Back in Khartoum, once again

Once again I am in Khartoum - today was supposed to be a full day in the big city, but due to the meeting in Juba I only got a few hours in town.

I'm really looking forward to my leave now. I know it's really not that long since my last one, but it'll be nice to be home for Easter and get early spring in Norway.

As for yesterdays hush-hush... the cat is out of the bag now, so I may speak more freely. Yesterday all the other Norwegian military personnel in southern Sudan meet with the Norwegian Minister of Defense, who was on a fact finding tour with a view to what Norway can provide if/when a new mission in South Sudan is rolled out. Very interesting, very worthwhile and better by far than sitting a whole day in Khartoum.

Back at the Norwegian House

The worst part of travel is the waiting... and the waiting... and the waiting.

The flights themselves were pretty okay - the short jump from Oslo to Amsterdam was mostly lost in zoning out, while the longer trek from Amsterdam to Khartoum was spent watching movies on the tiny screen in the seat in front of me. First out was "Master and Commander", while the second was the horrible animated "Lord of the Rings"... you either have to be really tired or possible have smoked something illegal to enjoy that movie. Good thing I was that tired...

Due to the fact that the AdmOff was off on a farewell dinner, I and the other UNMO who arrived tonight had to grab a taxi to get to the Norwegian House... even if we up until today have been told to never do that. Lets just say someone is going to hear about that later...

Time to grab some sleep - have to get up way to early tomorrow to grab the flight to Juba and on towards Yei.

Homeward bound

The first stage of my travel home on leave is done... was done yesterday, in fact. The flight out of Yei was okay... so okay in fact that I spent most of the flight zoned out and halfway sleeping.
It is interesting in it's own way; the first flight I had in one of the ruskie helicopters was exciting since it was so different from the helicopters I'm used to, the second and third was great since I could see the lay of the land properly... but now it's just an opportunity for a quick nap.
The flight from Juba to Khartoum I spent reading for the most part - when I didn't have to show off my ebook reader that is. And once in Khartoum my bag was on the belt almost before I was ready for it, so that part went smooth too. The AdmOff was there to pick me up, and take me to the oases that is the Norwegian House...
The BBQ was already heating up when I got there, with piles of food waiting along with three recently arrived Norwegian Staff Officers. Good food, lots of it, and good talk... I ate way to much, but the AdmOff likes to see his hospitality appreciated in such tangible ways so that worked out well.
My plans for my day i Khartoum is simple - first I'll go back to napping for a bit longer (the prayer calls woke me up early), then I'll do a couple of errands, and then I'll pack my bag and get to the airport.

Back from leave

Traveling can be stressful... even more so when pretty much all of Europe features closed airports, delays, cancellations, unhelpful helpers and other yule tide fun.

In short, due to the weather Frankfurt decided to close down and cancel all flight. Anyone remember that disaster flick "Airport"? Where the snow just comes piling down, the airplanes keeps circling and no one gets the bright idea to reroute? That's probably what they wanted to avoid - along with London's airports, Paris, Amsterdam and so on and so forth.

Luckily, even if SAS was anything but helpful today, VIA Travel (who is on contract with the Norwegian Armed Forces) pulled an amazing stunt and managed to get me rerouted... via Milan and Cairo. Granted, I arrived in Khartoum just in time to have a quick shower and head over to the UN Airport, but still...

Flying to Milan was slightly surreal... I was the only passenger in Business Class (which means that I got food, unlike the 'cattle' in identical seat behind the curtain.). The stewardess simply could not do enough for me, and even less so when she heard that I would not be home for Christmas. Offers of drinks and more drinks, two sets of pillows (I gently declined her offer of more), leaving the coffee pot in the seat next to me... Where the SAS personnel at Gardemoen had failed miserably in their service, the SAS stewardess more than made up for it. She was also quite interested to hear about Sudan and the UN Mission there... from what I gathered the son of a friend of hers is currently in Afghanistan, so I guess she could relate and compare.

