July 4th, 2008
I’m back, I’m safe, and I’m so happy.
You know in the movies when someone has a near-death experience they see everything with a new light. They smell the flowers and marvel at the beauty around them. I’ve been doing that since getting back. My amazing wife brought Mt. Dew and Rice Krispy treats to the airport when she picked me up, and they tasted wonderful. My bed is the most comfortable bed in the world. And get this, We’ve had power and Internet ever since I got back, it’s amazing! 
Ok, I’ve got a lot of unpacking to do. Both literally and figuratively. I’ll try to post some of my more interesting video when I get it all sorted out.
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July 1st, 2008
I can’t mention names here, but I think everyone I mention will know who they are.
To the two people that welcomed me in like family (and the third that came later), thank you. Movie nights and silly conversations about deer are some of the only things that made the heat and flies and sickness bearable. Inviting me to brunches and volleyball with you were a kindness that I will never forget. I will always consider you as wonderful friends that I made on the other side of the earth. If you’re ever in the Seattle area, you have an open home waiting for you.
Again, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
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July 1st, 2008
The last few days kind of just blurred together in the end. I’ll try to piece it all together here, but I lost track of what happened on which day.
On the technology front, the server is installed and working fine, most of the laptops are in good shape and the person who will be the local network administrator is all trained and well prepared. Even though I don’t think she completely feels that way. Seriously, for someone that’s never been to school for technology anything, she’s a quick study and really has a knack for this stuff.
On the not-technology side, I got to go to the local market and pick out a Jalabia (the white robe thing they wear in Darfur) for myself. That was quite an experience. The market looks like any street fair you’ve been to, if it was assembled in the ruins of an old building complex in the middle of a desert with scraps of whatever could be found. There were vendors selling anything from radios to old shoes. And of course I was the only white face for a half mile in any direction.
I’m in Khartoum now. My flight out of here leaves in just over 24 hours, then it’s another 24ish hours of airplanes and waiting for airplanes. Then I’m home. I miss home so much…
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June 29th, 2008
I have only a few minutes here at WHO, so I can’t explain too much, but needless to say, we didn’t have Internet at the office today, and now I’m guessing that we aren’t likely to have it before I leave. So the next time I’m likely to have any kind of Internet will be my stop in Khartoum on Tuesday. I fly out on Wednesday and won’t have access again until Thursday night.
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June 28th, 2008
We spent the morning just hanging out. I slept in till 10 and listened to my music for an hour or so. It’s been nice. Then we came into the office and did some rearranging to find a spot for the server. We also found a new power cord for the DSL modem and we’re back on the Internet again. Nothing much more exciting yet, I’ll try to post a part 2 when I get access again. (Probably tomorrow)
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June 28th, 2008
Today is Friday, which is a day off. Work weeks here are Sunday through Thursday. So we went back to Save the Children for brunch. It was a great breakfast and a fun time.
Later in the day a couple of us went into the office to try to get a few things done, but just about the time I got there my stomach started flipping. I’ll spare you the details, but I had to return without getting much done and spent most of the rest of the day in bed or in the bathroom.
For a bit I sat out on the porch and was surprised by another Haboob (sand storm). There’s nothing quite like looking at a blue sky, then looking again and finding it brown.
So you don’t worry, I’m doing fine now. They say it’s quite normal when people come to Darfur for the first time to have gastro-intestinal problems.
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June 28th, 2008
As mentioned in my previous post, we got access to the Internet late in the day. However, there was a bit of a problem when everyone tried to access it at the same time. About 30 minutes later the power adapter over-heated and stopped working. It was fun while it lasted.
So we went back to the Sultan house and watched Zoolander, another movie in the “desperate for entertainment” category.
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June 26th, 2008
For the first time in a week, we have Internet at the office. I really hope it lasts through the rest of my trip.
That’s all. I’m headed back to the guest house, maybe we’ll have Internet there too.
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June 26th, 2008
Started to Join Laptops to the network today. New problems are cropping up, but nothing that I can’t deal with. Good news in the evening, we found bottled water. The guy in charge of that stuff here bought 15 cases and promised to buy 300 more if the guy can find them. You have no idea how important that is and how happy everyone is.
Tonight we watched “Surf’s Up” and about 20 minutes unto it had to stop. The most incredible lightning storm arose and we walked out into the street to watch. Litterally lighting was zapping between the clouds constantly, leaving only a few seconds of darkness inbetween each flash. When we got boared of that we finished up the movie and went to bed.
Not much else to report.
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June 26th, 2008
I got the server working just fine. Not that I’m not having any other troubles, but at least that one’s behind me.
In the evening we took a walk up to the top of the “mountain”. Of course out here what they call a mountain is what most Washingtonians call a speed bump. Seiously, it was a small hill outside of town, maybe 100 feet to the top, 200 max. But from up there you can see the whole city, and you can see some of the nearby villiages too. I got some descrete video.
After that we sat down and watched “This is Spinal Tap”. Yeah, they’re desperate for entertainment around here.
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