Trainings

Trainings are the most common activity in Africa. You can have a training on pretty much anything from code of conduct of teachers to agricultural practices to water related diseases. Name a topic and there you have it: a training.

Who can be trained? Anyone: teachers, students, communities, medical staff.. anyone.

How long does a training last? it depends: from one day up to five days, sometimes even longer but it gets too expensive... and now the most important question: do people like trainings?

Ahh hard to say; in order to answer this question a few things have to be considered.

First of all let's talk about SITTING ALLOWANCE, my favorite. Basically the sitting allowance is a small fee that people request from whoever organizes the training to be paid to them just for sitting. yep, no kidding. I love it when they start using the weirdest excuses like "you know I was supposed to work these days so I should get a sitting allowance..." What to say? I usually go with the easiest: "you know you're not supposed to be paid when learning. just be grateful that you are given this opportunity blablabla". The first times are hard but then you get used to that, it kinda becomes like an automatic response.

Second of all: food. I mean every respectable training needs to have good food, drinks and refreshment. Admit it! Who hasnt gone to a meeting or a conference just for the food? Here it's not different: the better the food, the higher the attendance. It's a classic.

Finally: certificates. A lot of people come to trainings because at the end they will be awarded with a certificate and certificates are good for your CV. I remember a few months back we had a training in a school about school management and code of conduct for teachers. All the teachers were male except for one lady who was pregnant. She looked like she was VERY pregnant but I did not pay too much attention since she did not say anything. Well, long story short we are in the middle of the training and she stands up, saying she has something to do. She goes to her hut, she comes back after an hour with the baby in her arms.  SHE GAVE BIRTH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRAINING. IN HER HOME.
I honestly did not know what to say, I was like ehm congrats, what the hell... speechless.
And she came back cause she wanted to get the certificate for the end of the training. So there you go, yes they care about certificates. A LOT.

What I particularly enjoy about trainings are the reports which come after that. i was reading one today that I had to share. In the "challenges" section this is what I read:

Challenges in the training

Ø Meals of the first day had scent of Fuel

    Ø Rain could interfere as the training hall had no ceiling board.

scent of fuel... I was dying! but then again if you come for the food, you need to give a lonely planet review! Every report will talk about food,, they have to!
I guess in a way training reports are the guide for the best NGOs in town.. or at least the ones that serve the best food.

and for the record our food had a scent of fuel only because we carried it in the same car as our fuel tanks.. we are Italians, we would never serve crappy food!

Bite me!

One thing is for sure: I have never learnt so much about poisonous animals in the last 6 months here.

There are three main scary categories in this area: scorpion, snake and mosquito.

 Let's start with the first one which is also my zodiac sign: scorpion.

-Usually black (but occasionally we found some red ones). Apparently if a scorpion bites you is no big deal. You're going to get a bad a rash, it will be swollen for a while but you'll live. They can be found pretty much anywhere (we have tons in our compound) and they can also be eaten ( I have never tried and NEVER will).

Number two: snakes.

-Now you have to watch out for those! Some of them are normal snakes and not lethal. The bad ones are very poisonous and I just found out no one in this village has the antidote (not even the UN!!) cause it's way too expensive and no one can afford it. So, in the event of a snake bite (also the name of a DELICIOUS cocktail) you have to pray that the effect is not lethal. Some bites can be lethal from 1 to 24 hours so the odds are.. ehm.. OK!!! 

Good thing is that the very poisonous snakes are hard to find. Unless you venture in the high grass or in the fields (no one does that because of the mines but that's another story..), you should be safe!

For the record: I have a snake phobia so every time I see one I start screaming hysterically.. apparently a lot of people find it hilarious. 

And now the final category, my favorite: mosquitoes.

The funniest thing about mosquitoes is that they have the weirdest effects on your body.

Of course there is the malaria one..but I have already covered that. 

Then remember the mango fly? The one that lays eggs in the clothes and turns you into a character of the mummy?

The best one is the one that makes you narcoleptic, it's hilarious!! Last April we were driving through South Sudan to reach Kidepo National Park, in Northern Uganda. Right after the border we met a village chief, a guy who knows our driver very well. They started chatting and after a while we were ready to go. He pops his head into the car and he goes: now roll up your window.

I looked at him, then at my friends in the car and then at the driver. It's 40 degrees outside, AC is not working, still 3 hours to reach Kidepo and we need to roll up our windows? The answer was positive. 

Yes, he said, now the sleep mosquitoes are coming. The way they work? Really simple: they bite you and after a x time you fall asleep just for a minute or so. Then of course you wake up like nothing happened. Isn't it funny? A bit less maybe if you're driving and you suddenly fall asleep (you might wake up with the car in a ditch or similar.. not advisable!); which is why we obviously had to roll up all the windows and suffer in the heat for 2 hours. 

Good thing is that these mosquitoes are only in some spots, especially where a lot of vegetation is growing; you would never find them in a town or a dry scenario.

There are many other types of mosquitoes but these three are definitely the coolest ones (well except for the malaria one).

So one thing I'd def recommend before flying here is mosquito repellent: works for mosquitoes but also for pretty much everything else!!

  

Halloween

Picture a person who has never been outside of their village located in the middle of nowhere in Africa (99% of the people who live here).

Now picture this conversation with them:

"What are you doing tonight? It's Halloween!"

"WHAT IS HALLOWEEN?"

I bet you have never met anyone who has NO CLUE WHATSOEVER about Halloween. 

And I mean it: no idea, nothing at all.

So it's kinda hard to explain to them what Halloween is. I mean everybody has at least heard about it 

and that makes things easier but here they were staring at me with a blank look in their eyes. 

So I just started babbling something about witches, blood, scary things, ghosts, murderers.. Yeah that did not make a very good impression. So I tried again explaining that in the Western world it's just a day where we dress up and celebrate scary things decorating pumpkins outside our homes. Yeah well that was even worse. So I told them we do it just for fun and to have parties because the 1st of November is a public holiday (not like here!).. and they started to understand (I mean just mention parties and fun and things start to make sense). 

