Snapshot from Juba

Ok, I have been remiss in posting for the last couple of weeks, on account of being busy and pre-occupied with all sorts of other things. I am currently trying to find out whether or not I should spend another 6 months in Juba, meaning I would return to Denmark briefly, for Christmas, and then be down here until the end of June next year. The alternative is to try and get my MBA, by starting courses in January, in Copenhagen. I've yet to decide, as I have yet to hear what my management is willing to do to keep me. Something that certainly needs to be sorted out before anything can be decided. Clearly, this is some fairly momentuous stuff for me, so much of my brainpower outside work has been allocated to it these past weeks.

Anyway, I have had the great fortune to fall ill this weekend, so I have a little time, to sit down and get a little writing done for y'all. First up, a little insight into my everyday, through means of a still life:


You'll notice a number of things here. First, theres the preponderance of chargers. Since this picture was taken I've added a VHF radio and its charger. Once in a while my laptop will get involved as well, making for a full house! There's my sat-phone charger (but no one can reach me on the sat-phone unless I am standing outside pointing it just so), my cell-phone charger (a phone that really has no pattern whatsoever to its functionality - some days I get calls, some days I don't. It makes no sense, but a sign of my acclimatization to Juba is that no sense is now perfectly acceptable to me), my iPod and dock (gotta have the tunes in the evening, when I am working out of my room, or trying to fall asleep despite the 3mm partition separating but by no means isolating me from my snoring neighbor), my A/C remote to control me exact level of coolness. There's my Tootbrushing kit, allowing me to brush my teeth without having to hike to the bathroom. My Malaria meds to keep me from, you know, dying of nasty bugborn disease... My book, which I have actually finished since I took the picture (I recommend it, though. Part of a 3 volume series, it takes a different slant on some classic Fantasy subjects) Memorystick with the company logo. Always nice to have, so I can carry around quotes, documents etc between clients, ministries and sundry others who should, but don't, have a printer. There's my lighter, fluid, and cigarettes. While I am a smoker, I don't smoke much down here, despite it being something almost everyone does. Its a great means of socializing, however. I do some of my best work while having a cigarette with my clients. Finally, there are my dog tags (I'm probably paranoid, but if I get knocked out in an accident, while driving around by myself, I'd love for those who find me to call the right people the first time), and my journal, which I have not been writing in enough either.
All of these things make up a little part of my life here in Juba - I'll try to post some more pictures like it, as things progress. I have, for example, since this picture was taken, acquired the aforementioned radio AND switched rooms. Thats right, I now have my own bathroom. No more sharing with the rest of the camp. I also have a bigger room, and a bed that I actually fit in, which is truly great. Anyway, I have more posts to write, and in order to do so, I will now end this one.