Well, it’s Christmas Day again and I find myself still in Juba.  It’s a bit concerning as after last years’ Christmas, I swore I would not be in Juba again for the holidays.  But, here I am.

Of course, this years celebration was far more comfortable than last year (when I was stuck in a little apartment connected to my office with only a generator for company).  This year, the management of The Jebel Lodge (where I now reside) put on a pretty good show for Christmas Eve dinner.  The menu included pâté, a lovely roast turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce, and mini mince meat pies.  There were even Christmas crackers to play with, complete with a small toy inside and the traditional bad joke (although the Christmas crowns and traditional “popping” sound were sadly missing).

The Jebel Lodge Pool

Today, it seems that it’s a good day to hang out by the pool — the Russian pilots from UNMIS (United Nation Mission in Sudan) are here, frolicking around in their speedos and playing unsafe games in the pool, the Jebel Lodge management and friends are enjoying some Bloody Marys and throwing each other in the pool and I, introvert that I am, am sitting in the dining hall just enjoying the breeze and what I call “Juba TV” (the madness that is in the pool).

As I write, another group of Jubites just walked in the main gate (they look like another group of roughnecks that make up the humanitarian aid community).  This should be an interesting day.

I have been visited by one Christmas elf already — our Deputy Chief of Party, Stefanie, has been baking since early this morning making chocolate chip cookies and Christmas shortbread cookies that are complete with frosting to make pretty snowman, Santas, stars and other yuletide icons.  Stefanie even slipped me some uncooked cookie dough which I have been gobbling up and making me very happy!

Next year, I really hope to be around family and friends, much like the rest of the world.  But, as these holidays go, this one hasn’t been too bad at all!  My best wishes for a wonderful holiday season to all who may read this post…

So many times, TV disappoint us.  Often we become ‘stoned’ when watching a favorite show and we never really consider that we don’t actually think or are affected by what television shows offer us.  However, much to my delight, the second incarnation of Battlestar Galactica presented a show that genuinely reflected what it means to be human in a way that ‘reality TV’ never could.

Not being an avid writer, I don’t think I can hope to convey how truly fantastic this show is – it’s gritty and dark in a way that the original series would never convey.  In this apocolyptic version, Battlestar Galactic explores what it means to be human in all our ugly facets.  Cloaked in hope, the sheer desperation of two societies (the remaining humans and the complex Cylons) exhibit the all too real qualities of a people under pressure.  Brilliant heroism combined with survival, we see ourselves — capable of generosity in one moment and complete hatred a brief moment later.

While I am so sad that this show has come to its conclusion in a brief four season, I’m also pleased that a thoughtful resolution to the journey has been made.  All to often, a show like this goes on and on without ever reaching an end.  And when it does, it’s often a watered-down version of what it could have been.  Instead, the show’s creators embraced the inevitable and produced a very satisfying closure to the story.

No doubt, I will be missing all my new favorties – Starbuck, Apollo, Helio, and Athena.  But I will be more than happy to resurrect these old friends over many weekends of ‘marathon’ sessions.

There are more than 12,000 objects in orbit around the Earth: commercial, military, scientific and navigational satellites.

Most of the time, when you see a picture of the Earth, you only see the land masses and the oceans.  Maybe, cloud cover as well.  Rarely do we ever really think about, or see, what is floating around our Earth.

When I saw this picture (somewhere in a news article, I am sure), I was absolutely gobsmacked. Really, I had no words.  I guess while I had always known that satellites flew around our planet performing their various functions, I never really imagined that there would be so many!

I used to worry about the legacy that we, as a collective, were leaving behind.  The consumer waste that we have piled up is staggering to say the least.  I know that we also dump tons of garbage and other crap into the oceans, lakes and rivers.  Never did I stop to think what we were filling up our skies with.

If we ever were lucky enough to be visited by aliens, I guess I’d worry about them making their way through the “satellite barrier” without incident.  Next time I use a GPS device, watch cable television, make an international phone call or any of the other mundane tasks we take for granted that utilitize an ‘eye in the sky’… well, I’ll just take a moment to reflect on how much is literally hanging over our heads!

I always like to think that I’m my mother’s son – she and I have similar tastes in just about everything. We like a tidy living space, organized shelves and drawers, a clean bathroom, and an orderly spice rack. We share a disdain for chaos and clutter and many of our conversations always seem to turn to those areas that we notice that need.. well, help. Whether it be a restaurant or a familiars house, we knowingly chatter about how we just don’t understand how people let things go.  It takes so little time to wipe down a counter or to hang up some clothes in the closet. We’re never wicked, but we do have an overflowing cup of incredulity at times.

So, knowing this little bit about my type-A personality, what I am about to say is a bit of a confession.  Thankfully, I live in Juba, a place that very few have heard about let alone visit.  In this anonymity, I have allowed myself a bit of clutter and dirt.  It still gets under my skin a bit and I get that slimy feeling all over my body, but quite honestly I’ve learned to live with it and ignore it.

As a case in point, I took a look outside my current residence, and couldn’t help but notice just how depressingly junky things have gotten.  Now, certainly, I’m not entirely to blame – the razor wire is there for a purpose and my company is temporarily storing multiple generators on our compound (until our permanent office structure is complete), but I can be blamed for leaving my knickers hanging on the razorwire.  All in all, this scene is very little different from the backyards of houses that my mother and I might titter on about.

Just do me the favor, dear reader, and don’t tell her I’m OK with this.  I still have a reputation to maintain, at least to her eyes!