Then Geoffrey (remember Geoffrey? my favorite guy) said something really funny:

"Oh yeah we have something similar to that: we scatter ashes around our huts to keep the spirits away."

Yeah I guess, it could work. I mean they are all about beliefs like rainmakers, bonfires, souls of the ancient villagers blablabla.. so I guess It wouldn't be too hard for them to grasp the concept of Halloween.

Bottom line is:

They don't have Halloween but they sort of have it too. That's a big degree of civilization.

Now the best part is about to come: I am going to teach them how to carve pumpkins. Hope my camera will capture the looks on their faces.. and hopefully I'll be able to post the pics too!!

Happy Halloween!! 

Not here, not at home, not at all

Yesterday I realised that there are some things here that cannot be linked to any degree of civilization, they are simply unacceptable7not changeable and that's the way things are.

Remember how I said that mostly we just laugh of all the odd things that happen here on a daily basis just to make it ok? Well some things just cannot become ok; not here, not at home, not all (thank you Paola for this perfect sentence that summarizes my thoughts).

This thought was obviously triggered by something: a peculiar event. 

I was in myoffice yesterday when my colleague (Italian) called me from the other room telling me that "there was something in her desk". Now this sentence may sound like the beginning of a story like Jumanji or Narnia or Harry Potter where a magic portal takes you to another world populated by the weirdest creatures. Nope, this was reality: I got into her office and as I entered the room she started hitting the desk to show me what she meant. After a few seconds we started hearing some scratching sounds from one of the drawers, a very disturbing sound I have to say. So yes there definitely was something INSIDE her desk. How did the thing get there you ask? still a mistery to me. You wanna know the creepiest thing tho? The drawer was LOCKED and we did not have the key. So the animal must have passed from a tiny hole or something.. as I said everything is still a mistery to me.

Anyways we called one of our guys, one who is never scared of catching animals with their hands or disgusting stuff like that. I am not gonna make a big deal out of it, it was just a mouse which was instantly killed by our staff as soon as the drawer was opened (and by killed I mean beated to death). 

Needless to say that this was quite an event in the office since everyone went to the room to assist the slaughtering of the mouse. I found it quite strange tho, these people are quite used to seeing these animals, everyday and everywhere: it should not be a big deal. 

The reason was quite simple: they were happy cause they had fresh MEAT. Yes you heard it: everyone was excited about the mouse because they knew they were gonna get a meal out of it. (Apparently mouse meat is quite tasty).

The staff obviously asked us if we wanted to join them and have a tasty mouse for lunch; our disgusted faces left them puzzled and one of them told us:

"you know, this is our culture: we love eating mice"

And right then it occured to me that some things just cannot be translated into any civilization degree.

TIA.

  

Jambo Kenya!

Took me a while to write a new blog post but I was trying to recover from my last holiday in Kenya and that was not easy.

Let me tell you why: beach, sun, great food, cocktails....

I spent a week on the Kenyan coast, a couple of hours away from Mombasa, in the tiny village of Watamu which is basically an Italian colony. It was quite surprising to see everybody speaking Italian, even better than us.
"Ciao, come stai? Come ti chiami? Vieni qui, piacere blablabla.."

I felt home!

The explanation is simple: Italians started going there on holidays and building homes, restaurants and casinos long time ago and Kenyans got used to that and obviously made a business out of it (let's face it, Italian tourists can be fooled quite easily!). So everywhere you go you meet Africans speaking an almost perfect Italians, offering tours for cheap prices, showing you local places, taking you out to the best clubs in town. It really is like going back to Europe! There are also many other tourists from all over the places (mainly French people and Dutch tourists) but the African-Italian community there is the biggest!
Every Kenyan has an Italian name (I have heard the weirdest ones!), dresses Italian, listens to Italian music and is obviously looking for an Italian wife so that they can fly back to Europe with them.
Nope, I will not go through this again, I have definitely covered the proposals topic; besides also in Kenya my answer was the same: thanks but no thanks.

Anyways this is just the Watamu coast part of Kenya, not the entire nation. Kenya was that but also much more. Kenya is nature too, beautiful nature.

We did a safari in Tsavo East National Park, the biggest park in Africa.
Only problem with that is that it's huge so it's not that easy to spot animals which are always moving around (but yes we did see lions.. yayy!!)






The landscape is quite dry, almost desert but that's the beauty of it: you just get lost staring at the horizon hoping to see every now and then a zebra trotting or a gazelle sprinting to somewhere.. beautiful.

And the best part of it is that Kenyans definitely know how to treat their tourists: staying in one of the lodges in the park is a unique experience: beautiful tents, tented camps, lodges on the rivers, in the middle of the park and among the animals.. It is the real thing just with a but more comfort and luxury!  A MUST GO!

And then of course there is the beach, my element, my favorite spot, the one that never disappoints

Kenya is on the Indian Ocean: needless to say that the seas is simply perfect. Only there is a small problem: as I said Kenyans really made a huge thing out of tourism so it is nearly impossible to enjoy the beach without the very famous BEACH BOYS. This is a very annoying category of people who literally surrounds you and starts talking to you from the moment you set foot on the beach.

"Do you want to buy this, do you want to go there with my travel agency, do you want weed, do you want sex, do you want to marry me? My name is Paolo, Carlo, Licia, Giordano remember me when you decide to do this and that and that.."

these constant incessant voices are the only turn off of a beautiful place: tourists get really annoyed after a while because they can never be on their own, always surrounded by beach boys while walking on the beach, taking a bath or just sunbathing outside the designated beach areas of their hotels (yes, THANK GOD the beach boys cannot enter the hotel beach areas!!).

But then again... this is the beach (so I guess it's worth a bit of suffering)

so RECAP.

Kenya is nature,                                        amazing/crazy people

and animals!

(I am so glad I got a picture with a monkey: it had been in my bucket list for a couple of decades now)

And the best part is I got to see my sister who is definitely a civilization person: it was just great to see all the paranoid stuff she was going through as a European in Africa, PRICELESS!!

It's just malaria!

