An Empty House

I wanted to return back to Sudan so badly that when I learned heavy snow storm was zeroing in on the day of my flight, I had to be very smart about it. Changing flight time became an added item to my already overbooked things-to-do list. I had stayed up a few nights before the night of my flight—but one more night would not hurt. I called to check with the United Airline a possibility of beating storm out of Boston to District of Colombia, D.C. for my connection flight. In deed, there was a slot on the 7 o’clock flight—and I said to the agent, “I would like to have that…I can not afford to miss my international flight out of D.C.”. When I landed in D.C I realized I had just less than 10 hours to kill before my next flight. I called my cousin from Richmond VA and he agreed to come get me so we can go hang out in Arlington VA—to go meet some Sudanese in the area. I ate a sizzling Ethiopian food for lunch; we were all so happy to catch up again. He and his friends dropped me off at Dulles International Airport to continue my long journey. Since, I do not usually sleep well on the plane I started reading “Three Cups of Tea”. Great book! In fact, I may use the scene where villagers carry on their backs school’s construction materials that were cut off by a landslide that blocked the road. It shows me a resilience of and contribution by the local villagers in Afghanistan toward development projects once their trust in outside support is obtained. While in the air and our plane had reached the level of stability, flights attendances started offering dinner: I passed that on. I still was comfortable with the Ethiopia food I had earlier. Security check in Heathrow Airport was a little stressful as I was already used to this kind of routine. The last time I was here, I could not understand the logical behind security to check for the connecting passengers, who had just gotten off one plane in order to board another one short thereafter. I guess I will never understand why. But one can only draw a conclusion; they do this because they are Brits. It is the very same reason why they chose to partition Africa in such a puzzling way! I waited at the terminal for the gate of my flight to be assigned. “KA 103 Nbi will board at gate 14”, the board reads. I wheeled my carry-on to the gate. The boarding would not take place for almost another one hour. No reason for delay was announce. I began to think the African time is in our DNA, including our Airlines. In the process of frustration, I noticed that my boarding pass does not say my seating. So, I decided to check with the gate attendant. She told me I was not check in: I should go back the Kenya Airways’ service desk to be checked in. I did as told. Now we were on our way to Jombo Kenyatta International Airport. We our time of arrival by about 30 minutes: if there were air traffic police, we probably would have gotten a speeding ticket. I needed a transit VISA and, at the service desk, the agents were incredibly slow. This man kept speaking on the phone while we wait in line in rows of 4-5! The other gentleman kept bringing people from behind to be served at the side ways. I guess I need to stay at the end of the line and be willing to pay extra for an expedited service. When are we going to change this behavior! Anyways, I got to the front line finally and bought my transit visa so I can sleep for a few hours before my next flight to Juba, Southern Sudan. I got to Juba and now felt a commoner to the place. I saw George at the airport, again. He welcomed me back home as he did the last time. But, the only difference this time is that I was like an acquaintance to him. He even asked if I brought something for him for Christmas. Of course, I did not. I told him, I did not expect to see him again this time. He understood. I proceeded to the check in desk, where I was again automatically given the Sudanese sign in sheet. I really wanted to sign in there this time. But the problem was where would I get the rest of information needed to fill in the form? I have no Sudanese passport. Nor do I have a permanent address here in Juba. So, I politely asked for the foreigner sign in sheet in order to show my legal existence. Since we (Winrock International) are in between programs here in Juba, our facility has no drivers to come pick me up at the airport. I was instructed to pick up keys for the facility from the security company. I looked around for the taxi, but could not see any. So, Kuol, a friend I made when we were in line for boarding in Kenya, decided to give me a ride. We got lost. So I called Steve, the security person and gave him over to talk to my friend. We made a U-turn back toward the airport then to the side road. It looked like I had already given my friend enough hard times so I asked the security people to give me a ride to my final destination instead. They graciously agreed. This turned out to be a great move on my part as we later on discovered I was given wrong keys. This would have given Kuol enough reason to never ever offer a ride to strangers! When I entered our guesthouse, it looked completely deserted; it is an empty house. I went around unlocking rooms and not finding any bedding. I opened what I thought was a store with a key rightly leveled, but there was nothing in it. The guesthouse manager is a Kenyan and had gone back to spend Christmas with her family. I do not blame her for that. After all, it is the very same reason I am rushing back here so I can spend my first ever Christmas holiday with my family in 21 years! But, it is probably a good reason I should mention thinking about having a Sudanese guesthouse’ manager or assistant manager, to man this facility while expatriates leave for their countries, as a possibility to my boss. The day, I came I called my cousin who has a car and he promised to come so I can go get some items to use for the time I am here. Unluckily, his car broke down! And Juba being what it is, I had no choice but walk to places closer to our compound. Now, I have his wife’s gift that I brought. But, since I am not going to see them, she will have to wait till when I return from Bor. It is amazing how difficult it is to go around here in Juba when you are new to the area and have no means of transportation. I guess you have got the gist of it. This is it for now, till next time I am back from the village in Bor, to give you more updates on me and the Sudan. I wish everyone Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year!!