traveller? tourist?

"Travellers vs. Tourists: There is a wonderful, but neglected precision in these words. The old English noun "travel" (in the sense of a journey) was originally the same word as "travail" (meaning "trouble," "work," or "torment").... Significantly, too, the word "tour" in "tourist" was derived by back-formation from the Latin "tornus," which in turn came from the Greek word for a tool describing a circle. The traveler, then was working at something; the tourist was a pleasure-seeker. The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him." -Daniel J Boorstin http://quotes.dictionary.com/search/latin

I was going to post this quote before I left... focusing on the adventure part of travel. After a few weeks, I am beginning to understand the "trouble" part of this definition.

All is well in Sudan, I'm fine. The work is good as are the people. But, nothing is ever as easy as it sounds at first.

Where the heck am I going?

Hello friends and family,
OK, so the first big question is: Where is Sudan?
Sudan is in Africa, just below Egypt (its one of the light green countries on this map). Its the largest country in Africa, and it is roughly the size of Europe.

Full name: Republic of Sudan
Population: 43.2 million (UN, 2010)
Capital: Khartoum
Area: 2.5 million sq km (966,757 sq miles)
Major languages: Arabic, English (official), others
Major religions: Islam, Christianity, Animism
Life expectancy: 58 years (men), 61 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: Sudanese pound
Main exports: Oil, cotton, sesame, livestock and hides, gum arabic
GNI per capita: US $1,220 (World Bank, 2009)
-BBC has a country profile of Sudan: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/820864.stm

The CIA World Fact Book provides a nice summary of Sudanese history and background as well as an explanation of its geography etc.: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/su.html

Also, I recommend this book if anyone wants to read further:

http://www.amazon.com/Sudan-Darfur-Failure-African-State/dp/0300162731

So, next question: where will I be in Sudan? I will be living in Southern Sudan in the State of Western Equatoria, on the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in a town called Yambio.

World Vision has some information on their website about their work in Sudan: http://www.wvafrica.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=152&Itemid=169

Yambio is 4 degrees north of the equator. Its apparently hot and sticky and tropical.
Because of its proximity to the equator, days are basically 12 hours long all year. And, I just learned (thank you Darren) that dawn and dusk only last a few minutes each.
Check out this link, then look up California or for an even better contrast somewhere in Scandinavia. http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/yambio.html

That's it for now. Expect more entertaining posts to come.
Love, J

Welcome to my blog!

Hello friends!

It seems like I am taking off on my next adventure... to SUDAN! I will post more as I have time and as I get more information. For the moment, subscribe to the blog so that you get an email alert when I post something new.

Ciao! J