Rain and Mangoes Falling on my Roof

I arrived in Juba, South Sudan this afternoon (Nov. 3rd) -- it seems like eons ago that I left Omaha (actually, evening of Nov. 1st). For those of you who haven't heard, I am here for my new job/volunteer-thingy. I am the Monitoring & Evaluation Officer for the Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB). It is a job in terms of the scope of work, but technically a volunteer position, which is reflected in my small monthly stipend and lack of grown-up benefits. But despite it being a volunteer position and one with a faith-based organization (two things I said I would NOT do after getting this master's degree!!!), it was such an amazing opportunity I couldn't turn it down!

So, per the request of many, and to hopefully once again help me sort through the crazy things going on in my head, I am going to blog about what is going on here. Don't get your hopes up for anything insightful!!! I mostly just want to give my loved ones (if you're reading this, that probably means YOU!) a sense of what my daily life is like over here.

My flight from Omaha to Nairobi, Kenya (via Detroit and Amsterdam) was pretty uneventful - which is a good thing! An 8-hour flight to Amsterdam, followed by an 8-hr layover there, then another 8-hr flight to Nairobi . . . no delays, no lost baggage, no crazies/screaming babies next to me on the plane . . . not to mention getting an AMAZING discount on my overweight and excess baggage since I am volunteering - yay! The other highlight might have been FINALLY finding the relaxation chairs at the beginning of my long layover at Schipol. I slept in one of those bad-boys for approximately 4-hours! After being so well-rested I headed over to Starbucks for what may have been my last chai latte for a year, and took some time to write down my professional and personal goals for the upcoming year. I then went to the meditation center to meditate on them and to practice affirmations (cheesy, but I believe in the theory behind them so am trying them out). While I don't doubt coming here was the best decision for me now, I don't know if I want to keep applying for positions like this (unaccompanied post, very far way from loved ones) . . . I guess my year here will shed some light on that.

So, anyway, back to my trip here. In Nairobi it became clear to me that I have my CMMB colleagues convinced that I am competent and don't need hand-holding. My trip was not booked all the way through, and I was informed that a CMMB colleague in Nairobi would be arranging my travel documents for South Sudan and booking a separate flight for that leg of the journey. Well . . . after 30+ hours of traveling I was not my sharpest and it took me about 30 minutes to figure out that I needed to get a transit visa in order to exit the airport in order to meet my CMMB colleague. Seems so obvious now, but in the moment, I just kept thinking "no one told me what in the hell I am supposed to do after arriving in Nairobi!" I didn't know I was going to have to purchase a visa, I didn't know who was meeting me at the airport, I didn't know what time my flight was leaving out of Nairobi . . . small stuff, but as I said, was stressful for a minute.

(my travel document which states that I have black eyes and brown hair!)

But once I pulled myself together and got out of the airport I was greeted by Moses, a lovely CMMB driver who helped me with my luggage (and there was A LOT of it).

He then drove me to the CMMB office.

(on Mombasa Rd in Nairobi, people walk right in the middle of the traffic jam to get on/off matatus
and hawkers crowd the cars that stuck to sell cell phone minutes, fruit, newspapers, etc)

Jane, who was helping me with my flight and travel documents was not in yet, so I was given coffee and biscuits while waiting for her arrival. All my colleagues there were very welcoming and warm, and the view from the conference room was lovely.

But I did get a few reminders that I was in a developing country .... I wanted to freshen up a bit. You know, brush my teeth, wash my face, etc - but water was out for the entire building. Then I wrote an email to family to let them know I arrived. By the time I finished writing it, the power had gone out twice and the internet connection was lost (it never returned and my email was lost forever). Just small things, but as Jane said, "You are so lucky in the US. Everything works all the time." While this is not 100% accurate, relatively speaking it is shocking how quickly I take that for granted after being back in the US for just a few weeks. This in Nairobi, which is pretty advanced with good infrastructure . . . I just kept wondering if this is what is is like in Nairobi, what in the heck is Yambio going to be like?!?!

Around 11am, we headed back to the airport where the drama-portion of the trip ensued. This was my first trip where I wasn't booked through to my final destination. I actually had two separate bookings. It seems JetLink, the airline I took from Nairobi to Juba, doesn't have any partners. They also have their own crazy luggage allowance scheme that cost me many pretty pennies. While the international leg of my flight allowed for two 50-lb suitcases, plus a carry on, plus a personal item, JetLink allows ONE 50-lb suitcase and one 10-lb carry-on - with HEAVY overweight fees at $5/kg over!!! Did I mention that I actually had three checked bags - all well over 50-lbs. Too make a loooong story somewhat shorter, there was a big miscommunication about the process of getting some luggage waivers for volunteers. After 45 minutes of back and forth, they refused to give me the waiver, but did give me a discounted rate of $3/kg (I think this was actually a better deal for me). $175 later, two of my original checked bags and what was formerly my carry-on were checked. I left one large suitcase in Nairobi in hopes that a colleague will bring it up with him later this month. All of this was in addition to realizing I needed my Yellow Fever card to be able to check in (I of course, left it in Nebraska!). Luckily, they offer the vaccine at the airport and were happy to take my money without administering the shot so I could get the needed documentation to enter the country and running all over to pay the luggage excess fees (credit cards were only accepted at the terminal at the other end of the airport).

But, with two minutes to spare, I made it for the 1hr 40min flight to Juba - which was hot and smelly . . . but flying into Juba was like nothing I'd ever seen before. It was only three minutes before landing when I finally saw any signs of life - before that, no roads, no homes - NOTHING. It was crazy. Juba's airport is tiny and I was so pleased to see my new boss there to meet me. Dr James. Based on the email he had sent me about this airport, I was expecting chaos and bribe-demanding. But it was relatively calm, although I wouldn't exactly call it orderly.

Dr. James and I then got in with our young taxi driver, James, and went to the Oasis Camp. It seems we'll be in Juba through Saturday, so I should continue to have wifi for awhile :) I will try to post pictures tomorrow to give you a better idea of this place . . . The accommodations seem so basic on one hand, but here I am with wireless!!! Strange . . .