Farewell to Aweil 2011

Aweil is a town in South Sudan.
By the time a field posting comes to an end - often 9 months or longer - there is a general desire to go home and pick up one's normal life. Fatigue is an issue by then and a hankering to eat some decent food, stay out late and feel some cool air!
(A "kiss" is when two Land Cruisers meet halfway to exchange passengers or goods).

Aweil, done and dusted, leave you I must,It was fun while it lasted but I gotta bustOutta here, before I really fall illFrom some bug that no penicillin can kill!Goodbye boiled rice and soggy French friesAnd our modest kitchen overrun with flies,Farewell stifling tukuls and barking wild dogsAnd the manky old bog that we shared with the frogsWhere we peed in the dark, often missing the markWith few other options, choices were stark!A toilet is fine, but a squat one, not so!Easy to get down, getting up, oh no!Farewell dusty town, where white t-shirts turn brownWhere eagles wheel overhead, looking downWaiting for me to discard my last crustBut they’ll be waiting a while, ‘cos eat it I must,That’s all that’s left till breakfast my friendAnd I’m “on call” from now till night’s end.Gotta keep up the energy, keep up the strengthWho knows when I’ll need to run the lengthOf the ward to a fit, or a life-draining bleed,Or a c/section some poor mother might need?

It was quite an experience, one not to be missedWhere only the Land Cruisers got “kissed”Where the end of each day we murdered a beerAnd wondered where we’d be this time next year.We daydreamed of cool nights and cold, rainy daysOf having no curfew, and a reason to stayout after nine, at a nice restaurant,Drinking fine wine, eating all you could wantSurrounded by old friends, making up for lost timeChatting for hours, oh joy sublime!Yes, next week I’ll be home, next week I’ll be freeAnd my time here will fade to a pale memoryYet I know sometime later, when I’ve had some respiteThe desire to do this again will biteThen I’ll pack a small bag, kiss family farewellAnd fly off to some far dusty place to dwell,Work bloody hard, see new sights, good and bad,And be grateful for the good fortune I’ve had.© Sadiechild 2011