Picture this, 105 degree weather, red desert spotted with trees, a small hut with a 27" flat screen TV, wireless Internet and John blogging from his iPhone. This isn't normal.
All is well in Juba. Sam and I left Kampala this morning and had an uneventful flight into lovely Sudan. We're staying in Juba for (hopefully) tonight only, and flying West to Wau in the morning. From there a 5 hour-ish drive to the village where we'll be filming.
If the Internet holds up, I'll blog some thoughts. But for now, Mom, don't worry about a thing (not that I think you are)-- we're here and things are great :)
--------------
Sudan has felt much more like I imagined Africa (minus the wireless Internet). Juba is the capital city of S. Sudan... only one paved road, UN vehicals everywhere and not one place in the entire country accepts a Visa card. So far, the people here really havent been very friendly. It seems like everyone wants to keep to theirself (sp?). Sam and I ventured out of our little guarded compound area and walked about 100m down the road. Nobody waved or smiled... I quickly filmed, as we walked by, a goat that was dying from what I can only imagine, the heat and lack of water. There's a guy staying in our compoud that looks like he's straight out of National Geographic... tall, super dark skinned and his face is completely marked up with tribal scars. I was told from the owner of the place that the man is from a village in the north, Noor. Who knows.
It appears that Sam and I didn't exactly plan the Sudan leg of the trip out very well and it looks like finances here are going to be tight. They only accept $100 bills minted in 2006... so we bought 5kilos of rice that should last us a while... we also brought 40 liters of water from Uganda... So as long as we aren't partying it up, and we're not hit up with anymore $100-200 surprises (as we have been for the last few days) things will be juuuuuust fine :)
All day, any time we mentioned that we are headed NW to film in villages that need schools, everyone has expressed how much schools are needed and how thankful they are that we are here to help-- So again I thank you all for the way you've supported Sam and me in this adventure. You are helping to make a difference for the people of S. Sudan.
stay safe. and healthy.