Has Anything Surprised You on This Trip?

Last night over dinner, Suzanne asked me if there was anything thing that had surprised me during this trip. There have been some things that have surprised me or, maybe more accurately phrased, I now have a better reality of after seeing and experiencing first hand.

Here are some of the things I mentioned:
1. Arabic is one of the predominant languages in Sudan. I just hadn't thought about this, but particularly in Juba, almost everyone spoke Arabic.

2. That being said, I then made the assumption that there would be a larger Muslim population and that I would here a call to prayer from a local mosque. My reality is that I don't even remember seeing a mosque during my time in Sudan.

3. The long drops (pit toilets) were not as bad as I had imagined in Lietnhom. I will normally set my expectations pretty low, which likely helps when facing the long drop. ;)

4. Harun Matuma and Thomas Anei work under incredibly difficult/extreme conditions in South Sudan. And, yet, they are amazingly committed to their work, the communities they work in and the calling God has placed on their lives.

5. The reality of how difficult transport is and the constant challenge it creates. I was told that Harun, although advised not to, walked for 10 hours in chest-deep water holding his laptop on his head in order to get back to Wau from Lietnhom. It was during the rainy season and there was no other way to get to the village. Roads were not accessible. Airplanes could not land. I also learned that during a one-week visit to Lietnhom, Peter Macharia ended up staying three weeks because of no transport. The roads were not passable and flights into Lietnohm were cancelled twice due to the rainy season weather and inability to land a plane. During this trip, which was just before the rainy season started, we drove from Lietnhom to Luanyker to Wau. During the dry season, the roads are not good (this is an understatement) but during the rainy season, they are under water. But besides the roads, there is a general lack of transport vehicles to even use or access when the roads are passable.