Juba Juba Jubilate!

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March 11, 2013

I flew out of Addis Ababa on Sunday afternoon, this is Monday in Juba and tomorrow morning I head for Malakal.

I am enjoying a second night with TV, wireless internet and air conditioning.  I am even having a vegetarian pizza brought to my room that also happens to have a frig!  I have it packed with 7-UP and water and soon it will have leftover pizza for midnight snack attacks!

My dilemma at this point is how much to sleep because I want to enjoy all of these luxuries while I can.  In the morning life will change dramatically for about three weeks.  Holy Week I fly back to Juba, probably on Easter Sunday, and Monday April 1^st I will begin a journey to South Africa.  I have never been there before and anticipate being there two times this year!

The Africa Mission Co-Workers will be meeting for six days in Cape Town for a time of renewal and training.  I am sure this will also be a wonderful time of catching up with friends and acquaintances who none of us get to see very often because of our diverse working locations in Africa.

On one of my recent flights I realized that flying has something in common with hospital visits.  There is always someone interrupting my attempts at sleeping!   In a hospital it might be visitors or lab work or meals coming in.  In an airplane it is the flight attendant with a meal or asking what beverage a person wants. 

I continue to experience the culture shock of leaving Malakal even while preparing to return.  In Addis Ababa and in Juba there are paved roads…this continues to amaze me!  I did ask the church vehicle driver today if Juba also experiences pot holes and damaged roads during the rainy season, as does Malakal, and he said yes.  I imagine some of the distress to paved roads is normal wear and tear; I recall seeing road repair being done in the United States.  Again I remember being told that paved streets in Malakal would help both in the rainy season with making the roads more passable and with runoff and in the dry season with the dust. 

But perhaps first on my wish list for Malakal is power for everyone.

Blessings,

Debbie