What are you going to name your teddy bear?

Personally, I prefer the name Petunia.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7112929.stm

My favorite quote from the teacher's muslim colleague on naming a class teady bear Mohammed, a name chosen by the students: "I know Gillian and she would never have meant it as an insult. I was just impressed that she got them to vote."

In other news, for the past several weeks I have been working with the coordinating AIDS body to organize the World AIDS Day event in Juba, and it finally happened this past Saturday. Here's a couple pictures I took at the event - the man at the podium is Salva Kiir, the president of Southern Sudan, and to his right is Riek Machar, the Vice President of "Emma's War" fame.

Despite all the stress of event planning, the day went fine. Not as many people were there as we had hoped, but that was mostly due to the fact that security guards at the entrance to the stadium had closed the doors and were not letting anyone in or out because the president was there. They let me through because I'm a Kawaja, but even our own staff had problems getting in. So unless they came at the very beginning, members of the community, who the event was really for, were kept away. Gotta love Sudan.

Also, in commemoration of World AIDS Day, we had a special Hash on Saturday. For those of you who don't know, the Hash House Harriers is a drinking club with a running problem where you join the pack of hounds (runners) to chase down the trail set by the hares (other runners), then gather together for refreshment, humor, and song. If it sounds like a fraternity, it sometimes leans in that direction. But it's all good. Great fun and exercise too! So I helped set the trail this past week (which by the way was lovely - started in Juba Town, ran by the WFP compound through the field next to the airport and then looped around back through UNMIS) and then conducted a condom demonstration for the group afterwards. Expats need to know how to use condoms correctly too! It was a hit - funny, and people kept coming up to me all weekend long saying "I heard about your show and tell".

NB: we have all our wooden penis models made by woodworkers in the local market. It's all about supporting the local businesses baby.