Apart from the stellar service aboard, the flight was uneventful. All of Europe as far as I could see was covered in clouds, with just the very tips of the Alps sticking up through the cloud cover. Once below the clouds, what I could spot of northern Italy is flat, have a dusting of snow, and isn't nowhere as cold as Norway was. As for the airport... meh. It's an airport, and I'm just passing through. The cappuccino was pretty darn awesome though - but that would been more of a surprise if it wasn't.

From Milan to Cairo was, well, less impressive than the first leg, even if the seat was wider. The food was decent enough (two course dinner - a salmon salad for starters and filled chicken for main course), but nothing more than that... for being business class it was less impressive than Lufthansa's Economy class. I guess Egyptair just isn't in quite the same class as the Big Boys... or, alternatively, they don't rely on their business class passengers to line their pockets. To top of the experience, we were an hour late in taking off from Milan, so naturally we arrived an hour late as well. Plain awesome - if I've been on vacation I might even become annoyed with it. Since I was traveling on duty, it was just a case of 'meh' - I can't really be bothered to care to much when I'm traveling on someone else dime.

As for Cairo Airport... it's probably a great place to go to or eave from, but if I can possible avoid it I won't use it for a transit ever again. The place is huge, sprawling and impossible to navigate - partly because the terminals are so far apart you need a car and driver to get between them! So I spent about one hour waiting at the first transit desk, then a half hour driving around the airport with an armed guard, and then... well, lets just say more waiting was involved. All in all my planned four hour, fifty minute layover was reduced to just shy of one hour once I was past the transit check in...

Oh well... such is life. At least I had time to give my better half a call and get a large cappuccino - no where as yummy as the cup I enjoyed in Milano, but after almost three hours of not knowing what was going on it was certainly welcome. Checking in was reasonable painless, but had it's pointless parts, like sending our carry on through an X-ray machine with no operator...

Once aboard the Kenya Airway flight my mood improved considerably - happy, smiling Africans greeting us (just like the Africans I know from Yei), good seats (even if I was behind the curtain), clean and inviting interior... I can see why the airline calls itself the Pride of Africa. One of the stewards offered me to switch uniforms, and I must admit that his bright red dress jacket and black pants was stylish. Had I been even more sleepy I might been tempted to take him up on it, despite the fact that he would have to serve the hot snack in fatigues.

The hot snack was pretty good too - better than the chicken I got from Milan to Cairo, but less good than the spread of Christmas specialties I got on the first leg of my flight - a pretty decent beef stew with rice. The bun was stale, off course, but I don't think it's humanly possible to serve a truly fresh bun in flight.

Arrving at Khartoum I blew through the airport in twenty minutes, quite probably setting a new record for Norwegian UNMOs. No hazzle with the passport, no hazzle with the luggage, no hazzle with customs - I actually had to wait for the car instead of the other way around. The Norwegian House is still an oasis for us, and it felt great to kick my shoes off, grab a soda and shoot the shit with the AdmOff for a little while. But only a little while, since with my plane leaving in the wee hours of the morning, I barely had time to shower, change clothes and repack my bag - grabbing a couple of things I left in Khartoum on my way out and putting some things away in the Norwegian House for safekeeping... things like my travel uniform and heavy fleece jacket. It was nice to have in Norway, but I dont think I'll need it in Yei.

The flights from Khartoum to Yei was almost routine compared to the mess that was my fights too Khartoum - simply meet up at the UN terminal, get my MOP form stamped, say hello to the airport-kitty and have a coffee... and then snooze on the flight to Juba. Rinse and repeat for the helicopter flight from Juba to Yei, only taking a break from snoozing while landing in Torrit so I could get some fresh air and a chat with a Norwegian UNPOL.

Off course once back, I barely had time to put my bags in my container before I had to dive into work... in addition to my duties as G1 and D/TSL, I'm also filling in as Acting G3 for a while since the G3 went to his leave with the very same helicopter I arrived on. There is no rest for the wicked, and apparently not for an UNMO either. So yeah, I'm back in Yei. I dearly wish I had managed a longer leave, but I enjoyed the days I did get very much.

