...and the Tears for Fears song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" came on my Shuffle and I got to the verse about "I can't stand this indecision/married with this lack of vision/everybody wants to rule the world" and thought, hey, that pretty much sums up my little corner of north/central Africa right now. And then the Cee-Lo Green song "What Part of Forever" came on--"what part of forever/don't you understand" and I thought, hey! This is Mubarack's song! "I could stay stay stay..." I'm pretty sure I could keep going for a lot of world leaders.
But in all seriousness, it's a big time for this part of the world. Evidence of the recent referendum on whether South Sudan would seperate from Sudan is everywhere.
The middle picture is of the referendum countdown clock. It now reads 0 days 0 hours 0 seconds. Apparently it's been broken more or less since it was installed so all the zeros aren't as symbolic as it initially seemed. This clock is notable also because it serves as the main directional landmark in town. Almost every set of directions starts with, "Okay, so you go to the referendum clock roundabout and then..."
The results of the referendum were released last week--almost 4 million people voted, 98.8% of them for separation from Northern Sudan. There's excitement and optimism, but also a certain prevalent wariness, a certain reluctance to be too excited . What next? How will it play out? Already a government minister has been shot at his desk. It's been blamed on family conflict, but there are many who aren't sure. Fighting in the Upper Nile and Jonglei states in the east, where we have several project sites, has broken out between the southern Sudanese army and rebel factions and hundreds have been killed and injured. Plans to demobilize soldiers have, for the most part, not yet succeeded. It's a classic example of a society united in pursuit of one goal--independence from Northern Sudan--and then the challenges of carrying that momentum into the peaceful and inclusive development of a new state. There's lots that could go right and wrong in the next few weeks and months.
On an entirely different note, there are really awesome lizards in this country. I can't get most of them to stay still long enough to get a picture, but this one cooperated while I was eating lunch the other day.
In other wildlife news, I was walking from the guesthouse to office the other morning and walked by two children standing there, each swinging a dead rat around by its tail. Apparently rats are considered an extremely tasty treat in the Dinka cattle camps, but I'm not sure about it the city. I can hear rats running around at night, which is not, in fact, a terribly comforting sound.
Here's what making pasta for dinner looks like in Juba (no rats, but some Parmesan and bacon imported straight from in Italy in the (wildly overweight, according to the airline) suitcase of a colleague from Italy. Also no electricity, thus the candles.
The pasta also involved a trip to the big market in town, Koni-Koni Market.
The pasta was delicious.
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