After 9 months of life here I can consider myself a bit of an expert on diseases and infections that can be caught in this part of Africa. 

Let's talk about the most common one: MALARIA :)

And I say common now because from May to October is the rainy season in South Sudan: that means more humidity and more mosquitoes, of course.

I don't mean to scare anyone with this post, these are JUST every day problems in South Sudan; catching malaria in Torit is just like catching a cold in Europe: it's common, it happens all the time. No dramas!

So let me swipe away some of those urban legends that everybody thinks they know about malaria which are just not true.

One: if you catch malaria once you will have it for the rest of your life. Wrong, at least partially.  I mean it is true that if you catch it once it may come back anytime cause the virus stays in your liver but it also depends on where you are too. Once you go back to a malaria free zone blood cells will continuously change and renew themselves so the chances of getting malaria will decrease.. until they disappear.

Two: malaria is contagious like the flu. Wrong again! There is no way you can get it from another person who has it because you get malaria only if you are bitten by a mosquito. So kiss away, hug, touch that person..you're not getting it too.

Finally: it's NOT that big of deal. I know malaria is dangerous and could even kill but here they know how to cure it cause everybody gets it all the time. Once you have the symptoms it's almost mathematical it is malaria: you get tested and you have a response in FIVE minutes. The cure is simple: pills that kill the mosquitoes in your blood (as well as your liver cause I mean they are a bit strong)  and after three days in bed you're up and running again. Ta-dah! It's not that bad. 

The only complication might be when you catch something else together with malaria, like typhoid or one of those nasty boys that affect your body system: you could be in bed for more days and with more pills.. but that, my friends, is another post!!

To the market!

Once in a while we have to go and buy food (the Italian stocks unfortunately do not last forever) somewhere: the market.
The market is one of those typical African places you must have seen in pictures on the Internet; it's not far from the truth, not at all.  There's usually a main road and then you can just get lost in one of those small alleys which depart from the main one.
It's the pure definition chaos: weird smells, dust, people screaming, animals walking around..you have to be in good shape to go there, that's for sure.
Like yesterday, we had to go and buy vegetables but we encountered a few problems: first of all they had no bags so we had to carry 3 giant zucchini and some eggplants in our hands and then OF COURSE they did not have change. I mean just picture the scene: it's hot, it's messy, it's smelly and you have to carry around heavy groceries trying to avoid people who are carrying stuff as well (and by stuff I mean ANYTHING: animals, long pieces of wood, food,... anything).

So it's a challenge.

The payment of items is a lot of fun too: everything works with the bargain system. They obviously will not issue any receipt or some form of proof so in case you want to purchase something just name a price and see what happens next.
I found a nice skirt yesterday and i really wanted to buy it. The seller's initial price was 45 South Sudanese pounds (I mean it's not much for us but still for South Sudan standards it's quite a lot). So the bargain ritual started: "nope, i'll give you 25 SSP". The reply was "No no, let's make it 50 (yes I know it's more than the initial price but they don't really know what bargain means )' So I ended up not buying the skirt cause the price was still too much and I did not know where to put it anyways cause my hands were full!

I guess i like it better when prices are fixed and I don't have to scream and sweat over a pair of shirts and some zucchinis.

TIA people! (This Is Africa)

Typical food

I was talking to a friend yesterday about my south sudanese life and suddenly she popped the question which is vital for an Italian:
"What's the typical food there?"

DAMN! I knew I was missing something, something quite important I'd say. Italians always need to know this sort of information before they move anywhere: they check the guides and any sort of book which can give them good tips about good food. Well this didn't happen here, for obvious reasons.
So I never had to answer that question; no restaurants, bar, cafes here. And I automatically thought: no food worth mentioning!
Well I am partially right; as an Italian used to GOOD GOOD food I found very few things which can really satisfy my picky taste buds but it would be wrong to say there is NOTHING typical here.

The main problem is VARIETY. This means the menu is always the same: same food every day which is why I tend to get sick of pretty much everything after a while.

So what do we have here? mmm RICE! That always comes with beans, black beans. and that is a meal which is repeated twice a day. Can you imagine eating rice and beans EVERY SINGLE DAY? I get sick of it after half of the meal, that's why I still find it difficult to get used to the idea that south sudanese people have that ALWAYS.

Then there is chapati, typical flat bread which goes with everything, even rice and beans. Chapati is very tasty but also VERY greasy: i'd say it has the same amount of calories of a bar of chocolate. good but ehm like a brick in the stomach.

Third very typical thing is posho, a not very taste dish made of maize (corn) flour: also this one goes with pretty much everything...
TA DAH: there you have drafted the menu of a typical family here. you can mix and match but the food won't vary that much!


The best things to find are vegetables and fruit: cabbage, eggplants and carrots to start (if you only eat those tho, you start getting tired of veggies too!). Because the climate is always so hot, it;s easy to find exotic and tropical products all year round like papaya, pineapples and avocado. It's a bit harder to find those in a small village like ours BUT STILL! One thing that I love now is passion fruit (again, impossible to find it in south sudan) but you can only get that in other East African states like Uganda or Kenya.

And finally let me give you a glossary of food terms quite common here
-Maize (corn)
-Ground nuts
-Sorghum
-cassava (typical potato, quite common here)


nothing compared to ravioli and pizza right? I know, I know...

Baby Debutants

Two days ago Geoffrey (one of my colleagues) entered the office announcing he was going on paternity leave cause his wife just had a baby: their first born.

I was all like "Awww that's great! Congrats! How is your wife? Is that a boy or a girl?", all that questions (it's a boy by the way). He looked overwhelmed by my enthusiasm but then again I always come on too strong with him (who is a very calm guy) so I was not surprised. Then he causally drops THE SENTENCE: "Will you come on Tuesday to the baby party?"

Now let's make a premise here: I had obviously never been to one of these "social events" so I did not know what to expect but the answer had to be yes, especially because they really care about us going there. So I was all excited and yes yes I am coming, it will be a pleasure but I did not really think he would have noticed our presence (usually when these events occur they have HUGE family gatherings and also the neighbors come from all over). I was expecting to witness one of those typical African ceremonies where they dance and say a few words about the baby.

