Day Twenty - Monkeys!

The sunrise was beautiful today. A perfectly round ball of red and orange layers in the sky. Our driver was late this morning, surprise surprise, so we ended up with the HiLux again this morning with the driver who left me in the wrong market all day yesterday.

I spent the morning in Gok Machar again, instead of in Ariath. There wasn’t enough room for all of us in the truck just like yesterday so I waited and hoped my data collectors were doing their job and that the truck actually comes back to pick Nicole, our translator and me up to take us to Ariath. To my relief the truck showed up at 12:30 and we made the 40 minute trip to Ariath. I saw MONKEYS!! There were like 25 of them all of the road and wandering off into the trees. My first African animal sighting in Sudan… We made it to Ariath in decent time and had some lunch, which consisted of lentils and bread. It was good. My data collectors did a good job and finished the work we needed to get done. Such a relief to be finished. I did two interviews in the market for Nicole. I talked to a woman who makes and sells ground nut paste and another woman selling vegetables and milk. I liked doing the interviews.

The sun was out in full force today. My goodness gracious. My sweat was out of control even in the shade. I have also discovered that even when sitting in the shade the sun can still get you. Sudan’s sunshine is intense.

There are a ton of kids in the market that polish shoes. Some set up in front of tea shops but others walk around with their supplies with noise makers, or tins full of pebbles to get customers. Men are always having their shoes polished.

The drive home was shorter due to the fact that we were already halfway back to Aweil but it felt longer because we were subjected to the squealing radio of our driver. Oh my goodness. Even with my noise reducing headphones, I could hear the squealing and it was horrible. I was about ready to rip the radio out of the dash.

I saw 3 teenage boys on a bike today. I was very impressed with the boy peddling. That must have been difficult with 2 passengers…

Nicole and I went to UNMIS for supper again. I had lentils and chips. My last meal of fries I have decided. I sat there eating my food and could see people running and playing volleyball in the compound. I miss being able to go out for a run. Not really possible here or in Juba. Mind you Juba does have a running track so I will have to hit that up…

I have taken the night off work because I know that I will have to do work tomorrow…