Observations along a luggage conveyor belt

First off... I'm back in Khartoum. No training course this time - I'm on my way home on my first leave!

Anyhow, the UN flight from Juba arrived in Khartoum just after a domestic flight - meaning off course that our luggage arrived on the conveyor belt late. After a while down here you get used to make a bit of observations, and I woud like to share the three tiers of luggage I spotted.

• First there is the affluent style, which seemed to be picked up from the belt by well off people: Pile all your belongings on a carpet, fold and roll it up and wrap a belt around it.
• One step down, and commonly picked up by what to me looked like the upper middle class: Take a huge shopping bag, cram everything into it and close it up with duct tape.
• Lastly, and in large numbers: Scour the neighborhood for a cardboard box, preferable beaten up. Cram it so full the sides almost split, then wrap some twine around it and call it done.

Yeah... to quote Dorothy: We're not in Kansas no more.

Last day in Khartoum - again

And I'm not sad to leave. True enough, the Brrrsta Caramellos are good; but Khartoum compared to Yei is dusty, crowded, hot and expensive.

The training class covered - in theory - most needed subjects. However, the class suffered from the same faults as induction training: lack of facilities (25 students in a room 5m square, one barely working A/C), lack of instructor training for the instructors (the guys doing a particular job isn't always the best guy to teach a class in the subject) and lack of English skills (for both instructors and students). Still, I got my diploma and a few days in Khartoum - I'm not complaining too much.

Land of riches - almost

In Khartoum you have the only real Mall in Sudan - the Afra Mall. If they is something no one else has in Sudan, chances are good that you can find it there.

Small bug zapper, not so much... just large ones. But I dont need a large one, just a camping model - my container is smaller than most RVs.

Far from a wasted trip though - I got away with a small stash of needed items, in addition to some bags of salted nuts. Not too much - a pair of bowls for preparing foods (beans needs soaking...), a knife for slicing vegetables and other stuff, and a thing of bullion.

Back in Khartoum

The UN handles passengers on their flight much like any other cargo: in an ad-hoc fashion. Forget stuff like public announcements in the lounge, any facilities in said lounge and assigning seats in advance... then it wouldn't be chaotic enough. But, just like the other cargo, you will arrive at our designation, on time and with your luggage. Perhaps other airlines could learn a thing or two from the UN in that regard?

I got back to the Norwegian House, and walked straight into a welcome dinner. Apparently the AdmOff and the two others who live in the house permanently though it so nice to have visitors again that they pulled out all the stops - fresh salad, rice, chicken and beef on the barbie, the works. Makes me happy to be back here, just for a few days.

Training starts tomorrow at 0900, meaning I get to sleep in. And that means I can take advantage of the good internet at the Norwegian House to finally get the videos from the Hindu festival last Sunday uploaded - stay tuned!

So long Khartoum!

In a few short hours I'll be on my way to the airport to grab a flight to Juba... wont be back in Khartoum until I'm passing by on leave.

It's with mixed feelings I see my stay here at the Norwegian House come to an end... in one way it's sad, because the AdminOff does a very, very good job at making us feel welcome here - making the House a little safe haven in a strange and confusing city.

On the other hand... our training is done, and the last couple of days have been spent waiting, waiting and waiting. Not that Brrrista Caramellos at the local coffee shop is a bad thing, but one cant really have more than one a day. I at least reach a point where there is little more to do than simply kill time... at least I've had good company for shooting the shit with.

So I guess this is the end of the first chapter of my African Adventure - tomorrow the next part begins!

Once again, Yay internets!

It was a couple of days tracking down information, but we found a ISP that supplies mobile internetwebs in the part of Sudan I'm heading too in the morning.

Reasonable cheap too - 90 Sudanese pound a month, and since I prepaid three months in advance, I got the dongle for free. The installation was simple enough, and the surfing speed is quite good (I'm posting this using my shiny new dongle). The downside so far is that I have to use it under WinXP, which runs slowly on my Eee - mostly because I am running it off a USB stick. I guess finding our how to run it either under PuppEee OS or the Xandros my Eee shipped with is my long term mission - if I choose to accept it.

