First week in Bunia

In Christophe's office now. Outside, heavy rain. The weather is far different than I imagined. What I brought are just summer clothes that don't fit the enviroment and temperature here. I have to put on Christophe's pullover to keep myself away from cold and mosquitos.

Bunia is located close to the Congo and Uganda border, an hour flight from Entebbe. Living condition here is harsh. Tab water and public power supply is not constant. Water has been backed up in jerricans in case the water tank is empty and the pressure is too low to refill it. The electricity, if there is any, is much lower than sufficient to supply the normal lightening, so that all (foreigners') houses are equiped with generators which generates lots of noise besides power.

Christophe works from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and comes home for 1 and half an hour lunch break. Cooking and other house works are done by two Congonese workers. I would do some reading or learning during the day if there's enough sun light. Evening time we often go to the "MONUC House" or the military camp for dinner. The house we are living is guarded, as security is still an issue in Congo. Walking alone outside may cause danger so I'm recommended not to go out alone. Anyway there's nothing to see in the city except muddy roads.

Last Sunday afternoon, a friend of Christophe's was robbed at home. Four robbers, two guns. The friend and his guards were threatened and later were locked in a room. His house was searched up side down, all valuables are gone. Luckily nobody was hurt or wounded. This case gave me an alarm, a vivid picture of the security problems in Congo. Even the field UN staffs are in unsafety, how about the local people?

The week before I came to Bunia, we went to Jinja in Uganda. That part of the Victoria lake breeds the source of the Nile. We lived in a small resort with a beautiful garden directly facing the lake. During the week, despite having had a short walk to the source of the Nile, we stayed in the hotel, reading, eating, and relaxing.

Here in Bunia is completely different. People living here, except locals, are mostly working for the UN or other NGOs, others are militaries. Life is at the lowest standard, worse than many other African countries. When security or stability is an issue of a country, what more can we expect?

I am adapted, don't feel so astonished anymore as when I saw the "Bunia Airport" at the first sight. It is even not properly built as a bus station. Feeling happy to see Christophe everyday, I will stay in Bunia until September his next holiday and be back to Vienna together. Hopefully the weather will get better tomorrow.

Tiananmen Square Protests

Paul sings Nessun Dorma

From Microcontroller to Computer Engineering

Just finished writing the last protocol for Microcontroller. At least it's done in time. Tomorrow will be the deadline for submission. Feel released, not because of rejoicing at the completion of a course, but that it allowed me regain the confidence in having made a correct decision. After the FH I chose Computer Engineering following my interest, however I got a shock commencing my first semester of prerequisite courses. I simply have too less knowledge in this field. Certainly I started to doubt if my decision was wise to shift from Software Engineering to Computer Engineering, which will require me much more efforts than staying with the subject that I'm already familiar with and good at.

I persisted. The first semester was chaotic. During the four last years at FH, all courses were scheduled. As a new comer at TU, I chose the courses without awareness of their timing conflict or coherence, and (not) surprisingly found out weeks later that it's not possible to take some of them. At the end what I attended were three of the six I planned.

This semester is carried on much smoother. My hours were well scheduled. I started working in groups instead of dealing with problems alone, which did me good. The courses I took brought me fresh blood in vein. It's great fun to program hardware, something I definitely shouldn't let slip.

Take Microcontroller for example, it is surely not an easy-done course, requiring self-reliant studying and lots of practices. But the more doing it the more I feel joyful of doing it. (Although I will not have a very good note. I'm a nervous type, impossible to program something fast under people's observation in the test. They are very nice though.) Still remember, at the first day of the course, I met a guy in the lab, who clacked about how tuff this course was. (He already passed the course in the last year.) He described it catastrophically. I expected it to be horrifying. Today I say, what's wrong with that guy if such thing could not do him fun. Ok, I have to say it did me more fun because I first time worked with hardware. I turned on some switches and pressed some buttons, then the controller reacted, WOO, I can touch and feel.

It's pleasing to do and learn something one is interested. And it may take a long way until one finds what interests him/her the most. The field switch I made requires much time and many efforts, nevertheless it is worthwhile and I believe I'll be rewarded later on.

Living in Bunia

Today Christophe sent me some photos of the house which he is living in Bunia. It looked much better than I imagined, could not let me relate it with the one sometimes lacked water and electricity supplies. However it's the situation he has to cope with. His redeployment to Kinshasa will take place in August on an undetermined date. I don't know yet where I'll be by then. The plan is that I go to visit him during my summer holiday starting at the beginning of July. Of course he'll be working most of the time, but at least it's cheery that we can see each other everyday. I'll most likely stay in Bunia until his redeployment then return to Vienna. In September he can probably take three weeks holiday. I look forward to seeing him again.

Love is Like Magic

Love is like magic and it always will be,
For love still remains life's sweet mystery.

Love works in ways that are wondrous and strange
And there's nothing in life that love cannot change!

Love can transform the most commonplace
Into beauty and splendor and sweetness and grace.

Love is unselfish, understanding and kind,
For it sees with its heart and not with its mind.

Love is the answer that everyone seeks...
Love is the language that every heart speaks.

Love can't be bought, it is priceless and free,
Love, like pure magic, is life's sweet mystery!

Love is like magic. Oh, yes. It gives me strength to confront many difficulties. Certain situations we have to withstand, or we would have failed. Throughout the past three years, luckily, distance didn't separate us but made solid progress on our relationship. We had the luck of having met each other. What helped us later was reliance, patience and tolerance. Christophe gives me the confidence of keeping the relationship further and stronger. He is, for me, the source of magic.

Fun in Congo

Well, I don't know why, but I never wrote how much fun it can be to work in a UN Peacekeeping Operation. Two days ago I went on a mission on the Lake Albert, and with my colleagues we did some boat rides with Uruguayan Special Forces on their little but powerful zodiacs. Apart from my butt muscles hurting because we never stopped bouncing on the waves (yes, there might be waves on large lakes), it was great fun. Very nice views, boarding small villages which otherwise you could not reach, not even by air, as they are located at the flank of mountains dropping straight into the Lake, encountering local population, discussing their problems, trying to help. Yesterday, for example, we board one of these villages, this time located in a swampy area. We had to walk for 15 min, pulling our zodiac before we managed to reach shore. Quite an experience.

And I haven't spoken yet from all the helicopter insertions you do in this kind of job. Just imagine. There has been a mass killing, or some militia exactions in a villages located kilometers away from any know and usable roads. Well you board a MI-8 or MI-17, you know those old Russian choppers used for troops insertion during the cold war, and there you go. You can take numerous aerial photos, and sometimes experience wild rides.

But the best ever, was when I went to the Garamba Park, a UNESCO World Heritage where you have the last Congo white rhinoceros. Upon arrival, I took with two of my colleagues a small CESNA aircraft, up to Gangala-na-Bodio, another Park ranger’s base. When flying over the park, we saw numerous numbers of elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, antelopes and hypos. And I can hardly describe the sensations when the pilot dives close to the animals to offer us a better view, or when it landed, passing only a meter or so above the UN helicopter that lay stranded in the middle of the runway. Scary, but unforgettable.

I guess working with the UN is one of the most exciting jobs you can do. You go where nobody else goes (I mean foreigners of course), you use means which you could only dream of, and you don't have to be a military, nor work for a intelligence agency. Somehow, it's like being a "chevalier de la table ronde" but in modern times, the Grail being "peace on earth and security for all". Like the Grail quest it's an unending quest, with its perils and enchantments.

So, yes, there are positive things about this job, for those who wondered.