Arrived

It took several days of flying but we have arrived in South Sudan.  The 14 hour trip from Washington, DC to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was by far the worst of it.  That is a long time to be in a crowded space with no escape.  But we made it and now we must wait here in Juba, South Sudan's capital city, for a flight to our final destination - Nyinbuli.  I just want to be there already, so the waiting is painful.  There won't be a plane out until Monday.  Arrrrg!  I know Holly is feeling impatient as well.  And it is an unforeseen expense.  We now have to feed ourselves and somehow navigate around this inhospitable place.

I wish I could expain to you how absolutely foreign this place is.  Have you ever driven down a washout dirt road?  Well all the roads here are washed out dirt roads, except they aren't dirt, they're clay.  And they all have enormous hills and valleys every few feet and there is often a pile of trash just sitting there in the middle of it all.  Nobody wants the roads to be like this, but there is no infrastructure in place to take care of it.  There are no street signs.  There are no understandable landmarks.  I couldn't find my way back to the airport if I wanted to.

Interestingly enough, other than the shocking hills I can see in the near distance, the topography of this place is similar to Florida.  The empty fields make me think of the St. John's river basin.  And when we were getting into the car at the airport, I looked out over the city and I was reminded of some of the more rundown parts of Cocoa or Orlando.  The weather is certainly similar, hot and sticky.

I have seen some creatures... a very large lizard with an orange creamsicle colored head climbing on a security wall.  Two ginormous spiders in the barbed wire atop the wall of our compound.  A small chirping bird.  Cattle egrets (the same as we have at home, though I don't know what they are called here).  And a swallow zooming around the airport.  Nothing too mind blowing.  I'll keep my eyes open.

Mostly what I see are people.  Smiling, laughing, friendly people.
I am typing this entry from the IAS office here in Juba.  Their vision and mission statement are posted on the wall.

Vision:
A godly, transformed society.

Mission:
To save lives, promote self-reliance and dignity through human transformation, going beyond relief and development.

More on all of this later.  I am eating up all the internet time with my rambling.
Until then....