Back to Juba

 Can you look at a suitcase and know if it will hold all your life for the next 3 weeks?  I can.  I'm leaving for Juba on Saturday, and feeling so excited to get back 'home' as my friend Claire says.  Now Juba is not like Nairobi, where you can find many consumer goods on the shelves at Nakumatt - so I've offered to carry whatever my friends might possibly need, and here's the list of extras for my Juba family:
-teeth whitening toothpaste
-blue hair dye
-a french press
-Starbucks ground vanilla coffee
-CDs
-Reese's Pieces
-mini speaker
-laptop
-about 100 calendars

Juba goodies have pushed me over the top - I'm traveling with the larger of my two suitcases, just for 3 weeks!  Haha, but of course I'm so happy to do it - I know they'd do it for me.  At least I'm not trying to take a yoga mat like last time- I thought the customs people in Nairobi were going to laugh me off the plane.  (If you're picturing me bopping people as I swing around with the mat tucked into my side, you are right on)

How does it feel to come back to somewhere that was home for 5 months?  Scary.  Good scary and bad scary - I know Juba has changed since I've been gone, but my friends are still there, which is really all that matters.  I'm excited to see everyone - late nights of sweat and debate over weak Tusker beers, pizza night at Afex, Saturday mornings at the pool, days bathed in sunshine, nights doused in crickets and moonlight, Indian food galore, all my favorite taxi drivers, and my old phone number!  Will culture shock hit me again?  What about on the way back?  Nobody knows...  The adventure continues.