So here I am on Wednesday, the day after, to tell you how wrong I actually was; the ceremony is NOT about the baby, not at all.

I actually started getting suspicious when yesterday after work all the colleagues I was going with told me to drive to the place. I was surprised since one of our drivers was coming with us and I pointed that out saying that he could have driven (I mean don't get me wrong I love driving but it's rainy season and remember how the roads are here and all that stuff?). Well the reply was: "No no Anna we need to get there because YOU guide us there"

Mmm what the hell does that mean? So I felt kinda like Moses leading them to Geoffrey's place (which I mean because of rainy season is kinda in between waters and rivers so the metaphor makes sense). Anyways just picture the scene: I'm the only white person, driving a car with ten South Sudanese people in it through a village and everyone is obviously staring at us.
We finally reach the place, I park in the middle of nowhere and as I get out of the car everyone starts going "Anna, Anna come here, sit here, try this, eat that, drink tea". Needless to say I had never seen any of these people in my whole life and Geoffrey was nowhere to be seen. So we sit and basically wait.
After what seemed like forever finally Geoffrey arrives (I mean I was really hoping to see him since he was the only one that I knew) and comes straight to me. That was the moment when I knew I didn't just have to witness a ceremony.. Ugh.

this is our how dialogue sounded like:
"Hi Anna, thank you so much for coming, I am so happy to see you."
"No problem, my pleasure I am honored to be here. So when do we get to see your wife and the little one?"
"They will come out in a while and then you will have to talk and give him the second name. The name is Gabriele Erba (I'll get back to that later); you can deliver the speech and bless us and the food."

Then he stood up to go inside the house and get ready. DEAR GOD, SERIOUSLY? I so knew it!

So he left me in there hanging, trying to think what kind of speech to deliver, what to say on such occasion.
Geoffrey and his wife come out after one minute with the little thing and they sit down on two chairs prepared for them.

One man stands up (still haven't figured out who he is; probably the head of the family or something close to that) and he claps his hands. everybody starts clapping and then the man turns towards me (WHY OH WHY).
"We are all here today to celebrate the new born (yeah seriously, do not forget that) so we do not want to give speeches (really? thank god!) but we just want to celebrate (yep, me too). You know when there is a new born in South Sudan we have a special celebration. The mother after having delivered stays inside the house and comes out with the child on the third day if it's a boy and on the fourth day if it's a girl (that was actually interesting to learn). So please (the guy has been looking at me the whole time, it's CREEPY) Anna say something briefly, give the kid a second name now that they have come out and bless us and the food."

RIGHT.

Everyone is staring and I just say a few words about the joy of having babies blabla, its such a blessing blabla, we're all very happy blabla... and we shall name him Gabriele Erba! (everyone claps, screams, laughs.. it was crazy really). So I am done, they clap and they are all still staring.

oh god, what now? the blessing, right! ehm BLANK. don't know what to say; thankfully one of my colleagues rescued me and said something brief and concise. then of course the guy still looking at me asks me to approach the table and start eating so that everyone will follow. and yeah then the party started.

So basically I thought it was all bout the baby but it was not. The mother and the baby came out for those 5 minutes and then disappeared in the house again; as usual it's the guest that counts. I thought the mother was gonna go around showing the child, having conversations, being with the husband but no I haven't even seen the little thing properly as he was wrapped like a burrito in 3 or 4 blankets.

Bottom line is it doesn't matter which party you are attending, if you are white it will always somehow be about you and you will have to do a lot of talking!

Oh yes THE NAME: well Gabriele Erba is our previous country representative and Geoffrey grew very fond of him so he decided to name his child after him (and apparently I had to give the name cause we work for the same organization and I'm white). The funny part is that they do not only use the name but also the surname (and that is quite common in South Sudan).

So meet Waigo Solomon Gabriele Erba something else (they really confused me with the name thing, apparently you can give a kid up to 6 names) who made his social debut yesterday!

Uganda, the pearl of Africa

The nickname 'pearl of Africa' comes from Winston Churchill who, during a visit, fell in love with the country and decided to name it like that. And it stuck; it's one of those definitions given by a famous person that the locals are using to show off basically everywhere:

-taste the water of the pearl

-visit the pearl 

-fly with the pearl company

-stay at the pearl hotel.

Well this pearl thing is everywhere; but to be fair the old Winston did give a very good definition of Uganda

I mean, how could he not? 

Before moving to South Sudan I worked in Kampala for a brief and intense month and an half and I managed to enjoy it.. yep, he was right!

First of all Uganda is GREEN: like green green fields, landscapes, scenarios. It is full of forests, parks, hills, mountains.. the view is quite something, really. and the locals keep it clean and preserved because tourism here is obviously one of the biggest businesses. So many parks to see (I have heard the Murchison falls one is good as well as Queen Elizabeth Park), safaris, activities.. people will not be bored.

I did quad bike in Jinja and despite the not remembering at all how to drive a motorbike with gears (sorry driving school) the beauty of it was driving around pure nature and next to the Nile river.. amazing!

 View from one of the many lodges on the Nile

 

Nile river from bungee jumping spot (no I did not do it! I already have a bungee jumping favorite location which is in Switzerland.. cant cheat on them!)

Secondly: the people. Ugandans are famous for their warm hospitality. They're always so happy and smiling; even the police who sometimes look scary with their guns and everything are super cool. One officer stopped us on the way to Kampala and while he was asking questions he noticed I wasn't wearing my seat belt (I physically could not wear it cause there was no space) and he goes: "You're not wearing the seat belt, it's a criminal offence. did you know that?" I was sweating, afraid of what to say next and I just went: "Yes I know but I couldn't.." "You know that I could fine for that?".... awkward silence.

Then he just literally burst out laughing and said: "Italia!!! I love italia!! haha seat belts, I'll give you a fine ha ha ha." full stop. and he was gone just like he came. Weird, but thank you! and these scenes are quite common, which is just the best.

