最新国家南苏丹印象

在苏丹南部的重镇朱巴，从7月10日开始，它便成了全世界瞩目的地方――地球上最新国度南苏丹共和国的首都。

在南苏丹已经看不到阿拉伯人的面孔，他们与非洲其他国家的人民一样，都是地道的黑人。苏丹南部本是苏丹最富庶地区，气候条件较好，石油等自然资源蕴藏丰富。

朱巴市中心只有总统府附近才能看到柏油马路，据说整个南苏丹仅有60公里的柏油公路，而且都是2010年下半年以后才铺设完成的。一群当地人围坐在路边的烤肉摊上，七八个人一桌，喝着可乐、啤酒，尽情享用一大盘烤鸡。我在朱巴市区很少见到两层以上的水泥建筑。无论是我住的朱巴饭店，还是过去的苏丹南部自治政府办公室，都是用铁板和泡沫塑料填充的临时建筑。居民大多生活在当地传统的茅草房里。这种茅草房一般是用当地特有的泥土砌成一堵圆形围墙，再用一把把捆扎起来的茅草铺在上面作房顶。当地人说这种看似简陋的建筑其实通风透气，恰恰适合这里燥热的气候。的确，朱巴白天的最高气温竟达38摄氏度以上，在太阳下稍站一会儿就汗流浃背，暴露的皮肤也被灼得发疼。

随处可见头顶水桶的妇女和小孩。她们熟练地把几十斤重的水桶放在头顶，一只手扶着桶边保持平衡，艰难但灵活地穿梭在泥泞坑洼的小巷中。当地人在集贸市场上购买进口的日常用品，当然日杂服装仍被中国货占据着主导地位。这种类似于中国乡镇上的集贸市场，从蔬菜到服装，从猪肉到彩电，从大饼到家具，毫不相干的各种商品相邻摆放，杂乱但却丰富，虽说不上应有尽有，但也算是南苏丹最繁华的地方了。在朱巴主要有肯尼亚人、乌干达人、印度人以及黎巴嫩人经营着餐馆、超市等，规模稍大一点的超市货物价格奇高。

在朱巴街头经常可以看见穿着假耐克的年轻人，他们听着欧美流行音乐，戴着遮住大半个脸的墨镜，额头却留着一道道部落图腾的V字型刀痕。我在朱巴的几天中，正好遇到了当地有人办婚礼，有幸一睹别具非洲地方特色的婚礼。我先是来到了新郎的家里，还未走到门口就已感觉到了热闹的气氛。聚集着的人群走了一拨，又来了一拨。不过男女之间还是要保持距离的，连坐席都是男女在不同的地方。这里不让喝酒，所以来到的宾客都会先发一瓶饮料，用以代替饮酒。然后每人发一盘餐食，算是婚宴的主食。别看数量不多，但每一样都很撑肚子，要吃完一份还是需要很大肚量的！吃完了之后，稍做休息，就得往新娘家里赶，在那里会有婚礼仪式。来到新娘家的第一件事又是吃！可能他们觉得拿出食物是最好的招待，整个场子就放了这么两个盘子。仪式开始了，双方家长聚在一起。新娘也经过了精心的打扮，身上戴满了娘家传下的首饰，在母亲及伴娘的陪伴下入场。

