Day Fourty-Three - 25 ON THE 25TH

Sadly I have 14 days to catch you up on and I of course do not have the time to properly describe what has gone on in my life since Independence Day. I will try to sum it up as well as I can with all the best stories included.

July 10th - Recovered from the Independence day celebrations and a long day in the sun by sitting by the Nile with friends until late evening and an early bedtime.

July 11th - While at Nimule working, we met a lawyer who looked like John Candy. It was weird.

July 12th - I got bit by, what Lawrence tells me, is a Nairobi fly and had a reaction to the bite. Disgusting.

July 13th- Eastern Equatoria. Left for Torit with our driver Angelo and Lawrence. It was a 2.5 hour drive. The roads were decent. The scenery was gorgeous once we got further away from Juba. Very mountainous, a ton of trees and crops. Very beautiful and much more pleasant to look at than Juba. We found accomodations at the Eastern Equatoria Guest House. Nice double bed but shared bathrooms. Downer. There is not much in Torit. It has its basic ammenities, and that is all. So many goats everywhere. And they are not afraid of vehicles. They stay in the middle of the road. Stupid goats.

July 14th - After many phone calls to different NGOs we got organized for our trips to Magwi and Abara. Supper = beans and rice.

July 15th - I went to Magwi and Abara with my translator Henry. It took 2.5hours on very bumpy roads to get to Magwi. Abara took 30 minutes on a road that looks like a dried up river bed. Some thing broke on the truck on our way home and we ended up being towed by Plan International. Plan's driver found a log, and used it to tied the two trucks together. Very strange but relatively effective. The whole time I was thinking, why don't you have chain in your truck for moments like this. Hahah. I guess it is the African way. Lunch and Supper = Beans, rice and cabbage

July 16th - I did focus groups with youth today. I was supposed to meet with community leaders but it was Saturday so they didn't work. I get my days mixed up sooo often here. Not convenient at all. I had a very drunk woman follow me all day around the market. She didn't know her name because she drinks too much. She was harmless but very annoying. Lunch in the Magwi and Supper in Torit at Safari Link Hotel = Beans, rice and cabbage

July 17th - There were seriously intense thunderstorms during the night. I barely slept because of the thunder and the wind. It was also our day off. We relaxed. Attempted to use the internet, it was so slow I couldn't even open my gmail. Lunch was yet again beans rice and cabbage. For supper Lawrence and I splurged and got fish with rice. It was pretty good and the fish was a nice change.

July 18th - Everybody, data collectors, translator and Lawrence left for Magwi. We almost drove off without my translator. Packed into the truck. It was a serious workout trying not to crush Lawrence in the front seat and keep out of the way of the gear shift for Angelo. A different drunk woman followed me around today. The drive home went relatively quick. We ate at a local place, and had beans and bread.

July 19th - We went to Abara today on the riverbed road. There are these brilliantly red birds that are always flying around. I like them. We also see monkeys. We got rained out in Magwi and had to camp out in the truck for most of the afternoon. We ate supper at a place called Los Angeles. It was very good food and our waitress was Kenyan, Lawrence is also Kenyan, so she was super nice to us.

July 20th - Abara community leaders meeting under a tree today. There is something so awesome about being outside for a business meeting. During interviews in the afternoon some random man hit me on the head and just walked away. I am not sure if it hurt more or if I was just so shocked that it felt like it hurt a lot. The thing is with drunk and crazy people in these markets, people do not judge them. So when I get harassed or hit on the head they just say "Take it easy". My response was definitely not take it easy. I don't react well to people hitting me or grabbing my arm trying to get money out of me. It was all good though. I survived and made it out without giving any of my money away.
One of the data collectors told me that in their tradition, if a woman is travelling with only men, she is to carry a stone for protection on the road. I am quite certain he meant safety on the road and not protection from the male. But that is a very superstitious thing but interesting either way.

July 21st - Abara focus groups with youth. Abara is very small. The market was a 1/4 of the size of Magwi so collecting our information was relatively easy because there were few people to interview. Lunch was roasted cassava and sweet tea. Not much available here. And supper was...you guessed it, beans, rice and cabbage.

July 22nd - Today was our last day of research. I mostly sat in the truck typing up notes because I was finished with my interviews. I saw 2 people I know from Juba on the side of the road on our drive back to Torit. They were doing so agricultural research. It was very random and unexpected. We ate supper at Los Angeles and had our same waitress. She was very happy to see us and even gave me a huge hug. It was funny. I spent the evening doing work.

July 23rd - We drove back to Juba today after breakfast of tea and chipati. The drive was dusty. I was covered in layers of dirt, just like I had been everyday since we left Juba. It felt good to be back in Juba except I missed the beautiful scenery of Eastern Equatoria. I did some work in the afternoon and then we went to a party Vivacell was throwing. I am quite certain that every single ex-pat living in Juba was there. I met my two new co-workers. They are both going to be here for 6 months so that is great. While I was in Torit, all I wanted was fruit but there was none to be found. I bought 2 apples here in Juba and they were the most delicious things ever. FRUIT!!

JULY 24TH - HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASSANDRA!!! I hope you day was lovely. It being my day off, I slept until 9:30, which was the time it become a sauna in my tent and I couldn't sleep any longer. I bought a pair of sandles in the market. The only pair that was my size I could find are red with silver jewel type things on them. They are not exactly my style, but they are super comfortable and a nice change from my other shoes. They were only $10 so I couldn't go wrong...I celebrated my birthday today because 2 of the girls were leaving for the field in the morning. We ate supper by the Nile and then relocated for surprise cake (which read Happy Birthday Caryr. Hahah). I knew something was up because Akshaya was being very suspicious all day so I assumed she was planning something and I was correct. I didn't let he know I had caught on though. It was so great of her to do that for me. A very good birthday celebration. We did stay up past midnight so I got birthday wishes on my actual birthday.

July 25th - Happy Birthday to me. I am 25 on the 25th. That's pretty stellar I say. I got a phone call from the parents in the morning. Mom stayed up until 11pm to call me! So impressed. I have been working at the office today trying to get everything done, because tomorrow I go to the field again!. I thought we were leaving on Wednesday so when I discovered we were leaving tomorrow morning I got a little panicked. Hahah. Oh well. I will be ready to go. Lawrence and I are going to Malakal. I am excited to see a new place.

So there is the last two weeks in a very small nut shell.

PEACE!