Are you not convinced yet?

Ok one more thing: parties. Kampala has so much to offer in terms of night life, entertainment and parties that you will not be disappointed. Uganda in general is full of expats, so being there is like being in a big Erasmus program where students are expats from all over the world, who meet at meetings, clusters and workshops during the day and just want to party hard at night. Needless to say weekends are absolutely mental!

Plus you'll only be one flight away from South Sudan.. not too bad, not too bad..

Generator VS Solar

It's about time I started talking about electricity here which is basically what regulates our day. I found myself dividing my day in NO electricity part and YES electricity part.

When NO electricity part is on NOTHING is going on; there is no internet, no lights.. nothing. we light some candles, start using torches but after a while give up and just go to sleep; time: 10 pm (generator).

ok this is confusing so I should start from the beginning of the day so that i can explain how the whole generator/solar system works like (it took me a while to figure it out but now I am positive that this is how it's done).
Before I start the day description though I have to explain about this dual system.

Basically every house, compound, building or whatever here has both a generator and a solar system. During the day, because it's so hot and sunny everything runs on solar (you know how it works right? the solar panels transform the solar power in electricity and so the system is on that). Obviously the solar power is not that strong (unless you have very good batteries, WHICH WE DON'T) and therefore sometimes Internet connection does not really work (as well as other things connected to electricity but anyways!). When the solar system cannot work anymore then we switch to generator which is a bit stronger but very expensive. generator works with fuel and that costs a lot of money. So that's briefly how the dual system works: generator and solar alternate during the day.

Ok so that's what a normal day looks like (I won't even tell you what happens when the solar panels don't work properly or we run out of fuel):

7:30 am. We turn on the generator cause it's still too early for the solar to work
11:00 am. We switch to solar; by 11 it's already sunny and hot and the system can work (SORT OF);
usually if the day is really hot and sunny (so basically south sudanese) the solar can go on up to 4pm ish. Then electricity starts to go off and disappear and come back again and go again.. we know generator time is about to come.
7 pm. Generator is on again (we tend to switch it on later so not to use too much fuel)
10 pm. generator goes off: NO Electricity part is about to start (that means, bedtime!).

Obviously after 10 pm there's nothing left to do: maybe you can hope that your laptop is fully charged so that you can watch a movie. otherwise there are no really other options. I usually forget to do the bathroom ritual before 10 pm so I always find myself brushing my teeth, changing and peeing in complete and total darkness trying to hold a torch with one hand and to do the rest with the other: not advisable ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE OUT YOUR CONTACTS (kids, dont try this at home).

So a lot of challenges at night but it's quite funny really. I also love the fact that I have some parts of the day where I need to be super productive cause Internet is working great because generator is on so I can send emails and maybe even try to Skype. On the contrary when power is a bit low I need to make sure I have enough battery to do whatever but using the Internet... see? YES electricity and NO electricity part system.
 

What I'm trying to say is if you really wanna skype with me try early in the morning or right after 7 pm.. generator is at its best, performances might be surprising!!!


uh oh.. almost 10 pm! Better post this before it's too late...

PARTY!!

South Sudanese people take parties very seriously which is why it's important to remember all the "formalities and procedures" that are involved with them.

Attending a party here doesn't mean going clubbing or crashing someone's house or compound: it's not that easy. A party here is a group of rules, a ritual which has to be followed.

Sadly we had two goodbye parties last week (Debbie and Camille you will be GREATLY missed) so I had the chance to polish some rules and remember how to party here!

First: THE SPEECH.

No party can begin without a speech and I mean a proper one where the head of the NGO/organisation/whatever formally addresses the public and the person that is being celebrated (lets call him John).

I'll give you the start: "Ladies and Gentleman we are all here today to say goodbye to John who has been working here for tot time and who has been doing this and that... Now I ask someone else to come and say a few words about John.... And now I wish to call another person to say another few words about John.. And now I want to call John to say a few words (he will be the last one to talk)..."....!!!

ok you got the point: the speeches go on FOREVER and this happens in a spiritual silence where no one can disturb or do anything or say anything or for example.... EAT!

yes because that part still has to come! ok yeah one thing at a time.

right so we have the 3 hour long speeches and after that what happens? 

Second: THE FOOD

so you're almost falling asleep during the 10th speech of the night, your stomach is making weird sounds, you're starving and finally the speech part is over. you can finally run to the table!!

oh, if only..

well in order to eat at these parties you have to wait for John to eat. in fact, John will be the one to "open the ceremony" of the food and be the first and only one to go to the table and get served. Once he is done all the others can go and do the same, not before. So the endless line starts forming: from the table to the farthest ends of the compound. Bottom line is: if you aren't anywhere close to John it'll take forever to get your food after he has taken his.

Third: THE DANCING

I won't make it long, the dancing works exactly like the food. John has to open the dances: he chooses a partner (CANNOT do it on his own) and start dancing on the dance floor. Just the two of them, for an awkward while, dancing whatever music the dj will play. It's kind of like the first dance of a married couple except that John and the partner are not married and will most probably have never danced together. So it's funny, and embarrassing.. but mostly funny! After a while some kind, generous soul will join them and little by little the dance floor will get crowded until it's just a mass of bodies jumping around.

So these are the three main steps to go through if you want to party like a rock star here! 

And no kidding these people are really serious about this party ritual...

So let me just say again good bye to the awesome Debbie and Camille and remember..

if you're invited to a party in South Sudan.. GET YOUR SPEECH READY!!!!!

R&R

R&R stands for rest and recuperation and it's a period of time which may vary from 5 to 8 days (depending on your organization/ngo policies) on which you are on holiday to... well rest and recuperate!

The holiday has obviously to be taken outside the country as you will have to relax in a safe place. We have to take one every ten weeks and this was my first one since I went to Italy in April.

My R&R was very much needed and in order to make sure I was gonna get the best out of it I went to Mauritius! Finding the destination was not easy AT ALL! First of all there are not that many flights from Juba so it is vital to find the right connections in order not to waste days and nights in East Africa airports. Mine was very lucky and in less than 6 hours I went from grey chaos to pure exotic paradise in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

So let me tell you about Mauritius and not because I want to brag but just because I want to describe a very cool degree that separates us from this hidden little treasure.

