camp

Arrival
The flight to Juba from Nairobi was delayed almost three hours and I figured it was as fitting a start as any to a year in Africa. I was pretty beat by then anyway after the long haul from Minneapolis, Chicago, and London. As I awoke on the plane, we were starting our decent and I looked out the window to see a vast, desolate land, dotted with shrubbery and small trees. Empty stream beds cut through the barren land, through fire charred plots of land, and eventually to the Nile. Groups of cattle dotted the land and I could notice the paths the livestock as they all made way, through the charred land, to larger trees - like the spokes of a bicycle tire. In the distance I noticed an outcropping of jagged rocks - almost like a mountain - which was the only thing to break the flat horizon. The plane turned and suddenly I saw the Nile, it's wide banks containing a darkish water on its way to the Mediterranean. It was pretty straight, but as we continued to turn I caught my first glimpse of Juba, sitting primarily on the western banks of the river. A sprawling town sporting a mixture of round grass huts and tin roofed concrete buildings. We touched down and made our way through immigration, which was simply filling out a form and getting our passports stamped, and then picked up baggage that was being thrown into the airport from a side door - no conveyor belt.

camp
I'm staying at a camp, located on the banks of the Nile, in the southern part of Juba. The camp has a flimsy bamboo like fence around it, but is said to be guarded by SPLA and local guards - not sure if that is suppose to make one feel safe or scarred for their life? (btw - I'll save the political thoughts for later on after I've talked to more people who live here). On the south side of the camp is another camp where the de-mining people stay. They seem to be a bunch of Aussies and are working with us in de-mining the road we plan to build to Uganda. Overall the camp is pretty awesome - our office tents are located near the entrance and are large enough to have about 8 desks. We have two at this point but plan to move into a hard office space - a building in town. As you enter the camp further, there are a bunch of hard units on your left - sleeping quarters that are constructed of concrete and have a tin roof; and on your right is the same flimsy fence with the tents on the other side. That is where I'm staying, in a tent. My first impression was - "what the heck am I doing here?" But that quickly vanished as a smile broke across my face and I realize who cool this was. It's a canvas army tent with zippers opening the front flaps. Inside is a bed, desk, fan, and in the far rear a shower/toilet/sink combo. Only cold showers, but when you survive a day of the beating sun - the cold is quite refreshing. Other than that, the tent is quite meager. What else does one need? There is a daily cleaning service that actually cleans the tents and does laundry - I love it, no more folding cloths or trying to find the missing sock. This is great and my spirits are extremely elated at this point. I told my self I need to write down my excitement and happiness at this point so that I can read it and remind myself of it in a month or two when/if things hit the fan. There are about 30 similar tents in the area with a gravel/stone walkway among them. Further into the camp, between the living quarters and the banks of the Nile, is the eating area and a bar. Both are open to the elements, except for a roof. The eating area is buffet style and so far the food has been great. I heard there is not much variety, but the fact that I don't have to think about cooking or finding food for a year really is awesome. I just show up (at the appropriate hours granted) and there is food waiting for me, screaming for me to eat it. There are tables and chairs scattered around and some overlooking the Nile - a nice breakie spot as yesterday a big red round ball crept out of the far banks of the Nile and into the sky and eventually became the sun. The sky was gorgeous, the sun was incredible - but it wasn't long before the hot relentless rays beat down on us for the remainder of the day. The entire camp is shaded by a groove of mango trees of which said fruit are starting to fall...and I'm just waiting for a mango to fall on my tent in the middle of the night and scare the heck out of me.

Touchy-feely crap
There is something that is extremely satisfying and 'right' about being here. Building roads and working on water and sanitation projects in Africa has been my life long goal since becoming an engineer so being here, to me, is the greatest thing ever. I rode to on of our project sites today - through the run down, dusty, dirty town of Juba. There is not a paved road in town (ok, maybe a few meters here and there). The pothole ridden roads have been completely destroyed from the 20 plus years of civil war and are waiting to be rebuilt. And as I rode through town and looked out at where I'll be living for the next year, I could help but really love the place. I realize that in a few months I'll probably hate it and dream of a starbucks coffee, but that is why I write this, in an effort to remind myself of how it was great when I arrived because of more than just being in a honeymoon stage and in a new country, it is because of why I decided to come here in the first place. The fruit bats ring out and the morning doves sound as the night is coming to an end. I hear screams and shouts of people in the far off distance. It is only 6:15 - not sure what they would be. I'll try to get some more sleep before daybreak.

ps - there is something very invigorating and exciting about doing what you want to do. I think too often we settle for the status quo, what society might expect, or settling for mediocre - while all along there is something deeper within us that is crying out to do something else - to drop the chains of expectations and to venture somewhere (either physically or not) to a location that we profoundly desire or have desired. We shouldn't let our dreams be compromised by others expectations or by the way our culture dictates. Life is too short to suddenly realize you have not done what you truly want to do. I will add one of my recent favorite quotes here:

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure." Chris McCandless - from Into the Wild.

Ok enough of the touchy feely crap!!