Rain, rain stay away

Thursday, 10:05 am Malakal, Upper Nile State, South Sudan

It has not rained since Tuesday. Our flight is scheduled to leave at 1 pm today. There are some clouds in the sky but I think the rain will hold off. I've got my fingers, toes, legs and yes, even my hair is such a mess I would consider it crossed. Actually, this runway is also paved so the rain wouldn't necessarily keep us grounded. However the meager airport facilities would probably mean we'd be standing in rain or stuck in a very small, very stuffy room if the heavens decide to open up.

oh the drama - actually if I wasn't working so many hours here I'd actually be enjoying myself. As I mentioned, the staff here are great. It has been good to get to know them and spend time over meals and during the two hours a day that we let the generator rest. There has been no electricity in this town since May so the generator runs from about 8 am - 1 pm, rests for 1 hr, then goes back to work from about 2 pm to 8 pm. And then we usually run it for a couple hours in the evening so the guys can watch TV or relax. The neighbors complain if it is running too late, so everyone keeps a pretty early schedule. Apparently there was no fuel in town for several weeks so when we ran out, the generator got lots of rest.

Yesterday we had lunch at another Ethiopian restaurant. I have not been paying enough attention to food names so I can't tell you what we had. But it was delicious. These places would never pass health code in the US. But so far I seem to be doing okay with the food. Now that my appetite is back and as big as ever I am loving all the local dishes. Meat stew, rice, corn mash, you name it, I'll eat it. We even had mashed potatoes yesterday. Except fish. I have not eaten any of the fish served. Just can't bring myself to do it.

I cannot wait to post more pictures. The city has decided to dig out all the storm drains in preparation for the next rain. The roads that were impassable because of mud are now impassable because of huge piles of hard soil. It's like in the US when the snow forms a hard crust of ice and sand on the side of the road. They are impossible to drive over and take forever to go away. Are you using your imagination? Can you see it?

Off to do more budget projections. And hopefully this time tomorrow I'll be wearing a fresh shirt and pants in Juba. More to come...