As I had guessed, internet was not to be had (except for a short email check here and there) in Sudan, but I did take the time to journal about my experiences in my notebook or on my laptop while I was there. So, I will be trying to get that backlog of journal updates up here this weekend. I'm also finally updating my flickr albums to at least have trip photos on it!
Here are the first of my Sudan entries:
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Friday, October 1, 2010
9pm
I made it to Sudan! We got here around 3:30pm and left the airport around 4:30. The airport consists of one room that has customs, baggage claim, and a waiting area for arrivals. And when I say "room", I mean it. Small! After exiting the plane on the tarmac, a few people waved me towards the entrance to the airport. Upon entering, I was shuffled into a herd of people going towards the customs desk. There were supposed to be two lines, but it was more of a herd. One man took my passport and visa and stamped it, while the other had me literally "sign in" to the country. Like when one signs into a volunteer shift or something. Then I turned around and baggage was being tossed into the room through a large hole on the side of the building. I eventually got to the inspections desk, where they looked through my stuff and then let me through. I met the architect, Stu, and the civil engineering student, Nick, at the Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) airport and when we arrived in Juba we met up with Janet (engineer in Uganda office) and Shawn (engineer). We were still waiting for Steve and Philipto arrive, and so the doctor from the orphanage (Dr. James) that met us at the airport simply walked up to the air traffic control tower and asked them when the plane would arrive. I tell you this to give you an idea of what our first taste of Juba was like, and as I continue to tell you about Sudan, you will see that our first impressions were fairly accurate! Everything is about who you know.Once we had the entire team gathered, we headed to the boys orphanage, where we would be staying for the week. I expected a good long drive through Juba, but turns out the orphanage is literally right next door to the airport! We met the staff on site--Jahim, Bob, Henry, Dr. James & Mary. They gave us a tour of the site and then went out to get us food for dinner. We ended up having our food table in the guys' room because Janet and I were staying with two women volunteers from Egypt. One is a doctor (Vivian) who was shadowing Dr. James, and the other (Maria) will be the first staff on the girls orphanage site. They both seem very nice. Our dinner consisted of breadsticks, tuna, and some fruit. I hope we get a little bit more food the rest of the week!
Tomorrow we are getting up at an easy 9am to start off the week of work!
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More later!
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