Only One Week?!

I can't believe that I have only been in Nyala for one week tomorrow. It feels like I have been here for at least a month. That would mean that I have accomplished very little but I still feel like I have been here forever. I have only been in Sudan for 12 days! Mozambique feels like it was forever ago. I miss my friends there a whole lot. Thank goodness for cheap phone calls with Skype or I would be in big trouble.

Things are going well here. I'm still trying to get a handle on the programs and their budgets. That part has taken much longer than I had expected. I have a great assistant here that I would be lost without. His name is John. He is really smart and also a lot of fun. Often we get distracted and start talking about all aspects of life here in Sudan. I think we will become good friends over the next year.

Getting used to living with 7 new people is probably the biggest adjustment. I am very thankful that I have my own room to get away to. They all seem like great people but you have to have some boundries or you could end up bashing heads more than you mean to. Different people have different levels of cleanliness (and mine is one of the cleaner levels believe it or not), different preferances for pets (there are two dirty dogs that some of the team call pets), and different items of conversation that people enjoy (I won't even go into this). So your own room is a must in this environment.

I have entered NGO world. Every white land cruiser driving down the road is plastered with the various NGO logos. I have seen more white people in the last week than I would see in an average month in Mozambique. When you introduce yourself around town as you meet these other aid workers adding your NGO to the end of your name is a must. So I would say "Angie-SP" and they would respond "Jeff-ICRC" or "Sarah-MSF". The first time it happened to me I had to hold back the laughter. It's just such a different world here.

But all in all I think I am adjusting well. I'm slow at learing Arabic but the staff are patient with me and insist on teaching me a new word everday even though I forget it five minutes after they teach me. I love being here and still looking forward to this year and the adventures I know it will bring.