Jambon
Don Jamont Joined: May 16th 2007
Logged in: September 2nd 2008
Logged in: September 2nd 2008
Travel Blog Posts
Khartoum - demon cats
Well, ona more light-hearted note. I've posted some of the pics of the animals, bugs and reptiles I was lucky enough to see here in Sudan. Enjoy. Don... read more
I would like to congratulate some of Ms Cords students for posting their thoughts on rebuilding a country that has been through a lot of conflict. Many people identified a lot of issues with the majority seeing a change in government, and an increase in education as being key to a solid foundation for a state. At close second, health care, housing, and the military were mentioned. Once again, there were some ridiculous responses, but for the most part, people had some great things to say. Speaking for myself, I had no idea how complex the issues were with re-forming a functional society that includes, education, infrastrucutre, health care, trade and commerce, security, etc could be until I arrived here and saw it for myself. For instance, with education you can improve the youth so that ... read more
Today, I will leave Torit. The title entry same from Aibek, a colleague from Kyrgyzstan. I have spent almost 6 months here, and surprisingly, I leave here with a greater feeling of emotion than I had thought. As I said good-bye to Peter, our Ugandan mechanic's assitant, I shook his hand and he had tears in his eyes as I walked away. How does that not hit you in the heart? Someone once wrote the "Outside of films and novels, Africa is a hard and unromantic place." To this, I somewhat agree. As I walked around the camp this morning, saying my goodbyes to the local staff, Indian and Bangladeshi soldiers and fellow UNMO's. I realized that while I am so grateful to be leaving, a small part of me will miss the environment. The sam ... read more
Today, is officially the third to last day that I will spend in Torit. On Friday, Nov 9, I will jump in a helicopter and close this particular chapter of my life. At this point, I am very excited to go home, to be close to Laura, my family and my friends. I have once again been away from the computer for a week or so, as I had take my last 7 days of leave in Kenya with my friend Yannick, who is my UNMO partner here. I will attach some (a lot) of pictures of my trip once I get to Khartoum, and begin the end of mission administration with the UN. I got quite a surprise today, as I opened my blog, and found 40 new comments on it! I couldn't believe my ... read more
Our Room
And giraffes, and antelope and elephants, and hippos, and crocdiles and..... (this entry is photo-heavy, 52 to be exact. So don't miss the other photos on the subsequent pages.) Kenya is a beautiful country and I enjoyed my time there. That is not to say that it does not have it's quirks and irritations. I arrived on a Friday in Nairobi by myself, and made my way to the hotel that had been recommended by our colleagues from Bangaladesh. It was still early, but they had an empty room for me to check in to, so got in took a shower and had a nap. It was probably the worst-looking hotel I had ever stayed in, but the staff was nice and Yannick and I were both trying to save money on this trip, so I ... read more
I have discovered in myself the skill of predicting the weather. At least when it will rain... All I have to do is wash my clothes and hang them on the line to dry. Shortly after the clothes are hung up, clouds suddenly appear, and WHAM! Microburst downpour on top of the clothes line. Awesome. This rain also only tends to appear when I am driving out of the camp for a patrol or to do errands. My clothes are flapping happilly on the clothes line like innocent little things that flap, and whammy! (Salute to AnchorMan) The next thing they know they are being blown off the line, covered in burrs and seed pods, and covered in sand and muck. Sweet. The other occasion that I have been able to predict the rainfall is when ... read more
Edward
I have somewhat fallen off the proverbial blog horse in the past few weeks, so here I am again. Many things have happened and work has been busy since I returned fom vacation. The biggest thing is that Laura has developed a pinched sciatic nerve due to bulging disc in her lower back. She was somewhat uncomfortable in the mornings in England, but I could see a progression in the 10 days I spent with her. Right now she has numbness in her left foot, and the pain is somewhat relentless, especially during the night and sleep has been a luxury at this point. I'll find out on Wednesday if she will require surgery, and if so, I will be cutting my tour short by a few weeks to return home as soon as possible. So, ... read more
Scarlet Fever
I am finally back in good old Torit... and the countdown is on. 10 days in England and France were just what I needed. I returned to Torit and the end is in sight, and I will be so thankful to get home to my family and friends. Speaking of thankful, Thanksgiving is coming up in a few days, and I was fortunate enough to find a dedicated Thanksgiing package from Laura in my room when I got back. This package was decorated on the outside with hearts and jokes and even a cartoon turkey. Laura routinely decorates her packages, and they have become a bit a ritual at the Canadian HQ in Khartoum, as all the staff stop in to have a read and laugh at her humour before they send the packages to me. ... read more
Somedays, you just want to scream and throw something breakable... I awoke at 0645 this morning, excited and nervous beause today was the day that I was to lead a 3 man patrol to supervise the removal of over 100 rounds of unexploded ordnance. Just two days ago I had sat down face to face with the Lieutenant in charge of the engineering company, and he had whole-heartedly agreed to put a team together for Saturday and get the job done. For those of you not in the military, combat engineers in general do things like demolitions, constructions of camps and fortifications, and mine/ordnance removal. When the three UNMO's arrived at the HQ to meet with the Lieutenant an dhis team, I knew something wasn't going to work, beacuse the LT was dressed in a tracksuit ... read more
Today was a sad day for the team site of Torit. Scott and Duane, our most dutiful of UN Police officers, were redeployed (read: forced to leave) to Abeyi near the proposed border area. Scott and Duane were truthful, experienced, functional police officers, and the Team Site will miss them. More on the forced redeployment when I finish my mission. Yannick has departed for Ireland a few days ago, and if I know him, right now he is up to his eyeballs in Guiness and pub burgers with extra bacon right now.... My trip to London starts on Monday, and I can't wait. Laura and I will be meeting up somewhere... we just haven't figured out where yet. oops. Mind the Gap. Yesterday was also the start of Ramadan, a holy month in the Muslim faith. ... read more
