Blogs from North, Sudan, Africa - page 4

Here are som e pictures depicting daily life and routine in JULUD... read more

The plan in Atbara was to catch a bus to the ancient site of Meroe and then flag down something heading to Khartoum. Unfortunately no-one could understand where we wanted to go and the only bus we could find was not leaving until 1pm which would make it difficult to find anything later in the day going to Khartoum. In the end we decided to head straight to Khartoum but the bus was not leaving until 8am so we sat down and had a cup of tea. The tea ladies set up their stands on every street corner. They consist of little more than a brazier and a lockable chest covered with jars of tea, coffee and spices. Stools or old oil cans provide the seating. It is a great way of chatting to the locals. ... read more

My Home for the next few months will be Team Site Julud in the state of Southern Kordofan. Life in Julud is best described in pictures which I will add soon. In the meantime I will do my best to paint a picture for you: Here we often refer to the team site as Julud Paradise. Which carries both truth and sarcasm depending on the person, time and day. It is located in the rugged Nuba Mountains, which at the moment are hot and dry, the daily high is +40 with the low around +25. Since arriving it has rained very lightly only twice, but the rainy season is just around the corner. Julud is a one hour drive from the nearest paved road. And unlike country roads in Canada, the roads here are not gravel ... read more

This entry is now over a week overdue. My apologies, I blame it on my fellow Canadian who figured he should give me all the video games he had. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mero%C3%AB As is popular amongst the UNMOs that come through Khartoum, 5 of us along with one of the Canada house security staff (brought for language assistance) made plans to visit the ancient Meroe Pyramids. The adventure begins days before we even leave. First we must get permission from the UN to travel within the country, this requires several documents to be signed and stamped by various people who don’t actually care. Then we were required to get permission from the Tourism Police and the Ministry of antiquities to visit the pyramids and take pictures. A quick aside, taking pictures of anything other than yourself and your ... read more

The majority of my time the past week and for the next while has been spent in and around Canada House or around the city. Canada house is a large 5 store house that has been divided into various “apartments” and common areas. The main floor houses our gym facilities and a common area with big screen TV and eating area. A step down from the main floor is the staff area for the national support element of the mission. The four floors above has apartments which each have their own kitchen, bathrooms, common area, and shared rooms with 1-4 beds per room. I am living in one of the two UNMO transient quarters. Currently I have a room to myself but this is likely to change as there are a few guys coming up for ... read more