January 5 2011

We started our first day on a bang, at 04:45 hrs, I was awaken by the call to prayer, this consists of several hundred speakers placed all over the city of Khartoum, the volume cranked up then the howling begins, this carries on for several minutes, then silence. This happens several times a day.  The city of Khartoum looks like construction gone wild, all or most of the buildings are incomplete, this is done so the owners can forgo paying the required taxes. There is also the smell of burning garbage, that coincides with the lack of any traffic control.
Today was our first day of work, it consisted of clearing in, getting id cards made, filling out paperwork etc etc.  The food is pretty good, and quite cheap, I had breakfast for about 7 dollars, or 20 Sudanese pounds.  Were living in a rental house, for about 10 days, then we'll get or postings to the south of Sudan, and that's were the majority of our time will be spent.  Tomorrow Thursday, will be spent finishing up with all the paperwork, then on Friday starts the United Nations training program. This training is a continuation of the training that I received in Calgary and Ottawa. The referendum for a independant South Sudan starts on the 9th  of January, and will carry on for the following week, the UN has decided that they will not move us south until the vote is over, however they will not announce the results until after we are placed in our respective team sites. Tomorow I am going to get some pictures to better describe what I see everyday, I think this is important that all of you can see what I see, and travel with me over the next 12 months.