Stocked Up and Hunkered Down

Here we are again. Stocked up and hunkered down. Well, almost. Mikey and H should be back any minute from their morning meetings. But once they’re back safe at home, we’ll officially be hunkered down.

Every year it seems, there is a reason to stock up and hunker down. Or more than one reason. But this year’s (first?) reason has arrived. Today and tomorrow there are rumors of protests to kick the Prez out of power. Now, we’ve been down this political unrest road before and we’re pretty much anything but worried. Usually there is a big buzz about some upcoming event like when the President was indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes or when the country was voting for separation. Our worst experience was when Vice President Garang was killed in a helicopter crash seven years ago, but that was on our first visit and we never had a chance to stock up for that event but we did hunker down and I nearly lost my life to cabin fever (just ask my husband!).

Generally in these situations I feel that it’s best to make preparations to stay at home for a few days should we need to. So I buy some extra flour and make sure we have fresh fruit and make sure I have enough ingredients to make cookies every day should the need for cookie-therapy as a treatment for cabin fever arise. You get the point. The essentials. Then we play it safe and see what happens for a day or so. And usually what happens is a big fat nothing, if I’m honest. Except that time that I mentioned Vice President Garang was killed. That was ugly. And it was even an accident (well, depends who you ask…)

Anyway, even the U.S. Embassy is taking big precautions, warning citizens to stay in the central part of the city and not venture out over the bridges to the other areas of town.

Oops.

We live across the bridge in another area of town and I ain’t about to pack up my family and camp in someone else’s house just to (probably) watch nothing happen and then come back home wishing we’d just stayed here to begin with where the kids can splash in their lil’ pool and I have all my cookie-making essentials nearby.

Presumably they give this warning so that citizens are able to reach the airport in case the need for evacuation arises. Which would of course, pose a small problem for us, because if something big broke out, then the first thing they do is close the bridges, blocking our route to the airport, obviously. And we’re good swimmers, but I’m not sure the Nile would be a good idea and anyway I am not leaving this country without my children’s baby books and they’d certainly get ruined if I had to swim with them across the Nile. If only we’d purchased a rubber dingy of our own so that we’d have a way to cross the river…

Am I kidding?

I’m not sure.

We could always drive to Ethiopia, I suppose. That is, if our car would start, which we’re never quite sure about. And if our car would make it. And if anyone would be selling diesel on the road to Ethiopia. But then we’d have issues because Mikey doesn’t currently have his passport… it’s in an office somewhere in some visa process. That would also make flying out of an airport or entering another country a little difficult. “Would you accept this old faded and creased copy of my passport sir?”  Hmm… wouldn’t be good…

Ack. Do our lives sound a bit complicated? Cause they sure do feel a bit complicated at times. And a bit depressing too, if I’m honest.

Anyway, here girlie and I are at home (hurry home Mikey and H!). She is snoozing, oblivious to all the political junk flying around this city while I am searching Twitter to see what the youth (at least the educated, techy youth who have the ability and desire to tweet) in the country are saying at this moment. Currently, it seems the Muslim prayers have ended and protests have broken out in one part of the city (very far from us, Moms, okay?!). Tear gas, etc, used to break it up. Oh my. 4000 people they say? Can it be true?

Oh! There is Mikey and H now…