First of all: the people of Mauritius. There is no stereotype or special description for them: they are a mixed race, made of different colors, provenience and cultures. They have one thing in common though: they are VERY warm, welcoming and friendly. You feel home after one minute, also because they literally take you to their place after 5 minutes of conversation: they want to introduce you to their family, cook for you, give you the best deals of the island (well of course in the end they all run their businesses) and make sure that you will go back there soon. I have to say mission accomplished: discovering the island through the eyes of the locals made it all so much better. Mauritians are really nice, they value education a lot and they adore their families: needless to say it is a pleasure to help them if they need something.

Second of all: the island. Well the island is simply BEAUTIFUL. The coast is just amazing and some beaches are breathtaking but also the inland is just unreal (it reminded me A LOT of Ireland, that's why I liked it so much!). The inland is very green with beautiful landscapes. The southern part is the best one: you can find rum factories (DELICIOUS), safari parks, waterfalls and national parks and reserves. Plus the roads are surrounded by sugar cane fields which are really cool. In the south there is also the highest point of the island: it's called gran bassin and it's a sacred lake for the Hindus. Every year there is a cool pilgrimage to this place: all the island inhabitants just walk from their homes to this lake to pray and meditate. Very nice.

I could go on and on and on but i just wanted to give you an idea of this beautiful European island; yes it is populated by Germans, Italians, French, Spaniards and Dutch people. Apparently it is quite a popular destination in Europe and even if the currency is the Mauritius rupee they just accept and circulate Euro everywhere so changing money is not that important.

Oh and if you ever find yourself in the beautiful village of Flic en Flac on the western coast ask for Charlie Brown (no kidding, that's his real name!!): HE'S YOUR LOCAL MAN!!!!

Laundry Service

After five months here it has been clearly established that it's impossible for us to indulge in any kind of normal luxuries such as make up, fashion or good food/drink.
Fair enough, I can live without those (for a while...!) but if there is one thing I am obsessed about is personal hygiene.
It doesn't matter if I sweat liters and liters of body fluid a day, at the end of the day I need to be/feel clean.
So rusty shower around 7 pm (it's funny cause you can really feel the iron on your skin) and I am ready to go!

And here comes the problem.. what do I wear? I open the wardrobe and there they are, my clothes.. well actually if someone had showed me a picture of that wardrobe one year ago telling me those were my clothes I would have obviously laughed and stated the contrary. Those are NOT my clothes! they are full of wrinkles, holes and they changed colors...
but then again without a washing machine that's what you get.
Now I'm gonna tell you the story of one of my shirts so you get an idea of what they have to go through in order to be "washed"

A yellow t-shirt is thrown into a bucket with a million other clothes (of other colors) and a bit of washing powder. It stays there for a while and then the stirring begins. It sort of is like a washing machine effect except that it's done manually and with cold water. Then the t-shirt and all its friend are thrown on a stone and hit with another stone in order to be cleaned. After this they get rinsed with rusty water and hung out in the sun. Voila', laundry service!
{NOTE: In some countries (thank god, not this one!) it's quite dangerous to leave clothes out in the sun if you don't iron them. This is because in Africa there's a type of fly called mango fly which basically lays eggs in the clothes which are drying out in the sun. If you don't iron the clothes before wearing them, it's a problem. Those eggs will enter your skin and you'll be affected by a weird disease where you have the little animals crawling under your skin.. not nice!
You know the scene from "The mummy"? Where all those bugs in the pyramid enter the guy's skin and kill him? yep, pretty much the same here except that here the insects would be baby flies.. awwwww!!}

So basically my wardrobe is poor, I look like an hobo most of the times and I end up wearing always the same stuff which is still decent looking and not completely ruined (yes I am aware of the fact that they will end up just like the other clothes).

Bottom line is: next time you meet me,TAKE ME SHOPPING!!
I AM IN DESPERATE NEED OF THAT!
Thanks

Happy Birthday!

Today's topic is birthdays: those very special days which define you, make you special and unique just because you were born on that day.

Isn't it funny when you meet someone who was born on your same day? Like my friends Tiffy and Djules who both celebrated their birthday yesterday... happy birthday ladies! :*

Such a coincidence makes you think about odds and probabilities and all those statistics..

Which leads me to the next point: an event like a birthday is not a coincidence here because, guess what? Everyone is born on the same day, the easiest and most obvious you can think of:

I am aware of the fact that this happens everywhere in the world so that does not come as a surprise. I have always been surprised though by this choice. Why the 1st of January? And why is everyone assigned to that date? Can't they just pick days randomly? I mean here almost 85% of the population is born on the 1st of January and that just creates confusion (especially when they also have the same name which yes happens quite often, too). Besides what is this hurry of choosing the 1st of January? That makes you basically one year older cause you would be born right at the beginning of the year!

Anyways, I can just let you imagine all the conversations I had with some locals at the beginning when I was asking birthday related questions: what is your sign, what is your element and stuff like that. I could see black holes in their eyes; astronomy is definitely a non existing science here.

Plus birthdays are not that important; they are all born on the same day, no big deal. You cannot have a big celebration for the whole population of the village, definitely cannot bake cakes and/or blow candles on them. Think of all the things that happen to you on your birthday: 90% of those are not likely to happen here. No presents, no cards, no flowers, no wishes. 

So a birthday is just another day.

But I am a huge fan of birthday, its the day on which you were born, that gotta count for something right? Celebrate it properly, it only happens once a year.

This is why today I also want to say happy birthday to my friend Gaga!!

Even if civilization is a bit far away, it's hard to forget days like this!

Easy driving

Last night I was in a hurry, I had to go out for dinner and I was late. So I took the car and decided to do my usual "sporty driving" just to get to destination faster.