More later - it's time to do the last of the packing.

Getting my stuff in order

On Sunday I will - hopefully - fly down to Juba, where I will - again hopefully - be able to finish checking into the sector so I'm ready to fly on to Yei on Monday. If I wont be able to finish my check in, the options is to press on the Team Site and try to deal with it from there, or stay in Juba and try to catch the flight o Wednesday. At any rate I had to pack my bag, do my laundry and so on and so forth.

But, I still had time to grab a couple of short videos, using a little loophole in the law: It is legal to photograph within your place of residence.

Khartoum Skyline

Tour of the Norwegian House

Yay internets!

The internet went down on tuesday. Thursday we learned that the reason was that the ISP had gone out of business - welcome to Africa. The upside is that our AdmOff has done some outstanding work, and the new ISP has a fatter pipe for us.

Tuesday we more or less finished the paperwork at UNMIS HQ - except getting the MOP (Movement Of Peronell) stamped by MovCom. Wedensday morning saw that taken care off. Wedensday was also the day for buying the last needed supplies, including a small pot and prying pan, a few tins of bean stew, a bag of rice and two smaller bags of lentils, Along with the stovetop I aqquired the first day I was down here and the small mountain of dried foodstuff I allready have, I should be well sett for going deeper into the dark continent.

Thursday was the day set aside for dropping off our gear at MovCom, and getting our CMR (Cargo Movement Request) signed and stamped. On the way bcak from MovCon our AdmOff topped by DHL to fetch a package - the BBQ he ordered from Norway a couple of weeks ago. I spendt a fun hour getting my hands on tools again, assembling the Weber into a fully working food carbonizer while the AdmOff went hunting for a new ISP. By the time he got back I was finished, and along with a couple of the others he and I went to a coffee bar he had been told about. Nice place, quite western. Apart from the customers one might as well be in Norway or the US.

And yes, they did serve Caramellos... ice coffee with vanilla ice and caramell sause. Mmmmmmhmm! Definitly have to go there again - soon. Very soon.

With the training done, our paperwork in order and our cargo shipped, there simply isn't muh more that needs doing. On Friday some of the guys might hit the Greek Club - a combo fitness center, pool and place to hang out in the sun - but with my lack of love for sunbathing I'll probably skip that. It's simply not tempting to lay on my back in the sun and listen to my brain boiling.

The new BBQ had to be properly baptized, so a quick trip to the grocery store was the last thing on the list before sunset. And when the worst heat had dissipated (ie:  it was below 40C), we fired up the barbie and slapped some meat on it. Good times, even if I'm stuffed to the gills - again.

One BBQ in pieces

 One BBQ, not in pieces no more.

 A little sweaty, but y'know, it's more than 45C in the -ing shade.

 It's a well known fact that BBQ are guy magnets.

So full... but once out on a team site it's going to be slim pickings.

Last day of training / visit by the Commander National Joint Headquarters

Today was the last day of induction training - which was the 'first day' we missed almost two weeks ago. Kind of funny to hear the introduction to the course we were just about done with... As the other days, it was some good lessons, some less so and one missing completely. In other words, business as normal.

The afternoon was less normal - the Commander National Joint Headquarters (General Brovold) is making a tour of the mission, and as part of his tour he wanted to meet us over a cup of coffee for a free and honest exchange... what we think  about the mission, the support from home, the future of Sudan and many, many other things. As often happens when Norwegians meet over a cup of good, strong, black coffee, the talk was lively, unstructured and quite engaged. Brovold certainly seems to have both his feet on the ground, as we say in Norway, and what little laundry we had was hung out rather quickly, leaving us plenty of time to talk about our expectations from the mission, our thoughts on the referendum and the pros and cons of the various forms of malaria prophylaxis.

Later in the evening we all - that is us UNMOs, the NSE (National Support Element - aka our AdmOff) as well as General Brovold and his retinue - was treated to dinner... and what a dinner: the buffet at a local four star hotel. I'm stuffed to the gills.

