First Night In Juba

It is now night time in the city of Juba, South Sudan and the sweltering temperature has dropped to a pleasant warm with a slight breeze. Juba at night is a unique experience.We are sitting outside a mud hut which is the pastors home and I am being well taken care of and well fed.......We are not far from a communications tower so I can use a laptop. Juba is almost pitch black at night with little electricity supply which means I can look up and see many many stars. I watched the last part of the sunset and then the moon as the now set sun made is presence felt along the edge of it creating a shape similar to the crescent seen on top of local Mosques. What I found particularly intriguing was how I could actually see the outline shrink more and more as the sun set further until the moon completely dissapeared in the space of around 90 seconds but 10 minutes later the crescent had returned.....On the outskirts of the city I can see a long line of lights where the United Nations camp is and dotted around the city are several hills, over one of which a storm is hovering. There is the occassional streak of lightning in the distance.....The people are very friendly and quite open and are happy enough to have their pictures taken. Nearby there is a neighbour who has their t.v outside on a table and around 12 children sat watching. {Some of the people are using generators for electricity supply}.......I am also getting used to the local washroom facilities which comprise a wooden and corrugated shed with a concrete floor where their is a small hole in the middle where you 'do your business'. The bathroom consists of a patchwork wooden screen with no roof so I washed under the stars.......I have a sense of sitting on this vast rock called earth and yet it feels very small when I look at the constellations many light years away.....A few stray dogs pass by as I sit here feeling pretty chilled out and looking forward to starting work tomorrow at a local church....I am also looking forward to visiting the local school they have invited me to on Monday morning. I have the chance to talk to around 500 children including many orphans....It should be a good week....Shalom...steve