Ahh wish I could actually do that. After getting out of the gate I realised it was Mission Impossible 7. The road in front of our compound looks like it has been bombarded with grenades (well it probably has): so full of (like my friend Charlie would say) "lunar craters" that it would just be easier to walk. And this is not even the worst. 

When it rains, because there is no tarmac everything becomes mud. It's a nice mix of black mud, brown mud and whatever else is on the road plus puddles which are never small or shallow. 

I could tell you of a million situations I found myself into but probably a picture will suffice.

Try to change a flat tyre when you're stuck in the mud and another car has to pull you out:

and that one wasn't even that bad: it took us one hour to fix everything and hit the road again.

When driving around though you really have to watch out for two crazy elements on the road (and if an Italian person is saying this, it must be really bad):

Number one: people on motorbikes. Because the road is so bad people on motorbikes jump around when hitting holes on the road. Most of the times they fall, laugh about it and jump back on the bike. Seeing people falling on their bikes happened to me twice: the first time there were two guys on the bike who fell and just stayed there on the ground. The second time the guys were four, all of them drunk: they fell and they were just laughing and laughing.. almost contagious!

Number two: drunk people walking along the road at night. So picture the scene: midnight, driving on the worst road you have ever seen, no lights, lampposts.. anything and at the very last minute you see a guy zigzagging his way back home. That's when you have to show your driving skill and prove yourself that, yes, if you can avoid the guy you're pretty much awesome.

Well all I can say is that you get used to all of this quite easily. I am the proud owner of a South Sudanese driving licence and I am currently learning with my drivers how to drive through deep puddles of mud and rivers (yes we have to do that too).

I think I may deserve some sort of award for that...??  

Best degree of civilization? PIZZA

Ah it's coming.. My favorite night of the week.. pizza night!!

I love it just because it's my favorite degree of civilization of all: expat night, the foreigners'dinner.

All the kawaja (it means white person in the local language) reunite at our compound, which let's admit it,  is the best to eat pizza!!

Our cook Timothy actually makes great pizza so it's not a bad experience.. not at all! Plus I love it cause expats night means story sharing night which means tomorrow I'll probably have something funny to tell.

Pizza night is a nice break from the crazy working days, the going around, the dust, the heat, the impossible situations we find ourselves into every single day. We just sit and eat and laugh cause honestly laughing about situations here makes it all so much more fun.

So it's me (italian/half irish haha), giacomo (VERY italian), paola (italian as well), debbie (the most hilarious british person I've ever met), fiona (a great scottish lady), camille (very french guy) and hayelom (an ethiopian guy who works in our compound). It's a lot of fun cause we are all so different but pizza night, CIVILIZATION night, brings us all together.

i'll sound very Italian here but it's true... food can do miracles!!

Sorry for the sentimental post but these nights are part of this crazy life too!!

Enjoy your meal, we will certainly do!!!!

Just say "I do"

Let's talk about obsessions here, again.

More than one month ago, I took a few days off to fly to Italy for a couple of friends' wedding. The thing that shocked the most when I was explaining this to the people was their reply:
YOUR WEDDING?

Ehm, no people. If I were going home for my wedding I wouldn't take just 5 days off; I mean I've never been married but I'm positive that a wedding takes a big amount of time, preparation, effort, coordination. Definitely not 5 days.

But then again I was forgetting who I was talking to. Marrying someone is NOT  a big deal here.
I received two proposals yesterday, just like that.
" Anna did you see the rain last night? Rainy season has begun (yes the rainmakers are safe.. for now)! Anna, why don't you marry me?"
yep, just like that.

And me, silly me, trying to explain that you know, marrying someone is a big deal, you do it for love and when you do it you want to be sure he's the one and you will love each other forever blablabla..
First reply was: well I love all my wives!! (mm ok..)
Second one was a simple: nahhhh

The worst part is they keep insisting, they can be very persuasive. obviously I cannot give up so I just keep saying no. then one of them who unfortunately knows I have a sister goes:
sell me your sister! 30 cows? she comes to live in South Sudan, she happy and she cooks for me!
I've been quite mean to her but I just cannot do this to her. so I said no.
So the guy proposed again to me.
It's a vicious circle.

The rain maker

It's hot here.. so hot that all I can think of is THE RAIN!!!

so..meet the rainmaker!

(not anyone in particular, just the figure of the rainmaker)

Rainmakers are.. well people who are supposed to bring the rain!

oh yes, here when the rain comes..its thanks to the rainmaker! at least that's what people believe.

now you're laughing cause you're definitely picturing one of those crazy fellows who dances around (ted mosby style) so that the rain can come!

BUT HERE IT'S A DAMN SERIOUS BUSINESS

First of all being a rainmaker is a full time job: they get paid (not sure about  who pays them), they go around counties and they even get a car!!

what they do all day is still a mystery to me but i's a job. So far so good, you might think. it's an awesome job so why aren't they all rainmakers?

Ready for the shocking news????

WELL BECAUSE IF THE RAIN DOESN'T COME YOU'RE DEAD. AND I MEAN IT LITERALLY.

yes yes yes, apparently if the season is dry there are no gods to blame up in the sky but only rainmakers on earth.

if it doesn't rain, you're not doing your job right.

so they burn you. alive. like the witches back in the days... 

(and you cannot escape; villagers are gonna find you eventually)

quite ironic uh? no rain but plenty of fire.

So this is why not everyone is a rainmaker; people want to live as long as possible

Today is may 29th; the rainy season was supposed to start couple of weeks ago.. no rain yet.

I'm praying people, I'm praying.

Early birds

You know, one of the good things about living in a small South Sudanese village is that there are no cars. I mean of course there are some, mostly NGOs and government ones but they are not that many. The best a villager can get is a donkey (and yes when crossing the road you have to watch out for those, a real traffic jam!).
So you would think nights and early mornings are quiet; you only hear birds chirping and the silence of nature. It's six o'clock in the morning and you think you have at least one extra hour of sleep...
...WRONG.. SO WRONG!
It's six in the morning, they have 24 hours during the day and they choose that one... to cut the grass!! Obviously there is no such thing as a lawnmower (no power here) which is why they use the favorite tool of all African gardeners: THE SLASH (thats how they call it).

