Initially "posted" on May 16th

About Goats, Tanks, and Running around for no really good reason…

Dear All,

It’s been about a week since last I wrote, and much has happened. I’ve begun getting everything organized and gaining some sort of an overview of the situation down here. The guy who ran the office before I arrived, returned home before I came down. So the handover consisted of 3 hours of talking, in Svendborg. Thankfully he’s now ensconced at the other end of a Skype connection, ready to help at a moments notice.

So, anyway, Juba. Wow, talk about your city in development! When I was here last august, there were almost no vehicles on the roads except those of the UN and a few peacekeeping organizations. Now, 9 months later, the first traffic jams are setting in. Traffic jams! In a city with one paved road… It boggles the mind. Well, it boggles the mind until you consider how they drive, what they drive, and what else they are sharing the road with. Does it count as a traffic jam, if it happens because a bunch of cows have decided not to listen to the herder, and cross the road? Or what if a goat decides it needs to investigate a tuft of grass in the middle of the road FYI, if you run over a goat in a place like this, don’t stop. Run, find a local you trust, tell a bunch of people where you are going, and then bring your friendly local to the police station. If you stop, the owner of the goat, is liable to either beat you or worse. Not fun at all. But enough about goats. Lets talk tanks.

While taking part in the local hash run (more on that later), we came upon a cemetery for the remainders of Northern Sudanese armor. You have to remember, Juba was a northern Sudanese garrison town, until the war ended. When the war ended, there were about 90000 northern Sudanese troops stationed here, that all had to move north. So a lot of stuff was left behind. Apparently my boss and I had stumbled upon some military secret of great importance, because as we were snapping away, some guy at the top of the hill started screaming his little heart out about us not taking pictures. So, while I would like to have taken some more, I suspect that is not going to happen. The boss and I made for our vehicle, and absconded before we got involved in potentially very unpleasant exchange.

Now I mentioned the local hash run earlier, and I’m guessing very few of you have any idea what I am talking about, well, the Hash House Harriers are, in the words of some very senior members I once met, a drinking club with a running problem that meet once a week around the world (there are about 1500-1700 registered hash runs around the world) for a "hounds after the hare" run, followed by a bunch of beers. Basically, it’s a really good chance to meet new people in a social setting, rather than a business one. So I can meet my potential clients over a beer, after a good run, and get to know them socially instead of just across a desk. Its excellent stuff really. The route is laid out in advance, by the hare, and then everyone has to try and follow. It gives you a whole new perspective on the local environment, when you jog through instead of driving. We ran through the “suburbs” (read, collections of mud huts…) of Juba, and were on the way met with many wonderous looks (why the hell are all these white people running?), fear and shock (holy crap, there’s 20 white people running at me!), and glee (for a good deal of the way we had about 40-100 kids aged 8-14 following us, making it difficult to follow the trail. Good stuff, I have to say.

Now, I must away. Juba is beginning to grow on me, and the next 6 weeks will be very exciting, I think.

Now, as one of you astutely concluded upon receiving my last\ne-mail, I have no TV in my room. We have one in the dininghall, so I managed to\ncatch the Grand Prix on Saturday. But rarely do they show anything good. So\nplease, feel free to shoot me an e-mail and let me know what’s going on.

Much love to you all.