Career Decision
Out of context: Reply #49
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- whitewolf0
big trick, to answer your question--
I honestly believe our safety was a result of Divine intervention, but i'm not a preacher so one could message me about that, or get a beer.
About a month into it I got comfortable. I wasn't scared, I was nervous around military personnel. It is widely known that "photography" is illegal in Sudan. So every checkpoint we went through I was the guy with a bag full of cameras. But the more you realized that these grown men in military garb were just that same as the little kids looking for attention. You took the time to ask the soldier how long they have been in service, what their name was, what's their story and they melt. They would get all excited to show you their weapons, tell you embellished stories of how they almost died.
Seriously. A white person is huge thing of interest, and from the United States? "Wow Geroge Bush! He killed everyone in Iraq and Iran! He went crazy! We thought he was great when he liberated Kuwait because that meant we are next, liberating innoncence from Islamic extremist wanting oil! Thats US! but then Bush snapped and Killed everyone in Iraq"
"But that was George Senior.."
But yes, we saw very little violence. Most violence is inter-tribal conflict. As far as the political stuff Southern Sudan in under a cease-fire until 2011. The SPLM is an organized rebel movement, not a real government, but they are for the most part peaceful. Had once instance where the disabled soldiers shut down roads to Yei because they weren't given their pension in over six months, but that was right before we arrived.
The only real scary thing to worry about was the rebel groups, specifically the Lord Resistance Army, and land mines in some of the remote roads.
We didn't run into either, but heard many stories about people running into the LRA.
"They ask you two questions: Do you want to be Loved or Annyoed?
You say Loved, they let you go, but they cut your lips off so everyone knows who we are and that you are always smiling--spreading the love
You say Annoyed, and they drill a hole in your gums above and below your teeth, put a pad lock on your jaw and pack your nose with mud until you suffocate."
"Whoa! what about if we ran into them, what would they do to us?"
"You are white so they would want money and thats about it, but you are American so they probably wouldn't even bother with you, b/c they fear George Bush so much because he has killed everyone in Iraq they wouldn't want to chance messing with political stuff"
So yeah, George Bush was a friend to us over there, fancy that.
As soon I was on the plane ride home it hit me at how crazy this whole thing was. How stupid we "kids" were. I had an awesome emergency insurance plan and everything. But say if I had cut my leg real bad while working, it would be a good hour 1/2 for me to get to Yei, only to see if there is an available nurse on staff at one of the many NGO's stationed there, and hopefully they would have adequate supplies to prevent infection. Sure I had the coverage to send an emergency plane, but it would take alot of time.