The pros and cons of living in Juba

Some other practicalities of living here ...

Everything in Juba is really expensive. Hotels are ridiculous - a minimum of $100 a night, and some of them are pretty average. At least beer is cheap (depending on where you buy it). Wine is much more expensive, even though its only coming from South Africa. I was warned, but I have still been surprised. 

The South Sudanese Pound (SDG) is officially worth about USD1:2.65, but at the ‘Custom Market’ you can get about 1:4. Not bad! Eating your lunch at western establishments will cost you about 40SDG, but if you go local - meat, beans, greens, typhoid (often Kenyan or Ugandan food) - it will cost you 5-10. And of course if you make the effort to go to the market you'll get it cheaper. Konyo-Konyo market is an amazing, crowded, jumbled mix of people, fresh fruit and veg imported from Uganda, slabs of meat, guys selling phone credit, second hand clothes and general household items from China. No matter where you go in the world, there's always a market!

In Juba it seems you can buy everything you need, so I’m interested to see just how limited (and more expensive!) things are once I get to Rumbek. Hopefully their market is just as bright and bustling as Konyo-Konyo.

We have our food catered for us at the guesthouse. It makes life easy, but it also makes you lazy, and you don't have to find out things like where the local supermarket is, or learn how much things cost. In some ways I'd prefer to shop and cook for myself. We've had a good range of food so far - a variety of vegies, meat, rice, chapati etc - so its all available here, but at a price! I'm enjoying the variety of food while I can... but am not looking forward to no vegetables (until the ones I grow myself are ready... Way to combat boredom in Rumbek #1).

One thing I find frustrating is having to rely on an Oxfam vehicle to get around. It limits your freedom; I'd much rather be able to drive, but due to the security risks (getting stopped at check points by drunk/cocky Sudanese Police Officers, or being involved in a car crash) its not worth it. We have one 'duty driver' available after work and on the weekends, so if we want to go somewhere we have to call him/her (yes we have a female driver and her name is Jackie!) to pick us up and drop us off every time. I can walk to the office in about 45 minutes, but as I don't know the town yet I'm not very confident. Town planning isn't the South Sudanese Government's strong point either...so it's easy to get lost. A pushbike would be great here, not only so you can actually get some exercise, but especially for the backstreets; on the main roads I don't know if I would trust the drivers, especially the SPLA cars which drive in the middle of the road (apparently drunk, if you go by cynical expat comments). I am definitely going to get a bike in Rumbek; its a smaller town so it should be easier to get around, plus I'll go stir crazy without some form of exercise.

There is a large expat community here, but I didn’t realise quite how large until last night when patronising a local establishment called Bedouin Bar. My Oxfam colleagues, Niall and Christian, and I were sat watching Aston Villa vs Newcastle on their big white sheet of a TV screen when all of a sudden the place was packed with a bunch of mostly white westerners. They had all been down the road at the Juba stadium watching or playing in a rugby match (Northern vs Southern Hemisphere; I am happy to report that the South won) and had congregated back at the pub for post-match drinks. I think I may have laid eyes on almost all of the expats in Juba! I found it a little overwhelming and somewhat bemusing. It was just like being at home drinking at the pub (apart from the mixture of accents, most of which seem to be American, Canadian and British). It's also all a bit contrived; I don't like the fact that people introduce themselves as Oxfam/Save The Children/UN/'I've worked in X countries', instead of themselves as people - it's all a bit competitive.  

Still, the upside is that there's ALWAYS a party going on, or people to hang out with. And I think when I'm back in Juba from Rumbek, it will make a nice change from the bush. Ahh civilisation!