A tale of two sisters/cities

If the two Sudanese capitals were sisters, Khartoum would be the older, studious, slightly homely but nevertheless dependable one, and Juba would be the younger one- eager, semi-neglected by parental units and therefore sexually suggestive and the one that all the boys ask out (obviously).

Allow me to explain.

I spent my first 5 weeks savoring the intoxicating humanitarian allure of Juba. It’s the sexy place to be right now. Everyone is there, everyone wants to be there, and anyone who has been there and wants to leave is waiting until July 9^th before they bid adieu, sign shiny new contracts and book onward flights for Destination Next.

July 9^th, as you may already know, is the day that the southern part of Sudan will split from the northern bit and form a country of their own. Right now both sides are busy trying to sort out some contested border areas using political and diplomatic (among other) means.  In the south, we refer to this as “independence”. Here in the north, we refer to it as “separation”. Language is powerful huh?

Juba might be the place to be, but it’s also really underdeveloped. The town basically seems to have grown around the international donor community that sprung up, but couldn’t possibly keep up with the demands of an expanding population.

As a result, there is no infrastructure. We have a borehole at our office compound and that water is used to fill up tankers that then deliver the water to the staff houses so that we have water at home - there's no municipal water. We have city power but it is off a lot of the time so we rely on generators. There are only a few paved roads, and the rest are dirt with potholes that get huge - when it rains they fill with water, and, on occasion get so deep that we lose the light from our Land Cruiser's headlamps as we drive through them (make sure you picture a Land Cruiser when you read this – we’re not talking about a Honda Civic here, which would probably be swallowed whole).

There really isn't any food grown locally and no industry, so everything is brought in from (mainly) Uganda. It's not very convenient to get groceries, and it's expensive, so we get all our meals catered at work. There are a few good places to go out to eat, stuff to join, some parties and enough excuses to go out for a gin and tonic that allows the (read: my?) social life to revolve primarily around having a cold libation in at least one hand.

There's an 11pm curfew though (aw mom, do I haaaaaave to? It's not fair, Khartoum gets to stay out late!).

Khartoum, on the other hand, is a proper city. Defined, planned, built up and lived in. It could also easily be described as an air conditioned, concrete, sand pit (I use the word “pit” in the most loving way). We have roads, buildings that are more than 2 stories, absolutely no mud huts and lots of traffic. We have shops that sell just about anything (except tampons), an endless number of restaurants  and even a MALL, with a….wait for it…wait for it…  cinema.  Perhaps it might occasionally even show something not in Arabic. Still, my point is made. Khartoum has it all.

Plus, it's safe; there are no soldiers around with AK-47s, and I’m allowed to walk around on my own, even in the evening!

Despite all this, you may have guessed that Khartoum hasn’t yet stolen my affection. Juba is just more my style.

Khartoum is a nice place to be - easy in many ways- and I find myself often looking around doe eyed, enchanted by the modern conveniences. But I’m just not a huge fan of the cultural adaptations I need to make. The older sister in this city challenges you with the responsibility of conforming and playing by the rules, which I’ve never been much good at. What I mean is, I’m down with the cultural differences in a theoretical "I respect that this works for you" kinda way, but not in a way that is anything that I want to have to abide by.

Alas, I find myself abiding. (Score one for the older sister.)

I'm happy to be here though, wherever I am, with whatever it has to offer. To be experiencing it all . To be living in two places and exploring even more. 

And, since I do split my time between north and south, if I'm to be a part of this equation, I guess that makes me a step-sister (good thing no one ever has anything bad to say about them).