One of the troublesome side effects of war is that you very quickly run out of stuff. South Sudan is running out of lots of things, most notably money. The exchange rate is going north by the day - your $100 bill would get you 350 South Sudanese Pounds a month ago and now you're looking at close to 500.
Juba is also experiencing a severe shortage of fuel, which logistically speaking is the bread and butter of almost all organisations, and a severe shortage of actual bread and butter. I passed a bakery this evening and it was like the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 1985. A lack of butter is turning people to Blue Band Margarine, a disgusting Ugandan margarine substitute made of petroleum jelly and ear wax.
I was in the town of Bentiu, close to the border, a couple of weeks ago, but we had to leave because the North kept bombing the town. They chose some strange targets, including the market and various fields, but since they drop the bombs by having soldiers push them out the back of Antonov cargo aircraft I guess they aren't very accurate.
No one seems to know what is going on at the border now. It's hard to imagine either side winning a war, considering the state of the two economies. Sudan at least has a few planes, but they are so old and Russian that they can't fly from Khartoum to Juba without a stop for fuel and repairs along the way. South Sudan doesn't have two planes to rub together, although I heard a rumour that they have one.
Another unfortunate consequence of war is that the UN have filled our football field with tanks, in an awesome show of power that will have no effect since everyone knows that UN peacekeepers are far too busy playing volleyball and being bad at DJing to leave their compound.
I'm off to Thailand tomorrow on R&R for two weeks, so prepare yourself for tedious jokes about prostitutes when I return.
Juba is also experiencing a severe shortage of fuel, which logistically speaking is the bread and butter of almost all organisations, and a severe shortage of actual bread and butter. I passed a bakery this evening and it was like the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 1985. A lack of butter is turning people to Blue Band Margarine, a disgusting Ugandan margarine substitute made of petroleum jelly and ear wax.
I was in the town of Bentiu, close to the border, a couple of weeks ago, but we had to leave because the North kept bombing the town. They chose some strange targets, including the market and various fields, but since they drop the bombs by having soldiers push them out the back of Antonov cargo aircraft I guess they aren't very accurate.
No one seems to know what is going on at the border now. It's hard to imagine either side winning a war, considering the state of the two economies. Sudan at least has a few planes, but they are so old and Russian that they can't fly from Khartoum to Juba without a stop for fuel and repairs along the way. South Sudan doesn't have two planes to rub together, although I heard a rumour that they have one.
Another unfortunate consequence of war is that the UN have filled our football field with tanks, in an awesome show of power that will have no effect since everyone knows that UN peacekeepers are far too busy playing volleyball and being bad at DJing to leave their compound.
I'm off to Thailand tomorrow on R&R for two weeks, so prepare yourself for tedious jokes about prostitutes when I return.
