Thursday 25th April.
Gosh , what a whirlwind.Was it only 8 months ago I started the Tropical Diseases course, and made the decision to change my life? Feels like much longer. So far I've managed to pass the course, go to Africa, spend time doing something completely out of my comfort zone, and love it, come back, leave my safe, comfortable job, and get a new, exciting, challenging job in a "hostile" area (the insurance company's words) . Mad.
So I leave on the 15th June - well that's the provisional date anyway. Visas and contract yet to be signed, although offer letter signed and accepted.Currently alternating between periods of extreme excitement, and extreme "what the hell am I DOING!!!!" Plan on spending my last few weeks doing as little work as possible, catching up with friends, oh, and having more surgery on my hand. Nothing serious, but I very much doubt there will be a competent hand surgeon in Juba.....
As someone said to me today "Will your Amazon order come by donkey? Or will it be a donkey?"

Friday 19th April.

It appears that I am off to South Sudan ! Although I have not yet received the official confirmation, I have been informally assured that the job is mine, and my reference requests were received yesterday, so all appears good - or completely terrifying depending on your point of view. I'm going with terrifying.
So the great sell-off begins....I have been consoling myself on my state of torpor up until now, with the thought that until I actually knew if I had the job, there was no point actually DOING anything, so have been gazing at the mounds of stuff I have accumulated over the years, without actually doing anything with it. Now I have to decide what to take (tricky with a baggage allowance of about 30kg), what to sell, and what to store.
What I HAVE managed to do, is sort out my lovely dog and my cat. The cat is going to live out his retirement with a vet, so that worked out well, and a nice retired lady with lots of doggie experience is going to look after my Alf. With everything that I'm leaving behind, making the decision to rehome him is the one that wakes me up at night, and has me intermittently weeping every time I think about it. He is a happy , sane little dog though, and I know he'll be absolutely fine, it's whether I ever forgive myself that worries me...
Am getting regular updates from the deputy head of clinic (who I know from Brighton, and was on the DTN course with me), and he appears to love it there, so onwards and upwards.
At least when I get there I'll have something interesting to post!

Friday 5th April

Had my Skype interview for the clinic job in South Sudan yesterday. After a failed attempt the day before, due to a big storm knocking out the internet in Juba for several hours, we went ahead as planned 24 hours later. Weird things, internet interviews. First one I have ever done, and while it was less nerve-racking than actually sitting in your Sunday best in front of a panel, it also had its moments of anxiety. The very slight time delay, and the fact that you can't take visual clues from your interviewer (it was audio only), meant that at times I found I was speaking over them, which was difficult for me, and I'm sure, very annoying for them - I'm consoling myself with the thought that they do these interviews all the time, so must understand that I am not that rude face to face....
Funnily enough, for one who is normally a very confident person when dealing with people, interviews sap all that confidence right out of me, and leave me a bit of a gibbering wreck. There were several questions that I had prepared for, but the words that actually came out of my mouth were completely different to those I had planned *sigh*.While I am confident I can do this job, it is a huge change from what I have been doing, and there are areas that I have no experience, such as the financial management of the clinic. The question is whether they are willing to take a gamble and give me a chance to prove I can learn those things quickly enough for them. I think I can - it's whether I have convinced them of that - and I'm not so sure. So now I wait, and try not to check my emails every ten minutes. I'm trying to only check every 15 minutes, and that is hard !!
Still, I am consoling myself with the knowledge that I DO have a plan B, C and D. My MSF application should be answered by the middle of this month, there is a tricky job in Kenya that might be an option (although the money is non-existent, which may be a stumbling block), and there is always Zanzibar at the end of the year, which would be very nice.
I have run out of nails to bite, and excuses to surf the net (while not looking at my emails...), so I may just spend the next couple of days staring blankly at the screen. Oh actually, I am spending the next 5 days out of 6 working 13 hour shifts - at least that will take my mind off things I suppose. Ho Hum.