En Anglais dans le texte

Short Summary in English :
Firstly, for those who don’t read French, I’m now in El-Fasher, Northern Darfur, working for the United Nations as a UNV (United Nation Volunteer). I have been here for one month now and have a contract till end 2008 but certainly extended till June 2009 (or maybe more, depending on the situation and opportunities). I’m currently living in an accommodation provided by the UN inside the city (and therefore not inside the main compound but I sleep surrounded by barbwires anyway) but will soon move to Nyala, Southern Darfur. Nyala is supposed to be a little bit more…. funky than El-Fasher, with restaurants and things to do. In fact, there is almost nothing to do in El-Fasher, except maybe two restaurants but it’s not highly recommended to go there too frequently.
Security
THE common question. And there is no simple answer. Situation is very unstable and potentially dangerous. Here, in El-Fasher, there is a curfew for UN employees at 9pm (mostly to reduce the number of car hijacking), we all have a VHF radio and it is not recommended to walk alone, to show our UN ID in public or to stay too long in a public place. But we frequently go to the market or walk between two houses (as it is quite difficult to get a car) and… we just pay attention and try to minimize the risks. In the countryside… it’s different. UN is becoming a target for the rebels, convoys are frequently attacked and soldiers get shot. But no worries… I’m fine (but if you anyway feel very worried about my mental health maybe an $100 note or a new IPhone 16GB might help me)

Food
I usually eat in the UN cafeteria for lunch (expensive and not really tasty but ok) and cook some basic stuff at home. El-Fasher has a nice market where some tomatoes, some rare other vegetables, chicken, lamb and really tasty bread can be found. Problem is that the kitchen in my guesthouse is small, dirty and useless (35 minutes to cook some pasta) and I’m therefore getting used to eat Chinese noodles (making a lot of noise as I learned in China !!) or semolina with some tomato sauce for dinner (In consequence, I dream every night about flirting with tapas and kissing sushis). By chance I frequently visit some friends and we cook together stuff from the market.

Work
I still haven’t joined my team and I’m therefore just helping here (very basic work as helpdesk or PC ghosting), waiting for my departure. Nothing challenging but I hope to get something better in Nyala. I’m just learning to think 3 days in advance as everything takes ages here (get an extension cable, download a 16MB driver, etc… ).

Good news
Yep, there are good news. Firstly, I’m happy to be here, I sleep well, I’m fine and happy to have the chance to work and live here with so many different nationalities and cultures. Secondly, because of the situation here, I have one free week after every 6 weeks work (additionally to my standard vacations) but can’t stay inside the country (or I have to work normally). It’s part of our “stress management program” and it’s an excellent news and a good opportunity to visit Africa (Ouganda, Kenya, etc… ), go and eat some tapas in Spain, or, if I find some money, some sushis in Tokyo or just return to NYC.

That's all for today! Take care, give me some news and start thinking about my X-mas present!

P.S: Pas de charlotte a la fraise ces derniers jours ;-)