Here we go again!

Here I am back in Juba after what seems like ages, probably because it has been ages, almost 8 weeks! I had a great time in England catching up with family and friends (unfortunately not all of them) and making new friends too.  I did lots of walking, across fields initially as the weather was very kind and it was dry underfoot, then by the canal when it became dull and damp later in September/October. Had my mum to stay for a week which was great, even did some cooking (one of my main grumbles about living in Juba is that I have no cooking facilities) and baking. Also managed to squeeze in some retail therapy of course. DH arrived home for his 2 week leave which passed all too quickly then in what seemed like no time at all we were back on a plane.
It was a long weekend as we arrived back in Juba (after a very pleasant overnight stay in Nairobi) to celebrate the muslem festival of Eid al Adha so DH didnt have to go to the office on the Friday but he did have a full day of meetings at the hotel however. I must say one of the nice things about being back is the pool which DH and I made use of over the weekend, very relaxing.
Today is my first day back alone as I went into town on Monday for shopping and other chores and on Tuesday I went to the girls centre where my gift of balloons went down very well! It was lovely to see the girls again and the ladies who look after them.
So I am back into my routine now, I have been for a walk doing some bird watching (not too many around at the moment) I did my bible readings and prayers sitting outside in the shade, need to do some emails and then its lunch time. Maybe some exercise later with my new Davina McColl DVD, another walk and so my day goes.........sort of nice to be back .....ish!
 

Bugs and frogs!

Wow, its been ages since i wrote anything, not because i have been busy or anything! I have been back for nearly 4 weeks and i am off home again on Friday for quite a long time.  I will leave DH here all by himself,  aaaahhhhh. 
We seem to be having a plague of frogs here at the moment, due to lots of rain i suppose.  They are everywhere, now i know what the egyptians in the time of the Exodus must have felt like.  Most of them are suicidal, throwing themselves under my feet as I walk by, making me jump.  A few of them are super friendly, finding their way into the hotel room and taking up residence under the bed from where they emerge jumping (as they do) as if to say 'surprise!'.  I usually am surprised and respond in an equally 'jumpy' manner.  The cats like to eat them, the dog just chases them but doesn't know what to do when it catches them and the only child on the compound likes to wade into their pond with his wellies on to spy on them.  Hours of amusement!

Bugs however are a different matter, not very amusing in my book.  DH and I were walking around the tennis court this morning after breakfast and found a heaving, writhing mass of bugs, possibly newly hatched, with billions of legs between them, uuugggghhh.  Hope they don't find their way into the bedroom!!!!

Independence Day

Today is Independence day here. We have stayed away from town as we were told there would be parades and VIPs moving around so roads would be closed without warning. I thought there would be more noise (we were told that gunfire would be normal!) parties and stuff but so far haven't heard anything. It's a public holiday but poor DH has been working for a few hours. We did find time for a dip in the pool before lunch however.
I have had a very interesting/busy week and a bit, probably my busiest time since I arrived here. I climbed a hill with some friends the saturday before last, hard work and hot but at least there was a bit of a breeze. The view from the top was worth it. On the Sunday I went out early, bird watching with Mark who works at the British Embassy (check out his blog at birdingsouthsudan.blogspot.com great photos). I was amazed at the variety of birds we saw and thoroughly enjoyed walking out into the bush and just listening to the birdsong.
Also I have started going to a centre for street girls twice a week in Juba. These girls would be living on the streets/rubbish dumps/markets or in the sex trade if it wasn't for the centre. It's run by a lovely Christian lady with a great team behind her and cares for about 30 girls of varying ages. Some are quite young and those are the ones I focus on, mostly playing games, singing songs and having hugs. They also run a vocational training centre for older girls doing catering and hospitality, some of these girls have been rescued from brothels in Juba.
This weekend I went bird watching again early on Saturday with Mark to a different location with equally great results.
So that's quite busy for me! Usually I spend my time wandering around the compound here or chatting to the staff so it is a nice change.
We are travelling to England next week (very excited!) for a family wedding, hope the weather improves! So may not write any more until after our hols.

Photo of me up a hill!

So far......

