"I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position."

- Mark Twain

Lot I'd like to write at the moment, cause it's been a frustrating day. But I'll try and organize my thoughts, into a readable form.

The good: Went out to visit some churches the other day, and the first day out was amazing. We drove to a place called Kaya, that is essentially the point where Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo come together. We had a truck drive us there, and then we unloaded our motorcycles, one for me and one for my translator John. We drove up a hill to a church we had to visit. I looked up and for the first time in this country, I was generally struck by how beautiful the place was. The hill was looking down on the town and across a river into Uganda, and the landscape was green and hilly and flowering. I genuinely felt happy just to be there and see it.

The first pastor we talked with that day was the Sudanese version of Brando in the Godfather. It was hilarious. We got our work done and went into town to find some food. We found one little restaurant that still had food at that time. It consisted of three unmatched tables and a motley collection of chairs. It was lit by two oil lamps, one in the front eating area, and one in the back kitchen area. We ate fish, rice and some less desirable items, and drank warm cokes. As we drove back to the church we were going to sleep at, we passed by the one hotel in town, and noticed people gathering. We stopped and managed to watch the entire Manchester United/AC Milan Champion's League Match. There were well over 100 people watching on a 21 inch screen. Someone from one of the churches somehow cleared out a spot up front and I had one of the top 10 seats in the house. Beautiful game, though ManU snuck a win. We left there at midnight. Great day.

The Bad: Woke up the next morning, got on the motorbike. I was still a little sleepy, when I noticed a bump in the road. I reacted and grabbed the hand-brake. This is a bad thing to do. The wheel shot out and I skidded along in the dirt on my side. Praise God I was wearing pants, and I got up with only a few scrapes on my legs and palms, and a bloody ankle. The cheap Chinese bike still worked, though the left side of the bike was bent inward. We continued on our way. A few miles later, John's bike got a flat. He pushed it for a while, and then I sent him ahead on my bike to find the people we needed to talk with. So after a mile and a half or so of pushing the motorbike, I arrived at a church and met with all the church leaders soaked in sweat and covered in orange dust. While we met with the church we had someone fix the motorbike. We left that town and headed towards our next destination. About 3 or 4 miles out, the same tire blew again. Sent John ahead on the good motorbike, pushed the bad one for about 2 miles. Showed up at another church soaked in sweat and dust-covered.

The Ugly: After the tire blew the second time I called into our compound a couple hours away. Found out our guy who had been in jail was finally released... and another guy had been in an accident. He came around a corner, and a motorcycle was flying towards him while driving in the wrong lane. The motorcycle hit and the guys flew off with a bunch of broken bones between them. Fortunately our guy got them to the hospital and they admitted their own fault. We'll still have to pay a lot of money, because the legal system is designed to bilk money out of whoever has it, but at least no one is in jail. As of now we have both guys that were in accidents stuck on house arrest, meaning they can't leave the compound and thus can't do their work.

Anyhow that is the story of Sudan. Great experiences, frustrating experiences and horrible driving experiences.

Concerning my job: I still haven't made up my mind about whether I like the project I work on or not. I have figured out that I'm not an important part of it. I honestly don't think it makes sense to hire someone for my position, especially in light of how they have now handicapped me from effectively getting information to donors, which is what my job is really meant for. Really frustrated based on some conversations I've had today. But I still like being in Sudan, and they pay me. So all in all I guess life is still pretty good.