The tool itself is not so bad, it's just how they use it. In order to get rid of the grass/weeds they just basically swing it from one side to the other, beating the ground.

You would think it is not an annoying sound (I have been told I am very sensitive), it's very muffled but you have no idea how bad it is; when they hit a stone or just some pebbles it's even worse. and the worst of all is that it's constant. they just start slashing around and they go on for a good hour. It's like when your sink faucet is dripping.. you go crazy one drop after the other.

So yes, I lost one hour of sleep because I mean they really have to cut grass from 6 am to 7 am. Oh yeah, after that they stop and they do not do it again during the day (apparently it is too hot).


A nice variation of this natural alarm clock is when they use the pickaxe instead of the slash and stones instead of grass; headache coming straight up!!

but then again..

AT LEAST THEY DON'T HAVE CARS HERE!

Normal people/life questions

This post is dedicated to my friend Debbie, who lives here in South Sudan with us and whose birthday was on Tuesday the 14th.
Since I couldn't buy her anything (you know, here it's hard to find even a bottle of decent wine), this is my gift.

ok, I bet that you have never uttered any of these sentences in your daily life:

1) Will I be able to shower with the frog this morning? (first thought of the day)
2) Did you hear the mine blowing up this morning? yeah, they're de mining again along the main road! (conversation on the phone)
3) Today I was in the car with the commissioner going to a school and suddenly we stopped because he wanted to shoot some birds (dinner conversations)
4) "What's your job?" "Oh, I'm a store manager" "Very nice, which store?" "Ah, we don't have one yet"....."Right!" (normal conversations with locals)



Was I right?
Well, if I wasn't it means some of you live in South Sudan SO COME AND VISIT ME! or maybe that your neighborhood is a bit dodgy (you might wanna consider moving out).

the point is, to us, these are normal people/life questions. When i wake up, i never know what I'm going to find in the shower. and I don't know whether it's actually raining outside or if they're blowing up mines.. again!

It is very funny though to think that these were not even real problems before coming here; but now we gotta deal with them.

best solution? just go with it!
like for example we are naming all these lovely creatures who are so nicely populating our every day life.

this is Jackie Senior, a lovely gecko who shares the office with me (Jackie Junior was a huge spider that I accidentally killed while cleaning my room):

And that's Laura, the praying mantis that I found on the bathroom door while peeing the other morning (I stood up so fast that I almost felt dizzy):

Well, there you go.. meet my friends (the six degrees of separation can even work with animals, as you can see).

AND FOR THE RECORD, NO, I cannot shower with a frog. 

The hand shake

Greeting a person here is the most fun thing to do.

Forget the ciao, the kisses on the cheeks,  all those European rituals which we have to go through every time we meet someone… here it’s all about the hand shake. Yes I am very well aware of the fact the shaking hands is common all over the world but here the handshake is just..different.

The first time is quite strange but then it takes only one minute to do it and never forget it.

The start is the same, you shake hands..then suddenly the other person (usually the one who decides the rhythm) grabs your thumb (and part of your hand, too) with all their fingers using the thumb itself as a pivot. And then back to the handshake, using again the thumb as a pivot.

God I know it sounds complicated but it quite easy and natural. And you just repeat this strange ritual as many times as you want; after a while it gets awkward and a lot of creepy questions start popping up in your head:  when should we stop? Should I stop? How many times do we have to do it? Am I

holding it too much? It’s stressful, yes it is.

 I found myself a lot of times in one of those situations where the handshake was lasting something like.. one minute. And I had to pull away (was it rude? Should I shake hands again?)!

 

Of course greeting people is vital but you should not be thinking too much of all these questions.. just go with the flow, this is Africa!

Best part? When they cannot shake hands with you because their hand is wet or dirty.. they just give you the arm/elbow and you have to shake it…I ALWAYS find it amusing! 

YES, YES... YES!

You know, the craziest and most absurd conversations happen here in Africa.

It must be the fact that sometimes we just speak two different languages but seriously there is just something about communication which puzzles me.

A: Do you want to go today or tomorrow?
B: Yes.
A: Yes what?? You wanna go today?
B: Yes.
A: So you don't want to go tomorrow?
B: Yes
A: YES WHAT?????
B: Yes
A:......

Oh dear.. I mean the first time it's actually hilarious but then it just kills you.
so I'm trying this new method where I don't ask YES/NO questions.

Quite hard actually, I mean 80% of our daily questions are YES/NO questions but an alternative has to be found.
So the new conversation would be something like:

A: When do we go to x place?
B: Tomorrow
A: Ah GREAT!! (see? it's working, I'm so proud of myself!) so tomorrow we can go back to juba!
B: Yes!
A: ...

seriously, GO FIGURE

UNDER THE TREE

That one, my friends is the answer to EVERYTHING here in Africa.

Where is the school? Under the tree.
Where can we meet the teachers for a training? Under the tree.
Where do people cook? Under the tree.
Where is the clinic? Under the tree.

yes, the clinic, that beautiful place where you can get cured and receive treatment and get tested and get shots.. well yes, it happens under the tree.

I went for an outreach activity last week and yes I have to admit it, I am still surprised to be surprised by that. A clinic under the tree? that cannot be possible! oh wait it is. So i just smiled and pretended I was in a normal situation, which by the way it is, especially there.

what if it rains? well, if it rains then nothing happens under the tree... OBVIOUSLY!
SO YES, enjoy the services while you can.

The funny thing about the outreach activity is that it's never in the same place. it goes around and offers services to the village, kinda like a circus... moving and going "to town".
so people get mobilized, they walk from the village to the tree and they receive treatment.

You see the midwife checking the baby and weighing him  (under the tree).
You see the mothers getting trained on HIV and feeding their kids (under the tree)
You see the kids screaming and getting drugs and vaccinations (under the tree)

It's quite astonishing, really and for a moment you think it's the reality (also because it looks so natural in that context, in that place) and then u realize that the clinic is.. well yes UNDER THE TREE.