Tomorrow we'll sleep in a bit - and then we'll start chasing after forms and signatures for sending our gear as well as traveling too our respective team sites.

Repackaging my boxes

The nice thing about talking to people down here is that you quickly learn what you didn't need to bring, as well as what you really, really ought to have taken with you.

So today I pulled a few things out of my boxes that I could have left at home - the AdmOff has a shelf for us to store bags and boxes on, so we can bring things home on first leave. I also taken the time to unpack my field rations and repackage them into about 2/3rds of the space. The real benefit of that isn't the space saved (I got plenty of room in my big box), nor the fact that I could sift out the stuff I don't want*, but that I could organize like items with each other and that I would learn what dry goods I actually have.

 One of my field rations, pulled at random. 5000 kcal in a portable package, just add water.

Close up of the label. This ration is clearly a Tropical Menu #4... whatever that is.

The first 3rd of the ration, breakfast:

• Sunshine cereal w/ cantaloupe
• Energy bar
• Energy drink
• Cocoa
• Biscuits
• Jam
• Candy
• Coffee
• Chewing gum
• Wet wipe
• Chlorine tablet

Second 3rd, lunch:

• Sweet'n sour chicken
• Energy bar
• Energy drink
• Cocoa
• Biscuits
• Fish spread
• Raisins
• Coffee
• Chewing gum
• Wet wipe
• Chlorine tablet

Last 3rd, the dinner:

• Cod and potato stew
• Energy bar
• Energy drink
• Black currant drink
• Raisings
• Coffee
• Chewing gum
• Wet wipe
• Chlorine tablet

*) Hard candy? No thanks!

A taste of Sudan

Two other UNMOs came by the Norwegian House today, on their way home on leave. Since neither had eaten, and nor had any of us living at the House, they suggested going to a place they knew...

A quick glance at the menu, and I know what I wanted: Under the heading 'Sudanese Specialties" was several intriguing dishes.. I ended up ordering Shaiaa - cubes of lamb fried with onion, served with rice, flat bread and a tasty, tasty dipping sauce. So yummy, I ended up finishing the plate even if it was an american-sized portion.

Pretty stuffed now, and ready for the weekend.

Licenses w/ attaching and connecting parts

Again I'm reminded that the standards for training down here is, to be blunt, minimal.

Well, let me clarify: Not 'minimal' in the sense of inadequate, but minimal in the sense of 'the least we can get away with to prove to our satisfaction that you can complete your mission'.

Take for instance the test I had to take to be issued a UN driving license. It consisted of two parts:

• Pull out of parking space. Take a right turn, drive 50 meter. Reverse and back into same parking space.
• Safely navigate a few hundred meters of Khartoum traffic, including two right hand turns.

While not a driving test per see in the normal sense, at least it'll demonstrate to the examiner if you know how to handle a car or not. And since having a national driving license is a requirement to apply for a job in the mission, why bother doing more? It would be a waste of resources.

However, once the driving test was done, the test of patience begins... you bring your driving test form - signed by the examiner - to one office to be stamped. You then bring your stamped form to a second office, where the information will be entered into a computer and the stamp will be countersigned. THEN you can bring the countersigned form to a third office, where the clerk will look at your form and print a credit card sized license with the information entered into the computer by the clerk in the second office.

Yay bureaucracy!

Hot winds and home made spaghetti

A warm wind is blowing over Khartoum today... a small haboob (sandstorm) is signaling that the wet season is history and the dry season is upon us. Even the inside of the Norwegian House smell like hot sand.

Partly due to the weather and partly due to being bored of eating out every day, we decided to raid the pantry and see what we could up with - turns out one of my coworkers have an education as a cook before he joined the service. From the odds and ends we found in the pantry and freezer he came up with some excellent spaghetti and sauce.

The rest of the evening is going to be reasonable slow - a Norwegian Major in Afganistan have made some less than well thought out comments to the media, and the resulting shitstorm is subject to a lot of discussions between the us. Seems that wherever two or more officers gather, they talk shop in one form or the other.

