When we returned our old apartment building was on limited power which means limited electricity and internet. The hours kept changing and there did not seem much hope in it getting better so Lynn and I started looking around for a new place. It is not like you can call a realtor or look places up on the internet - you walk around and just stop at places and ask. We saw anything from a a place that all the materials were brought in from Lebanon and was really nice and the same price as our old place BUT it was a place I would have been embarrassed to have my South Sudanese friends come to.Then there was the place that was much cheaper but was even smaller than where we were and had no kitchen to speak of. Lynn was in old Juba town at a hardware store that he shopped at in 1980 and he asked the guy working there about apartments and he told us about this place! When we first looked at it we figured there is no way we can afford it but the guys quickly came down in price so we showed it to our co-worker (she moved with us) and asked the church folks about the location and ended up moving here! Our old place was 400 sq. ft and our new place is 500 sq. ft. ! Over all we gained 100 sq. ft., a dining table and a desk so we are very happy.
The new location is in more of a commercial area and also right across from the police station( not necessarily a good thing) and in a more Muslim area. Shopping for food will not be as convenient as at the other place but we will get used to the new way of living.
This place was furnished with stuff from Khartoum so while not our style, it is still comfortable:) I love the fact that every place has king size beds:)
So, other than that, how are we doing? Pretty good really. Things are ok during the day but at night everyone is in by dark - even our church friends say that they like to be home by 8pm. We are getting to know a few other ex-pats and South Sudanese which is really nice.
Lynn is getting better in Arabic since doing our apartment hunting. Our new landlord speaks ok English but sometimes Lynn tries to clarify with Arabic. Our guards here speak very little English so even I will be pushed to learn more Arabic.
You know, on one hand it seems normal here and I want people to visit us and then I hear gunshots at night and am reminded that things are not so good. There are still a lot of security issues in the towns and cities surrounding Juba.
Oh, and nutella is still available but very expensive so I found another brand that is almost as good and about 1/4 the cost:) I know that is not a big deal to most of you but it is a HUGE deal for a chocaholic like me!
Ok now for some pictures.
Unpacking and......finished!
finally a desk to work at!!
