最新國家南蘇丹印象

在蘇丹南部的重鎮朱巴，從7月10日開始，它便成了全世界矚目的地方——地球上最新國度南蘇丹共和國的首都。

在南蘇丹已經看不到阿拉伯人的面孔，他們與非洲其他國家的人民一樣，都是地道的黑人。蘇丹南部本是蘇丹最富庶地區，氣候條件較好，石油等自然資源蘊藏豐富。

朱巴市中心只有總統府附近才能看到柏油馬路，據說整個南蘇丹僅有60公里的柏油公路，而且都是2010年下半年以后才鋪設完成的。一群當地人圍坐在路邊的烤肉攤上，七八個人一桌，喝著可樂、啤酒，盡情享用一大盤烤雞。我在朱巴市區很少見到兩層以上的水泥建筑。無論是我住的朱巴飯店，還是過去的蘇丹南部自治政府辦公室，都是用鐵板和泡沫塑料填充的臨時建筑。居民大多生活在當地傳統的茅草房里。這種茅草房一般是用當地特有的泥土砌成一堵圓形圍墻，再用一把把捆扎起來的茅草鋪在上面作房頂。當地人說這種看似簡陋的建筑其實通風透氣，恰恰適合這里燥熱的氣候。的確，朱巴白天的最高氣溫竟達38攝氏度以上，在太陽下稍站一會兒就汗流浹背，暴露的皮膚也被灼得發疼。

隨處可見頭頂水桶的婦女和小孩。她們熟練地把幾十斤重的水桶放在頭頂，一只手扶著桶邊保持平衡，艱難但靈活地穿梭在泥濘坑洼的小巷中。當地人在集貿市場上購買進口的日常用品，當然日雜服裝仍被中國貨占據著主導地位。這種類似于中國鄉鎮上的集貿市場，從蔬菜到服裝，從豬肉到彩電，從大餅到家具，毫不相干的各種商品相鄰擺放，雜亂但卻豐富，雖說不上應有盡有，但也算是南蘇丹最繁華的地方了。在朱巴主要有肯尼亞人、烏干達人、印度人以及黎巴嫩人經營著餐館、超市等，規模稍大一點的超市貨物價格奇高。

在朱巴街頭經常可以看見穿著假耐克的年輕人，他們聽著歐美流行音樂，戴著遮住大半個臉的墨鏡，額頭卻留著一道道部落圖騰的V字型刀痕。我在朱巴的幾天中，正好遇到了當地有人辦婚禮，有幸一睹別具非洲地方特色的婚禮。我先是來到了新郎的家里，還未走到門口就已感覺到了熱鬧的氣氛。聚集著的人群走了一撥，又來了一撥。不過男女之間還是要保持距離的，連坐席都是男女在不同的地方。這里不讓喝酒，所以來到的賓客都會先發一瓶飲料，用以代替飲酒。然后每人發一盤餐食，算是婚宴的主食。別看數量不多，但每一樣都很撐肚子，要吃完一份還是需要很大肚量的！吃完了之后，稍做休息，就得往新娘家里趕，在那里會有婚禮儀式。來到新娘家的第一件事又是吃！可能他們覺得拿出食物是最好的招待，整個場子就放了這么兩個盤子。儀式開始了，雙方家長聚在一起。新娘也經過了精心的打扮，身上戴滿了娘家傳下的首飾，在母親及伴娘的陪伴下入場。

南蘇丹是一個多民族的國家，對婚嫁的講究非常之多。一般一次婚禮要持續好幾天，南蘇丹人對婚禮也是比較講究的，他們十分注重禮儀。在舉行婚禮的儀式上，新郎新娘在優美動聽的樂曲聲中從內室走出來，肩并肩地坐在院子中央用彩燈、彩球和彩帶裝飾起來的一個臺子上，賓客們紛紛走上前去握手、擁抱和親吻，表示熱烈祝賀。彩臺前放著一塊大的紅色地毯，音樂一響，新郎新娘緩緩起身，慢慢走下彩臺，在地毯上翩翩起舞。新郎新娘跳完一曲舞，回到彩臺上坐下，男女賓客輪流走上地毯，跳起“頸脖舞”。“頸脖舞”在南蘇丹十分流行，是婚禮場上必跳的舞蹈，青年男女人人都會跳，而且從孩童時期便開始學跳這種舞蹈。這個舞蹈的動作模仿駱駝行走時頸脖的晃動，駱駝是蘇丹人非常喜愛的一種動物，他們認為駱駝在行進中頸脖有節奏地晃動是最優美的動作。舞蹈時，姑娘們頭向后仰，突出胸部，不停地晃動頸脖和雙肩，展現出優美的舞姿。小伙子們圍著跳舞的姑娘，舉手彈指，發出有節奏的響聲，伴舞助興。人們除跳古老的“頸脖舞”外，還跳現代的“迪斯科”，兩種舞蹈交替進行，盡情歌舞，一直持續到次日黎明。

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.