Sunday is the new Monday

One thing that will probably take a little bit to get used to - if I end up being posted to the northern part of Sudan - is the fact that the weekend consists of Friday and Saturday. But since I don't know where I'll be posted yet, even though I have a few wishes, I've decided not to worry about it yet. As for why I don't know where I'll be posted yet - why, that is partly because one need to pass the driving test and the English Language Proficiency test first. The former I'll take this coming Wednesday. The latter I had today...

Yes, I do realize that such tests has to be geared towards the lowest possible denominator. Yes, I do realize that Norwegians and other Scandinavians have a better education in English than most since our native languages are spoken by a mere handful of people around the world. And yet I can't shake the feeling that a 8th grader from Norway would been able to pass the test with flying colours.

The test itself was in four parts:

• Insert the missing word in sentences, mostly different tenses of verbs
• Demonstrate that you understand a written test, by means of a number of questions
• Demonstrate that you can give directions from point A to point B as given on a simple map
• Write a short essay about your home nation - highlighting geographical, political and cultural issues - of fifteen lines or more.

The maximum time one can spend on the test is one hour - I finished early (as I always did on tests while I was in school) and filled the sheet on the last question. Results are posted tomorrow, and I need 70% or more to pass.

Also today we got issued the last of our gear; field bed, mosquito dome, sat phone, field rations, mosquito oil and fly paper. I'll do a "functional check" of the sat phone later today, after we have pizza here on the Norwegian House.

When in Sudan, eat as a European...

So far, my forays into Sudanese cuisine has been severely lacking...
so far our dinners have been Italian, Indian and generic European,
while lunches have been more of the same. Not that the food has been
bad - far from it; it's tasty, plentiful and rather cheap - but the
closest I've gotten to Sudanese cooking so far is the tasty bread our
Admin Officer brings home when he has to make errands early in the
morning.
It's hard to make sweeping statements after less than a week in a city
of 2.2 million (or 11 million, if you count the larger Khartoum urban
area), but it seems to me that the Sudanese middle class likes to eat
foreign food when they do go out - much like the average Norwegians
seems to prefer to not eat typical Norwegian fare (whatever that is
these days - best guess is frozen pizza) when they do hit the town.
However, based on what I've been told before I headed down here and on
what I've heard from the UNMOs that was heading home, typical Sudanese
fare varies considerable depending on where you are in Sudan. After
all, we're talking about a nation that is as large as western
Europe... it would be strange if it was a monoculture as far as the
food goes.
Some common themes seems to be beans and rice - which suits me fine.
Both are easy to cook, stores well and works with whatever safe
vegetables and meats I can lay my hands on.
To put costs a bit in perspective; eating out in Khartoum has run to
about 25 to 30 Sudanese pounds a day. Out on a team site I'll
apparently be hard pressed to spend 50 to 100 pounds a week on food.
One pound is 42 US cents.. so from our point of view things are fairly
cheap.

More training, more heat

A warm wind was blowing through the streets of Khartoum as we was waking to HQ this morning, bringing the smell of hot dessert into town. But even so I've realized that I don't sweet much more than I do at home in summer - the low humidity must have something to with it I think.

Khartoum is a city I haven't really gotten a great grip on yet...  it's warmer but less humid than Houston, got the dusty smell I recall from Malta in summer (only more so), and despite the hustle and bustle it just don't seem terrible busy. Most of the people we run into are smiling, and more than a few waves and says hello as we walk past. Despite being in a place completely unfamiliar to me, I can't say I feel ill at ease.

More training today, ranging from Public Information via MedEvac to how to report people breaking the UN rules and regulations. Most of it useful and interesting stuff, some less so. And for some reason it seems that the least interesting subjects are taught by the people with the heaviest accents, which makes it even harder to pay attention in class.

We were done a little earlier today, so I got some snaps of the area just outside the Norwegian House and the little garden in front of it.

 The Admin Officer in charge of the House wants to take us out to eat again today... I think he is enjoying the company and showing off the places he has found. Nothing wrong with that.