And I'm Off!

 

I never sleep well before I travel. It’s probably all of the anxiety I have over traveling. Even though I love it I still feel anxious. If I got 4 hours of sleep before getting up that would be lucky. I woke a lot during the night and felt very unrested but I expected this. The same thing happened when I went to Ireland 9 years ago.

Saying goodbye to my family is by far the hardest part of traveling like this. I hugged my dog goodbye at home (I cannot explain to him that I won’t be back for a while but I tried to get a few extra snuggles in). My whole family went with me to the airport and came with me to security. This is when I really struggled.

I am emotional person normally and I cry. I am proud that I mostly held myself together at the airport. I got in hugs and goodbyes when they walked me to the security line. I cried but not as much as I expected. I waved goodbye to my family after making it through security and headed to the gate.

My flights went off without issue. I survived the 14 hour flight without too many issues. I did have to get up several times to stretch my legs and walk around a bit. Thankfully everyone near me also was doing the same thing and we often chatted and talked while we stretched and walked to the various gally areas where we were allowed to stand and stretch.

I landed in Ethiopia. I slept maybe 2 hours on the plane. I had a six hour layover to wait for my next plan. I took 2 naps on the benches in the airport while I waited. There was not much else to do. The airport is small there and under construction. I did grab a burger from Burger King (Pizza Hut was also there) and waited for my next flight.

My last flight was about 1.5 hours and went smoothly. Ethiopian airlines makes sure to actually feed people food on the flight. I was very impressed with this. I sat next to a surgeon who was traveling for 4 months to South Sudan. Other people on the plane chatted and the flight was over shortly.

I flew in on a 737, so not a small plane at all, but you land on this relatively small air strip. The air strip is paved and there are several sized planes of various sizes on the tarmac. Notably there are several UN planes and at least one UN helicopter. There are United Nation signs all over the place here.

I arrived in Juba, South Sudan on Monday, after approximately 28 hours of travel. I was both exhausted and excited to finally be here. So much has been building up to coming here that it almost feels unreal finally stepping foot in South Sudan and being in the community.

Walking down the stairs to this new country I was greeted by the heat and sun of the day. Justin, one of the CMMB employees waited off to the side of the gated area for me. We had already texted earlier that day and I knew to look for him. After being checked by several members of airport staff that were assessing infectious disease potential and collecting the medical forms that were handed out on the plane, I went to security to process me into South Sudan.

I won’t go into a lot of detail about how this works but one needs to make sure they have their paperwork in order before they even get to security. It helps a lot. I had been warned about this and had what I needed. Also, because Justin was there it made getting through a lot easier since it is a bit confusing. 

People who came from the US or Canada did not have their bags delivered on this flight. They were back in Ethiopia. After being assured that my bags would come the next day and filling out paperwork on this, we headed out. We went to the CMMB car and drove to CMMB’s main office in Juba where I got to meet with more of my colleagues.

I chatted for a while but I was very tired. Since I really didn’t sleep much on the plane or in the airport I wanted an early night. We drove to the hotel and Justin dropped me off. I grabbed dinner and spent a very early night relaxing in my room. I got a much needed shower and checked in with my family.

On Tuesday Justin picked me up from the hotel. My paperwork for temporary emigration status was completed. We headed to the CMMB office. Here I once more met with Jacqueline, the head of the South Sudan office, and we started to discuss and plan more of my role here. There is so much that needs to be addressed but there is a lot that I cannot do in 6 months.

I spent a chunk of the day going through the different things I would like to do in my time at CMMB and some of the areas I plan on focusing on. Then Jacqueline and I went out to lunch.

She took me to a very cool restaurant on the edge of the Nile. There we could see different people using the river for different reasons. Some were bathing, others were doing laundry, and others were using at as a place to socialize.

There was also a boat that was half sunk in the water. It was actually pretty cool looking. After spending so many years in school learning about the Nile River it was incredible to actually see. The only thing I would have liked to see, though the people swimming would not have, was some crocodiles.

The rest of the day was spent doing little things. I finally got my two suitcases. They came in on the plane in the afternoon. I also had to do my money exchange. And spent a little more time in the office. I am still struggling with jet-lag so it was an early night.

On Wednesday I got up early and Justin brought me to the airport. There I met with another CMMB employee and we waited for our UN flight. The UN plane is tiny, maybe 20 seats in total. It was loud too but I listened to music. The flight was easy and only an hour long. I really enjoyed looking out the window while we flew. 

Finally, I arrived in Yambio. Yambio is much different from Juba. To start with there are no paved roads. All of them are dirt and some gravel. They are bumpy but that didn’t bother me. Even the runway is dirt.

I met several more people at the airport from CMMB. One of the doctors was leaving to go on break so I said hello and goodbye to him, then met up with some others. I spent more of the day meeting many of the CMMB employees and other people.

One of the things we did was drive around to different official offices and introduce myself to the different people. It was a formal way to tell them about my work and introduce them to me so that they knew what I was doing in Yambio and the other counties, and what some of my goals were. It also lays the groundwork for me to potentially work with some of these organizations.

I got further security briefings, all of which were actually very positive and good. I expanded some of the plans I hope to act on for CMMB. I did a lot of research. There was quite a lot of time spent in the office throughout the morning and afternoon furthering my plans.

Finally, I went to the UN compound. It is very large and I really don’t know my way around yet. My current apartment is a mini-studio apartment. I have a bed, desk, mini kitchen and bathroom. It is very basic but it is safe and comfortable here. I do not know if this is where I will stay for my entire time or if I will adjust my living a little once I have a better game-plan for my volunteer time.

Hopefully I will know more soon and have more of a plan soon. I hope to also catch up on sleep and get over some of the jetlag that I am experiencing. Tomorrow should be another busy day and I have lots to do. I am looking forward to it though!