Well I have been back a whole week now and what have I achieved? Hmmm.....let me see....managed to scare a few babies at the market on Saturday, does that count? Also helped the local kids with their English, although we still haven't progressed beyond 'good morning' and 'how are you?'. I did however, manage to make contact with the people at the Christian street girls centre again and plan to go there on Tuesday to play with the younger girls, teach them some songs or play games. They don't get a lot of physical contact I am told so some of the very little ones just need cuddles, well I can do that!
Welcomed some new visitors on Saturday, colleagues of my DH who are staying here at Acacia Village. I felt like I had been here for ages, showing newbies the ropes! Weird.
We had a rather wet weekend, especially Sunday, serious rain. I was just settling down to watch the European Grand Prix when it started and the tv went off ( satellite dish gets soaked.....or something) so I missed the whole thing. The roads were a complete mess when I went into town later to go to Church.
Today started well, with a gorgeous sunrise and hopefully we will have enough sun today to dry up the wet stuff.
Let's see what the day brings..........

And we're back!

Arrived safely back in Juba yesterday afternoon after a pleasant enough flight and a not too terrible passage through the airport. We were met by our very helpful driver, Zingo, who shuck my hand, welcomed me back, grabbed my suitcase and sped off across the muddy car park. It had obviously been raining hard earlier......oh dear and I was wearing my favourite white sandals!
As we exited the busy airport car park DH asked Zingo how last week was at work. It was fine until Friday, he replied, and then it wasn't fine any more. Rather cryptic I thought, however on further probing we discovered that Zingo had been involved in a traffic accident in the car on his way back to the office on Friday evening, resulting in him having a not very fine time! He was not injured so that was good, poor car sustained minor injuries which will require the services of a panel beater or possibly a new door if they have such things here. I suspect Zingo had a 'not very fine' weekend worrying about what the boss would say!
Spent a pleasant early evening on the veranda sipping port (well I had ran out of sherry!) and chatting to a colleague prior to dinner with said colleague and one other. Several staff members at Acacia Village welcomed us back warmly but the most memorable greeting came by way of a HUGE spider discovered by DH on MY side of the bed, on the INSIDE of the mosquito net at 11pm! Uuggggghhhhh! It made quite a mess when I managed to squash it (yes, I did it myself, accompanied by much screaming and jumping up and down) then of course I couldn't get back to sleep.
Ah well, such is life out here in the bush (ok, so we are actually in the capital city, but you know what I mean!)
Today has been quite peaceful, more greetings from the staff, giving and receiving of gifts, a pleasant walk around the block waving at various children plus the last bit of unpacking. So what shall I do tomorrow?........

Poorly, sick!

I've not been well! (everyone say ahhhhhh!) I suppose it is inevitable, living in this environment, but I have had "gastric disturbance" for several days and ended up treating myself with antibiotics for an intestinal parasitic infection (do tell me if this is too much information won't you?). Antibiotics are easy to buy in the local pharmacies although I read an article recently about how many drugs produced in third world countries are fake! So who knows what I am taking, could be compressed talcum power for all I know. Anyway, I hope to be ok tomorrow as we are travelling to UK for a short break. I need to well enough for a glass of bubbly or two on the plane from Nairobi to London. We leave Juba mid afternoon via Kenya Airways and have several hours to while away at Jomo Kenyatta airport before boarding our British Airways flight late evening. Looking forward to trying the completely flat beds!
I have heard stories about leaving Juba airport, none of them inspiring, so not looking forward to that bit. Nairobi airport has shops, lots of them in a very long row, all selling more or less the same thing, heaven knows how they make any money.
So we are all packed now, just the last minute things to throw in tomorrow. Poor DH of course has to go to work in the morning, ho hum......oh yes I remember, that's why we're here isn't it! Two more sleeps (one being a mile high) then we're home. Night night!

Shepherds - you have been warned!

The sky was a glorious red early this morning, shepherds warning! There I was jogging around the tennis court again, with DH and a visitor - Freda, the compound dog. Well she doesn't jog actually, she has a penchant for nipping ankles and heels which she thinks is great fun. When we try to chase her off, she thinks it's a great game and tears around like a thing possessed, putting our feeble efforts at jogging to shame.
In the end, the shepherds had nothing to worry about as it has been a hot, sunny day only just before dinner the clouds started gathering and we are currently being treated to a stunning lightening show! No rain yet though.
Today I made myself useful supervising the arrival of desks and chairs for DH's new office here on the lodge compound. Nice to feel needed. Having succeeded in this task I may be allowed out tomorrow to hunt for toner for the printer, oh joy!
See below, photo of crazy dog!