Here's the thing...

--> My watch stopped at 11.12. Standing in the airport our watsan advisor asked me why I was wearing a stopped watch. “I like it,” I said. I didn’t mention that I thought it was appropo of going out to the middle of nowhere the day of the U.S. Election. No electricity, no televisions, no phones, no contact with the rest of the world for a week. It would be like time was standing still. No McCain, Palin, Obama (poor Biden…never got much of a mention). It would be blissful in it’s own cocoon sort of way. Tuesday night I went to sleep with the mice, lizards and bats scratching out a living in the top of my tukul smug in the knowledge that my blissful ignorance might carry on for a full week. There have been few things that I have cared less about than this election and it’s nice sometimes not caring – about everything just because we’re told that we should. But then, on Wednesday morning, I was awoken by the squawk of a badly tuned radio catching a frequency on and o

The amount of time I spend in meetings discussing issues of grave import that are forgotten a month later is obscene. I mean, really.

I now have a 'commute' in order to get from my house to the office each morning. It has become more complicated recently so I thought I would detail it in case you are ever trying to find my house: 1) Let the guard open the gate. 2) Wait for guard to remove puppy from beneath tires and keep him from running out open gate. (dumb dog) 3) Proceed with caution to avoid hitting other vehicles and/or school children who linger outside gate. 4) Turn left and proceed until the dirt track becomes a dirt football pitch. 5) Drive diagonally along the football pitch until it dead ends on a dirt road. 6) Wait for any SPLA vehicles driving out to their base as they contain men with a lot of guns. 7) Angle vehicle onto dirt road to avoid jarring bump. 8) Avoid mattatoos, people out brushing their teeth, water trucks, septic trucks, and school children. 9) Upon arriving at the large tire go right and proceed up over giant mound of dirt. 10) Drive on the right side of the n