Take me to church. Then to get wrecked at the bar

Yambio ain't a bad town to spend time, if you aren't big on comforts and if your constitution is not too sensitive. There are always plenty of smiles and warm greetings. Despite the visceral stories you hear, the resilience of the South Sudanese to adversity is phenomenal.

Today I locked the car key in the cab so wasted two hours whilst we got the lock picked. Some useful potential car thieves in Yambio.

Eva, who belongs to the family from whom we rent our compound, came to greet us and we drank tea. All South Sudanese have heavily sugared drinks, in a perpetually baffling display of the resilience of teeth to decay, exacerbated by non-existent dental care.

Eva brought news of her impending marriage to a man who works for an international NGO here. She's in two minds as she's been a relaxed singleton for many years, and is reluctant that traditionally South Sudanese women move to the home of the husband. She has a nice home that would be wasted if empty.

We said she should take this chance to lay down her conditions. If he's so keen to marry her, and given he doesn't have other wives, he should accept moving to her place, without it being an affront to his masculinity. Eva is very balanced about it, being willing to kick him to the kerb if he disrespects or lowers his love for her. I am disappointed I won't be around for the wedding day.

Ivan is staying on in Yambio, to maintain a presence and push forward on certain activities. This is excellent for the project. Despite the car mishap we've readied things fairly successfully for my return to the capital tomorrow.

After late night letter writing to keep government bods appraised, I'm under my net relaxing, listening to the final throes of the Sunday night post-church parties. Tonight there was a large number of sozzled folk thronging the roads as we drove home from dinner. People are incredibly stoic but there will be some ugly hangovers tomorrow.