There's something very special about being with your own country-people overseas. I love all people - truly, but it's different being with people who talk with the same intonation and make the same kind of jokes. I love being American - but ironically I don't have too many American friends over here in Juba. Being overseas for Fourth of July is a truly unique experience - and one that is special to me. I've celebrated the Fourth in Gulu before, and also in Harare - Americans come together to share in celebrations, but we also welcome others to celebrate with us. We poke fun at the Brits, thanking them for the opportunity to celebrate our independence, and generally try to eat hamburgers (or at least I do).
I had just arrived back in Juba on July 3, and realized that I had no plan - now, in Juba you always have to be on a list in order to get into a party. It's because of security reasons, but it feels very exclusive. Imagine that level of security for house parties, and then multiply it exponentially to think of how much security you would find at an Official event. So, my friends told me they couldn't get me onto the list - it was closed 2 days earlier, and no exceptions. Well. I figured there might be a problem like this, and would have been perfectly happy to attend Talent Search South Sudan (more to come on this later), but I met another American reject, and we decided that we should at least try to get in.
Now, Greg wanted to have a strategy of how we would approach this - I really prefer to wing it, but at least we agreed that we are Americans, and therefore deserve admission to this party. We were first met by a fierce (and large) female guard. She did not want to see us, and did not want us to get in (even when I flashed my US passport, she was unimpressed). So we made a plea to the security manager (also South Sudanese), who said the list has been taken inside and they don't have access to it. Well, claiming we were on a list that wasn't even available..... ok, so then the security chief disappeared back inside (I assumed to go find the list). Then came out two Americans, and I knew we were in. We smiled and talked college football, and they were completely welcoming. I think both the feeling of being an outsider and being warmly welcomed are things that typify America.
Of course the gentleman who kindly admitted us to the party is the ambassador's right hand man, so we immediately met the ambassador, and thanked her for allowing us to join. Then we worked our way over to the dance floor (really just to take a picture), but Madam Ambassador broke it down with us for a few minutes. It was a great moment, and a great evening - so good to be with my people. Thanks, America.
I had just arrived back in Juba on July 3, and realized that I had no plan - now, in Juba you always have to be on a list in order to get into a party. It's because of security reasons, but it feels very exclusive. Imagine that level of security for house parties, and then multiply it exponentially to think of how much security you would find at an Official event. So, my friends told me they couldn't get me onto the list - it was closed 2 days earlier, and no exceptions. Well. I figured there might be a problem like this, and would have been perfectly happy to attend Talent Search South Sudan (more to come on this later), but I met another American reject, and we decided that we should at least try to get in.
Now, Greg wanted to have a strategy of how we would approach this - I really prefer to wing it, but at least we agreed that we are Americans, and therefore deserve admission to this party. We were first met by a fierce (and large) female guard. She did not want to see us, and did not want us to get in (even when I flashed my US passport, she was unimpressed). So we made a plea to the security manager (also South Sudanese), who said the list has been taken inside and they don't have access to it. Well, claiming we were on a list that wasn't even available..... ok, so then the security chief disappeared back inside (I assumed to go find the list). Then came out two Americans, and I knew we were in. We smiled and talked college football, and they were completely welcoming. I think both the feeling of being an outsider and being warmly welcomed are things that typify America.
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