First impressions

My first impressions from PAP can't be really accurate since we are only going from the hotel to a base or from base to base by UN bus only while on duty and after duty we were strongly suggested not to walk outside; even in group it is not safe to do so. I'm adventurous but not reckless therefore I'll follow the advice. I could not see any real scars of the earthquake yet but garbage yes, lots of it all along the road. And also along the road among garbage and open sewers, many people with small stands selling bread, fruits, bottles of water, shoes...well pretty much anything. As soon as we are slowing down in traffic, many people approach the UN vehicles to propose things to sell or ask for money. The rule here is to drive with all windows rolled up or you expose yourself to trouble. Our UN bus has some kind of wire mesh on all windows including the windshield, it's makes me feel like a transfer of prisoners when we are on the road ;-) I added pictures of the bus in my next post. I hope to have the opportunity to work somewhere which will allow me to have contact with the population and get a better idea of their daily life. We should be getting our posting next week so we'll see.