I've had so much fun over the last few weeks. As I write this from Juba where I'm spending my last week in South Sudan, I've finally had a chance to sit down and think about it all. My head is full of a mix of sadness, regret, relief, excitement and happiness as I count down the days until I go home.
I'm in Juba participating in a UNICEF workshop which has been really contstructive; but I've felt a bit removed from it, knowing that I'm participating in future plans for something I won't be involved in - well, not in my current role.
The sadness is for the people and the place I've left behind in Rumbek - my khawaja buddies, Oxfam workmates and colleagues from other NGOs, the basketball boys and my neighbours, plus the communities in the different towns and villages in which we worked. I'm also going to miss the public health team in Maban, who I worked very little with during the last six months of my time in South Sudan, but whom became my colleagues and friends and who I shared a very difficult transition with - from a development situation to an emergency one. There are the lovely staff in the Juba office - both khawaja and locals; many of the international staff have been my social lifeline when I've been in Juba, and everyone has been so friendly and welcoming whenever I've passed through. I'll definitely also miss my good buddy from uni, Rach, who has been working in Juba for the UN - and was my partner in crime whenever I was in the big city.
I've also met a number of Kenyans, South Sudanese and Ugandans in Juba who have become my friends, ranging from the staff at the Intra Africa hotel, where I spent a lot of my riverside time, to members of the Ugandan community that lived near our guesthouse.
One of the Kenyan guys is also my gorgeous man, with whom I will be spending a week in Kenya before I go home. I will definitely miss him, so much so that I'm contemplating getting a job back in South Sudan or Kenya. I'm torn between working in Australia and being a 'normal' person again, and working back in the aid world - where he is - with which I'm quite disillusioned. Only time will tell whether it's going be possible.
During my last weekend in Juba, the office threw a Christmas party for staff, we went to see a Congolese band, I hung by the pool at Jebel Lodge with my friend Maie, and then hit up a party at Central Pub. It was all very fun and topped off with dinner together with three lovely Oxfam colleagues at Notos restaurant, somewhere I'd never been but had the best food I'd ever eaten in Juba. Sweet!
As for the weeks before, I had such a busy time trying to finish everything, but a super fun time with the crew. We farewelled one of our Italian friends, Fabio, with an Italian meal and some nice wine at Safari Style with the Rumbek khawaja crew - including some visiting and resident Italians who were part of the plot! Of course the night ended up with us in the pool.
We regularly danced our butts off on Friday nights at the recently discovered Lulu Bar within the UNMISS compound, where I discovered where all a whole community of khawajas were hiding out ... why you'd want to live your life working overseas but never leave the safety of your compound to discover the country you're working on, beats me.
And of course we killed our boredom with days and nights at Safari Style, watching rugby, watching movies, chilling by the pool on weekends, having a beer or sharing a meal at the bar, and most enjoyably having brunch together on a Saturday morning, often nursing a hangover and laughing over the previous night's shenanigans.
For my last weekend in Rumbek, we finally got around to doing some things we'd planned for ages ... all combined into two days! We threw a Rumbek Market Wear party for my farewell, where everyone's costumes had to be procured from the market - with some hilarious consequences, particulary due to the awesome combination of bling formal wear and ultra-short Dinka mini-dresses. We had decorated the pool area with Chinese lanterns and candles, and it looked beautiful, and gone on various adventures to buy our costumes for the evening. Couldn't have wished for a more fun send-off with such a great bunch of people!
We even made sushi on Sunday afternoon, which involved taking over Safari's kitchen (much to the bemusement of Macharia the chef, and Daniel the waiter, who had both never seen sushi before and who were clearly wondering what this strange food concotion actually was and why anyone would do that to rice!). It had been an idea long in the making, but upon the eating part, one we agreed was a rather genius idea. A long, lazy afternoon of swimming and eating ensued, a perfect way to finish my last weekend in town.
My last evening was made all the more special with a home cooked meal at the IRC compound by Mags and Becker, together with Ollie. They have been three of my closest companions in Rumbek and I will definitely miss them! A few wines, some pasta, some chocolate, fun music and random discussions were definitely the order of the evening.
Come Tuesday morning it was a bit of a teary farewell, with me running crazily up and down to finish things off and get around to everyone - Oxfam, basketball buddies and neighbours alike - for goodbyes. Ollie and Luciana came to the airport to see me off, which was lovely - even though I knew I was going to see them for one last fun evening in Nairobi a week later! Even Bertrand turned up to see me off, the sweet Frenchman he is, but as I'd been put on an earlier flight I just missed out on giving him a goodbye hug.
I must admit I had tears rolling down my cheeks as I looked back one last time before Rumbek faded away into the distance. My second home was now behind me. But once I had dried my tears, I had a few days in Juba, a few days in Nairobi and homecoming all to look forward to. The tears were soon replaced with a smile.
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