南苏丹是一个多民族的国家，对婚嫁的讲究非常之多。一般一次婚礼要持续好几天，南苏丹人对婚礼也是比较讲究的，他们十分注重礼仪。在举行婚礼的仪式上，新郎新娘在优美动听的乐曲声中从内室走出来，肩并肩地坐在院子中央用彩灯、彩球和彩带装饰起来的一个台子上，宾客们纷纷走上前去握手、拥抱和亲吻，表示热烈祝贺。彩台前放着一块大的红色地毯，音乐一响，新郎新娘缓缓起身，慢慢走下彩台，在地毯上翩翩起舞。新郎新娘跳完一曲舞，回到彩台上坐下，男女宾客轮流走上地毯，跳起“颈脖舞”。“颈脖舞”在南苏丹十分流行，是婚礼场上必跳的舞蹈，青年男女人人都会跳，而且从孩童时期便开始学跳这种舞蹈。这个舞蹈的动作模仿骆驼行走时颈脖的晃动，骆驼是苏丹人非常喜爱的一种动物，他们认为骆驼在行进中颈脖有节奏地晃动是最优美的动作。舞蹈时，姑娘们头向后仰，突出胸部，不停地晃动颈脖和双肩，展现出优美的舞姿。小伙子们围着跳舞的姑娘，举手弹指，发出有节奏的响声，伴舞助兴。人们除跳古老的“颈脖舞”外，还跳现代的“迪斯科”，两种舞蹈交替进行，尽情歌舞，一直持续到次日黎明。

My Impressions of South Sudan

By Shen Haibin

Juba, a central city of the previous south of the Sudan, became the capital city of the Republic of South Sudan on July 9, 2011. I knew nothing about Juba before I came to the city. Upon my arrival, I was astonished to find that the city was more landlocked, backward and primitive than I had imagined.

South Sudan is the latest new country that has come into independence since the end of the cold war. Nowadays, there are no faces of Arabs in the country. Everywhere I go I see black people just like many other countries in Africa. With rich mineral resources, the south of the Sudan had every hope of becoming a rich region, but the civil war of the past 50 years demolished the country savagely. Infrastructure was almost nonexistent there and the direct economic loss amounted to one million dollars a day.

Without the independence and without the benefits of the Nile, Juba would probably remain an ordinary primitive village forever. Today, Juba boasts a population of nearly 400,000, but it is hard to say where the downtown is and where suburbs start. If you find a cluster of thatched houses and something that looks like a rural marketplace in China, then you are in the very downtown of Juba. Beyond this small area stretches desolation and some dusty roads.

It is said that only around the president’s office in downtown Juba can you see asphalt roads. It is said that the whole country now boasts only 60 kilometers of asphalt roads and all of them have been built since the second half of 2010. The road system of today cannot effectively link the capital with other cities across the country. In the rainy season, many regions will be cut off like islands. When cars speed through the main streets in downtown, dust spread with the exhaustion emission toward shops, but local residents seemingly had long since got used to that. It is a common sight that a group of men sit around a table by a roadside doos stall, drinking beer or coke and treating themselves whole-heartedly to a plate of roasted chicken.

Seldom did I see a two-story or higher cement house in downtown Juba. The Juba Hotel where I stayed and the office previously used by the autonomous government of the southern Sudan before the independence are all make-do structures of iron-sheet and foamed plastic. Most local residents live in circular adobe houses with a thatched roof. It is said that this typical residential architecture is most suitable against the scorching climate.

Water-transporting trucks are a common sight on the streets of Juba. Most of these water trucks are refurbished from something originally designed for other functions. More often than not, water would splash to the ground as the dirty roads are bumpy and potholed. The downtown Juba is not yet equipped with a tap-water system. All the drinking water is transported by the water trucks from the Nile to the water distribution centers across the downtown. Women and children are frequently seen carrying buckets of water on their heads.

There is no manufacturing enterprise or a large supermarket. Local residents do their shopping at local markets. The markets sell all kinds of household goods. Local restaurants and shops are run by foreigners from Uganda, Kenya, India and Lebanon. In the streets, you can see young men dressed in fake brands. They wear dark glasses and listen to Western pop music. The dark glasses cannot hide the tribal patterns carved on their foreheads.

Though South Sudan is poor with infrastructure, income from the booming oil industry will eventually fuel the growth of the youngest nation. In 2011, about 7 billion US dollars will be invested to boost a full range of undertakings. I saw rows of new houses just completed. Juba University is transferring teachers and students from Khartoum. As more power-generation units are in use, power outage is greatly reduced. The wireless network is becoming faster. The government is beginning to solicit investors for development projects in suburbs. Foreign businesses have come to the capital trying to set up shops there.