The highlight of my stressful day is a walk to the souk (market) to buy a tiny cup of kahwa (coffee) or in the South Sudanese Arabic, bon for 100 SSP (as of April 2019). This coffee is infused with ginger or cinnamon, some spices, and cardamom. These poured out from a special tin ‘jug’ with a long spout known as a jebena and served in tiny tea cups with the tiniest spoons I've ever seen! The coffee is usually served with a generous amount of sugar, reminding me of my chai (tea) days in Iraq. If you do not like your coffee sweet, you can ask them to serve the sugar separately.

On days when I feel sick, I prefer to go to a stall which serves a strong ginger coffee but most days, I often go to a place that serve cinnamon flavored coffee. This has now become my personal favorite and I can't go on a week without a sip of it.

According to a very interesting article in scanews.coffee, wild C. Arabica coffee is abundant in the Upper Boma Plateau. Cultivated Robusta variety also grows here. The Belgians used to cultivate this in these areas but when the civil war broke out between the Islamic North and Christian South, it weakened the coffee production.

However, these days, the industry seemed to have picked up and you can observe small coffee/tea places all over the local souk. My favorite one is tended by a young barista named Alo. She always serves me the same quality of coffee every time me and my friend, Joyce visit her little cafe.

She would usually start roasting her coffee beans at around 6pm. (Yes, the sun is still up at 6pm here!)Then, she uses a stone mortar to ground this. The ground coffee is then incorporated into the boiling water. Upon reaching its boiling point, spices like cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and pepper are then added. This is then poured into tiny cups served. If you place the cup under the light of the sun, you will see that the sugar level is about a fourth of the cup.

Don't worry! The water for the coffee is boiled so it is safe to drink!

Watch out for my chai (tea) review on South Sudanese Karkaday (hibiscus tea) and peppermint tea soon!

After the turbulent two hours plus plane ride and upon seeing where I was going to live, I began questioning my life decisions. Getting my security orientation upon arrival just added to my urgent need to just fold myself into a ball and cry.

I was overwhelmed by many different emotions. I began to appreciate my blessed living condition at home. The tropical weather is so nice even if foreigners complain it is humid. When it gets too hot, I can just go and swim in the beach or grab a surf board and paddle out into the ocean. If I wanted good food, my tita's will cook it for me or I just walk to the corner and there are many restaurants there. I do not even have to walk as there is always a mode of transportation to take me from point A to point B. I do not need to wash my clothes! There is also water from the tap, electricity, stable WIFI and everything is cheap!

The life here is very poor and very sad according to my limited human perspective. I've taught myself to look for the beauty in the faces of the children in my project, and to be grateful. I now see situations with a silver lining, and to assess where I could give something, where I could provide something as the project manager. Haay naku Catriona Gray!

So the silver linings here are the following:

• More freedom than Juba. I am allowed to walk anywhere within Renk town as long as I have a male escort. 
• I am practicing my Arabic and my colleagues helps me practice.
• Highest malnutrition rate and biggest malnutrition program in the country so my knowledge and skills in emergency malnutrition is being sharpened.
• This org found me on LinkedIn and put their trust in me. I did not apply so this is godsent.
• Coffee and tea here is delicious although the people laugh at the way I say coffee in Arabic because it is too formal.

The Upper Nile is said to be the hottest region in the country since it is closer to Khartoum. I am not so sure of that.

When I was in Juba, as soon as the sun sets my sweat would start dripping. I noticed that it is warmer during those times. Where I am right now, the temperature is a bit cooler at sun set.

As I am not from Africa, I was curious if I am now living in the desert. I've been to the deserts of Dubai and those were vast empty spaces. This one has shrubs that looks like dried up twigs and grasses. Having done a fair bit of research, I believe that this is not the desert but a sahel.

A sahel is a flatland with a semiarid climate. It is mostly covered with grass and a few shrubs and trees. At this time of the year, everything is brown! Most of the trees has even lost their leaves. It is typically, hot, sunny, and dry!

However, when I arrived, it rained a little. The same thing happened when I arrived in Juba. The cleaning ladies told me it was their first rain for the season. So they say I am a blessing! Yes, the rain arrives when I arrive!

The airport here, they say is the worst in the whole country. It is an uncemented airstrip. There is no infrastructure except for the skeletons of a waiting shed that was abandoned and some rusty shipping containers eaten by time and the elements.

On the other hand, I have nothing to complain about because we landed safely and that is the most important thing for me. I am alive! Nothing else matters! And I've been to rudimentary airports like the ones in Vanuatu.(Best airplane ride views next to the Lukla, Nepal flights according to me!)

There were two vehicles on the landing strip. One was a rented car and the other was for our organization. As I've mentioned earlier, everything is just dirt road but since it is a flatland and arid, it is not as worse as the Vanuatu rides. One thing that amazes me though is how our driver expertly drove us to the town because everything looked the same for me.

From the outskirts, we can observe some random mud houses with reed roofs here and there. And as these clusters become dense, we saw the town. There were modern houses and cars as well as buses and vans for public transport. There were also donkeys, mostly pulling carts filled with barrels of water.

Women can be seen either carrying a load or a child. They were mostly dressed in colourful clothes that reminds me of the Indian sari's.

