Since I'm not much of a photographer, let alone a videographer, it's been tough to share with you the sights and sounds of life in Kapoeta. Today, I turned up this short video from Voice of America that at least starts to capture some of the more festive scenes from our town. The first 30 seconds and the last 15 seconds or so were filmed here during the power plant inauguration. The rest (wherever you see green trees!) is not here--some of it is Juba and the rest is mostly filmed along the main highway running from Uganda to Juba.



In the video, keep an eye out for:
1) in the openning dance scene, the ladies to the right (not dancing) with leaf-green outfits are wearing goat skins covered with beads.
2) a white guy in a tan hat in the scene in the power station; Francis' 2 seconds of web-video fame
3) the ostrich feathers and leopard skins on the heads and backs, respectively, of the Toposa male dancers at the end -- I totally forgot to mention that before. I can't believe that big cats once roamed Toposaland!

In other news, I'm keeping busy doing some consulting jobs for my last two employers while I wait on an answer from the state about starting the town survey/mapping project. This last week has seen us post new record highs and lows on the weather station: daytime high of 107.6 and nighttime low of 63. I love the cold and the fact that it made us put a blanket on the bed for the first time EVER in Sudan! Our friends have graciously arranged for getting us cereal, cheese, and chocolate--the essentials which are, sadly, unavailable in Kapoeta. Our last grocery shopping trip was in early December and we won't be back in the land of supermarkets until late March--yikes!

Alright, I think that's it for now. Back to the grind I go...

As Mother B likes to say, it's hotter than blazes...

Things continue to move along here. This past weekend was a milestone as the power plant was officially inaugurated (google "Kapoeta" and "electricity" for news reports--there's a bunch). We had the US Consul General (like the Ambassador for South Sudan--the #1 State Department guy in the country) and the governor here, along with about 2,000 community members. It went well--everyone seemed happy--but it was exhausting. I'm glad that everyone is gone, and Francis is happy to get back to the work of hooking up new customers.

On the eve of the inauguration, I was summoned to the house of the governor--more than a little intimidating! He asked me if I would be interested in doing a survey of the roads in town, and then creating a town plan so that plots can be demarkated and sold to people since right now no one really owns their land. I'm currently working on a proposal for him, and am thrilled about the opportunity to finally do something that puts my engineering skills to work in Sudan (well, at least for pay)! If it all works out, I know it will be long hours and will undoubtedly put me in the middle of some political quagmires, but it would be a great stepping stone for what I hope will be a change in careeer path following our time here.

The real reason that I sat down to write is to report on the weather. So, I have long written about it being hot and dry, but without proper instrumentation, I haven't been able to explain exactly how hot or dry. Our recent shipment of mail (this is the first mail drop since mid-October!) included a weather station. As I type, the outdoor sensor (placed in the shade) is reading 104.7 degrees F and 2% humidity. I didn't even know that 2% humidity was possible! Inside, we are at a rather balmy 92 degrees with 15% humidity. And the funny thing is, I'm so used to this now, that I'm not even sweating! While I'm sure that it would be extremely detrimental to my health to go directly from this to the frozen winter wonderland that you are all experiencing in the States, I do wish dearly for some snow...

So that is all for now. I'll keep my eye on the weather station and post if any records are broken. Hope you all stay warm...