Hello Southern Sudan

This is just a brief post. The daughter is in Rumbek in Southern Sudan. She is doing her PhD research and learning Dinka. We all agree that you cant work on a culture without knowing what it speaks, but learning Dinka isnt quite like learning your ordinary sort of languages which (if worst comes to the worst) always have a Teach Yourself Book. So she is there doing a course with the nice missionaries, and then is based round about for 9 months or so. (OK it makes field work in Italy look a bit tame.)

Parents of young anthropologist/historians learn NOT to worry. But there she is miles way even from the capital in Juba (where the celebs and William Hague and the rest will be turning up to all kinds of jollities). But if you want to know what is happening in the real country, and how the celebrations go in Rumbek amid the curfew and electricity outages and all the rest, she will be writing about it here.

The big independence day is this weekend. So good luck to one and all there.

(The picture at the top is the road by the airstrip....at Rumbek itself.)

PS 11 July -- here is her account of the celebrations in Rumbek, plus great pics.