and the driver goes over a speed bump and you bounce off the seat? Those were the days eh? Ha, except it is a little less awesome when those speed bumps come for 75% of the ride. Okay, I exaggerate a little, but seriously, the bus ride to Juba left at 1 a.m. I thought I could get some sleep during this trip...which is a little hard when your head keeps bouncing into painful objects. Anyways, all that to say, I wouldn’t recommend the bus ride to many people, but hey...it was cheap right?

But now I’m in Juba! Hooray :) It feels great and the people are awesome. I am amazed at how undeveloped this city is for being a capital city of a new country (as of this coming July). At my house there is no running water and the power has been out for at least half of the time I have been here.

We went to start the registration process of the organization today and things worked out well so far. We are hoping that all will go smoothly with the ministries. The first important guy ended up going with us to a cafe where I was able to buy him lunch...that's how you get off to a good start, ya'know?

Other than that, I am sweaty all the time. It is crazy dusty here which sticks to you. And I use a squatty potty for all my business...not as bad as people make it out to be. But can I just say again, I am finally in Sudan!! So these things are little things that I am learning to smile about. In saying that though, when you sit on your golden thrown in Canada (or wherever you might be), please just say a little prayer of thanks for your running water--because that is a beautiful thing.

Oh and also Lexson is kinda famous here. We were waiting for a bus this morning and a guy drove by, and pulled over and picked us up because they have a history. That guy called him uncle because they had a good relationship from 20 years ago. Then we go to get internet, and the guy here is a guy that also calls him uncle and keeps telling me how good of a man Lexson is. Then as we are talking with him like 2 more people come by with very excited expressions and leap into his arms and they talk for hours. Wow. Oh and the guys at the ministries that we are registering the NGO with, are all people he has a history with. He knows everyone which has been beneficial to say the least!

Okay well that is that. I have my cell phone now...once again the number is 011-249-955-701-807 but I have heard that google phones may not be working to call even though I told many of you to use it. If not skype works but it is a bit more money. So you can always email. That is cool too. Peace out team.

2 comments:

  1. Lucy sees you have no comments so she wanted to tell you she misses you but she is good. :)

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  2. Squatty potties = quads of steel :)

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