Day 3 in Nyala… so here is how it went. I ended up spending all day in ELF airport because I’m a dumbass and didn’t check the manifest for when I was scheduled to leave. I assumed I was on the 9:15am flt but it ended up being at 3:30pm! Abby, Geetha, and Sanait dropped me off but it was fine. I made insta-friends with my juggling. God bless those 3 little balls. After spending some time trying fruitlessly to teach a few of the Sudanese some tricks, I hung out with some of the airport ppl who congratulated me on Egypt’s win against Cameroon. (4-2!! Woo)
While in the airport I saw Henri whom I met in ELF on the ARC (Ag Reform Ctr) standing with this Frenchie I’d heard about, Laurent, and a nice protection officer from Kansas, Kristina (Kristy). Kristy kicks a lot of ass but has some real issues with pp; here in Nyala. She reminds me of me towards the end of my tenure with HRW. It’s a sad thing. I introduced her to Immortal Technique. It might be a good release but it might actually be better if she left. It’s far too early for me to judge anything at this point but I know this kind of frustration and it’s not good for the soul.
When we reached Nyala the bus took me straight to the base which caused a bit of confusion cuz Innocent, my boss/Team Leader had sent Awad the driver (or at least one of them) for Human Rights to pick me up. Kristy and Laurent got off with me and Henri continued to Ktm. Although Laurent – tho cool enough – played the Frenchie, Kristy invited me to stay with her and her squatter roomie Olivia from the UK working for UNDP. She leaves end of Feb and I might be able to get her room which would be pretty awesome. At any rate, being with these two has been quite the trip. I’m getting a lot of insider info on the whole mission from them but it’s clearly a “drama situation.”
First off the house is clearly a party house. A perimeter wall surrounds a courtyard with a straw awning and fruit trees which is pretty awesome. Kristy has her own room next to the kitchen and then Olivia’s and mine are in the next “wing” over. It’s minimalist to a certain degree. The rooms are sparsely furnished but I’m happy I have a place that is not a rat-infested guest house to lay my head. That said, these 2 chicks are awesome cooks. Cakes and innovative improv dishes have me eating like a king. Being very social, they have a bunch of people over as much as possible it seems. I’ve heard about all the little interconnections between people from professional to personal life – with all the backstabbing, lovemaking, and obsessive-compulsive nonsense that being in a small high stress community can possibly offer.
On the plus side I went to my first party last night. Didn’t really want to go but Kristy pushed a bit and I didn’t fight back. I figured it would be good to meet people. It was a good time and I’m happy I went. Nothing like a little dance circle action to get the party going. I still have my moves… heheheh. I met Yoko – cute Japanese chick with ???, Kasia – cute polish chick working with IOM on some joint project, Andy – cool dude from CO I think, a few people from Merlin – a group I’ll have to look up, along with SP and Humedic or something… some humanitarian Christian group that was hosting the farewell party for some dude named Schultz whom I had met a security briefing earlier that day. It was good to show my face. I had to drag Kristy and Olivia back home though – they had gotten kinda smashed.
Today we had this cool Italian, Raimondo and his Iranian friend Shehab over for brunch (which started at 3 cuz we had to clean up from the night before). It’s great that everyone pitches in however they can. Some cook, some clean, some bring food, some prep it, some make it… it really is hippie-ish. Life in the field? Heh. We lost power from 4pm until 11pm… apparently quite normal despite the governor’s (Wali’s) promise to leave the electricity on for the Africa Cup. Egypt v Sudan tomorrow, baby. I think I might just stay in. I dunno. We’ll see.
I guess my real work (or attempt to work since I have no equipment) starts on Sun. Until then I think I’ll just enjoy whatever drama/party/social gathering they throw at me. Plenty of time to stress later from what I gather. One thing’s for sure, I am not Jonathan. My strengths clearly lie elsewhere. I hope someone recognizes that. More to come.
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