{"id":552,"date":"2012-12-14T18:18:33","date_gmt":"2012-12-14T15:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/?p=552"},"modified":"2012-12-14T18:18:33","modified_gmt":"2012-12-14T15:18:33","slug":"a-little-catching-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dknolte.com\/?p=552","title":{"rendered":"A Little Catching Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/strong>n October, we had a Halloween party on our roof.\u00a0 The young lady who lives in the other side of our duplex invited a mess of people over for the party.\u00a0 This is where you meet people at their core.\u00a0 They danced on our roof terrace until the wee hours of the morning and you get to watch and enjoy their love of life.\u00a0 One pretty young lady wore a beautiful headdress and when I asked her where she got it, she told me her native Afghanistan.\u00a0 Her parents left during the Russo-Afghan war and lived in California.\u00a0 She told me she speaks Dari (Persian) and her Afghan boyfriend speaks Pashto, both languages are spoken in Afghanistan, but the only language the two have in common is English.\"party<\/a>There were several friends of our neighbor\u2019s boyfriend, who came from several different countries in Africa.\u00a0 One particular heavy-set individual from C\u00f4te d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast) fell in love with me because I gave him cigars throughout the night.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what he did with them, because it would have taken\u00a0 him all night to smoke one, which is why I take only cheap cigars to parties.\u00a0 He even stopped to give me a kiss on the cheek before leaving for the night.\u00a0 These are incredible people and I am saddened because next Summer we will have to leave Africa.<\/p>\n

In mid-November, I flew to Juba for a few days and returned right before Thanksgiving.\u00a0 Juba is one of the sewer pits we travel to every few months.\u00a0 It is the capitol of the new country that split off from Sudan a year ago, last July.\u00a0 It is now South Sudan.\u00a0 Mostly Christian, whereas Sudan itself is mostly Muslim.<\/p>\n

We work at two different compounds in Juba, each one about 400 paces apart.\u00a0 While there, I walk the distance about a dozen times a day.\u00a0 Most of the roads resemble alleys in many poorer parts of an American city, except wider.\u00a0 In that 400 pace walk, I estimated there are about 1000 empty water bottles strewn everywhere on that one street.\u00a0 Juba is just getting into its hot months with temps consistently above 100 everyday, and will top out in the 120\u2019s in a few months.\u00a0 But during the rainy season, it rains hard almost every day.\u00a0 So there are deep ruts on all the dirt roads in the city.\u00a0 Some are actually 2 feet deep and all vehicles trudge around them while avoiding all the pedestrians and motorbikes.\u00a0 Below is a typical street.\"s100_7563\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Friends of ours invited us to Thanksgiving dinner.\u00a0 She is an incredible cook, whose meal fed many people.\u00a0 A lot of it was not something I was familiar with, but everything was delicious.\"sIMG_1445\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, we didn\u2019t stay late due to me feeling like crap.\u00a0 Friday was the same with headache and chills.\u00a0 That evening, in the mirror I happen to notice a strange red circle about the size of a dime on my forearm.\u00a0 The next day, Saturday, it was darker and increased to the size of a nickel.\u00a0 Turned out to be a spider bite acquired in Juba.\u00a0 I cleaned it well, and rubbed some salt into it until I had a chance to cover it with antiseptic.\u00a0 From then, it slowly healed over a period of a week. Sorry, no pictures.<\/p>\n

Following that, I went to Djibouti City, Djibouti for about a week.\u00a0 Djibouti is another sewer pit but the roads are better and the hotel is excellent.\u00a0 My lovely wife joined me for a few days and was coddled by the hotel staff.\u00a0 She needed it.\u00a0 Below is a pic of the local inhabitants and then one of the sunset with the cranes at the shipyard.\"sIMG_1454\"<\/a>\"sIMG_1467\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We have four RSTs, (Regional Security Techs)\u00a0 who are local men who work with us.\u00a0 When I set up travel arrangements for them, I notice each of them seem to have multiple names, so the other day I asked them about that.\u00a0 It turns out they retain their father\u2019s given name.\u00a0 Not his last name, but first.\u00a0 And they may include a grandfather\u2019s name as well.\u00a0 So, my name would be Dwaine Quenton Theodore.\u00a0 They have no last name like we do.\u00a0 Ayten uses five names, so I guess it goes back to his great-great-grandfather.<\/p>\n

We went to the little pizza place on the hill the other night and visited with Hyw\u00e4t.\u00a0 Since she is attending medical school, Terese decided to give her a stethoscope she didn\u2019t need any more.\u00a0 It was a very noble and compassionate gesture.\u00a0 Hyw\u00e4t reciprocated by giving Terese a pair of shoes.\u00a0 They look ugly to me, but Terese loves them.\"H&T\"<\/a>My brother flew to Addis last week and set foot on African soil for the first time.\u00a0 It was good to have him as we sat for hours discussing the problems of the world with fine cigars and cheap whiskey, plus it got me and Terese out of the city.\u00a0 We took two trips through the countryside and saw some incredible sites.\u00a0 I\u2019ll sort through some later and post soon.\u00a0 But I will post a pic now that was taken while he was here.\u00a0 No, it’s not him, but a monkey that came to visit him.\u00a0 Until later.\u00a0 D.<\/p>\n

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In October, we had a Halloween party on our roof.\u00a0 The young lady who lives in the other side of …<\/p>\n

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