Credits to theresglitterintheireyes

As I am in a border town, this place is a melting pot of tribes!

Sundays are the cooks day off so we are usually left to ourselves to find food and nourishment. We have 10USD per diem to do as we pleased.

The view from inside the house

I am on my first week in Juba, South Sudan-the youngest country on earth. My initial plan was to just vlog my life experience this year, but due to several reasons, security and slow internet included, blogging would probably be the best way to record my experience.

If you have been reading my blog, by now you would have known that taking photos of the airport, government buildings and officials, police and military personnel is strictly prohibited and may end up with a visit to the nearest police precinct.

All foreigners must register with immigration within 72hours of arrival. If you are working with an INGO, your HR will most likely work on this. Prepare approximately 10 pieces of colored passport picture for this.

100 USD in SSP

1 USD is 156 SSP as of April 2, 2019 but the exchange rate is higher in the black market. I exchanged mine by buying a bottle of Stoney in Lily's using USD and I got SSD change. For every USD I got 270 SSP. As you can see, this is almost double than the exchange you will see on OANDA.

Arabic is widely spoken here so a little Arabic goes a long way. The locals enjoy teaching me Juba Arabic. Here are some basic Juba Arabic to help you through your first days:
Good morning Sabah al-kheir
Good morning response Sabah al-noor
Good afternoon Meesa al-kheir
Good afternoon response Meesa al-noor
Welcome! Marhaba!
Hello/Peace be with you! As-salam aleykum
Hello/Peace be with you! response Wa aleykum as-salam
Goodbye/ Go in peace Ma'a salama
How are you? Keif tamam
Fine, praise God Kwais, al-ham-d'Allah
You're good? Tamaam or Anna kwais
Yes Aiwa
No Lah
Thank you! Skukran
You're welcome Afwan
Please Min fadlek
What's your name? Ismak minu?
My name is... Ismi…
Praise God! Al-ham-d'Allah
God willing Insha'Allah

Numbers
0 Sifr
1 Wahid
2 Ithnain
3 Talata
4 Arbah
5 Khamsa
6 Sitta
7 Sebah
8 Tamaniah
9 Tis'ah
10 Ash'erah

Houses here are usually walled, with barbed wires, and security guards 24/7. Although some NGOs treat the security risk seriously, I have seen foreigners walking the streets the alone. So, it is totally up to you and your common sense on what security plan you want to follow for yourself.

Credit to Juba TV on Facebook

I have read so much about the airport scrum at Juba International Airport and it was interesting to experience it myself. The system was different which made it a memorable experience for me.

I am thankful for the South Sudan Orientation guide sent to me by my organization and another one provided by my friend who was working with another organization I am still affiliated with because it gave me an idea on what to expect when I arrive in the country. One of these is to not take any photos of the airport, government buildings and officials, police and military personnel or I may end up with a visit to the nearest police precinct.

After getting off the plane, we were handed out a questionnaire to fill in. It asked about the places we were in the last 30 days (mine was Switzerland, France, Philippines, and Kenya) and if we were exhibiting any signs and symptoms related to Ebola. After filling it up, we lined up to get our temperatures checked.

Temperature check

If you declare that you have any of the signs and symptoms or if you are febrile, you will be quarantined. South Sudan is not just a high risk for Ebola but WHo considers it as very high risk! The Democratic Republic of Congo is its neighbor and adding to this is their fragile healthcare system. Ebola Preparedness through information and education campaigns are now being actively done by different NGO's. As a preemptive measure, frontline health workers in the country has already been vaccinated for the Zaire strain of the Ebola Virus, which is now plaguing the DRC. In my organization, there is a focal person doing Ebola Preparedness forums for the staff.

After the Ebola Screening section is the Immigration. I just stood in line here and patiently waited for my turn while my eyes were steadily fixed on a man who was pointing at persons randomly to either move from one line to another or move from the back of the line to the front. When I came to my turn, I presented them my entry permit (make sure to print in color) then I was redirected to a room to the left where I had to pay 100USD for my single entry visa (amount changes depending on which country you come from) which was valid for one month. The single entry visa can only be used to enter the country once.

Credit to Juba TV on Facebook

After this, I went back to the Immigration Officer who proceeded to check my Yellow Fever Vaccination card and later placed the visa sticker on my passport. I then followed the crowd to the scanning machine and then to my luggage.

The next point was the baggage claim area. If you cannot find your luggage here, they might have already been removed from the carousel and just placed in a pile beside it. There will be porters offering their services but just politely and firmly decline. Tell them that there is someone picking you up. Be patient with them as they only want a tip to help their families.

Credit to Juba TV on Facebook

Once you found your bags, bring them to the Customs desk to the right. It is between the carousel and the wall.

Credit to Juba TV on Facebook

Usually, you would have to open your bag for manual inspection but the customs hardly checked my bag because he was busy cleaning his ears. He just marked my bag with a dollar sign in white chalk and let me go!

Things to remember:

• Print your Entry Permit in color
• Prepare the required single visa fee in mint USD
• Single visa fee varies as follows:
• Countries from the East Africa Region: 50USD
• USA: 100USD
• All other countries: 100USD