Day 2 - 9/27

I turned out my light at 10:00 last night and the next thing I knew it was 9:00 this morning!  I had missed an early swim I had planned to take, missed breakfast, which I had paid for, and Angelo was coming in 30 minutes.  I barely had time to get dressed and "made up," before he arrived.  I was still groggy and definitely not on my best game, but had an appointment with representatives from USAID in Juba that I could not miss.  It was cloudy and cool - a nice morning to sit at the outdoor restaurant of the Rainbow Hotel.  The Rainbow is across the street "cattey corner" from the American Embassy, and frequented by those employees and other agencies that work with the Embassy. Three men were waiting for us when we arrived.  Angelo attended the meeting with me.  He is a former member of Parliament and knew one of the members of this group.  Two work directly for USAID and one for UNICEF.  I was interested in learning about the "Cluster" initiatives that exist in South Sudan.  There are nine Clusters, one of which is for Education, and since that is my focus in South Sudan, I wanted to learn about how it worked.   I won't go into detail, but the information was interesting and given in rapid-fire order - it was a challenge to keep up.  I have sent a report to my NGO that operates in Rumbek, where I will travel next week, in the hopes there is something I gleaned this morning that will be useful to us.  And I would be happy to share that information with anyone who might be interested.   And I was so "not with it," that I neglected to get a photo of this group - which I sincerely regret... It was 11:00 when we finished, and, having had no breakfast, I decided to eat lunch there.  Angelo and his driver, Chan, both had fried chicken and chips, but I ordered the Avocado salad pictured below.  I LOVE Avocados, and this salad was excellent!  The avocados served in South Sudan are HUGE - and this salad also had tomatoes and onions in a tasty vinaigrette.  Fresh baked bread was a perfect complement to this meal.   I barely got back to my room when it started to rain.  The pitter-patter of raindrops on a metal roof always makes me drowsy, so a nap was in order.  I am definitely in recovery mode today.  The laundry I had put outside my door before leaving for the meeting was delivered an hour later, my room cleaned, and I have been at work since.  My water bottle needed filling so I walked down to the restaurant and had my first look at the Nile River - high with all this rain - and one of my favorite vistas. I had dinner with a very nice gentleman who works for USAID in Juba and has a daughter in Virginia who is interested in becoming involved in humanitarian aid work.  We talked about all the things I am involved in this part of the world, and I think he got some good ideas for her.   It was Mexican night at AFEX, and I enjoyed a traditional meal with chicken, guacamole, salsa, and sour cream - delicious but really filling.  I am stuffed - will be up a while letting all this good food digest. Have a good day everybody! Blessings! Ellen