We have just had 3 weeks of having people visiting here in Juba. These were all mission folks doing work but also visiting with us. It was fun to have visitors here but sure made me wish for a nice big kitchen so I could cook for them. Poor Jim had to eat baked oatmeal for breakfast every morning and  then eat out the other meals, well, except for pancakes for supper one night and smoothies another night. I can't believe I really do miss cooking - at least a little:) Makes me wonder, when we are back in the States next year if I will cook? Hmm, maybe I will let Dana cook for me!

It really was nice to have things going on and to learn more about places around Juba. We had our share of all day meetings and long talks about missions and South Sudan. Wonder what we will do with all the "wisdom" ?

Lynn is hoping to go to the village of Pochalla next week. He will probably be gone for a week. He will fly in on a UN flight and if he has to use the Un flight to come back out he will be gone for a week as they only fly in there on Wednesdays. I will not go with him since I do not have a travel budget and I am ok with that. It will be strange to be here by myself but then that means I can party with my co-workers!! HA! This place that he is going to is on the border to Ethiopia and right on a river. Lynn was there in January and says it is a nice quiet village and that he wants to live there. That would be ok with me except there is no phone or internet service:( Not sure I could handle not being able to keep up with the family.

To those of you who have asked about our days and what we do, here are some examples. Today, Lynn has spent a couple of hours trying to make flight bookings for our trip to Kenya and he has not succeeded yet! He has also spent hours doing computer work for PCUSA and this is the guy who does not like desk work.  With the fuel shortage buses are hard to get so the other day we waited 45 minutes for a bus then I went back home and Lynn took a motorcycle taxi which I refuse to ride. Today I spent most of the morning making a meal and cleaning up after myself in our tiny kitchen, oh, and washing some clothes by hand. Last Wednesday I went to the office for a short meeting with the treasurer and spent 3 1/2 hours there and did not have my meeting. Mind you, I did have a great time with the two ladies in the women's department and had tea and bread with them:) Relationship building at its finest. It is crazy how we can spend so much time not getting things done and yet feel like we have accomplished so much. It is a good thing that we both like the slow pace and drinking tea!

We are still looking at being in the States next spring but don't have dates set yet. We are thinking that we will be there by May and even with that i am worried about how cold it will seem to us. Guess we will have to have someone bring winter coats to the airport for us. :)

I know many of you are worried about the situation here and want to know if we are safe. We are safe for the most part. There is a lot more petty crime but there are also more shootings. We are ok here in the city during the day and we just don't go out at night unless we are using a taxi. There are supposed to be some changes taking place in the next month and we will see how all that works out. I don't like seeing all the soldiers and their guns riding around in open vehicles but that is part of life here. I still walk back from the office to the apartment and feel ok doing so.